[Flight Review] Israel Idyllic – flydubai FZ1209 Dubai-Tel Aviv (Economy) / flydubai FZ1550 Tel Aviv-Dubai (Economy)

On By Satu KosongIn Airlines, Economy, FlyDubai, Holiday, Singapore
Grabbed from official site

I was actually quite excited about trying out flydubai as it’s bling bling Emirates’ budget version and I figured even if budget, it wouldn’t be that bad, no?

On boy.

  • DXB 09:50 – SIN 11:40
  • Flight time: 3hr 50min
  • Aircraft: Boeing 737-8 MAX
  • Seat: 32B
  • TLV 09:55 – DXB 15:00
  • Flight time: 3hr 05min
  • Aircraft: Boeing 737-8 MAX
  • Seat: 19B

Anyways, boarding was on time and we had to board a shuttle bus to and from the gate to the tarmac to get to and from the aircraft. Not unexpected as it is budget after all.

The first impression after stepping into the cabin was pleasant, with the interior feeling new of sorts when coupled with the bright white lights and blue seats. The cabin is laid out in a 3-3 configuration, and the aisle is super narrow. There was also no seat selection of any sorts prior to boarding, I wasn’t able to choose my seat and had no choice but to see what fate has in store for me.

Seat

I got 32B, a middle seat. The seat itself is quite not too shabby – and I particularly liked the deliberate pop of white & yellow on the headrest which added a bit if cheer.

There is nothing fancy about what is in front of you – your IFE screen, an USB outlet, and interesting enough a magnetic stripe payment slide (how convenient).

The seat pocket contains the usual literature and the tray table folds out to be just enough to eat on.

On my depart, I was lucky to have my aisle seat mate move to be with her friend somewhere in front so I moved over to her seat, leaving the middle seat empty between me and mr window seat. On my return, no such luck but I got lucky and got the exit row which meant much more leg space! Trust me, on a 3-hour budget flight, these 2 adjustments make all the difference.

Meals – Dinner / Lunch & Refreshments

I am actually not sure if all seats include a meal – I think not as I recall the crew asking passengers if they are in their original seats as they made their way down. By the time they came to me, there was only the vegetable noodle left, which was a sad heap of what seemed like ketchup noodles with maybe 8 slivers of carrot. I ate the carrots.

On my way back, it was a choice of pasta with beef versus something else – I picked the beef and it was actually quite flavorful.

If you need something more, the menu in your seat pocket contains a list of overpriced snacks and drinks.

In-Flight Entertainment (IFE)

I was super happy to see an entire list of movies on the screen until I saw the ‘lock’ icon on every of them. When you click in, you see a message informing that ‘this movie is part of the Premium Package’ and I didn’t bother to click in to see the price.

Lavatories

The lavatories were really small but it does what it does.

Service

Nothing much to speak of but I suppose no complaints too.

In summary,

It’s been a while since I’ve flown budget and I forgot how tough it can be especially after a bad night’s sleep and or if you are feeling crappy in general. But it was still an experience for sure!

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