Phew! What a whirlwind adventure it had been. I am glad that I did not pass on the sale then. I managed to visit a new country, a new city and try out a new airline. It has come to the last part of this trip. I arrived way in advance for my flight and was already at the airport at 4.30pm for my 11.50pm flight. It makes sense since I did not have much to do anymore in the city and my hotel only gave me a late check-out till 4pm. It would be better to get some work done and dine at the lounge. This will be more productive and healthier for my wallet. I took an uber which took only around 15 mins and 3 BHD. This review will focus mainly on the differences as well as the soft product since I have already done an extensive one on my way here earlier. If you would like to, you can find my extensive review of my first flight here. I will be trying out a different seat this time around and went for one of the bulkhead aisle seats, which is supposedly less desirable.

Checking In

The Gulf Air premium check-in counters are to the right of the terminal and gate or door 1 is reserved exclusively for passengers in Gulf Air Falcon Gold Class. Do remind your driver to drop you here for the shortest distance. I was wowed when I first entered the terminal. It is so new and refreshing. I love the glass and the white facade which look so amazing with the tons of natural light coming in. The terminal is sparkling new after the recent renovation.

Check-in for Falcon Gold passengers is a sit-down affair here. There was no one when I arrive in the early evening and I was immediately helped by one of the staff. There are some issues at first and they inform me that I can only check in 4 hours before my flight before I insist that Falcon Gold Class passengers can check in up to 24 hours in advance. I was thru immigration and security in no time given how quiet the airport is at this time of the day and the fast track lane was empty. Falcon Gold passengers are invited to use the facility.

Boarding Process

The gate is just a short walk away from the lounge and right by the escalator. Boarding started with Falcon Gold Class passengers and elite status holders. It was a mess and I got no idea how the order works with passengers in the queue even when they are not eligible. I was one of the first to board and got some nice photos of the empty cabin. We are boarding via the second door this time around which is very much preferred since you don’t have the entire plane passing by you during boarding. The crew are great and I even had one of them from my inbound flight. So nice to meet the lovely Agnes again. I was warmly welcomed by the crew and it is exciting to see the Gulf Air cabin. It looks so sleek and I love the finishes. There are 26 business class seats onboard the 787. It is in a 2 class configuration with Falcon Gold Class and Economy Class.

I was ushered to my seat by the crew and they offer a welcome drink too. There was a choice between water, mint juice and champagne. Gulf Air serves Duval-Leroy Brut Reserve NV, a respectable choice in business class. The crew are a great set. Agnes and Micika that were working the Falcon Gold Class were exceptionally lovely and we have a great chat about our travels. I even met Agnes again on my flight back to Singapore a couple of days later. The crew came by later with some hot or cold towels. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I do miss towel service after since Covid. Singapore Airlines no longer does it and it is such a great thing to freshen up and start your premium cabin ride. SQ does it even for Economy pre-covid.

It is like Christmas when you are flying in Falcon Gold. During the boarding process, the crew came by with pyjamas and you are offered medium, large and extra-large sizes. It is found in a little bag and slippers are provided too. While it is not of any fancy brand, they were comfy and not too thick for lounging in the air. While I wish they have those cool grey colours with gold finishes and perhaps the Golden Falcon logo embroidered, the standard blue PJ was alright.

Then after the crew came by with Arabic Coffee and dates, the usual welcome when you are flying on a Middle East-based airline.

Gulf Air Falcon Gold Class (Business Class)

Gulf Air have one of the best business class hard products, using the Apex Suite seat in the 2-2-2 configuration. Despite the heavily packed cabin, all passengers still get direct aisle access. I am excited to try out the Apex suite. You can find this product on Oman Air and Japan Airlines as well. The cabin is so refreshing and I love the grey finishes with gold trimmings. What a classy look. Here are some pictures from my first flight.

For my first-ever flight, I opted for the window seat in row 3. Seat 3A. This time around, I tried the bulkhead middle seat in the first row which is less attractive than the window ones. I wanted to try something else. It is as good as the one by the window beside the view. This might even be more conducive if you are with a partner. I luck out and the seat next to me stayed empty. I was seated in Seat 1D. Here are some pictures of the seats. It’s almost similar.

I love that the cubby area is still very spacious for your leg when in when converted to full bed mode. The lack of overhead compartments in the middle makes the entire cabin even more spacious and comfortable since you do not have anything above you.

The crew was spectacular and the senior first officer was a very nice guy. We had a brief chat about his plans in Singapore and what I did in Bahrain. I even got a chance to visit the cockpit. We push back at close to midnight and about 10 mins late and were airborne by 12.08. 18 mins behind time but they do pad the flight rather well. Funnily they didn’t even dim the light for take-off. On both of my flights, I hated that the toilets were badly maintained, they were so dirty, especially towards the end of the flight. This makes me appreciative of SQ standards and their constant inflight upkeeping. You have to respect the Singapore airlines cabin crew. Another worthy point would be when preparing the cabin for landing the crew just left the sheets and blankets set up as it is. There wasn’t something like “can I make up your seat for breakfast or landing?” They were just leaving it as it is towards landing. Seems like ground staff in Changi are in for a treat when servicing foreign aircraft when compared to SQ.

Meal Service

The meal service and offers on this flight are a little weak and that is one of the cons of flying on a red eye. The offerings are pretty bad for Gulf Air. They only do a light snack service after take-off and breakfast before landing. Weak! The advice is to eat up in the lounge before boarding. Check out the menu for the flight. The drinks menu is the same as on the previous flight and I will not be sharing it again.

Upon levelling off the crew sprang into action, the first meal service started around an hour into the flight and the crew came by to ask for my order. I just had the soup given how much I had already dined in the lounge. The Tomato and Basil Cream Soup were quite hearty and a good snack for supper. I love the croutons on it.

I had a solid 4 hours of sleep which was very much needed. I am super tired after the long day and it has been quite some time since I had such a great sleep aboard. The two crew working the business class cabin Agnes and Ivanka are absolute gems. The crew woke up the passengers around 2 hours before landing to start the breakfast service. In my opinion, that is a little early for a short breakfast meal. The meal started with a fruit plate before the crew came around with a pastry basket.

I had a croissant which was fresh and flaky. Quite a good one. I had it with a glass of orange juice. There are three choices for breakfast and I went with the Chives and Cheese omelette which was served with rosti potatoes, oven-roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and chicken patty. It was quite good, especially the patty.

Conclusion

With that my 400 SGD Gulf Air error fare comes to an end. It’s worth it and has been a blast. Gulf Air constantly has attractive pricing between Asia and Europe and they are worth a try given the price. You can also take the chance to stop by Bahrain for a short visit. They might not be the best in business but I am sure you will still be comfortable in their Falcon Gold Class. They have one of the best hard products and new planes. I just wish that they had more storage area around the seats and improve the placement of the power outlets as well as the headphones sockets. I do have to say that this kind of medium-haul flight is really not a fan of mine as they are neither here nor there. They can totally improve their overall quality and rating by just polishing some sort of their service. More error fares, please! Like Emirates, Etihad or Qatar. I will be sharing about my next adventure very soon! Stay tuned.