Month: July 2023

RAILJET TRAIN AUSTRIA

Standard

Railjet is a high-speed rail service in Europe operated by Austrian Federal Railways(ÖBB) and Czech Railways(ČD). Branded as Railjet Express (RJX) for the fastest services and as Railjet (RJ) for services with additional stops, it was introduced in 2008 and operates at speeds of up to 230 km/h (143 mph). Railjet is ÖBB’s premier service and operates both domestically within Austria and on international services to adjacent major cities in the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary and Slovakia.

Railjet trains have three levels of service; economy, first and business classes.

Business class has the highest level of service, containing premium seating for 16 passengers located in the front part of the control car at the opposite end of the train to the locomotive. The seating plan is in an ‘open compartments’ style similar to a corridor coach layout, but open plan and doorless, and intended to be a considerable improvement over previous first class accommodation. A galley separates the business and first class compartments.

First class seating occupies the remainder of the control car, the second coach and half of the third coach which also contains spaces and facilities for wheelchair users. 76 seats are provided in [2+1] formation. The remainder of the third coach contains the restaurant which provides an at seat service. The remaining four coaches provide 316 economy class seats in [2+2] formation, the fourth coach also contains an area for families and children.

https://www.oebb.at/en/reiseplanung-services/im-zug/unsere-zuege/railjet

FLIGHT CHECK: MALAYSIAN AIRLINES

Standard

Flight Check: 

Kuala Lumpur – Bangkok, Business Class

MH 774, Boeing 737-800

(Configuration: 16-144)  Aircraft: 9M-MXH

Check-in: via MAS App

Lounge: *** 3/5

Boarding: ** 2/5

Inflight Service: Food and Beverage: **** 4/5

Cabin Crew: ***** 5/5

Comfort: ****4/5

Flight Time: 1:43 hours

Impressions:

I used the Malaysian Airlines Golden Regional Lounge which was located near Gate 2, overlooking the tarmac and the aircraft parking stands .

The Lounge offered a generous seating area, a bar, a dining buffet, a coffee bar and working tables as well as a Prayer room and a napping area.

The food offered was decent, comprising a choice of Asian and Western dishes, soup, a small salad bar and some sweets. (Unfortunately the hot food items were only lukewarm but the taste was fine)

No announcements were made in the lounge but the staff informed me personally about a small delay to my flight departure time.

Boarding was a bit chaotic as the flight was delayed by nearly one hour and passengers on the next flight were already queuing up. (KLIA uses a gate security check so there was an unexpected long queue.) The gate staff did not separate passengers for the “first flight” so this caused a lot of confusion among the passengers.

When I boarded the flight I was greeted nicely and as I was the only passenger in Business Class the crew always mentioned my name when they approached me. I pre-ordered a so called Chef-on-Call menu and it was delivered promptly. The meal was delicious and the crew was charming and professional.

https://www.malaysiaairlines.com/us/en.html