Malev Hungarian Airlines... our first taste of Hungarian hospitality!
Written: Sep 07 '09 (Updated Sep 07 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean planes, professional staff, efficient.
Cons: Slightly late, but not really a big deal.
The Bottom Line: Malev Airlines is a nice way to get acquainted with Hungary.
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| knotheadusc's Full Review: Malev Hungarian Airlines |
One week from today, my husband Bill and I will be on our way back to the United States after an all too brief tour of Germany. Since Labor Day weekend was coming up, I knew we had to take one last short trip before we head back to the States. At first, we considered going to Lisbon, Rome, or Amsterdam for the holiday, but then it occurred to me that those cities are all more or less fairly accessible from America, either by air or sea. Budapest, Hungary, seemed a bit more exotic and it's also further east. I started looking into hotels and airfare and Expedia.com hooked us up with an affordable package flying Malev Airlines to Budapest from Stuttgart, Germany.
Checking in
Our flight to Budapest from Stuttgart was scheduled to leave at 9:30am. The flight would take approximately 90 minutes to cover a distance of just under 500 miles. We checked in at a Lufthansa desk. Malev allows coach class travelers to check one bag weighing up to 23kg free. Business class travelers may check one bag up to 30kg; however, our flight was in a small aircraft that did not have a business class.
Boarding
Our flight from Stuttgart was a few minutes late. Nevertheless, the staff on board the outbound flight was very friendly and professional. Bill and I took our seats in the 18th row, which was at the back of the airplane. We were on a De Havilland, which had approximately twenty rows of 2x2 seating. The seats were leather and fairly comfortable and I was glad to see that the plane was clean.
Flight to Budapest
Our flight to Budapest was pretty much completely full. The flight attendants gave announcements and safety demonstrations in English and Hungarian. Curiously enough, they did not do a demonstration in German. Once we got underway, we found ourselves enveloped by clouds and some air pockets that caused us to have some bumpy patches. The flight attendants kept smiling and offered everyone a cup of soda, water, or juice and a small vanilla muffin. After the snack service, they came around with coffee and tea. I was impressed.
Checking in from Budapest
We had an early flight from Budapest and found ourselves in a long line to check in our bags. Despite the crowds, the agent who handled our check in was very efficient and pleasant. Unfortunately, we were faced with an even bigger crowd when it came time to get through security, along with a few jerks who decided they needed to cut in line. I hope wherever the jerks were going, they were seated next to someone with a scorching and rancid case of flatulence.
A lot of folks were stuck getting through security, which also made our flight to Stuttgart a few minutes late. Still, I was impressed to see that the agents and flight attendants remained courteous and friendly, yet efficient.
Our flight to Stuttgart
On the way back to Stuttgart, we were assigned seats 9A and 9C. At first, we thought we might need to switch seats with someone, but it turned out we were on the same De Havilland aircraft, with 2x2 seating. The crew on the flight to Stuttgart played recordings in Hungarian, English, and German, rather than present the safety demonstrations themselves.
Our flight was very smooth and, though there was a headwind, seemed to take less time than the flight to Budapest did... maybe because I could look out the window and see the Austrian countryside, rather than thick clouds. Once again, we were offered juice, water, or soda and a small pastry, as well as a cup of coffee or tea. I thought that was a nice touch. We also landed on time, even though we were a little late departing Budapest.
Overall
If we weren't going back to the States, I'd have no qualms about flying Malev Airlines again. Both of our flights were reasonably on schedule, comfortable, and pleasant. It was a very nice introduction to Hungary.
For more information: http://www.malev.com/Home
Recommended:
Yes
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