Review: Royal Jordanian Business Class, Istanbul-Amman

Royal Jordanian Business Class, Istanbul-Amman

Flight: RJ 166
Departure time in Istanbul (IST): 16:00
Arrival time in Amman (AMM): 17:25
Aircraft: Airbus A321 named Madaba (JY-AYV)
Seat: 2J
Duration: 2h 25m
Date of flight: November 8, 2018
*This is a revenue ticket, (used bid upgrade to business class for 75USD) Business Class flight #171


Video from my YouTube Channel 📺

Business Class Bid Upgrade

As soon as my flight was ticketed, I checked my booking on the Royal Jordanian´s website and decided to bid-upgrade to Business Class on the flight from Istanbul-Amman. The lowest bid was 70USD so I bid 75USD which was actually accepted, as I got an email confirmation 3 days before departure.

As for the rest of the legs, the lowest for Amman-Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok-Amman was 400USD, while Amman-Copenhagen was 250USD, all of which I thought were a bit pricey.

My new seat after the bid-upgrade success 👍

Check-in, Desk F16

I arrived at the airport at 12:30pm after taking the free shuttle from Park Inn by Radisson Istanbul Ataturk Airport where I stayed for a night. I didn´t have a check-in baggage so I just passed by the check in counters and then went straight to security. The check in desk (desk F16) was for business class passengers and elite members, with a bit of a queue when I passed by, while F13-15 were for economy class passengers.

Priority check in

Fast Track

It is always good to have access to Business Fast Track although unfortunately after passport control, security is for both business class and economy class passengers so it was not really full fast track 👎

Millennium Lounge

After passing security, I headed to the Millennium Lounge which is being used by airlines like British Airways and Royal Jordanian.

Boarding, Gate 210

I was at the boarding gate by 2:55pm for the scheduled boarding of 3:15pm.

Aircraft, Airbus A321 (Madaba)

This Airbus A321 was delivered to Royal Jordanian in June 2012.

Business Class Cabin

Royal Jordanian´s Airbus A321 business class cabin has a total of 20 recliner seats in a 2-2 configuration. On this flight, 16 of the seats were taken.

Seat, 2J

My seat 2J is a window seat.

Seat control

For short flights, this recliner seat is okay 😉

Seat pocket

Coat hook

Inflight magazines, safety instruction card, air sickness bag

IFE controls

IFE controls

Headphones socket, USB and AC power ports

Reading lamp

Under the right armrest is the foldable tray table

Foldable tray table

Under the left armrest is the personal screen

Personal monitor

There are also monitors in front of the cabin, one on each side.

View from my seat

View from my seat

Around 3:33pm, one of the flight attendants came to offer some Arabic coffee.

Arabic coffee 😉

Seven minutes later came some juices, with a choice of orange juice and apple juice.

I opted for a glass of apple juice.

Around 3:47pm, the captain came on the PA to welcome us onboard and give us some flight information including our flight time of 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Royal Jordanian business class headphones

Moments later, business class headphones were offered. The wine list followed afterwards. There was no menu card. We were also asked if we wanted to have some snacks, and then drinks order was taken.

Inflight Safety Video

We began pushback at 3:58pm and 2 minutes later, the inflight safety video was played on the screen. Take off went smoothly at 4:08pm.

Dining

Wine list

The champagne on board was Taittinger Brut Reserve 👍

To start the meal service, hot towels were offered.

The whole meal was served on a tray.

Royal Jordanian logo on the cutlery ...

... and plates/bowls 👍

Moments later, the flight attendant came to offer more snacks (2 varieties). I took one which looked like a spring roll with minced beef/lamb on it and it was delicious 😋

After clearing the trays, coffee, tea and desserts were offered. The dessert was carrot cake and was delicious 😋

Inflight Entertainment

As usual, they had an advertisement on the top things to see in Jordan including the famous Petra.

IFE main menu

Movie selection

I ended up watching Just For Laughs.

Airshow

Airshow enroute to Amman

Lavatory

There is one lavatory located in front of the cabin, on the left side.

Air freshener, Bloom Dead Sea lotion and cologne

Toilet

About 35 minutes before landing, the headsets were collected.

View Before Landing

View before landing in Amman Airport

Landing at Queen Alia International Airport (AMM)

We landed in Amman Airport at 4:50pm and reached our gate six minutes later which was way ahead of schedule 👍

Taxiing to the gate

View of a Royal Jordanian Boeing 787 parked next to us.

CONCLUSION

As it was my first time to fly in Royal Jordanian business class, I didn´t really know what to expect. I have to say that for this short flight, I was impressed. The flight attendant in the business class cabin was friendly and always smiling. The service was efficient as well. The food was also very good although it would have been better to have a menu card since other airlines on short flights like these have them. Overall, for the price I paid, I was really happy and would recommend it to others.