I'm excited for today's flight because I will be flying in business class on a brand new airline, Saudia. Saudia is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, and I will be able to credit today's flights towards my Delta status. Additionally, I paid in cash for today's flight at a really good price: about $750 for an open jaw ticket (Dubai to Kuala Lumpur and Delhi to Dubai, both via Jeddah). This comes out to a price of 9 cents per mile flown (in BUSINESS CLASS) which is cheaper than many of the flights I had booked on this trip (in economy).

My taxi arrived to Dubai Airport Terminal 1 around 2:30am. I made my way to the check-in desk to receive my boarding pass, then headed to immigration and security. They asked most departing passengers to use the automated smart gates instead of queuing in front of a human. In an ideal world this would be faster, but not everyone can figure out how to use them, and some people may have been ineligible for the smart gates but tried to use them anyway, which held the line up considerably. After security, I took the train to Concourse D, where my flight would depart from, and made my way upstairs to the lounge section. Saudia Business Class passengers and Priority Pass members can use the DIH Lounge (confusingly also called the Ahlan lounge) in Concourse D. It was about 3am when I entered the lounge, and both dinner and breakfast foods were being served. The breakfast options looked more appetizing so I went for those. I took some scrambled eggs, shakshuka, a mango smoothie, and also some tiny pancake bites drenched in maple syrup. All the food was delicious.

After eating I made my way to Gate D9 for departure. Boarding had just started so I was able to hop right to the front of the line and get on board. This flight to Jeddah was operated by an Airbus A320 with a very sleek new interior. My seat was 2A, a window seat.

After sitting down, the flight attendant greeted me, and asked what I would like for a pre-departure beverage. Saudia is a dry airline, so no alcohol is served, but they have a very nice selection of juices and smoothies. I opted for a vanilla date smoothie, which was delicious. The smoothie was served with a refreshing hot towel. The flight attendant also asked what I'd like to eat for breakfast on the flight. There was a choice of foul (stewed fava beans) and shakshuka (eggs in tomato sauce), but I informed her I just wanted to sleep the whole time.

It was very early in the morning so I slept from takeoff to touchdown. We arrived on time to Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport at Terminal 1. This is a brand new terminal that was completed in 2019. Security was seamless, and I was deposited into the center of the terminal.

In doing research about the Jeddah airport I saw a lot of photos and video of a huge 1 million liter aquarium located in the new terminal which I was excited to see. Unfortunately, it seems that aquarium is in the arrivals area, and since I was only transiting I would not be able to see it. I was quite disappointed about this. Airside, there is very little for passengers to do at the Jeddah Airport. There are a couple of duty free stores in the central area on the main floor, and a couple of fast food restaurants on the mezzanine (including American hits like Smashburger, Dominos, and Sbarro, and Saudi chicken nugget chain Al Baik). I walked through basically the entirety of the terminal looking for anything interesting but was left empty handed. It is remarkable how big this building is considering how few flights were departing today. I can only assume this is due to me flying on a Friday (the Muslim holy day), or possibly that the terminal is build to hold extra capacity for when it is time for the Hajj (the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca; Jeddah is the closest major city to Mecca).

After my exploring, I returned to the main area and headed up to the mezzanine to enter the Al Fursan Lounge. Saudia Business class passengers and SkyTeam Elite Plus members get access to the lounge. Like the rest of the airport, the lounge is very beautiful, with lots of amenities like nap rooms, shower rooms, and a barista bar. I went to eat another meal, which of course was breakfast again. You can get a made-to-order omelet in the Al Fursan Lounge, but the guy who was making omelets seemed to not know what he was doing: he was very slow and I saw him burn at least one omelet. Eventually, his colleague came over and sent him away. The second guy was much faster.

After a couple hours resting in the lounge, I headed to my gate, A11a, to get on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that will take me to Kuala Lumpur. Consistent with the last flight, the 787 had a very sleak interior with reverse herringbone seats that lie fully flat. I took my seat, again 2A.

Prior to departure we received an amenity kit in a nice leather bag. I assume these are gendered because I saw all men receiving blue bags and women receiving red bags. I was offered a pre-departure beverage and again chose the date smoothie. I also received some Arabic coffee and a date.

Because the flight departed at 10:50am, I was served breakfast for the third time today (if you're keeping track, this could've been the fourth time). The breakfast choices were the same foul and shakshuka as the previous flight, but you could also get a few a la carte items: eggs made to order (my understanding is they have fresh eggs and will cook them in the galley on board the plane), greek yogurt with granola, fresh fruit, and congee with fried tofu. I opted for the shakshuka and falafel that was served with some fruit, salad, and bread. For a beverage, I drank a green smoothie that had kale and ginger, along with some unidentifiable fruit that made it slightly sweet.

The flight was only about 8 hours long so I alternated between sleeping and watching Kaleidoscope on Netflix. Before long, the second meal, a light snack, was served. I was offered the choice between Arabic mezze, egg noodle soup, and a grilled chicken sandwich. I opted for the Arabic mezze, which came with tabbouleh, hummus with mint and parsley, and raw muhammara dip. It was served with some pita and cheese sambousek. Overall, a delicious snack.

We finally landed in Kuala Lumpur just after midnight local time. I would not be staying in Malaysia for long: I had a flight departing at 6:45am to Siem Reap, but it is operating out of KLIA2, the low cost carrier terminal, and our flight from Jeddah arrived at Terminal 1, where full service airlines operate. I was optimistic that I would be able to transit between the terminals without going through immigration, but this was not the case. We landed and had to take a bus from the satellite terminal to the main building, where I went through immigration, and went outside to catch a bus to KLIA2.

Upon arrival at KLIA2 I checked into CapsuleTransit, a hotel located in the ground floor of Gateway@KLIA2, a shopping mall in the landside area of the terminal. I paid approximately $30 for a six hour stay here, which is pretty pricey, but worth it for the couple hours of sleep I was able to get. Upon checking in, I received a bag containing a towel, a bottle of water, a locker key, and an amenity kit with a toothbrush, an eye mask, and ear plugs. I was able to get a couple hours of sleep but was awoken around 3am when another guests's alarm went off and they did not stop it.