Emirates Airlines Skywards - Good bye and good luck

Having been a loyal EK flyer for some time, having clocked up almost 200'00 Tier miles this year, I am calling it a day!

I wrote to EK advising them of the appauling service I received on a return flight, BHX-DXB in J class the other week, the DXB-BHX was outstanding, could not have been better. I upgraded using my miles, and asked them to recredit the miles for the return journey into my account, as the whole experience was what I considered to be worse than economy class standards! As you can imagine, I have had many flights this year, this is the first time I have written to them, so am not one of these that write after every journey trying to get things for nothing...

They refused point blank, apologigized for the service, as usual said they had forwarded the complaints to concerned departments, but the case, in their eyes was closed and nothing more would be added.

I find it strange, if you buy something, that does not work, you return it and either get a credit note or a refund! Not with EK.

I am appauled at their attitude and therefore, will not be using them again, I have cancelled 2 DXB-HKG-DXB in F and a DXB-BOM-DXB also in F, I wrote to EK CS and Skywards Gold informing them that I would not be using them, I cannot believe they did not even reply - thats how much they care I guess!

So, to all my EK Flyer Friends, I wish you all well, it was fun here, and I assume I will see some more of you in the Etihad and Qatar forums in the futue!

I totally sympathise with your situation.

I too have been a loyal customer to EK over the last 4 years, no quite as much as you but still totalling 140000 Tiers miles this year.
I fly with them due to mostly convinience as their costs have been quiet high for most of this year.

The service that EK now provide is far short of what it was even just a couple of years ago, although I hate to admit it is still far superior to many airlines I have travelled with.
I normally just keep quiet when things go wrong but this year I have had cause to complain twice and have had the same response as you. EK dont seem to care about customer service or complaints, much in line with many areas of middle eastern customs. Sure if you are a rich or influencial shiek or the like they will bend over backwards for you, but they dont seem to care about their loyal customers who helped to build their brand and make it what it is today.

This is systematic of modern day Dubai and is now why the whole area is in debt and covered with half built or totally empty blocks.

I unlike you will continue to fly Emirates but they will no longer be an automatic choice.

Good luck with the other Gulf state carriers and lets hope they do not go the same way.

DTB, sorry to hear about the service. Could you please let us in on more details?

Cheers

DTB, I sympathise and totally agree with your sentiments. My wife and I recently flew LHR-DXB-BKK-DXB-LGW in F to celebrate her birthday and our 25th wedding anniversary. Whilst the service on board could not be faulted and we shall let EK know, I was staggered by the inflexibility of EK to my request for flight changes following the removal of the A380 on the BKK-DXB sector on 19 October. We had expressly chosen this routeing to experience the Suites on the A380 but were advised we could not change our flights unless we paid an exorbitant amount of money. I shall be writing to complain - in fact when I spoke to EK in the UK on my return they were totally unfazed. I doubt I shall get any satisfaction. And before anyone posts that you pay for a seat to get you from A to B (with which I would normally concur), I paid for Suites on the A380 and had to settle for a regular F seat on a 773ER.

DTB, I sympathise, anyone here will know I have mixed feelings about EK. However, in the interests of fairness, let me say one thing. Although I love Etihad and (particularly) Qatar, I don't believe either of those carriers would give you any more satisfaction than EK in their complaints handling, should something go badly wrong. I view this mediocre customer service ethos as an occupational hazard in using all the Gulf carriers and take the rough with the smooth. So far I have had nothing but smooth on EY/QR, for which I am thankful. With the amount of travelling you appear to do, I guess some "rough" is a statistical inevitability. Good luck and please keep filing your entertaining posts.

Good on you mate. EK will not understand that their services are deteriorating until many of us stop flying it. I used to be a staunch supporter of EK but now I am making up for my mistakes. I am persuading my friends not to fly them, and I am recently successful with it. I persuaded at least 20 colleagues (6 of them have families) to change to EY so far, for the Christmas holidays. I know it is not much, but I am trying. At least the good connection on EY from SYD to RUH is helping out a bit.

Goodbye EK

DTB, I sympathise and totally agree with your sentiments. My wife and I recently flew LHR-DXB-BKK-DXB-LGW in F to celebrate her birthday and our 25th wedding anniversary. Whilst the service on board could not be faulted and we shall let EK know, I was staggered by the inflexibility of EK to my request for flight changes following the removal of the A380 on the BKK-DXB sector on 19 October. We had expressly chosen this routeing to experience the Suites on the A380 but were advised we could not change our flights unless we paid an exorbitant amount of money. I shall be writing to complain - in fact when I spoke to EK in the UK on my return they were totally unfazed. I doubt I shall get any satisfaction. And before anyone posts that you pay for a seat to get you from A to B (with which I would normally concur), I paid for Suites on the A380 and had to settle for a regular F seat on a 773ER.

Sounds a bit off. Is there a difference in price between F on the 773 and the 380? Reason i ask is that I know that in C between LHR and LAD via DXB the price is standard, whatever plan you get from LHR. That may be their view - it costs the same for whatever plane? I would be p*ssed off too if I expected a 380 and got a 777 mind you. T7's are my least favourite widebody ever - just horribly noisy beasts.

DTB, I sympathise, anyone here will know I have mixed feelings about EK. However, in the interests of fairness, let me say one thing. Although I love Etihad and (particularly) Qatar, I don't believe either of those carriers would give you any more satisfaction than EK in their complaints handling, should something go badly wrong. I view this mediocre customer service ethos as an occupational hazard in using all the Gulf carriers and take the rough with the smooth. So far I have had nothing but smooth on EY/QR, for which I am thankful. With the amount of travelling you appear to do, I guess some "rough" is a statistical inevitability. Good luck and please keep filing your entertaining posts.

For what its worth - I was on EY JFK - AUH last summer and my IFE did not work for the entire duration of the flight. Of course I was extremely irritated having nothing to do for 14 hours, and all seats in every class being full. But the crew were nice enough to let me stand at the rear of the plane and keep trying to reset my system while chatting with them. When I wrote to the Etihad CS pointing out that I had a choice of carriers and wouldn't be flying with them again, I got a prompt reply with an offer of 5000 miles. While it may not be much, at least it gave me the impression that they care, and unlike EK, one doesn't have to struggle to get some sort of compensation. Also, when our suitcase was damaged on an Etihad flight, they promptly replaced it with a new one (though that may have something to do with one of the passengers being a Gold).

Having been a loyal EK flyer for some time, having clocked up almost 200'00 Tier miles this year, I am calling it a day!

I wrote to EK advising them of the appauling service I received on a return flight, BHX-DXB in J class the other week, the DXB-BHX was outstanding, could not have been better. I upgraded using my miles, and asked them to recredit the miles for the return journey into my account, as the whole experience was what I considered to be worse than economy class standards! As you can imagine, I have had many flights this year, this is the first time I have written to them, so am not one of these that write after every journey trying to get things for nothing...



DTB, what specifically was so bad about the flight? You mention "appalling service" but dont elaborate?

Obviously you fly an enormous amount and up until this point - EK have done the right thing by you. If it was me, I would persist with your complaint until you got through to someone who could rectify your situation.

You saying you're quitting the airline wont prove anything to EK. Sure, it will make you feel better (temporarily).

My experience with these incidents (and all airlines are guilty of it) is that if it matters to you and you want your miles re-credited for the upgrade, and you want to communicate your poor experience and explain why it was poor (without the emotion), then it really does pay to find a person senior enough within EK to talk with.

FWIW, this is the problem with EK's current frequent flyer system and Gold being their highest level. You've flown 4X the amount of tier miles and yet you are treated exactly the same as somone who has flown 50K. There is no way to tell the difference. If you were a GS on UA, a Solitaire on SQ or part of the Chairmans Lounge on QF, your voice would be heard.

I'm not taking EK's side here (even though I have had a trouble free year with them) - I just reckon you should persist in finding someone at the airline and voicing your concerns so they can put it right. If they dont, then yes, form a crusade and let the internet do its work!

Originally Posted by eightblack
FWIW, this is the problem with EK's current frequent flyer system and Gold being their highest level. You've flown 4X the amount of tier miles and yet you are treated exactly the same as somone who has flown 50K. There is no way to tell the difference. If you were a GS on UA, a Solitaire on SQ or part of the Chairmans Lounge on QF, your voice would be heard

This statement is not quite true as cabin staff know exactly who has what in FF status terms as they are issued with a sheet prior to take off. It details who is on what level and also any special customers or important clients, and any special preferences.

I have personally seen this sheet and you would be surprised to know exactly what they know about you onboard.

you would be surprised to know exactly what they know about you onboard.

Care to share?

'This statement is not quite true as cabin staff know exactly who has what in FF status terms as they are issued with a sheet prior to take off. It details who is on what level and also any special customers or important clients, and any special preferences.'

I think the poster was just trying to say that as emirates only has two tiers and you only need 50k to reach gold, where as the original poster would have qualified 4 times over, they are not getting any benefit or special treatment for all of the flying they do. The crew list would not state has flown x amount of miles and thus is a general weakness of the emirates program. where as SQ PPS would show such a flyer I assume

DTB, what specifically was so bad about the flight? You mention "appalling service" but dont elaborate?

Obviously you fly an enormous amount and up until this point - EK have done the right thing by you. !

Appauling service as in:

Dreadful lunge at BHX - usual
Called to gate then waited 20 minutes before boarding
Seat did not work properly
Pre-take off drinks taken off the tray - then sent up to economy, had to wait!
Not once was the glass re-filled during service
Meal dreadful, I merely touched it, when it was "eventually" taken away, more or less untouched, I mentioned to the crew it was the worst I had ever had, she did not blink an eye lid, did not apologize nor offer a different meal.
I was bumped into many times by crew as I had my arm on the aisle seat, passengers managed to walk by without crashing into me.
Crew SLAMMING over head locker constantly, they have to keep things somewhere i admit, but when passengers are sleeping, at least try to close them quietly!
Baggage almost last off
Limo driver a maniac

As you can imagine, I have taken many flights, some better than others, but this took the biscuit, again, I am not one to complain, but this really was worth writting about, in comparisson to others.

My whole point is that if EK do not care for their passengers then I will not care for them! I have enough upcopming trips to go gold on Ethihad and on QR so will try them both and see whom I prefer!

I have personally seen this sheet and you would be surprised to know exactly what they know about you onboard.


For EK if i recall correctly, the only information available to the onboard staff on their printout is your membership number and tier, your balance of redeemable miles (should you wish to make an onboard upgrade) and any preferred meal/drink details. Nothing too much to be surprised about?

Oh they know a lot; see the flight pruser has this laptop. Prior to take off it gets loaded with extensive information about each passenger. I have seen the screen once, it shows where your trip originated, which flight you're connecting from, number of miles, favourite seating/drink, comments made by previous flight staff or say EK staff about you.

I found out about this when one flight purser once asked me:'what did EK do wrong with you?' I was surprised by the question, so he explained that there was a note on the system to treat me in the best possible way. Bottom line is, they know a whole about every passenger if they were to open the laptop.

'This statement is not quite true as cabin staff know exactly who has what in FF status terms as they are issued with a sheet prior to take off. It details who is on what level and also any special customers or important clients, and any special preferences.'

I think the poster was just trying to say that as emirates only has two tiers and you only need 50k to reach gold, where as the original poster would have qualified 4 times over, they are not getting any benefit or special treatment for all of the flying they do. The crew list would not state has flown x amount of miles and thus is a general weakness of the emirates program. where as SQ PPS would show such a flyer I assume

The purser on all EK flights knows exactly how many miles a pax has in their Skywards account. Not sure if they know how many flights you have taken for the year. But if they see a pax with hundreds of thousands of miles it should set the alarm bells ringing.

I sympathize with you too, i said "good bye" to EK almost a year a go after being a gold member for almost 6 years

Their business class desk rep changed my booking over the phone beyond th expiry of my ticket, which i didn’t realize, arrived at the airport in the limo booked by emirates with my boarding passes printed online to find out that MY BOOKING HAS BEEN CANCELED due the EK staff fault!

They forced me to buy the most expensive economy instead 900 Euros for MXP-DXB-MXP , I had no choice

I wrote to Customer Service and met the EK Area manager, but the answer was NO RECORD OF ANY MISTAKE COMITTED BY THEIR STAFF! And no record of any changes to my old booking, despite my boarding passes and my limo booking!

Now, i gave up, i asked for a refund of my unused portion of that business class ticket, they are REFUSING to refund too!

So my decision was based on many factors and am a happy customer with EY and QR now

Good bye EK

Sadly, this also sort of mirrors my experiences on EK of late.

When Emirates first came into being there really was no-one who came close to them in terms of service. They were one of the best but sadly, have simply sat on their laurels for the last few years.
Catering has most definitely taken a dive (I recently had THE very worst meal I have EVER had on any flight anywhere in the world) and the standards have, in my mind at least, dropped seriously of late.

But the biggest problem are the inconsistencies in service, from the really quite laughable lottery of seats in J & F to the extremes of crew quality, which really can range from the sublime to the ridiculous.

I will continue using them for now at least because the chauffeur service is one of the few remaining genuine benefits (and because I can't bear the thought of having to fly Big Airways and change at T5, as I live in the Midlands) but like DTB, I too have my eye on Ethiad and Qatar for future travel. . .

seen this sheet

I remember seeing this sheet in the galley, middle of the night, on a midnight walk to the can. Went back with the phone to take a pic, and they had removed it. So from what I recall.


------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Flyer Talk EK12345678
some random text that I cannot recall
High Value Customer
------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Airliners Net EK1234567p
some random text that I cannot recall

------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. PPRUNE EK12345680
some random text that I cannot recall



Some names ( never got to see the page with mine ) had comments and one guy had High Value Customer under his name. Keep in mind that I'd woken up, was half asleep and recovering from the dinner ;) prior to boarding. I dont recall seeing the skywards status but do remember the "High Value Customer" bit.

The Pursers PC is a different story altogether. As someone pointed out they see every thing in your skywards profile ( skywards miles & tier miles ), except for past and future itineraries,( They can but they are locked out, according the the "purser" because of privacy concerns ). And yes comments must be included, because the guy refused to let me see mine, but gladly showed me the profile(s) of other select pax. None of them had comments, but as am paranoid am guessing mine had something nasty in it. :D

Along with everyone elses comment on "the sheet" they do have one, the Purser on "some" flights comes along to introduce themself to the HVC's (High Value Customers" on the cards they use to write down meal orders it has who is who, the BIG question is - do the crew care????????????????????? Therefore what is the point in having it - another waste of time for EK...

the Purser on "some" flights comes along to introduce themself to the HVC's (High Value Customers)

Oh so thats a High Value Customer? Awesome, glad to know am high value for EK.
Now to the awkward bit about the purser coming over and saying "Welcome Back Mr. Roadrunner21. My name is Ms/Mr Purser, I hope you have an enjoyable flight blah blah".... If the person sitting next to you is not a "HVC" they are either not greeted, awkward... or not greeted with their name and a curt nod given to them.
So the person sitting next to you may feel uncomfortable. And Roadrunner21 goes, "damn it I just told the guy next to me that my name is Bob.... now he knows I lied!" :D

Apart from that meet & greet moment, the EK service reverts back to its usual wheel-of-fortune setup. On one flight the glass gets refilled continuously... on some flights Roadrunner21 picks up the glass walks to the galley and does a DIY job. Once I ended up getting four refills in a row on an overnight flight while reading the amazingly lengthy documents that my employer produces. No one ever bothered to pass by and check the guy in 6A who walks back to the galley ever 18-20 minutes to get a refill.

So Down_The_Back even if EK calls and resolves the issue, dont expect much. In the past three months I've managed to avoid EK on all but three occasions ( there was no other option ).

firstly, D_T_B, i hope that you keep frequenting this section of the board even though you choose to stop flying with EK. i enjoyed reading your trip reports and amusing comments.

the first meet-greet moment is when you step aboard the plane with your BP. on the lower right, most of the time it lists a portion of your skywards number and your level. i noticed that when the FT first takes your BP to tell you which side of the plane you're on and what direction to walk, he/she also will make a point to say, "welcome back, mr. dearbee..." i suppose they only say this for skywards members.

as for the purser greeting, i've never followed up on his/her offer of "please don't hesitate to let me know how i can assist you during this flight." i always have wondered what "extras" i can ask for, besides 2 drinks when my meal is served.

as for the purser greeting, i've never followed up on his/her offer of "please don't hesitate to let me know how i can assist you during this flight." i always have wondered what "extras" i can ask for, besides 2 drinks when my meal is served.

The "extras" could be questions they will answer because you are a High Value Customer


Ask if they will let you take pix of "THE LIST!"
Can I check out the crew rest area ?
Where is the fire axe stowed ?
Can you substitute my meal with the crew meal ?
Whats your username on flyertalk / PPRUNE / airliners.net ?
Is it true that EK chains up and locks the crew at night ?
Why do some of your colleagues snitch on their coworkers ?
Where is the secret crew panic room on board the 773 ?
Whats the pin number for the cockpit door ?


Disclaimer: some of the questions listed above will get you on multiple no-fly / watch lists! :p

The "extras" could be questions they will answer because you are a High Value Customer


Ask if they will let you take pix of "THE LIST!"
Can I check out the crew rest area ?
Where is the fire axe stowed ?
Can you substitute my meal with the crew meal ?
Whats your username on flyertalk / PPRUNE / airliners.net ?
Is it true that EK chains up and locks the crew at night ?
Why do some of your colleagues snitch on their coworkers ?
Where is the secret crew panic room on board the 773 ?
Whats the pin number for the cockpit door ?


Disclaimer: some of the questions listed above will get you on multiple no-fly / watch lists! :p
these are superb inquiries to be made under a different alias. D_T_B should have no problems lending us his name for this mission.

I could add some further questions, that the crew are more likely to be able to answer:

To the European female crew - Which Peroxide have you used?
To the majority of the male crew - Where's the best gay bar to go to when we land? (I once whitnessed one of them openly reading Spartacus on a crew seat)
To the majority in F class - how long before you retire to a ground job?

All this said, I am now flying F class DXB-HKG-DXB end of the month, the client insist I fly Ek - You gotta hate some of them huh?

I will however inform EK before I fly and see if it makes any bit of difference!

I could add some further questions, that the crew are more likely to be able to answer:

To the European female crew - Which Peroxide have you used?
To the majority of the male crew - Where's the best gay bar to go to when we land? (I once whitnessed one of them openly reading Spartacus on a crew seat)
To the majority in F class - how long before you retire to a ground job?

All this said, I am now flying F class DXB-HKG-DXB end of the month, the client insist I fly Ek - You gotta hate some of them huh?

I will however inform EK before I fly and see if it makes any bit of difference!
ahhh, we knew you'd be back even before you left.

hopefully they will make it up to you ;)

Well I am booked with a colleague on EK8 on the 2nd Dec to DXB and then onto Luanda in C class. Guess what.....already changed from a 380 to the dreaded 777-300ER. Still it could be worse, could be a 777-300. By the sounds of things it still could well be!

Same on the way back for me so I guess its not a one off. Pity really, but at least this forum has told me not to even bother asking for any form of refund.

To the European female crew - Which Peroxide have you used? LOL
To the majority of the male crew - Where's the best gay bar to go to when we land? (I once whitnessed one of them openly reading Spartacus on a crew seat) Now THAT is interesting to know...
To the majority in F class - how long before you retire to a ground job? Really? They're that old??

All this said, I am now flying F class DXB-HKG-DXB end of the month, the client insist I fly Ek - You gotta hate some of them huh? Welcome back though DTB

I will however inform EK before I fly and see if it makes any bit of difference! Good Luck on that one...
I'm still waiting for an answer from skywards on a partner rewards question I asked 4 weeks ago....
Still love them onboard though....

Guess what.....already changed from a 380 to the dreaded 777-300ER. Still it could be worse, could be a 777-300.

The 777-300 is way better than the 777-300ER because all J cabins have the new skycruiser seats.

[QUOTE=chunk73;12752630]Well I am booked with a colleague on EK8 on the 2nd Dec to DXB and then onto Luanda in C class. Guess what.....already changed from a 380 to the dreaded 777-300ER.


Not too sure, but I thought the only A380 service out of LHR is EK1. Others may care to correct me if I am wrong.

Correct - for now only EK1/2 are operated by A380. Perhaps once all 58 aircraft are delivered they will be in a position to replace all LHR operations with the beast.

Its also my understanding that EK do not charge a 'premium' for their A380 flights compared to those 777 flights on the same sector. Therefore there shouldnt be a monetary refund to speak of except for one of having to lower your expectations :(

I remember seeing this sheet in the galley, middle of the night, on a midnight walk to the can. Went back with the phone to take a pic, and they had removed it. So from what I recall.


------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Flyer Talk EK12345678
some random text that I cannot recall
High Value Customer
------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Airliners Net EK1234567p
some random text that I cannot recall

------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. PPRUNE EK12345680
some random text that I cannot recall



=D


I saw this list posted in the Galley a couple weeks ago for the first time. I quickly scrolled it to find my name- and it said also Favourite Drink, which I presume is from the Skywards profile -- there was onemore line of info but could not see it and then was the High Valued Customer.

[QUOTE=chunk73;12752630]Well I am booked with a colleague on EK8 on the 2nd Dec to DXB and then onto Luanda in C class. Guess what.....already changed from a 380 to the dreaded 777-300ER.


Not too sure, but I thought the only A380 service out of LHR is EK1. Others may care to correct me if I am wrong.

Actually my bad - it was EK 4 I am on I think (leaves LHR at 2000), not EK 8. What I can say though is right up until last weekend it was a 380 on my itinerary and the seat map on Emirates.com. I can tell as I deliberately went for a window upstairs when booking the seat...which they transferred a to a 77W seat map...so I changed to an aisle seat. The window is fine on the 380...not on the 77w for me!

Interesting info on the Starcruiser seats bein gon all 773's and not all 77W's. Are these the ones that I got on a 77W not long ago...very nice if so?