eponymous_coward

This is pretty much in line with the other trip reports I've seen- the hard product is good, soft not so much.

That being said, you're in a cabin with 76 other C passengers (if it's a full flight) on a 3 hour flight, on a ticket that has an advance fare of ~$550 USD round trip (just checked now for dates two weeks out). (CX is around $1500 for the same route. $1000 is a lot to pay for a faster Diet Coke service.)

Oh, and quite frankly, what you got in terms of hard/soft product blows away most USA-based carriers on comparable-length domestic flights in F (3 hours)- and good luck finding a full-fare F ticket for $550 from, say, SFO-ORD. So the reality is this is a pretty amazing deal, even if it's clear EK is cutting corners a bit. If you don't want them cutting corners, expect the prices to go up.

btang

Isn't this more of a training issue as compared to the price?

eponymous_coward

EK has a reputation of burning through their FAs pretty quickly and having inconsistent service. This is also mentioned in trip reports (some in this forum). They're also adding a lot of Whalejets. This means lots and lots of new hires.

Again, if you want SQ or CX service levels in C, be prepared to pay their prices. You got a product from EK for less than what a lot of American frequent flyers will pay for this year for a coach ticket on a comparable length of trip- but EK is definitely going for volume business that's "good enough", compared to other carriers trying for exclusivity and quality.

Carfield

Thanks for the posting the informative trip report! It is always great to read about EK.

EK lounge in HKG is actually not small, but with two flights departing so close to each other and a sudden increase of F/J passengers, the lounge is a bit too small. I am more disappointed that EK does not have a separate F lounge (that applies to BKK as well).

EK food is actually quite nice... I guess it just depends! But service is a bit rushed on the short HKG-BKK flights due to the higher demand for the meal service. Of course long haul flights will be slighlty better.

However crew remains my biggest disappointment with EK. The multinational F/As look good, but in reality, do not work well together. Some of the F/As can be pretty rude, and I don't think the length of the flight matters, as it depends on the crew you got. The rapid expansion of EK also means less training time, and EK F/As work a more hectic schedule, and most of their flights depart in late evening hours, working against your body clocks.

Look forward to your return flight and hope you have a better experience!

Carfield

LN-FHU

Thanks for your report.Great pics

Hopefully my impression won't be the same on my EK F-trip later this year

eightblack

I would agree that EK's lounge in HKG is probably the worst in the region. And I'd hate to also admit, that UA's IS better. Gasp!

The long-haul service and product on the 380 is better, in my experience. Without making excuses for EK, the HKG-BKK sector is a tough one, given the time available.

And value for money? Certainly competitive...

Oh, and by the way - good trip report.

mrx900

Excellent TR...have yet to try out EK on any class
i wonder if ALL their food is halal on these flights from BKK-HKG?

vieri_c

all food served on EK are halal

btang

That is true. Especially when the 777 serving the direct flight to Dubai will soon be changed to an A380, the lounge will certainly be jam packed during night hours. Perhaps they could reschedule the direct flight?

stimpy

This is very interesting to me as I am about to make the same trip, although in first class. I did this trip two years ago on the 777 and thought the service was excellent. I'm looking forward to the A380 and hope the shower suite is working.

The last time when I was in the EK HKG lounge it seemed fine to me, but it wasn't at all crowded at that time. And maybe I was enjoying the Dom Vintage 2000 too much.

mjcewl1284

Great TR, thanks for sharing!

btang

Introduction:

After six days of vacation, it was time to return home. Our flight was to depart at 1:45p.m. and thus we had to leave Hua Hin and drive two hours back to Bangkok. I was hoping that the flight to Bangkok was only an anomaly and the return trip was to change my view.

Preflight:

We reached the departure level after three flights of escalator. Emirates check in area was at the far right of the terminal. It was quite a walk from the rental car return area, but we eventually arrived there. Emirates had two counters for first class, two business class counter shared by both business class and skyward Gold members, and another line for online check in which basically funnels into one of the business class counters. The business line got really long until one of the agents opened another counter just for online check in. Finally! In the meantime, Emirates staff gave out these really cool plastic baggage tags to us, and not the cheap paper ones handed out by most other airlines. It was then our turn to check in. Coincidentally, I was assigned the exact same seat I had flew in, but my parents seats were . They were offered a pair of middle seats by the check in agent but graciously declined that offer. The agent efficiently tagged our bags with priority tags, handed us our boarding passes and told us to drop off our golf bags to the oversized bags drop off area.

Since my mom wanted to get a VAT refund, we had to trek all the way from the far right, across the departure level(before security) to the far left, where we found a small hidden little counter that says “VAT refund” Obviously the Thailand government doesn’t want tourists to get reclaims, but we were persistent. We then had to walk all the way back to the CIP Fast Track Immigration area on the far right. Immigration was fast, and security checkpoint had few people. After security, we walked towards the direction of the airline lounge.

The lounge attendant after scanning our boarding passes, graciously invited us in. The Emirates Lounge was quite full by the time we entered. My parents found an area was open and so they sat on the couches for a little while. I was sweating a little bit and so decided to take a shower. I quickly browsed around but did not find any indication of a would be shower room. I asked one of the lounge attendants and as it turns out there were two shower rooms and they were basically in the men’s bathroom. She also handed me one large package in which it contains towels, toothbrush, razor etc. all wrapped in plastic wrap. Hoping there would at least be a bench to put my clothes onto, it turned out that it was essentially just a shower stall. I didn’t really mind, but I would not have wanted to put my clothes on the floor if I had the choice. Coming out of the shower rejuvenated, I went to check out the food offering. As mentioned by other fellow Flyertalkers, the food and drinks on offer was very plentiful. There were antipastos, sushi’s, fruits, satays, desserts, hot food and lots of drinks. I proceeded to take some from the spread and ordered a Tom Yam Goong. The food tasted much better than those in the Hong Kong lounge, and the soup was nice and hot.

My mom went to the business center to check her office email, and so I stayed with my dad and read the Bangkok Post for a while. After enjoying an hour and a half in the lounge, we saw our clock. One of the lounge attendants saw that many passengers were leaving, but quickly tried to stop and inform them that the flight has been delayed for another half an hour, and that she would tell them should the time come. No matter, I got myself another can of Perrier and mixed it with orange juice. At around 2:00, another lounge attendant came around and announced that the flight was ready for boarding. All in all, the lounge was much better than the one in Hong Kong. The staff was simply much more helpful and the food tasted better and had a wider variety. Even my dad thought the wine offered in this lounge tasted much better than those served in the Hong Kong lounge.

Today, Emirates EK385 was boarding from Gate E8. As we approached the gate, we saw that the holding area was absolutely jam packed. Surprisingly, there was a separate stair case for Business and First Class passengers that led directly to the gate agents instead of going through the mass of crowd. The gate agent quickly scanned our boarding passes and wished us a pleasant flight. We walked along the corridor and turned right into the jetway leading up to the upper deck.

The Flight Begins:

Entering the doors on the upper deck, I was greeted by an Italian(I think)pursuer. He offered to show me my seat(does that usually happen?)but I knew where I was sitting so I declined that offer. I stowed my bags on top and settled in. A flight attendant came over and asked in Thai whether I wanted champagne, orange juice or apple juice. I was surprised that 1. She thought I was Thai and 2. the fact that she spoke Thai because she certainly looked European. I then replied in English saying I would like the apple juice and she looked surprised as well, but nevertheless moved on.

This flight again was quite full, but the passengers were much more diverse. There were some businessman type probably returning home after a business trip, some middle eastern family that probably came in on the Dubai flight, and some couples who just wanted to experience the novelty of the A380. After a while, another flight attendant came by and handed me a menu, wine list and asked whether I needed a landing card. I thanked her and said I did not need one. I looked at the seat back in front of me and found that there was still trash left from the previous leg of the flight, maybe the ground crew should have been more meticulous in cleaning the cabin. Hmm…….

As we pushed back for takeoff, the Emirates A380 safety video was shown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSGaR...eature=related

After takeoff, an information video was shown on the various features of the ICE Entertainment system. I thought it was quite cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h61FmD5zGS0

Light Meal
Hong Kong to Bangkok
Appetizers
Gravlax Salmon
Roasted Cajun Chicken
Main Course
Stir Fried Chicken
Lamb Korna
Red Snapper with pine nut crust
Dessert
Passion Fruit Panna Cotta
Bread
Breadbasket
Cheese
International Cheese Selection
Beverage
Tea
Coffee
Chocolates
When the European looking flight attendant that spoke Thai came by and asked for my meal choice (this time in English), I chose the salmon for appetizer and stir fried chicken for my main. This flight, she asked if I would like to have anything to drink along with my meal unlike the other flight. I asked for mango juice with ice and this request was quickly obliged. In the meantime, I put on my noise cancelling headphones and began to watch “She’s out of my league”. However, I did not have the patience to watch an entire movie on this short flight, and soon I switched over and listened to some tunes from one of the Jazz CD albums instead.

Linen was placed on my table and my appetizer tray, Gravalax salmon, along with the dessert came in very soon. Presentation was better than the salmon I had on EK384, and it’s taste was quite divine. She then came around again and held a breadbasket in her hands asking what I would like. Garlic bread as usual, and my request was obliged.

After my appetizers were finished, the friendly flight attendant brought my main course around and offered me another drink. I asked for the same drink. The noodles tasted much better than its presentation. I was satisfied. My lunch tray was taken away soon enough, and so along with my dad we decided to check out the highly revered Emirates on board lounge. We headed to the back of the plane, and found it to be quite spacious. My dad ordered up a glass of red wine, which was quickly poured by the bartender. At that time, the flight attendants were in the process of clearing up tray tables for the rest of the passengers so the area was quite busy. Nevertheless, a flight attendant took the time to carry a plate of chocolates and offer me something to drink. I thanked her for the gesture, but declined her offer of a drink. My dad and I sat down in one of the couches, feeling quite excited to be enjoying all of this at 40,000 feet in the air. It made me think, how quickly aviation travel has changed since the ages when passengers were still cramped in small propeller planes having insurmountable stops just to get from one destination to another.

The lounge was a nice concept, but of course seems to be more work for those serving the passengers. However, I think the snacks and drink setup actually lessens the work for flight attendants on a long haul flight. Passengers can just head back and get some snacks without the need to press a call button and order something from a menu. We only hung out in the lounge for less than twenty minutes, because by the time we sat down, had a drink and some bites, the bar had to close down half an hour before landing.

With around half an hour before landing, I decided to take a little nap and reclined my seat to full flat position. I placed the mattress, my pillows and my blanket onto my seat, and dived right in for a quick nap.

I was woken up just when we were maybe a couple miles out of Hong Kong. I quickly put my seat back into full upright position. Emirates EK385 landed on runway 7L, and after a quick taxi, we arrived at our gate. After coming to a complete stop, everyone began to leave their seats and get their bags from the overhead bins. However, it was not until after fifteen minutes later when the Captain came on and said that the aero-bridge that connected to the upper deck malfunctioned. Attempts to repair the bridge failed, so the flight attendants decided to hold off the economy passengers leaving the aircraft downstairs. They allowed first class and business class passengers on the upper deck to go down through the forward staircase and use the aerobridge on the lower deck. Our luggage quickly came out of the reclaim area, and in no time we were in a taxi heading back home. This concludes my trip report from Bangkok to Hong Kong.

Conclusion:
To conclude, I feel that Emirates still has a long way to go. The service delivered by the flight attendants are somewhat inconsistent, and of course in time training hopefully can solve this problem. However, for Emirates to deploy its flagship on such a short route effectively poses a threat to long time route operators like Cathay Pacific and Thai. But I guess its aggressive strategies are forcing traditional full service carriers to raise their standards in terms of both hardware and software offerings. The flat bed seat itself is unbeatable, at least not with Cathay deploying its decade old regional product, not even with the current long haul herringbone product can it match the comfortness of the A380. The entertainment system ICE is unrivaled with such a vast selection of entertainment, I could easily sit days before sampling all of the offerings on ICE. Although the service itself is still unrefined, travelling Business on an A380, being able to enjoy an on board lounge, a full flat seat, all of this with such an attractive deal, I can ask for no more.

stimpy

Nice report. When did you take this flight? I was on the BKK-HKG flight yesterday but there was no problem with the bridge, at least from the forward location where First class deplanes. In First, the service, food and wine was fantastic. Exactly what I expected it to be.

I too was hot from running around in Bangkok. But I took a shower on the plane.

GodAtum

Thanks for your report. The business seats on the A380 are amazing as there is loads of privacy and storage space!

btang

I took this flight three weeks ago, I just didn't have time to finish the rest of the report. I'm glad you enjoyed taking a shower up in the air