Stirring the pot a bit

So - flew EK for the first time in years today - DXB-MLE-CMB, bought on less than 12 hours notice, they were one of only 2 reasonable options. Here are my observations:

- not having status is the rudest shock ever. What do you mean the flight is overbooked and you are leaving me in Y between an obese gentleman and a vomiting child?

- DXB is not fun. I've always found AUH to be much more comfortable and relaxed, with or without lounge. This is in fact the reason I started flying EY to begin with. Things haven't changed.

- J seating (didn't fly it, just boarded through it) seems well inferior. 2-3-2 config on the 777. A middle seat in J? EY (not to mention WY) are spoiling me. Plus, I find the gold trim to be downright tacky.

- Likewise for F. Weren't suites. Worse than WY's J

And (drumroll) - the positives:

- EK ICE inflight entertainment system is miles ahead of E-Box, at least content-wise.

- EK's inflight GSM wins for me - though it is of course trumped by WY's GSM + Internet.

- Price - just barely on this one. I could have done DXB-MCT-CMB for slightly more and probably should have. But the draw of a walk around in Malé on a reasonably timed layover got me in the end

Anyone else care to chip in with their experiences?