Originally Posted by
yoonny
I've flown long haul Asiana and Air New Zealand in business class and the overall experience in EK J in A380 was comparable and completely satisfactory. I will take the bar/lounge experience in EK over the anytime noodles in Asiana anyday. Asiana's crew does keep the toilets clean much better and smiles more than all the airlines I've flown.
Now I need to try SQ to see how that is like.
After 5 years of flying EK, last year I tried Etihad (4 flights in J) as well as Cathay Pacific (4 flights in J), SQ (1 flight in J) and ANA (5 flights in Y and 1 in J). Overall, I felt that the Etihad experience, both on the ground and in the air (including the hard product and service) were a tad inferior to EK.
However the experience on the three Asian Carriers was simply outstanding. In some ways I would argue that the EK hard product (except the A330s) was comparable or slightly better than the rest. However the service was truly exceptional. If I think deeply about it, one hallmark of the service was consistency. The crews were extremely well trained, courteous and super efficient. In J, they went out of their way to make you feel special and important, without being over-bearing.
I am based in Hyderabad, India. Given EK's schedules and connections to India, I have preferred flying them, even while flying to say PVG from HYD, as opposed to flying SQ or Thai. But after this latest experience I now restrict using EK to fly to US/EU and instead fly SQ/Cathay to the east.