This month I had three RT to China- as a result I ended up flying LX, LH, and EK- also in September I flew QR- I thought it could be interesting to do a "head to head" comparison on business class with each carrier and compare with others experiences. Note I used to fly only LH/LX/OS to Asia- however the series of changes in M&M and the risk of labour disruptions with Lufthansa have pushed more of my business to other airlines. Here is the comparison:

Checkin: As I start usually from VCE- the winners here are QR and EK- why? Because passport control is at VCE which is much faster and easier in VCE compared to the queues at FRA. Compared to ZRH? More or less the same. I would also give some points here to EK as they offer free pickup and dropoff from your home or office (a service I value at 80 EUR each way as that is our internal costing for our driver to/from VCE).

Boarding: The winner here is EK- they use two gates at VCE to board- one for First/Business and one for economy- much better than either QR or LH.

Inflight: Winner here is definitely QR. The inflight service is excellent and the recognition and use of name is 100%.

Amenity Kit: Winner here is QR with the very nice Ferragamo kits. EK is second with Bulgari. LX is third although the quality of the Question kits they are using now is well- Questionable. The "tin" is throwaway with LX. LH kits are not worth taking either with the exception of the eye mask.

Catering: Winner is EK- excellent food quality and a very interesting wine selection. Definite loser here is LH where the food is not worth eating unless starving and the wines are very low quality in business now.

Transit: Winner is LH- although perhaps unfair as I am comparing HON to non-HON. I do like the premium terminal at QR- for the moment the HON/FCL is better except at MUC where it is much too crowded and there is usually a morning wait for a shower. I guess we will see what happens when the new terminal opens as DXB- at the moment though the lounges are very overcrowded.

The "middle of the night" transit- often it is mentioned that the problem with the ME carriers is the middle of the night transit. This is indeed an issue with many flights. EK is getting much better here as they now have a 21:50 departure from VCE which arrives around 5:30A in DXB. This works as it allows a full working day and also enough sleep (5.5-6 hours). QR is still a problem in this area.

The seat: The winner here by far is QR- their product on the 777 (which is what they use for longhaul to China in general) is similar to the "old" F on LH. The EK seat on the 777 is comfortable and the provision of a mattress in business is much appreciated- however they do have a middle seat which is not very comfortable (although with ASR it is not likely you will receive this unless booking very last minute). The clear loser is LH- terrible short haul with no space for luggage, horrible catering, and customers lining up to use the washrooms which are not sufficient for the plane. The longhaul LH may be better with the new aircraft- but they are not using this on any flights to China at the moment.

IFE: Clear winner of EK. The ICE system is excellent.

Ground Services at outstations: I would say the winner here is LX at least in China. EK is terrible at outstations. QR not much better. Perhaps though I am tainted comparing HON service to non-HON. Not sure.

Frequent flyer: A flex fare with EK and their bonuses nets tons of miles and the redemption fees are much more reasonable than LH. My last "award" ticket was for my partner to fly with me to DEL and netted 600 EUR in fees round trip in business. Given the revenue ticket was only 1500 EUR it was hardly worth it. In comparison the same reward with EK cost 120 USD in fees.

Recognition: Every flight recognized by name on EK. QR hit and miss. LX 100%. LH zero.

OP UPS: A very sensitive topic indeed- with EK received OP UP to F from C as a gold member DXB-VCE. I have received zero OP UP with LH or LX this year. QR no OP UP possible as I am flying in business and they do not offer F from VCE nor to China.

Price: Clear winner here with EK. 2000 EUR cheaper than LH/LX. QR is close to LH/LX prices.

Destinations: LH/LX do not fly to CAN so the winner here is QR/EK as otherwise it is required to take the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong which eats up about 4 hours including transit to HKG.

Comment: EK provided me with I/O service at DXB yesterday- I have no idea why as I am not an I/O member. I/O is definitely at least competitive with HON if not even better. No idea on how to qualify however so I don't know if this is reasonable to compare.

Final Comment: I would never have even started taking the ME carriers were it not for the labour disruptions/risks at LH and the overall arrogance of the way of treating customers which I find borderline offensive. Now that I am using on a very regular basis the ME carriers I won't even bother with HON at all. The benefits are not there any more and the current management approach to antagonistic relationships with customers is dismaying.