EK is a good airline, but not a great airline.

EK used to be a great airline. They grew too fast and have declined a lot.

Ground operation in DXB is sloppy at best, there is never any apparent effort to leave on time. Check-in can take 5 minutes or an hour, you never know. Waiting for bags for an hour in the US would never fly (pun intended).

Service on the airplane is usually very good. Food in Y is better than most carriers, J is comparable but certainly not better. And since I fly mostly DL I have very low expectations for food.

The best thing that EK offers is the limo service for J/F passengers.

I still fly EK but do not go out of my way to do it.