YClass

I've flown LHR-DXB/AUH route multiple times over the years BA F on 789, 744, 773 so fairly well acquainted. Recently I've tried EY, QR and EK (not the newest seat) also in F 388. So I thought I'd summarize my thoughts:

Seat:

<6-8 Hours Emirates- fun seat, spacious, big TV, big shower on A380. QR is nice in F though not as private (albeit smaller number of seats) and no shower.
>6-8 Hours Etihad - can't beat the space especially travelling as a couple, also shower on board. Certainly the most "wow" factor due to privacy and space.

Food: Etihad for the "chef" experience, Emirates/Qatar for the caviar.

Drinks: Emirates by far (last flight had DP P2, Cheval Blanc, 1966 port and Hennessy Paradis....), then probably BA, then Etihad, then QR.

Crockery/Dining Set-Up: Etihad has the smartest (think Reidel glasses), then Emirates/Qatar.

IFE: Emirates by far. Big screen, big selection. Then Qatar then Etihad. BA has such unreliable quality and small selection.

WiFi: Etihad has WiFi and cellular. Emirates has WiFi (decent enough). BA still joining the 21st century.

Amenity Kits: Emirates perhaps beats Etihad because of the goody basket as well as usual amenity stuff, but Etihad has a higher element of class. I haven't tried the latest Qatar offering, though they do have the best blankets on some flights.

Service: Etihad the most personal (much fewer seats), then with a good crew its a toss up between QR, BA and EK, though my gut is EK more consistent. I'll add that 789 service on BA with the right crew is great (only 8 seats) similar to QR A388.

Crockery: Etihad's plates and glasses win (love the cognac glasses). Then Emirates, Qatar, then BA.

Home Market Departure Experience: Etihad has (had?) car service, very personal seated check-in, straight to a smart and quiet lounge (with gym!). Emirates has car service, extremely long way to lounge, but then entire floor of terminal is the lounge.... I think I would go with Emirates for a one-off experience, but perhaps Etihad for regular experience (if I lived close enough). QR cars to plane are great and the Lounge in Doha is impressive. BA F check-in is nice enough. Lounges no where near as good, though to be fair, a much better drinks selection, worse food selection.

Boarding: Emirates (straight from lounge), QR with a car is great, then Etihad, then BA (I hate B gates....).

So prices being equal, I would probably take Emirates F to Dubai, but Etihad F to e.g. Sydney. With QR only a few flights have F, so you would likely connect to J which isn't ideal. Though to be fair, I wouldn't complain with either! BA is average, sorry to "bash" but that's the reality - they are absolutely worlds apart in quality, service and value for money. QR F is similar too, wine list average, but apart from that it is better across the board - seat, food, lounges, transfers, etc.

I honestly feel at home on BA but in the end once I reach Gold, I really see no reason to keep spending on BA. It was a bit eye-opening to be honest. Might as well use Emirates/Etihad and collect their miles and transfer some Amex points and continue to experience them on a dime.....

For what its worth, most of the time I choose convenience (I'd rather not connect onto a short haul). So e.g. TATL BA F really is the best option then AA F. Of course from the continent AF and LH (and probably LX) are even better.... Now I need to try the other way and test out the Asian carriers!

Lucanesque

Interesting comparison, thanks for sharing.

Ultimately who one flies with is going to be down to balancing routing, convenience, and comfort (I include the hard/soft product in this last one). Personally, I doubt I'll fly any of the ME3 as 90% of my flying is either to USA or it's for trips where I value the direct connections higher than the potential increase in comfort, particularly after reading so many reports around QR when things go wrong and people are left unsupported.

Phil the Flyer

YClass - better don your tin helmet!

DYKWIA

Cos that never happens on BA

msm2000uk

Worth adding that QR do offer WIFI onboard.

May I ask the OP where they had the QR 'car to plane' service?

The A380s are the only aircraft with F, and those always park at the main terminal at DOH...so while you may get a buggy (rare as the walk to the AS Lounge is no more than 3mins), you certainly wouldn't be offered a car service.

M

Edit: As QR no longer fly to DXB or AUH, they may be a mute point in this comparison.

HIDDY

All of our F experiences were done on the cheap but in order to do it I had to drag my poor wife through several continents to make it work. Many years later she still asks me questions along the lines of ''why did we go there to get to such and such a place?''.
It was fun at the time but I would never do it again no matter how fantastic an airlines F product is.

Lucanesque

Absolutely it does, otherwise there wouldn't be threads like that awful story in the recent involuntary denial of boarding thread But I've picked up on more horror stories on QR than BA (which given they carry a third fewer passengers is what's eyebrow raising).

Phil the Flyer

flatlander

With any of these WiFi experiences, you have to ask if the pricing is realistic. 10MB on Qatar let me read 4 pages (the thread index and 3 pages of discussion) on Flyertalk before it ran out. So paying the US $20 for 200MB will let me read flyertalk for... probably an hour or so, at my reading speed. I might be able usefully to send and receive some email in 200MB, but browsing any modern graphical, active content website is right out.

AA's $20 (or thereabouts) for the whole flight with unlimited data is much more realistic - the speed is OK (probably because the cost discourages very casual usage) and I can work or browse the web well for the whole flight.

QR's wifi does not exist to me - it's just a marketing claim until they fix the pricing to not be a "get-lost" price. That's a price designed to make you go away.

Rumours online say they will redo the pricing later this year; then it may be useful.

Phil the Flyer

DYKWIA

Similar with me on EK (especially the A380s).... for different reasons

msm2000uk

True, but to use a comparison of an airport QR stopped using over 4 years ago, is surely irrelevant.

In terms of WiFi, Longhaul F passengers are given a Free WiFi voucher, which covers the whole flight, so technically it's free.

M

Phil the Flyer

YClass

Fair point - I mixed the old airport. However if you land off-stand and connect you do get far more pleasant transfer than e.g. BA buses....

itsmeitisss

Does this really belong in the BAEC section?

I don't think so.