A380 Trip

Same as before, not a patch on the B777 service. FA only interested to Golds, she spoke to the guy behind me for ages then just said 'The wine list for the flight' to me! Then spoke to a guy in front of me who flies with them all the time for ages too. I think he was famous or something because he did autographs for people. He was American, but ignored the seat belt sign and just got up and went to the loo when we were taxiing out for TO!!!

Service was bad again, and the seat was dirty. One of my lockers wouldn’t shut and the food was average. I asked for a selection of cheese for breakfast and got fruit and coffee.

This is an example of one of the dirty areas of the seat;

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../340205330.jpg

I asked the FA if she could clean it, she said yes and didnt so I used one of the hot towels to do it.

Cabin was roasting hot, then cold, then hot again.

How can it all be so different to the B777 team? Perhaps I should just stick with the B777 from now?

Flew Ek015 last week in J. No wine offered by the FA for both the starter and the main course. I had to ask for the same. Noticed that she did'nt offer it to any of the passengers unless they asked for it.Is this some new cost cutting excercise?:mad::mad:

Welcome to the conclusion that many of us have already reached. The A380 crew are driving away regular customers from Emirates. I haven't switched business to other carriers quite as yet, but I have switched from A380 operated flights to B777 flights on multiple occasions simply to avoid the A380 crews. I know of others though who avoid Emirates specifically because of bad A380 experiences.

The main problem is the relative inexperience of the crew compared to main fleet. Many (if not most) G1s on A380 fleet have only ever operated the A380 and indeed there are a number of SFS's who only have A380 experience. You get "kids" in Business Class on the A380 who have been flying for only one year or less. Their inability to juggle individual passenger needs together with a ridiculously inflexible and labour intensive service pattern leads to outright poor service on occasion, and puts them under time pressure so they sometimes come across as rude or uncaring to passengers.

The A380 hard product is fantastic but many crews (and the overreaching service they are expected to deliver) turn what should be a superlative experience into a negative one.

I think it all depends. Some of my most memorable EK flights have been on the A380 (JFK-DXB, LHR-DXB ). I've only done maybe 6 sectors on the A380 in J, but all times I couldn't fault them.

I'd be interested to see how the new J service is working on the airbus. My last few J flights on the 777 have been good - but the the crew working the 777 on the SIN-MEL flight the other night were stressed and hurried (maybe because of the night flight) so it will be interesting to see how they go today (as its the same crew).

Not sure I agree with you about "kids" in business class not being able to deliver a solid customer service experience just because they have been flying a short time. I would think their attitude more than anything is what counts, rather than how long they've flown.

Early A380 flights were a lot different as the initial 380 crew was made up of transplants from main fleet who actually applied to transfer. Subsequently, over half of all new hires began to be assigned ab-initio to 380 fleet meaning that the average experience on 380 fleet dropped precipitously. You can still get the odd exceptional crewmember on the 380 fleet, but the chances of having an absolute shocker of an experience on the 380 is a lot higher than on the main fleet. It's both anecdotal evidence and empirical fact. EK management knows. Changes are coming.

I'm going to have to agree with B747-437B on this one. It might just be coincidence or bad luck or whatever you want to call it but the A380 service is just no comparison to the main fleet nowadays.

I am not usually one to complain about cabin service and am just happy if my IFE and seat controls are working but had a very cold/uninterested service on my last A380 sector. This was the new J meal service which I must say was extremely quick and efficient but no different than a Y service with trays just being dropped on your seat and you have to ask for a drink or any extras you want rather than being offered them.

Having said that this is no controlled experiment and it varies based on sector, route, time of day, mood of staff etc...

I have had no problems on the 380 in J flying between YYZ and DXB, apart from one Russian FA (memo to EK: do not hire Russians or Ukrainians). Excellent food and very good service. Flying DXB-YYZ a few weeks ago the crew seemed a good mix of new and experienced.

First time on Emirates for me last week my views on both the A380 plus 777 back to London and services from KHI:

A380 - Seat great, service poor. Why did it take so long to get a drink after take off ? The FA came and took the orders for dinner plus a drink and I waited and waited and in the end just got off my lazy ... and went to the bar. Then she brought the wrong drink (but hey I had both :D).

Food was okay but again service was painfully slow and I passed on dessert as I had already watched a film (1.30 hrs) and I had just finished dinner - But after the lounge (which is wonderfull) I was not that hungry.

KHI to DXB - again drinks order was taken but not delivered until the dinner arrived 45 min wait. Cannot Emriates do a pre dinner drinks run ?

777 back to LHR - Service more personal, but as this was the 02.30 departure the light bite menu was in place, food was okay but not very substantial. Seat is very uncomfortable certainly need the matress)

So overall it was just okay..nothing special (apart from the lounge), I usually fly BA and to be honest I will not be looking to change my J class carrier after this.

And this is why pax pay over the odds to fly EK?

:rolleyes:

Well, on routes I travel, EK is one of the better priced options and has, imo, a v good product in 1st and the cpl of times I have done business has been decent

Same happened to me, I had two returns to ICN in June, all in J and the mealservice was a drama in three out of the four flights.
Two flights I travelled with my fiance, it took two hours until they started the mealservice on both flights, besides that they were not able to serve our meals together. My fiance finished almost her maincourse at the time I received my starter..., the call button was ignored! Another issue was, that they kept the seat-belt signs on until almost everybody was sleeping, to avoid that the passengers are using the bar (this was confirmed by a cabin crew member). The was not a single shaking by turbulences and BC was only 40 % occupied on this flight.

The flights I was travelling by myself I tried to sleep as much as possible and asked to get only the most possible simple meal (means a coffe and pastries) prior arrival and this as late as possible. It worked out when I left DXB, coze I woke up bymyself before the mealservice prior arrival and decided to eat, but it ended up out of ICN in that way, that I was woken up by the crew for the dinner two hours after we left Seoul at two am in the morning local time (the two DND stickers were maybe not enouth), and the second time I was woken up three hours before landing to get a full breakfast instead of a coffee and two pastries two hours later!

On this flight I was welcomed a cabin crew member (one time out of total 8 flights in the last month) with the "Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you" question. A nice gesture, but totally useless, so I am not upset anymore when I get ignored in the future...;)!

I don´t understand why EK is simply not offering an express meal option or an continental breakfast until one hour before landing in BC, like competitors doing it, the will have the time if they stop collecting the blankets and headphones ninety minutes before landing... :D

Let´s see what the new "Tray-Service" will bring, hopefully an "enhancement" with positive impact...

This reminds me of my PEK-DXB flight on the A380 last year where the service in one aisle was so slow that they other aisle was already taking breakfast orders while the first aisle was still clearing away the dinner service.

As for not paying attention to the DND stickers, don't get me started....

BKK-HKG-BKK in F
 

OK we are back from our trip.

BKK-HKG : On checkin in BKK advised the check in staff to advise the purser to chill the DOM. On board we were first served a half open Moet, but I insisted on the Dom and she(FA) brought a new bottle. The staff was attentive and doting at times. But upon questioning they did not seem to want to work in economy, one even told me that she was seeing a psychiatrist because she was abused by her boyfriend. EK then told her that she will only be allowed to work if she puts on some weight as she had an eating disorder after her abuse(OMG why tell me all these details). The chief purser a woman came over to say thank you etc and that she is quitting EK as she is moving to Canada(LOL).
Overall the experience was very good.

HKG-BKK : I was not served a welcome drink but my travelling companion got his drink. I had to ask for my drink and the FA was good enough to get me one. Food was better on this sector. The staff later gave me loads of Godiva chocolates to bring home to my nieces and nephews. The crew was pleasant and friendly but yet again told me that most want to leave. Seems like a morale issue.

The FG1s you probably dealt with are the EK equivalent of the UA dinosaurs. They love to gripe and moan and threaten to quit, but rarely do. They eventually get knocked up by some sheikh and become contributors to obscure travel magazines.

The reality is that SQ has an amazing J product while EK has a pretty mediocre J product.

However, I always pay for EK F because I find the EK F Suites to be the best out there, even surpassing SQ's F Suites. Oh and I admit that I am addicted to the EK A380 showers. ;)