What's not to like? Wonderful all around experice...Thank you EK!
 

I read mixed reviews before my first flights on EK. I just returned from taking 5 flights on EK and wanted to say that I experienced nothing but exceptional services.

5 flights (4 in Y and last in J): JFK-DXB (A380), DXB-MLE, MLE-CMB, CMB-DXB, and DXB-JFK (A380 in J).

All flights were on time. Food is good to excellent. Flight crews are friendly and caring. ICE entertainment is really superb. And the last flight on A380 in business class was just fantastic. Great wines, champagne, food, fully flat massage chair, and that lounge/bar experience was really special. Chauffeur drive service in DXB and JFK were also excellent and on-time.

What's not to like? Thank you EK and the crew!

Excellent! I'm really pleased for you.^

Always nice to read about a positive experience.

Great that you had good flights. I think you'll find some of the complaints on here related to what you benchmark the experience against. Compared to an American carrier of course EK is superb. But it's not the be all and end all of the industry and people sometimes feel shortchanged after spending several grand on a ticket.

wow its refreshing to see someone finally mention a good experience on EK on this board

I'll second that!

I've just flown for the first time with EK, J all round, out GVA-DXB-SYD, then back MNL-DXB-GVA. Apart from being told on check in at GVA that I was on standby for the leg DXB-SYD with a confirmed booking, which left me pretty miffed (eventually got a seat but what a hassle), I have to say that the flying experience was absolutely first rate, lounge in DXB superb, and despite the standby hiccup (next time I'll doubly ensure I have a confirmed seat and not just a confirmed flight with seat allocated at check in) I'll certainly be using EK again.

Before anyone posts a negative thread about EK I'd suggest that they go suffer the mediocrity of a long haul or three with AF :td: or if you really want to suffer a good old fashioned dose of masochism, BA :td: so that they have something to compare against. Only then will you appreciate the all round significant extra bang for your buck that EK gives. For example, do either BA or AF limo you to the airport? Do they have ICE of equal standard? The quality of the food and attentiveness of the CC..........etc, etc..........

Hats off to you all at EK. Having suffered AF and BA for many years I've finally found an airline which makes the effort, with staff that go the extra mile and moreover appreciates me and my business. My EK experience was a breath of fresh air.

Spot on. Thanks :cool:

I think most of us usually end up having a good experience on EK. IMO, the issue seems to be that EK has completely spoilt our habits (and expectations) in the good old days. While it is still way better than most (all?) of its competitors even now, service levels have been going down and isn't what it used be a couple of years ago on EK. That is what most people rant about.

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.