An Emirates Experience
 

Following discussion on this thread, I've taken the time to post a particularly bad experience with Emirates and hopefully explain what has led to my negative feelings.

DXB-BHX (Y Class)
Worst. Flight. Ever.

Before Take Off

FAs seemed stressed and edgy & unusually weren't addressing passengers by name, instead using "Sir/Madam" and pointing the direction of the seat. This wasn't an issue for me but it was odd.

As passengers boarded (I was already seated), one FA was walking towards the front of the aircraft whilst a passenger was walking towards the rear. She told him to, "get out of the way please." He seemed taken aback and simply moved into a seat row to let her past. Why couldn't the FA have done this and let him pass by?

On previous flights, a hot towel and water/grape juice drink were served prior to takeoff. I asked a passing FA (the one from the previous paragraph) if I could get some water. She said drinks would be served to all passengers before takeoff. Those drinks (and the hot towels) never materialised.

I was really thirsty as the flight into DXB was delayed and we had to go to security and then to the boarding gate of the connecting flight asap. Not a big fan of T3's layout!

After Take Off

As soon as the fasten seatbelt signs went out, I went to the galley and got some water. It felt good. :D

Speaking of call buttons, passengers pressed them but nobody ever came. The call lights seemed to switch off remotely. Some passengers got up and got drinks from the nearest galley, as did I (two FAs were there happily chatting away to each other).

Meals were served (only one out of three options available but not an issue for me). Nobody came to collect the trays for over an hour after everyone had finished. There wasn't any post-meal tea/coffee as on previous flights. The passenger in the window seat needed to get up (loo) but said there was no hurry. I asked a passing FA if the trays could be collected. She said she was only selling duty free and suggested I pressed the call button. I did but (as expected) nobody responded.

Due to my aisle seat location (C) I managed to get out of the seat, holding my tray and unplugged headphones. The passenger in seat B then got up with his tray, then the seat A passenger slid out and put her tray back on her seat table. The guy in seat B then sat back down and put his tray on the seat table but I went to the galley to get rid of mine. The interim galley was empty so I went to the one at the rear to find all the FAs chatting away. On my journey to the rear galley, I found some passengers had put their empty trays in the aisle. When I asked whether I could leave my tray somewhere, one got up and took it off me whilst another scowled. I didn't return to my seat until I could see the passenger in seat A had returned.

Probably about half an hour later the FAs showed up to collect everyone else's trays. Still no tea/coffee offered though.

When disembarking, there were two FAs at the exit. On previous Emirates flights they'd made eye contact & thanked us for flying/wished us well/etc. but these two were completely blank faced and there was no interaction whatsoever with departing passengers that I could see.

After The Flight

I sent an email to the Emirates booking office (website has no customer service contacts listed) and they sent it on to customer relations. I followed up six months later and was informed that 'due to unprecedented events' they were not able to reply within 30 days but were dealing with customer feedback in chronological order.

Five more months went by (almost a year after the flight) before I received a response saying records showed there were 30 vacant seats in economy and that there were sufficient crew members serving our row of the aircraft. They then said they were sorry that I felt that way.

For me, this was an appalling endorsement of the service received. I replied to indicate I wasn't happy with their response and for it to be escalated to a supervisor/manager. I was then sent an email response that was intended for a different customer. After I notified them about the misdirected email, I received a response saying they were sorry I wasn't happy with the response and that the issue couldn't be resolved amicably.

At this point I'd noticed that the bonus Skywards miles I was supposed to receive hadn't materialised. I contacted Skywards (based in Manchester, I believe) and was told they couldn't apply the bonus points. I didn't pursue it further... why bother chasing miles if you're not going to fly with them again?

The price I paid for the ticket was a lot higher due to it being a peak travel time. I probably wouldn't feel so hard done by if it had cost less. Hope this isn't too long (!) but I wanted to try and explain as fully as possible why I feel negatively about Emirates. The seven hours on that flight felt like several days. Every large organisation will have staff who are incompetent/aren't bothered, but Emirates should have mechanisms for motivating/disciplining/dismissing such staff. They could have easily restored my confidence with a better response. I got the message that they didn't care about the flight experience, they didn't care that I felt hard done by and they didn't care that I wasn't happy with their "I ain't bovvered" response.

Since this flight, I've not booked with Emirates and frankly won't do so unless they happen to be the cheapest option when booking as that's how I rate their service. Hopefully this will help you understand why I feel negatively about this airline & why I'm not keen to give them any of my future business.

If that's your idea of worst flight ever, you're in for a real treat! It's not that uncommon to get an off crew (especially as you haven't flown frequently on EK, nothing much to compare against).

Do you really expect crew in the aisles to address you by name without having any way of knowing what your name is? Not collecting meal trays or serving tea and coffee is bad - but should have been taken up with the Purser on the flight and not with customer service without any way of validating your statement.

I see. I never fly economy, but this sounds appalling. Worth having a Bad Y thread and getting that to EK in my view.

Worst. Flight. Ever.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

+1.

So, you had exactly *one* bad experience?

Not addressing by name? Do you think they remember the name of every Y passenger?

Drink before take off in Y? I've never had that on any flight, EK or otherwise.

As for the trays, it may take 20-25 minutes to get the trays out to everyone. So, if you are one of the first (maybe a special meal??) to finish, it's going to take a while before you get your trays collected, as other people are still eating.

Again, I think your experience is not the norm...

My next 10 flights are in j or f thank goodness but I flew y man dxb in dec and it was ok...y is hit and miss but mainly pRetty good.

Purser is the one to raise it with after the event is pointless

I never said that and it wasn't me involved. Here's the relevant part of my post in case you didn't read it properly:

Why the Purser? Not sure I saw anyone who appeared to be in charge. If they aren't already doing their job properly, why should a passenger be the one to challenge them? How was I to know how they would have reacted, given how rude some of the FAs were? Customer relations should have looked into it properly (that's their job) instead of broadcasting the message that they don't care about the in-flight service.

Perhaps he was wearing a "HI! My name is ____ " tag? :D

I've never been served drinks before takeoff in Y on any airline.

From the OP's statement that only one choice was available I suspect he did not order SPML, so 'over an hour after everyone had finished' plus 'half an hour later' means the trays were out for about two hours. I can't say I have ever timed it but this does seem a bit long.

How would you suggest customer relations have looked into the matter other than by reviewing crewing logs (which they did) and presumably any other reports that would have accompanied a service failure. If tea and coffee were not served, perhaps the kettles had failed. However if I had really wanted a cup of tea I would have gone to the galley.

On the whole I agree that your flight sounds a little off, EK could definitely have done better. In my experience the good outweighs the bad.

Out of interest, which other airlines do you regularly fly and which would be your preference for inflight service (in Y or otherwise) regardless of route or price?

So from what you said you flew in Y and expected to be greeted by name?...or any other passengers in Y for that matter.....flight is usually operated by a 777 so you expect the crew to know 300+ Y class passengers by their name?....Maybe your expectations are just a little too high???

Perhaps he is referring to being greeted at the door of the aircraft, when the name would be visible on the boarding pass. A first world problem if ever there were one.

You are right but that is something I have never witnessed on any airline I have flown or worked for unless someone has elite status on their boarding pass.There are also many passengers I have spoken to who would rather stay annonymous and don't like their name to be heard out loud.

No special meal request. It was an omlette (hot on the heels of another omlette on the flight into DXB). Luckily I am a fan of omlette. :p

I've flown Singapore (Business - sent by company to a conference as colleague couldn't go) and Qatar, Kingfisher, BA, Swiss and Air France in Economy. All were very good but I'd rate Kingfisher and Qatar as head and shoulders above the rest. Singapore Business was amazing. Only four seats per row & service quality was simply perfect.

Some replies seem to be completely misreading my OP or intentionally misrepresenting what I said. Where did I say I expected the crew to memorise all 300-400 Y passengers' names? I can only refer you to my clarification in post #7.

Can't explain those who claim they've never had a drink (water/juice) in Y before takeoff. It's happened on all other EK flights that I took and was one of the things that made them stand out (along with their IFE). Maybe they've stopped doing it? Do they still do hot towels?

Customer relations could have referred to other passenger complaints (there was at least one other complaint made and I'm sure there were others). Otherwise, is there really no way for the second largest airline in the world to ensure its service is up to scratch if passengers don't scrabble around the cabin to obtain evidence themselves and interrogate the Purser? Or is it more likely that they couldn't care less about Y passengers' flight experience because it's First/Business that bring in the bucks?

Ah, the multi-omlette itinerary... I have not had this on EK, TK are the worst offenders in my book.

They certainly still do hot towels - I had a hot towel in EK Y recently and it was about five times as thick as the cheap gauze you get in BA or AA F!

The aircraft would not have any Y seats if they were not the most profitable use of space...

If there were further complaints then one would hope these statistics are collated - in my experience a good or bad Purser makes all the difference given that there will almost always be a mix of crew of different motivation levels. Your problems would all have been solved had they supervised the crew in Y more closely.

They only provide this service on routes to/from the Indian sub-continent.

I read PG_ Monkey's initial post twice over, just to make sure I am getting all the data right..

I have to admit - I can relate to a lot of things that are being said by him.. I have had some of the worst experiences on the EK flights, in the Y cabin.. in the J cabin, the staff are a delight.. but the moment you are on the other side of the curtain, you are just cattle class to them..

and I can't believe how some of the so called "flyer talk evangelist" are trashing his post.. this has to be one of the better written reviews of a flight that i have read.. It's factual in nature and with very few personal idiosyncrasies thrown in.. It did not have a "oh they forgot to kiss my show laces - worst.flight.ever award winner" tag with it..

Correct. Its just a lime drink given out in aluminium foil covered plastic cups - not sure why only here but they do. They also serve some local snacks/ savories which makes the meal trays look fairly overloaded and probably makes people think that they are getting a lot of value out of the money they are spending on the ticket. Mostly junk imo. I've seen plenty of folks spill their drinks on themselves because there isn't any space to keep the glasses because the tray and adjoining areas get full.

Probably the OP was expecting something similar for his 'welcome drink' and meal and hence the reason for the disappointment.

Sorry which post might you be referring to...

I agree. If you don't have anything constructive and meaningful to say, then keep your ridicule to yourself.

As for the matter at hand, I am sorry to hear that PG Monkey has experienced a less than stellar flight. It is understandable that you may not want to fly EK again, but should the occasion arise, I urge you to give them another shot, they can surprise you with their (more often than not) superb service - at least speaking from my somewhat limited experience with them. Finally, These kind of 'bad' flights are obviously not just limited to EK, and are infamous in airlines worldwide.

Since I have had to fly off to SIN several times, I think I can empathise with OP a little bit.

On most EK flights, the FAs are fine and dandy and service is pretty good, no complains.

But there have been flights where the service has been pretty bad with sour FAs, almost a complete opposite to the good ones.

Its quite bizarre, for example I might get fantastic service MAN-DXB but on DXB - SIN I get a weirdo crew. :confused: but this is usually on rare enough occasions that I dont feel aggrieved by it. I mean, everyone has their off days.

I dont take it as an indictment against the whole of EK but maybe they have a consistency issue. Which I think is par for the course when you are such a major airline, there are bound to be some rotten apples. But so far, its really been the rare occasions for me, I dont bother, just get my drink and food in and head off to zz land or approach another FA if I want anything.

BTW, I still fly EK, my company thinks they give fair value (which they do) and I've not had any major concerns with the flight.

I would suggest OP give it a go on some other EK flights if he has not already, I feel this lousy service was a one-off. EK to me is really not that bad.

For those who are rounding on the OP, last time I checked, this was an open forum to post your impressions abt a flight you took, so lets keep to the issue and not the person pls.

I've flown emirates and enjoyed it, i dont really expect much in economy, it was lax-dxb-dxb-lax. i liked the seats, ife, service, and food. but others that i know have had bad experiences with the Emirates, like all airlines has good and bad days.

and try flying american airlines or china eastern or such in economy, its like a 3rd world bus complete with livestock.

If that describes your worst flight ever, then you either travel very rarely or been v lucky

The description doesn't sound like that much at all other than perhaps disinterested crew

Interesting that the pre-flight drinks are apparently served only to/from the Indian sub-continent. I distinctly remember passengers being offered those round sealed water containers when departing BHX. The FA walked down the aisle with a tray and asked if anyone wanted water. Not many took one but I did. The reason I remember it is because the smiley FA was radiating happiness. :D

What I've taken from the replies posted so far (thanks for all of them) is that is likely to have been a one-off. If this is the case, it's difficult to accept the way their customer relations dealt with it because for a one-off incident, I'd expect them to take an interest instead of issuing a standard fob off response. I did compliment them on the flight that departed BHX so they didn't think I was just having a go for the sake of it.

I do travel rarely, generally twice per year. I accept that this means each flight experience carries far more weight than it would for a frequent flier.

Based on your description of events, I am not sure what you would expect customer service to do. There is nothing much to complain about that I see and wouldn't expect much more of a response from EK

If other airlines better serve ones needs, then it is only sensible to use one of those

If having read my post(s) you feel there is "nothing much to complain about" it may be evidence that this was not in fact a one off experience. Maybe some customers are used to receiving this sort of service from Emirates which leaves them feeling there's nothing much to complain about.

Lol. Absolutely agree. I interpret all such responses as you do. I fly often, globally, and on a range if airlines, and have something to moan about with all of them once a year or so; when this happens with CX BA. EK TG LH. LX ( the airlines I use most frequently) I carefully report the incident and, TG excepted, always receive feedback on action. I do this in my own interest as
I like these airlines and wouldn't like to see standards fall.
But with each airline there is a core of flyers who accept, even defend, low
standards/ poor performance.

Recently, I complained about loud and disturbing talking in the galley during taxi takeoff descent, and landing ( I can still tell you what they all did on their BKK layover:rolleyes:) and subsequent poor management of meal service ( definitely a one off -- first time ever on EK for me and thats why i alerted customer service) on a recent BKK-DXB flight. I got
(1) within 4 days a response saying they had launched an investigation and would revert and
(2) within 10 days a detailed response that acknowledged the validity of my complaint and informed me that the VP for cabin crew was actively
following up on the issue, thanking me for the feedback, and encouraging me to keep providing such feedback when I encountered such poor standards

In this case I both complained to the Purser ( being careful to specifically point out the one CC on rhe team who actually did perform to EK. Standards) and wrote customer service. (2) above mentioned the Pursers log as recording and confirming the service issues I raised.

OK I was in J and am Gold but I think it was the specific and empirically
verifiable nature of my complaint and the fact that I alerted the Purser that triggered a structured and excellent response.

Well done you. And THAT is exactly how to handle such matters.

I'm glad someone else sees it :cool:

I wonder whether the airline would accept passengers if they didn't bother to pay the full fare. Of course they wouldn't.

By that logic, passengers shouldn't accept less than 100% of the expected (and extensively advertised) service standards. If Emirates pitches itself as a premium and multi award winning airline, they should sit up and take notice when customers report a failing. Instead of making no effort to disguise their contempt for Y class complainants.

If I'd seen the Purser (or someone who looked like they were in charge) I'd have raised it but I didn't think to actively seek out the purser. He/she certainly wasn't at the main galley at the rear and the rest of the Y cabin was devoid of staff.

I did provide the name of one FA in my complaint and it was structured and factual. I don't know what records they referred to in their response to me, or whether those records were fabricated by the Purser on that flight (or made up by customer relations) but clearly they couldn't have cared less about a complaint from someone in Y.

Given that you were in J and Gold may have led them to provide a more appropriate response (which didn't take 12 months to materialise), given that your class of ticket is among those that bring in the bucks.

I really have read this very carefully.

And I also should say that I am NOT an EK fanboy who thinks they can do no wrong. However I haven't had any major issues with them on service delivery on my flights to and fro OZ. That doesn't mean I am particularly tolerant but I do enjoy travelling/flying so tend to be in smiley mode on my journeys. And people generally respond to that, other than those who think I might have something wrong with me!.

I am not sure why you mentioned this as it was not an issue for you. There isn't anything odd here..I have had personalised greetings as well as Sir/Madam. Some airlines save personal greetings for passengers with status with the airline. It has no impact on me one way or the other, they are only reading a name off a ticket or form

With respect, maybe she was in a hurry, perhaps she was urgently needed at the front of the aircraft? She asked using the "please" word. Again as this had no impact upon you I am not sure why it is mentioned. "He seemed taken aback"......Hmmmmm. Is it your place to make a complaint based upon how someone else "seemed"?

Other experienced EK flyers have indicated that this is a route specific service. So hardly a complaint unless it is about EK corporate policy.

In all my travels I have never pressed a call button on a plane but I doubt that ignoring them is an EK Cabin Crew unique trait. See Purser point below.

This is to me where the crew lacked. However, I have been on non-EK flights where my tray and I looked like we were bonded for the whole journey. As I result I have got up and taken the trays back to the galley with a "you are obviously busy".....it also provided an opportunity to get my wine glass topped up. I have had others passengers then copy me doing this, passing the problem back to where it belongs, the less than attentive cabin crew!

And it is for such incidents, including the call buttons not being answered, services you expect not being delivered, you seek out the Purser, the onboard crew boss and have a word. You ask for the Purser and if he/she doesn't show up, you can go and find him/her. That is how things get sorted straight away, rather than being allowed to fester. And if they cannot be sorted to your satisfaction then at least there is a record of your complaint(s).


I have no idea about the coffee, again I would have gone to the galley.


Regarding after the event customer service, I find all airlines to be lacking in this area. Nothing frustrates me more than the automated "we will respond in 28 days" response, it means that a simple communication can drag on for months. That is not a EK specific point however.

This is, of course, about meeting customer expectations.. and therefore I do sympathise with the OP. And the OP quite rightly will take his/her money elsewhere in future as a result.

However my sentiment remains the same as before...if this earns the comments "The seven hours on that flight felt like several days" and "Worst. Flight. Ever" from the OP then I regard the OP as a very lucky person.

It's interesting that you raise this, because whilst the loss of a couple of Y fares won't bother them at all, I was originally supposed to go to Singapore via EK in Business, but upon finding out the proposed itinerary, asked if there were alternatives (this was about a year after the above flight and soon after I'd received EK's "we ain't bovvered" response). The alternative option was the direct A380 from LHR with Singapore Airlines (my first A380 flight). :cool:

If Emirates had sent a response that demonstrated they took the complaint seriously (as opposed to openly displaying the contempt they hold for customers), they would have got the proposed return business class fare from my company. Ultimately, I couldn't be sure that the service would be as advertised and couldn't guarantee that any failure of service would be dealt with by customer relations.

Given that the only complaint of anything that affected you seems to be

slow to collect trays and
poor response to a call button

and that you didn't try to get it resolved at the time, that they treated it as seriously as it deserved.

It has been a year since the event; if another airline is better , then cool. That SQ has a non stop service makes it a logical choice for a journey to Singapore

Not to get off-topic, but I have flown American Airlines quite a bit, and sometimes even in economy, and it has never been like a 3rd world bus, and I certainly have never seen any non-human livestock.

Why bother replying to the thread when it's obvious you haven't bothered to read the post properly or have some kind of sworn allegiance to Emirates.

There have been some good responses here but yours isn't one of them. ;)

I would point out that in the OP, I said I asked a passing FA if I could get some water.

She was the one who claimed that drinks would be served to all passengers before takeoff.

Naw...
 

Not EVEN close to being the worst flight ever!!!

I have read it and things that have actually affected you seem to be narrowed down to 2 things plus expectations that were out of alignment with what is offered

Valid point. However EK makes it's bucks from the Y cabin. It's common on many routes to see a J cabin stuffed with opups ( implying that they are not able to sell these J seats but oversell Y ) on many routes. J cabins are not very big, on all acft, compared to BA CX LH. Etc.

And EK is by no means a preferred premium airline. They dont even operate a 4 class cabin, so they have to work extra hard to retain high fare bucket Y pax. I only ever fly J and EK, if not A380, is not my preferred choice with their middle seats, zoo like lounge and whatnot.

F is a vanity cabin on all airlines, peripheral to the revenue model, with EK able to sell F slightly better than others because the Gulf is ( with Brazil and China ) a relatively strong F market. It's certainly not core to their business model.


So if they are taking Y pax for granted it's not a good thing. It's not a good thing for any airline but particularly for EK.

In Economy, this is normal, all around the world.

In Economy. Yeah right.

That is Emirates normal service on routes to/from the Indian sub-continent.

It's a shame that PG Monkey didn't have a fabulous flight, and by his / her admission he / she is not a frequent flyer, so it's all a matter of context as for the majority of us this is miles away from a terrible Y experience.

Emirates for me pioneered the feed 'em and entertain the masses to keep them quiet and happy. Back in the days it was them (and oddly Kuwait Airlines) that had seat back TV's - a novel idea in Y. But now everyone does that, many airlines feed you well in Y, so it comes down to crew (and seat pitch!) and a couple of personal things that make the difference for a flight. Emirates have always been above average for me crew wise.

But - for comparisons sake in October I took my first Qatar flights - 6 of them - 5 were brilliantly staffed, but 1 (KUL-DOH) had a similar crew with similar failures that just fell down massively - staff got stressed, 200 odd people ended up sticking their meal trays in the kitchen (inevitably leading to piles of them falling over, blocking toilets), call bells not being answered, well it all just spiralled out of control. But I knew that was the exception - and I could see it walking on the plane as the crew were massively arrogant and borderline rude (i'm the most pleasant person to be on your plane, i've never pressed a call bell in any class - much nicer to go for a stroll and a chat :)).

If i'd have taken that flight in isolation i'd never touch Qatar Airlines again. Same for any airlines. So hopefully what PG Monkey takes from the responses is the vast majority of EK Y flights are better than this, so I hope he takes another just for comparisions sake. On average, it should be far better! It's not about 'apologists' - I can't stand that term in an airline context, but the reality is his / her experience didn't reflect the experiences of those massive more well travelled on Emirates.

And with no disrespect to BHX, I wonder if EK has 'poorer' sectors that staff don't like serving. I know EVA Air staff can't stand doing the BKK-LHR sector. I wonder if the idea of a couple of days down time in BHX for what I imagine is a demanding SEA Beaches Party & ISC crowd is not their idea of a great flight (i'm putting this out there as supposition, not fact!).