Susiew237

I for one, love EK. But that is probably because I've been lucky enough to have only flown once in economy. I'm hardly a frequent flyer with them, but would choose them where I can, eg flying over to Australia. Unfortunately the return flight times don't particularly suit if we want to come back on the A380

So back to the A380
love the bar
love the easy to lie flat seats in J. I don't need anyone to make it up for me.
Think the shower in F is brilliant (don't think I'll ever get another opportunity to use it though)
love the lounges, far better offerings than Air NZ for instance.
Service on board I have always found to be excellent, nice amount of friendliness.
Like that it is possible to get op ups and that you can actually use your points to get a confirmed upgrade. Again, this is where air nz completely fails.

Budley

I think everyone knows how I feel.

EK started off not that great and gets worse every year, but it seems that there is enough new "cannon fodder" to keep their planes full.

As for me, I'm not going to waste another cent on their poor economy product, so bye-bye any status with EK. Not a big deal really.

I'll just rely on my lifetime Platinum (Star Gold) status with UA.

m3red

Come on Budley.

At least make it balanced....Anything you do like? F suites? A380 product, lounges, the cars?

Joriarty

Why do you think their economy is so poor? In my view:

Pros:

• Decent food & drinks
• Comfortable A380
• Good 30kg luggage allowance
• Fantastic IFE system
• In-seat USB power (in all aircraft except A330 / A340?), in-seat AC power on A380, 777-200LR, some 777-300ER
• They are often the cheapest carrier on many routes

Cons:

• I'm not sure that their in-flight service is up to par with top Asian carriers
• Somewhat cramped 10-abreast 777

It's a bit of a farce to completely discredit EK's economy product in favour of UA, who (to name some disadvantages) won't even give you a free glass of wine on a long-haul flight, use a somewhat cramped 9-abreast layout on the 787 (JAL use 8-abreast), and their free baggage allowance is only one, 23 kg piece of checked baggage.

I've also found EK to be fair in their handling of delays. My flight was delayed taking off from SYD, and as we were about to take off we were refused clearance because the nightly curfew had just passed. We had to disembark, go through immigration, go to a hotel, and catch a flight the next day. The whole process was a huge nuisance, but EK handled it as well as I could have expected. I arrived in AMS 24 hours late. I was given 45,000 miles in compensation, which was almost enough for an upgrade from Y Flex to J from AKL–DXB. Considering I was not legally entitled to anything at all, I thought that was pretty decent.

DYKWIA

You say this every year. Somebody may believe you one day...

m3red

edited for accuracy.

aceboy44

Never mind

Morgo

As someone who has just jumped ship from BA, you're not far wrong. It's been very frustrating as a BA passenger (initially because it was mandated by our company contracts, then at a later point I put my personal premium travel to BA to maintain status and use Avios BOGOFs) to see both the hard and soft product deprecate relative to other airlines. At some point, travelling biz class on BA was no longer something to look forward to as all the fun and pleasure of travelling in their premium cabins had dissipated. When BA announced the changes to their FFP last month, for me this was the final straw and I saw it as an opportunity to release the shackles and try other airlines.

I've only flown EK once, several years ago: J class from MXP to AKL and I had a wonderful experience. The A380 seat was innovative and I found the service charming. Now that I no longer feel tied to BA I'm very much looking forward to alternative airlines and have just booked my Xmas trip back to NZ on EK. I'm genuinely excited (I'm sure that the novelty of a new airline plays into that) and hope that the airline can live up to my expectations.

pomkiwi

Generally happy with EK. From the UK with a bit of planning I can usually travel with EK in F to Aus/NZ or South Africa for less than BA in J (which is a no brainer in so many ways). Discalimer - usually travel in J and F which hopefully generates a more positive feeling.

Particular positives:
Planes are clean - even the older ones are well looked after (I would never look under the seat for something I dropped on BA)
Chauffeur drive - worth another £150 or more for a trip from LHR.
Crew are usually very good and never worse than average (other airlines have been more variable)
Wine lists - superb in F with some exceptional wines on occasions.
Support in DXB for tight connections and good handling of IRROPS (I may just be lucky).
F lounge in DXB - apart from the showers.
Frequency of services to Aus and NZ - not just SYD/MEL/AKL.

Negatives:
Skywards getting more difficult to use in terms of rewards.
IT seems more quirky than some others.
Inconsistent application of CD rules in Aus.

Overall happy - hence was BA Gold now Bronze and was EK Blue now Plat

Germanfflyer

Well the EK forum is full of real EK fans - as the FFP is soooo bad nobody in their right mind would choose it anyway.

Therefore this forum has a VERY limited crowd!

And as with all small fan-bases - it is easier to have happy cheers all around.

The EK forum is just to small too have any complaints from a non-fan

ft101

To be fair, most of the on-topic posts on this thread list bad points as well as good.

eternaltransit

I think there are loads of complaints about the FFP - absolutely no one I think, on this board, thinks the EK FFP is any good at all.

I also think that not everyone chooses their travelling choices and satisfaction with an offering based on an FFP I know, I know, flyertalk heresy...!

Havoc10G

German humour... No laughing matter!!

So what is your airline of choice?

dubaiblue

Over the last 24 months I have flown a number of other carriers long haul, where as before I was more or less emirates only. Other carriers include EY, BA, Qantas, AA. Flying solely in J and long haul.

EK Good:
- Lounges Non shared - so much better compared to other 'owned' lounges that I have tried

- Crew - I have had some poor experiences on other carriers but Emirates is always 'average' at worse.

- Car - when available car is a great addition to the service (although note one bad element below!)

- ICE - Cant beat it

- New booking website - a lot better than before

- A380 single seat - great seat, but please get rid of the mini bard and give me more room!

- MMB, easy to use - actually most are apart from EY!

EK Bad:
- DXB Car pickup - Doesn't matter if I land peek or empty hours, I always seem to have to wait before a car is ready

- On board food - Quality has gotten a lot worse over the years, EY and BA have reminded me of how good food can be in J.

- Mile upgrades - So hard to upgrade!

- Wifi - Now its there work expect me to use it!

- Lounges shared - So poor!