Guess I'm not the only one looking for alternatives to Star Alliance, in particular LH. But is the grass really greener somewhere else?

After doing several pleasant trips with Etihad the last year, I wanted to see if Emirates is really "hello tomorrow". Actually I was kind of forced to use Emirates this time as they were the only ones offering a great business class deal from BCN to BKK. All segments were with the A380.

Limo service worked perfectly, check-in nothing special. Got a window seat which was nice but all in all I expected a bit more style. The seat and screen looked very industrial, Etihad manages to bring a much more relaxed atmosphere into the cabin.

The stewardess specifically asked me if I put the phone to flight mode before departure, even wanted to verify herself. Reminded me of typical LH attitude. In general I found the crew on all 4 segments not very likable. Specially the ladies behaved like princesses and did not seem very customer oriented. Sure they looked all very attractive. But if I want to see beauties, I can go somewhere else.

The food service was pretty poor, slow and weirdly timed. On one segment I waited one hour after departure just to get my first drink. The food itself was mediocre, at least the booze selection was excellent for a business class.

Strangely the amenity bags were only distributed on the DXB-BKK legs. In general socks / eye blinds were in a plastic bag in the drinks holder next to the seat. The amenity bag itself (when they gave it) was surprisingly extensive. Good quality bag and contents. On LX/LH not even the first class kit is on that level.

Also, why they don't put some lotion into the lavatories? Every other airline I used did that for biz passengers. Emirates only puts perfume.

One really positive thing was the bar. Had a good time there. The snacks they had aligned were basically my meal since the regular food service was not available when I wanted. At least they tasted good.

All in all I have to say I was pretty disappointed when I compare to my previous Etihad experiences. Too many things were just average or strange. So will there be any "hello tomorrow"? Most likely not for me. It will stay a "hello yesterday".

An interesting - and, may I say, well-written review.

As a reasonably strong fan of Emirates dating back many years, I'm always disappointed to hear of folk who are new to the airline finding it does not live up to their expectations/hopes.

Quite often we see negative reports based on just a single sector, and it's natural to then take the view that it was down to bad luck on the day. But you flew four sectors and were seemingly not impressed by any of them - or at least not impressed by the product as a whole, from start to finish.

You don't say what the loads were on your flights, but many people feel that 76 is just too big a number (ie with all seats taken) to deliver a high quality business class service on the A380.

Personally I can honestly say that I have never had what I would describe as a poor flight with EK ; but equally I'm not so naive to think that it could never happen. Some of my flights have been satisfactory and no more, but a fair number have been truly outstanding.

I have yet to fly with Etihad. I'm certainly glad that they came along, if only because there is no substitute for competition when it comes to keeping others on their toes. It's good that there is choice out there.

Finally, I couldn't help but smile when I read your comment about the lotion in the bathrooms. The smile was not to do with your review per se, but more the fact that lotion has become something of a running gag here on the EK forum in recent weeks, due to the somewhat unique experiences of one of our regular (and, in fairness, most entertaining) posters

+1

Mrs. LFC will be flying her first 4 longhaul EK-F segments next month via YYZ>DXB>TPE>DXB>JFK. Hopefully she will have better experience than the OP.^ Ironically, my wife absolutely loves the service on the LH-F longhaul flights, so that will be one of the basis' of her comparison IMO.

LFC

Hmmm lotion. It starts again.

Suggests to me that the attendant had a reason to believe that it hadn't been. When checked , was it in flight mode?

The f product is far superior than j so you will have a great time!

I have to agree with the OP.

As someone who flys extensively with SQ, NZ and EY, I have now started doing a bit with EK, mainly the DXB->ICN route every 2 weeks or so in J.

I find the crew generally pretty uninterested in the comfort/needs of passengers. Most of them seem to be low-wage Eastern European crew who really don't give a damn. To me, it seems they're there for the "glamour" of being Emirates crew, nothing more.

The seats on EK 380 leave a lot to be desired in comparison to SQ, and I personally prefer EY, CX and NZ seats, which some others don't. Especially the Mk I EK 380.

Bar is nice and a good place to relax after a tough trip, but that to me is one of the few redeeming features.

I guess it could be worse, I could be flying that route on KE...

I was thinking the same thing.

I think it's more the tax free salary of 30k USD and travel perks, rather than glamour per se

I don't think it's entirely fair to point to wages and geographic origin for crew problems, considering EY has the same recruiting pool as EK, and CX and SQ pay quite a bit less than EK, even before you take into account the fact that EK crew pretty much have only one monthly expense, which is a mobile phone contract. I think the problem with crew service, especially on A380s, is the working environment and the corporate culture - you have 76 J seats with a badly designed from the perspective of staff cabin interior and you also have all the drama of working for EK.

I agree with you regarding the product - the EK J product is average compared to what's out there, both in hard and soft product. I think it's definitely the weakest part of the offering. I suppose in order to offer the fares they do in Y and F, they need to pack the J cabins on all their aircraft and the rest of the product certainly suffers because of that.

The OP summarized it well. EY >> EK easily in premium classes, and even in economy. EK is more about perception than reality.

Meanwhile, my main reason to still use EK is (a) flight frequencies (b) FC access as a Plat.

Even f?

I noticed OP segment was on A380.

It's been discussed many times in this forum. But personally I would forgo the bar, and choose 777 for J class. After trying both metal, the reduced numbers of J pax on a 777 seems to allow better services.

Perhaps you might want to try it on one of your sectors next time.

Regarding the FAs, I have to admit they can be hit or misses. I fly GIG/DXB/SIN sector so many times, that quite a few FAs know me by sight (not sure if it's a positive) so I get pretty good services. However I have encountered truly horrid ones as well. In all fairness, I believe this will occur on any airline.

Btw love the lotion bit. We can start it up again!!

The last concern I have with any airline when flying is the cabin service. Since the service is delivered by people (humans) there is always a human error when delivering a service, and quite frankly I rarely came across a crew which truly deserves a 5* rating from me. Safety, IFE, and cabin chairs are the three factors in making my decision when flying an airline, and Emirates satisfied all three conditions. Regarding food, I would make sure my stomach is full before boarding a long-haul flight in case the food turned out to be terrible onboard

I agree though, these stewards are not that good! Asian crew are the best

I couldn’t agree more! Even in long-haul first class, the food is horrible, and the bread basket is not that great. Unfortunately I had to eat sweets to keep my stomach satisfied. It is disappointing that even in first class, the food is not as good as other airlines (Kuwait Airways, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Gulf Air, Cathay Pacific, Srilankan, etc.)

As I was told by one of the cabin crew, amenity kits are provided only on night flights. On day flights, there are no amenity kits. I agree that this is a bad policy, but so far they provide the best amenity kit in business class based on my flying experiences with other airlines business class.

I’m pleased to know that I’m not the only one who noticed this issue. It is indeed embarrassing & shameful for Emirates to not provide such a thing in their lavatories when other cheaper airlines do so in their lavatories!

Since Safety, IFE, and comfortable chairs are the factors in making my decision, Emirates remains my first carrier when it comes to long-haul flights. It is disappointing to know that you had a negative experience with them, however, despite joining Emirates last November, I just became a silver Skywards member. This is how good Emirates is for me ^

How very odd that Emirates should be your carrier of choice when they seemingly treat you so poorly, and - as you say - don't respond to complaints.

These are just a selection of comments you yourself have made about the airline in recent weeks :


"When I flew to KUL (my bag had a business class tag) my bag arrived AFTER economy class passengers, and for my return flight to Kuwait my bag (which had first class tag) arrived after business and economy class bags.

The point is, don't even bother complaining to Emirates since I don't really think they care. You don't get what you pay for which makes me reconsider ever flying in a premium cabin with EK again in the future....."

AND .......

"Well, it's shameful when you pay for a first class service you end up getting economy class service! The priority boarding is disorganized, my bags arrive with economy class bags rather than first/business class bags, no body lotion in the lavatories, no lounge access when you get an upgrade offer (however I managed to get in the lounge ,) amenity kits are provided only on night flights where other airlines such as Oman Air do provide amenity kits on day flights, etc."

How much long haul f on eK have you done aceboy?