service is pretty poor for "first-class"
 

I get annoyed that thepointsguy keeps talking about how Emirates is great. I don't think so. First-class is about service. And they don't have it.

I don't mind that they hire people from all over the world. I do mind that their people don't provide good service. It is neither thoughtful nor delightful.
In the airport, the Filipinos in the lounge smile and are nice. Other people-meh. On the airplane, again, Filipinos are nice. Other people not so much.

They have new planes and a huge lounge in Dubai, but they don't even have a rainfall shower in their lounge. The shower in the a380 barely makes up for the lack of service and the food taste (their food looks good but doesn't taste as it looks).

I think the real issue with hiring so many people from around the world is the lack of experience.

I'd rather fly Cathay than Emirates in first.

If you have an issue with another site's reviews, wouldn't it be better to complain about it there

You may think that 1st class is about service, that doesn't mean that everyone else does nor that they would necessarily agree with your assessment of the service

Any specific examples?

I think eK first is a very strong product perhaps aside from the food actually.

Thanks for your comments, OP and sorry to hear about your mediocre experience.

Whilst it in no way excuses having a bad, or I think, more accurately "meh" experience in your case, Emirates does seem to be rather inconsistent in its service - not really a fact of hiring people from all over over the world, but more that their tenures are relatively short and promotions happen quickly because of high staff turnover.

I think the racial characterisation about staff is incredibly unfair - I have had smiles and warm, genuine hospitality from people all over the world on EK, as well as surly Filipinos. Perhaps though, you seem to appreciate a certain style of service, which is perfectly fine, as long as one doesn't generalise this to racial characteristics.

However, I would have to agree with Dave Noble here and say that many people fly various products around the world for many, many different reasons - there are better hard products out there (e.g. EY's new F), more consistent soft product (or should I say, one's expectations are generally fulfilled more often) - such as perhaps SQ or long haul CX F, although HKG residents might argue that CX's service seems to improve the more white and upper middle class you are ;) - but still EK's F product seems to get its share of fans. After all there are many trip reports on this forum which can attest to the variability in service, but it seems that the peaks of great service and the troughs of awful service are rather attenuated on EK - the range is more, meh to very good, rather than awful to sublime. I think people appreciate that more, if they fly relatively often, but I certainly sympathise if it's a one time thing: one time travellers on a product, especially having read rave reviews will have expectations that are understandably high - and it would be great if they are exceeded (which is the essence of service).

On a side note, the showers in A, whilst the fixtures aren't attached to the ceiling, can give an acceptable rainfall effect as you can fix the shower head in a similar position with decent pressure.

Yes, the food is lackluster sometimes especially when compared to QR or to an extent EY.

I would also question the ground service of EK when flying first as well, it can be hit and miss rather than a consistent product. The in-air product is one of the best, food aside.

EK's main selling point is the destination routes, price and frequency of flights. I also find the reward programme to be quite good still, I believe that those hit by the changes flew and continue to fly, non-flex tickets.

My only real complaint is the inconsistency that is present on EK which isn't an issue with EY or QR but that hasn't stopped me flying EK, I adore EK as a whole and I can let a couple of things slide.

OP, it sucks that you had a poor experience in first, I would agree about the staff and experience, I have felt a couple of times that some staff have advanced too quickly and I don't know if this is because of a high turn over of staff or because EK are becoming lax with policy.

You certainly don't live in Dubai.

Tickets are insanely expensive.

HAHA no, one day I may but not now.

Also work pays ;)

Its why I route my tickets from the UK via DXB.

Back on topic - I'm going to report back on my short hop to Cai in F tomorrow.

I always feel the crew make extra effort with the sub-standard F product ie not suites.

Mainfleet F crews (as opposed to A380) I find also seem to be nicer and more personable and I think that is due to the fact they usually deal with 8 pax maximum, so are used to giving the extra attention, especially with the sometimes close supervision by the Purser - as well as having to be all smiles with the flight deck :D, unlike the A380 where the Purser is generally all over the plane being a manager on in his/her office under the stairs.

I know it is just my experience, but isn't that everything?

I just cannot imagine someone who flies frequently (I mentioned thepointsguy just as an example) not wanting to have good service when one flies (unless flying in the US just gets you used to service so bad anything is better).

I was using the example of Filipinos, because there seem to be many of them in Dubai (21% of the population in Dubai per wikipedia) and they seem to be friendly on board.

Yes, on my flight in the a380 the flight crew wasn't very attentive (maybe that is why you have your own little bar and snack dish). But I cannot imagine going to a true 5 star hotel and not having good service going along with the luxurious surroundings.

I always wondered about that. I know people working for companies feel better when their office is nice (like a tall skyscraper in NYC, for example). But I wonder how flight crew feel when serving food that is poor in business class, or having people sit in equipment that looks ten years old and is falling apart. Do they try harder, or try less, because their morale is lower?

My experiences on the a340/330 and on the 773 is that they try harder.

Some of the best crew have been on the older planes in my experiences.

+1

Based on my past few travels in J, the service on the A380 is noticeably lacking compared to the smaller planes (330/340/77x).

Back to topic. The food onboard EK flights can do with an update for sure. I look at JAL, SQ, ANA and EY, and their J food is much better then EK. Can't comment on others, as I've only flown these 4 over the past half year.

Understood - in fact it always strikes me that Dubai's and to a certain extent the rest of the Gulf States hospitality is essentially imported Asian hospitality :D (sure, sure, lots of exceptions).

I totally agree - explanations aren't excuses in the hospitality industry and you can't really fix it after the fact. I would love it if the service was absolutely first-class and managed to match my mood without prompting every single time, but I also think that it is exceptionally hard to do, not just in the airline industry, but in all parts of the hospitality industry: just look at all the purported 5 star hotels there are out there, and see how many really are regarded as true beacons of hospitality - the luxury hotels sub-forum would be a much less lively place if great service were easy :D

I must admit, I feel it's TPG and his US flights being so dreadful that anything is better, I have flown with AA, UA, BA in First and hated the products, it feels like a run down business service rather than a first class service.

Compare EK to AA/UA and it's a thousand times better. Compare EK to EY/QR/CX/SQ and it comes middle to last depending on flight experience you got.

Also the Filipinos are the happiest people you'll meet in Dubai, they're so happy to be there it shows in their service. If only the Polish at my local McDonald's were the same!
I had always thought that there was a cross over between Emirati and Asian hospitality, they compliment each other quite nicely I think. It's only when it's watered down with non-Asian/Emiratis that the service gets lost which has happened to Emirates.

I agree 100% with that.

Not in relation to the post made - the thread title makes an statement that the service is poor, not that in your opinon the service is poor

You having an opinion doesn't extrapolate out to it applying to all and becoming an absolute

Hi Dave I think op's was just trying to put forth his view that service is poor. To be honest I think all airlines have it's share of of detractors and advocates.

While I am overall quite pleased with EK's product and services, I too have a fair share of unfortunate services. Plus if I ever got an award ticket in first, I would hope this rare treat will be a truly "WOW!" experience.

I too would hope you have that "WOW" experience !

But I also feel you should not set the expectation levels too high. EK are more than capable of providing exceptionally good (truly memorable, even) service in First. In such cases you realise why they collected so many awards in years past. Yet they are equally capable of leaving you to think: "hmm.....perfectly adequate, but really nothing special". And - just occasionally - it can even be thoroughly disappointing.

In short, I find it's the sheer inconsistency that is so frustrating.

I'd say my experiences on EK (in all classes) have been :-

WOW! - 10%
Great - 50%
Acceptable - 35%
Poor - 5%

Anything but y is acceptable to me!

Had good service this morning, my wife replied "well she got nothin else to do"! As it was 5/12...glass never reached 1/3 full, made 2 bottles in 3 hours :D

2 bottles DP for 32k miles. Fair enough

DYKWIA - I think your percentage breakdown is a fair reflection of the inconsistency I was talking about.

m3red - each to his/her own, I personally would never be inclined to judge an airline on how quickly/frequently they can top you up with booze (and in so doing keep pace with your level of consumption :D). In truth, it's the sort of task that even a sleazy pub in a rough part of town should be able to manage with reasonable efficiency.

I do think however that there are rather more fundamental questions about EK's ability (and, yes, I'm conscious that there are far worse carriers out there ...) to deliver a 'total', fully-integrated quality service that they can be truly proud of : highlighted not least by the concurrent thread with sundry tales of shambolic boarding procedures - in their HOME base ; and, for example, the number of times I see advice (which I have often had cause to follow myself) to hang up and call the support centre again in the hope that you might 'get lucky' and find a member of staff who is equipped with the knowledge & understanding to process routine tasks.

The boarding today was a total joke...shambolic gate c

They tried to check my wife's carry on bag...she had one bag and f was 5/12...

Absolute joke...

Was the bag in compliance with the EK's allowances for hand luggage ( within 18 x 14 x 8 inches and weighed no more than 7Kg ) ?

Yes!

My experience in Emirates F has been OK+. I agree with most of the posters that the onboard experience is spotty, depending upon the crew. The onboard service on a recent flight from Los Angeles to Dubai was quite good - the return was less much less satisfactory. The attendants seemed unaware of what is typically expected of a world-class carrier - topping off drinks and anticipating passengers' needs without having to resort to call-buttons. The hard product remains top-notch, however, which is why I continue to fly Emirates.

Shorter flights to and from DXB (I mean DXB-JED and returns) are OK as far as service is concerned - the carrier uses older 380s on that route with the old i-pad controllers. Of course, those flights are 'dry' but they tend to do a larger variety of fresh juices, I think. Meals are not as 'special', but one doesn't expect superb cuisine for a 3 hour flight. (Showers are available only upon request - I've never felt the need to shower after such a short flight - I have wondered why a person would need to shower on a Europe-DXB sector, in fact!).

My next LAX-DXB-JED-DXB-LAX is booked in the next couple of months. I would like it if the crew took lessons from BA, SQ, or CX but I don't expect it. What I do expect is a very nice hard product with the ability to refresh myself onboard after a 16 hour flight. For me, it is worth having to press a call button if I want something.

A type of regression towards the mean? In this case the mean seems generally OK.
My experience of 20 or so F sectors on EK (a beginner I know) fits with DYKWIAs report. The difficulty is always reporting bias. If I get a 'WOW' flight I'm likely to post about it (especially if early in my EK F experience) and if I get a Poor experience I will definately share it on FT ;). I suggest that most Great and God flights pass without mention.

Having arrived at the airport straight from work with no time to shower in the lounge.

People on an overnight flight who need to go straight to the office. The is nowhere to get a shower at the airport on arrival.

No doubt about that.

There is style and there is substance.

There is Emirates, there is ANA or Cathay.

There is Lexus and there is Mercedes.

On the other hand, the Lexus gets the job done, is significantly cheaper hence for some people more than enough.

From my own experience, the hard product is certainly extremely good. But can we say it is still in the very top tier ...? Has it perhaps slipped behind a little ....?

I see reports of some of the newer Etihad aircraft, with new configs/layouts for F & J pax, and these appear to be more spacious and more innovative than EK's current offering.

It has left me wondering whether I might be better off with Etihad for a future trip to Oz. I won't the answer unless/until I try, but just interested to know whether any EK regulars might have recently flirted with EY only to find their F cabin to be below the standard (in terms of hard product) provided by EK........

I hope not! I would fly with Emirates if they took lessons from BA crew training, BA first is a poor product and not one that I'd wish upon my worst of enemies.

The Emirates crew training is actually incredibly good however some crew aren't suitable to be crew which is where the issues come from, it isn't the training it's the calibre of the actual crew themselves.

Interesting point StoobyDoo.

I have no insider knowledge as to the quality of training ; but purely as a passenger, I have often seen examples of 'unsuitability' when it comes to cabin crew (and sometimes ground staff too ....but one's contact with ground crew tends to be much more brief of course).

But where exactly does the responsibility lie ...? Should such people not be identified either at the recruitment stage, or during the training itself ...?

Does the problem stem from EK's enthusiasm for maintaining as multi-cultural and diverse a crew complement as possible, driven in part by the need for particular language ability - but sometimes at the expense of interpersonal skills and service ethic perhaps ...?

I think the burnout factor is also quite high - 80/90-110 hours a month flying, dealing with all sorts of passengers, for someone who is in their early twenties and regarded the job as a way of seeing the world and getting paid for it and enjoying the expat life - after the initial honeymoon is over, then the ennui sets in. As you progress through the company, your initial friends start to leave and you become increasingly tired of having to constantly meet and make new friends.

Of course, these are issues for cabin crew management to identify and rectify - but with the pool of applicants constantly and extremely high, perhaps there is an element of "if you don't like it, leave, and we'll find someone else": so in fact, people don't leave and carry on. Not everyone of course, but that may be some explanation as to why you find the odd bad crew member here or there.

The responsibility lies with Emirates at the end of the day but there is a feeling of "if you don't like it, leave!" especially as Emirates have applicants bursting at the seems for a chance to work for them.

I wouldn't say it's a multicultural issue, it's that these people are young and they had an idealistic way of how it would turn out when the reality is incredibly different.

The fault will always lie with Emirates in one way or another but the crew that are unhappy should take it upon themselves to change jobs if they don't like it anymore as it does affect the quality of service.

eternaltransit, StoobyDoo : thanks for your responses ^

I can relate to what you say on this.

I am not privy to the training BA does or the training EK does. My simple point was that the service and treatment of passengers in BA F, in my experience, has been consistent, unobtrusive, and anticipating. Attendants pass through the cabin throughout the flight and particularly at the beginning and the end. They notice when your wine glass is getting empty and they recall what you're drinking - no need to remind them. However, the overall BA product doesn't approach EK's. Otherwise, I'd be flying LAX-LHR-JED instead of EK through DXB.

My experiences with BA in F have not been particularly consistent. Overall I do not feel that there is a clear difference between BA and EK (regression to the mean again :) ). My personal observation is that BA have in fact been more variable with some fights having stellar service and one or two appalling. EK has rarely been as outstanding as a very good BA flight but never as bad as one or two of the worst on BA.

Having flown both EK F and BA F in the past year, I would rank EK F as the better product, both hard and soft. The EK lounges are better than BA's (I found the Concorde room rather small). If I am correct BA has 3 FAs in F for 12-14 seats (as opposed to EK which has 4), which causes service to be rather rushed. Still, I would fly BA should I need to go to the UK.

I must also admit that the EK F suites were a bit claustrophobic for me, which affected my experience. I must confess that I find the service better and more personal on the 777. I have gotten over my shyness so that now if I want something, I ping for the FA, and s/he is always very prompt at appearing.