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 , 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 (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

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.