Cringeworthy Gold Greeting
 

Why don't they just drop this silly charade?

Once again on EK9 yesterday to Gatwick. The Purser woke me up when I was asleep. "Welcome back Mr...er...[cue rustling of long manifest]...er...Simons1. We are delighted to see you again".

No sincerity and a parrot routine. What a joke.

I agree that when it's done in such a clumsy, insincere manner then it becomes not just pointless & tiresome, but can border on an annoyance too. You can almost picture the scene during the 'treatment of status passengers' section of the training course.

Can't say it bothers me quite as much as it does you, but I think you should let Emirates management know of your views in writing.

I would be fascinated to see their response.

(although..... the odds are it would include some trite waffle along the lines of "we find the majority of our loyal customers greatly value this personalised greeting......"

In its defence, I find it's a very convenient time to get things like water and earplugs delivered.

If the purser woke you up pre-take off, I think that's acceptable as one should be awake for the safety briefings etc. etc., and shouldn't be too much of an issue - I find the easiest thing is to cut them off politely and say hello etc. etc.

If post take-off, then a big no-no, imho; that said, I am rarely woken up to be given the spiel once in the air.

On my most recent trip I did not greeted on 2 of 4 legs. The 2 where I did I was upgraded to first and that made up for it ��

It was after demonstration but before take off. I was last on the plane and dozed off.

I also had in ear headphones in (but not connected to anything) but the lady doing it totally lacked any form of social skills or ability to 'read the signals'.

The whole thing is phony, that busy time before takeoff and let's be honest the person giving the greeting doesn't really give a toss, they know, I know and they know I know they know....

Since changing company I have now become a Y passenger more often than not. The gold greeting and Fast Track card is something I hold onto as my last piece of on-board dignity.

The cabin supervisor can wake me whenever he or she likes.

And some complain when they don't get the 'insincere greeting'. ;)

I've always thought that with very few exceptions most of the EK staff I come across are addressing me in their 2nd, 3rd or 4th language. Perhaps this is relevant too?

Very good point, and especially with SE Asian countries I find their accent makes their 'polite' English come across as over the top or even insincere when all it is is the accent and them trying to be polite.

In the specific case of the experience as related by the OP, this was not a language issue, but a clear example of unprofessional delivery. Let's not make excuses by confusing the two.

That rustling of a long manifest directly in front of the pax would, for me, be the most disappointing aspect of the 'greeting'. Is the Purser (having supposedly earnt promotion to the role) not mature & savvy enough to at least take a couple of seconds to memorise the name just before approaching each status pax ........??

I'm very much on the same wavelength as the OP where fake sincerity is so clearly accompanied by a parrot routine. As per his post ........

".......let's be honest the person giving the greeting doesn't really give a toss, they know, I know and they know I know they know...."

The cringeworthy gold greeting is the best time to ask for stuff that I don't have in the cabin class that I am flying in.

I usually request for Slippers while travelling in J.

I dont think that I have ever been refused as they have just told me that ' If there is anything I can do to make your travel more comfortable then please let me know'

Always be polite and ask for one if they have any spare one's. I used to carry my own ones but don't travel that often in F nowadays and have run out . :-(

If you are in F then a good time to book the shower if they are greeting you at the door :)

Couldn't agree more. In all flights so far, (I usually fly J, not F), when I've been greeted by the staff, I've always been addressed by name without the manifest in front. In this incident, it was this specific Purser who could've done far better.

I was in Y this time (flight was fully booked) and the purser was rushing through in those manic minutes before departure trying to get the job done. Totally fake and both parties knew it was a tick box job.

I did however make use of a much better gold benefit, ability to get a seat when the flight was fully booked.