eternaltransit

Completely agree re: the variability. I think though, it's rare to have an absolutely awful flight with awful crew, the normal bad experience is it's just perfunctory, ime, which is probably because the expectation has been set that it can be absolutely excellent!

All down to how good the CSV and Purser is, which I think is reflective of the workforce: 26-27 year olds corralling 22-23 year olds around (yes yes, massive generalisation ). Not that that excuses anything, but a partial explanation.

ft101

That flyaway collar on all the men's shirts is designed like that . . . isn't it?

thijsseh

I think my last Y long haul flight was about 6 years ago. I don't fly that much anymore since retirement, so our once a year 'positioning' flight from South Africa to Europe (self funded of course) is in J (with the occasional upgrade to F). Intra Europe travel is almost always in Y (sometimes on BA with Avios in J).
But now we have a small business in the UK, so more flying. And we (actually 'she who must be obeyed') have decided that this should be in Y (at least for now). So in January I'll see my first long haul in Y again. The return is on our anniversary and I could not resist the F saver fare I spotted.... So a strange mix of cabins. They obviously don't like cheapskates in F: Economy special and saver fares are not combinable with F saver. Fortunately Economy Flex was only marginally more expensive than special or saver fares (which were also available).
I'll report on my Y experience when I emerge on the other side.

Coffee drinker

Economy on EK A380 is probably the best economy out there. My comparisons are Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific which I have flown recently.

sydtogla

I am a fan of the LH drinks in Y though. Always generous and free pour from bottle, and French sparking wine on long hauls. Not bad!

eternaltransit

Aren't they all generous, considering it's unlimited drinks on all 3 carriers

Trusty

I like economy in Emirates.
My last flights in August/September were really good (great food, great ICE, great crew)
I was a bit unsure about new seat reservation rules (I had Saver ticket). In the past it was better.
But I must say that at the end I had maybe better seats then with old rules...
For one sector I paid for seat in advance (to get upstairs Y in 2 class A380),
for 3 sectors do not.
At time of check-in (done as early as possible) I was still able to select for free very good seats (windows and also once twins).
The "problem" now is imho with fee for Extra Seats when you buy flex ticket. You still pay the same as for Saver ticket..

But, I'm really afraid what they do after introducing premium economy.
They could make "Space" for it, so reduce quality in economy and increase prices in business:/

sydtogla

True. I guess in my head I was thinking of QF and *A who are not so generous in Y.

ElJudioErrante

EK FAs tend not to hide as other FAs on some carriers .FAs on carriers such as KL or LH flying long haul seem to think that they have earnt their status having gone up the ladder from the short haul hops on single aisles(where not too easy to hide),and are usually a bit older.EK FAs on the other hand are thrown in the deep end onto 777 and A380 and it appears that they are trained and told to give excellent service throughout the flight.when it comes to drinks and food,EK is very generous. Despite all the cutbacks that are frustrating to FFs, EK in my opinion still comes out on top...before,during and after the flight.And yes the IFE is 2nd to none.The on-board wifi I've noticed recently is hit n miss, although is free for golds.

LonghornDXB

Don't know why, but I kind of like the suspense when I fly without checking the menu,

Flame3601

I also have that urge sometimes , however i take the meal as a culinary journey, so really like to know what I'm eating as i can plan ahead if nothing meets my tight requirements as i am a very picky eater.

eternaltransit

The best way to knock that picky eating habit out of your head is to not plan ahead and just go with the flow.

Eventually your hunger will get the better of you

thijsseh

Maybe EK Y meals are above average, but if they are a 'culinary journey', I'll be pleasantly surprised....

Flame3601

Was referring to J/F , Y is just game of do i want it or not ?

rumbataz

Here’s a review of my recent EK Economy experience based on just the outbound leg. The route was LHR to DXB. Aircraft type was A380.

Gate Experience
==========
Surprisingly calm and well organised. The flight was only around 80% full so that helped. It was an overnight flight so passengers were probably tired.

Pre Take-off Exoerience
==============
A lovely, warm welcome from the cabin crew member situated at my zone entrance point.

PA announcements were sometimes hard to hear. The safety briefing was almost inaudible but none of the cabin crew did anything about this.

In-flight Experience
============
No hot towel service early on. Some penny-pinching going on there I guess.

The main meal service (dinner) took an extraordinary amount of time to get started. My estimation was that it got started around 2 hours after take-off.

In fact, it took so long to get the bar service started that passengers were coming up to the parked trolleys and just getting their own drinks or asking passing cabin crew to get them a drink.

Whilst the bar service trolleys were stocked and ready to be used, the cabin crew were running around serving alcohol to a minority of passengers. Once this group of passengers had downed as many drinks as they could, the bar trolley service started.

This was followed shortly by the meal service. No menu was handed out to me so I had to ask what the choices were.

The meal tray was quite sparsely populated based on my experiences from years gone by. The quantity and quality of the food was not so good. I don’t tend to eat much and I wasn’t all that hungry anyway, but I managed to eat everything that was edible on the meal tray.

Tray collection was done quickly and efficiently,

Refreshments services - I can only remember one refreshment service of water or orange juice. Based on my EK Economy flights from 10-15 years ago, there used to several refreshment services.

Cabin announcements were good throughout the actual flight, both from the cabin crew and the pilots. There was forewarning of two periods of turbulence so passengers were prepared for it.

There was a bit of unprofessional behaviour from some of the cabin crew. They kept using their mobile phones during the flight, presumably to send messages to their contacts. This was done fairly openly to begin with, but as more and more passengers noticed, the cabin crew locked themselves in the toilets with their mobile phones for a few minutes at a time.

Due to a very strong tail wind, about an hour was knocked off the flying time. This may have caused my next disappointment.

With around an hour to landing, it became apparent that there would be no additional meal service (breakfast). This was really disappointing as so much time was wasted plying the alcoholics on board with drinks during the very early part of the flight that I guess this meant there was no time for a breakfast service towards the end of the flight.

There was also a supremely surreal and ironic moment. One obviously very religious passenger decided to use a blanket as a prayer mat to pray for a full 20-25 minutes at the door close to where I was seated. Out of respect, this shut off acces to the two crew seats so those crews operated from the opposite side during that time. I watched the communal screens show the direction to the Qibla in Mecca. As the passenger prayed in the direction of the Qibla, the cabin crew were busy handing out alcoholic drinks to passengers.

I joked about a similar scenario last week. I couldn’t believe that it became a reality with icing on top!

Landing Experience
============
Finally there was a hot towel service. The cabin was prepared for landing quickly and efficiently. Landing was perfect, but we parked at a very remote gate so a combination of long walks and a train ride were required to get to passport control.

Summary
======
The sparkle of flying in EK Economy has gone for me. It used to be an exciting and awe-inspiring experience for me in the early days.

Punctuality was excellent.

EK Economy is great if you want to get blind drunk for free.

Some of the cabin crew seemed to be extremely tired.

Th chipping away in small details that made EK Economy such a wonderful experience has now made it an okay experience.

Having said all of that, it’s still probably the best direct LHR-DXB airline compared to all of the alternatives put together.