Hi guys,

I have a feeling you will be incredibly bias and silly of me to ask…but…

End of the year, we are moving from AKL to LON and flying into LHR. As a long time Air NZ Elite and Star Alliance loyalist I was just going to buy F fares on the Singapore metal (A388)

However, since it’s a rather special move for us, I decided to look outside my beloved Alliance and am considering Etihad Residence (if they still operate) or Emirates F from AKL-DXB-LHR

Ive never been on an Emirates flight. Can someone here, who has traveled Singapore or Lufthansa First, perhaps just provide a quick comparison of your experiences and why (if you would) choose Emirates?

thanks!

cam

EK are a very good carrier in F. Yes, their product can be a bit 'blingy' but having the onboard bar and the showers on their 380s is a very nice experience. Plus, you get chauffeur drive in AKL/LHR (plus DXB if you decide to have a stopover). Also, if you decide to fly into Stanstead instead of Heathrow, you might be able to get on their 'game-changer' First Class.

LH and SQ also have excellent F products. The downside with travelling on both ex-NZ is that you're only getting F on half the journey as the first leg will always be in J but they both still charge as if your getting F the whole way through. At least with EK you'll get F all the way from NZ to the UK. The other downside with LH is that you'll have two stops to get to London (a stop in Asia/North America and then in FRA/MUC).

In all honesty, I'd probably go with EK F myself if *A loyalty isn't an issue. However, if you do decide to do EK you'll want to book soon. EK are increasing all of their fares ex-NZ to EMEA from the 21st March.

Is the LHR chauffeur service on cash fares only these days or on F awards as well? Thanks!

No CD on award tickets.

I would forget about LH F, not only for the reasons mentioned above, but because it's not in the same league (in a bad way) as EK or SQ F. I think LyingFlat 's summary is very good.
I would go with EK or, if the schedule/price is much better, SQ. I would not let the alliance aspect affect this decision.

Really. We just booked F CHC-FCO and then J MXP-DXB-AKL 2 weeks ago with Emirates. Looked at Singapore to do same route all J class and they were NZD$3000.00 more. AirNZ all J was NZD$5000.00 more. And we are Singapore Gold members.
Looks like Emirates fares will be similar after 21 March.