mrtdxb

I have passed through most times of the day and night and it has always been open. About the only time slot I cannot speak for from personal experience is from 2:40 AM to about 6:00AM. I suspect it is 24 hours but an email to them might reveal all. If I remember I will also ask next time I am there.

ung1

Are you sure they provide noise cancelling headphones in economy? I find that very hard to believe.

The one reason I fly Emirates over Etihad is my AVOD didn't work on an entire JFK-DXB flight, and I had to resort to chatting with crew and pax for the entire duration. On the same trip I visited their old J lounge at AUH and it absolutely put me off getting status with them. Oh another thing, they don't do priority check in or boarding for Silvers!

I guess some other, more valid, reasons, are that they only have 3x a week to SIN while EK have 21x a week, which means it's always easier to get a seat on EK and fly whenever I want instead of doing overnighters on EY.

openflync

The spa is open 24/7. Needless to say it is hard to get a slot as the lounge always seems crowded.

tmac100

I generally fly BA in Premium Economy. However, to answer the question I have flown AUH-Brisbane with Etihad in Economy and their service was excellent. I was not quite as comfortable as in BA's WT+ because I am 195 cm and have a couple of (now healed) busted legs that complain during flights of over 4 hours.

Emirates in 3 different economy flights has not given me anything outstanding. Their flights are crowded in economy and the bathroom availability is an issue. In fact, on the last flight (LHR-DXB) they were just .....rdly with libations and I had to ask several times before they even gave me some wine - which I received after the meal, instead of enjoying it with the meal.

I never had a problem on 4 sectors with Etihad and was pleasantly surprised at their level of service and assessibility to toilets in economy (even though the 4 sectors were full in economy), and I have NEVER had any problem with BA - ever. In fact for a while BA was upgrading me from WT+ into business class at no additional cost to me. Consequently, I naturally think highly of their service - even on short hauls (LHR-Warsaw).

Go with Etihad instead of Emirates! JMHO :-)

cundall

I am currently sat in DOH flying with QR when i was thinking of switching airlines Etihad seem good and after the good reviews i might have to take a look. Or am i crazy?

BTW I used to like EK but they have gone down hill over the past few years in Y (only fly Y).

pippa13

I don't want to embarrass anyone - but frankly DUBAI for me is just a huge construction place. Politically I think Dubai did a great job in making "Westerners" believe it's a "democratic" country ;-)

pippa13

We came from FRA at roughly 08.00pm and the lounge was extremely crowded. Some sections wee really looking sad/bad (compared that to the Irish Pub at Dubai Intl.).
Up until 09.30pm the SPA was quite busy but then the masseuses were hanging around.....no clients. Also the QUIET ROOM was available.

For our long layover on the way back to EU (7 hrs!) we have now requested a room at the Airport Hotel in order to make sure we get some rest.
Frankly - we like the Emirates lounge over the Etihad lounge.

The flat beds were great at J! But those seats are narrow.

Despite Emirates doesn't offer yet real flat beds at J e definitely will choose Emirates over Etihad because we can fly out of DUS directly to OZ instead of undertaking the effort to ride a train to FRA to catch Etihad.

If they would fly out of DUS - that's another story.

Instead of twice/day out of FRA in my view it would make sense to add DUS to the map a couple of times/week.

Etihad also can't work out what LACTO-OVO-VEGETARIAN meals mean. We got VEGAN again. No airline is cmpable of doing it. Have been trying that for 20plus years - never worked out

Besides the real flat beds - Etihad isn't any better than Emirates in our opinion but it's good to have made that experience.

gumbleby

They do indeed, I'm just back from a return trip Europe/Asia in economy, had noise cancelling headphones on all four legs, and indeed on all my flights in the last few years. On my last flight leg my headphone was malfunctioning, ended up using the one in the seat next to mine (it was free).

I've had a lot of trouble with malfunctioning entertainment systems when I first started flying EY, but not recently. Compared to early days, service in economy is no longer over the top (only one full meal on a 6 to 7 hr flight instead of 2, normal cutlery instead of super heavy,...), entertainment system have clearly gotten much better, ... Unfortunately seat pitch has diminished and their 777 are now 10 abreast instead of 9 before, there also used to be a "premium economy" section on some of their older leased A330s, not on their newer ones

Emirates isn't an option for met, but next year Qatar will start flying to BRU, might give them a try, their economy seating seems to be much better, fairly important for me as I'm a bit of a POS (don't usually need a seatbelt extender, and I fit between the armrest, but its not comfortable and I tend to obstruct the aisles a bit).

Keyser

fair enough....

openflync

They are still smaller than EK, thats the only difference. As to food, I have gotten to the point that I don't even bother eating during the flight, even on Business or First. Just have something at the lounges and leave it at that.

Descending

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are both in the same country. Do you have a different perception of Abu Dhabi in this regard?

sambessey

Pardon my ignorance, but isn't a LACTO-OVO-VEGETARIAN just a normal veggie? Are you saying you asked for a veggie meal and got Vegan? I would be annoyed if that happened to me. EY do a veggie option on their menu for anyone that wants it I think, and you can ask for it during the normal meal service without pre- ordering. (I always go for the meat options though )

zoonil

The other option is to ask for AVML which is Indian vegetarian (includes diary), if you like Indian vegetarian food that is.

pippa13

descending, not really. I have experienced DUBAI reps at several exhibitions but never ever dealt with Abu Dhabi reps. Need to do a research on that in order to answer ur question.

pippa13

saad - let me put it that way: I don`t like to shop and I don` like to drive/walk around huge construction places. Dubai particularly isn`t calling on me for a lot of reasons. The major ones I alreadz mentioned.
But / never mind! Too each its own.