We are planning a round trip from SFO to BOM in Jan/Feb 2012. In the past, we always flew Lufthansa for the short flight duration. Lately, Emirates has become a good option for the same reason. We were looking for opinions on whether it is worth traveling by Emirates.

Besides one leg of the flight being very long (the one between SFO and DXB), we are also concerned about the negative feedback on various sites about DXB as a transit airport.

Thanks in advance for your help !

Depends on class of service. In economy I would go with LH. That sfo-dxb in steerage would be brutal, and emirates economy is pretty bad. Emirates business class is a lot nicer than LH's, I have to say, and the long flight wouldn't be such a problem. In F it's a toss-up. Emirates is better inboard and LH better on the ground. Emirates ground services are ridiculously bad, especially considering how much effort they've expended on the in flight experience. And everybody has to try the FCT once in their light, even if it's just the experience of getting driven to the plane.

Either airport is fine for transit, neither is up to the standard of, say, Singapore. On average I'd say there's more of a "kettle" factor at DXB, but they should get some credit for the pretty cool flashmob they did.

One additional thought is that if there are any problems you're much better off with LH. They will reroute you on other carriers and there are lots more pssgr protections in the event of cancellations and such. The motto over at Emirates is "we've got your money already, what do we care happens after that" or, more saltily "the passenger can go %*#}%€£>|] himself".

Any reason you're only looking at those two and not say DL or VS?

In J I'd take EK by miles and probably in F too despite the fact that the FCT in FRA is amazing. In Y it would be a toss up just because EK is so much more flying time with 3x4x3 seating on both legs. However, LH Y is hardly appealing. In Y I'd probably pick the one with the better price.

If your budget won't allow for business, can you at least go for premium economy seats when flying such great distances? Check prices on BA, VS, BR and TG (LAX-BKK); there may be others.

I flew EK SFO-DXB-BLR last May:

+EK: While the SFO-DXB leg is *long*, for me at least, once the flight is beyond 5-6 hours, 15 isn't much worse than 10, and once that leg is done, the DXB-India leg seems like nothing (same on the return trip, India-DXB just feels like a short hop). From coworkers who've done the LH trip, after a 10 hour flight and connection, another 10 hour flight seems interminable. And flying near the North Pole has a "cool" factor; enjoyed watching the downward camera as we passed the northern coast of Greenland and later down over Russia.

+EK: In Y, EK's in-flight entertainment blows away anything I've seen on other airlines. Personal VOD with a *huge* selection (many movies in many genres, TV shows with 5+ episodes of each, etc). Isn't LH just a "main screen movie" on those routes?

+LH: 3-4-3 on a 777 is noticably tighter; the seats and aisles are narrower, and I had to balance between rubbing shoulders with the guy next to me and getting jostled from aisle traffic (and I'm not a wide guy).

+LH: Better FF partners; luckily my trip was just before the EK/UA mileage partnership ended or I would have insisted on a different carrier. Too bad they weren't Elite Qualifying miles.

DXB wasn't that bad; the terminal itself is modern, and fairly easy to navigate. We had 1.5 and 2 hour connections, which were plenty of time. Distinct shortage of restrooms, though.