Which J service to chose? DL, EK, CX, or AF?
 

I have a long multi-city work trip coming up and am looking for advise on which products i should chose. flights will be business class.

A number of the routes i can do on DL or AF's new J seat. However, there are a few legs where that doesn't work or there are other options with better timing and pricing that DL.

I'm a DL guy and would first choose a DL / sky team partner (going for MQM's), as a second choice AS (and their partners). While i may prefer DL earning, in some cases it isn't practical or, maybe there is a better product i should try.

Specificity, would any of the below options be that much better of a hard/ soft product as compared to DL and AF (new J)?

- CX (SEA-SIN)
- EK (SIN-MUC)
- SG (SIN-MUC) - only non-stop but less than great timing.

Which J service to chose? DL, EK, CX, or AF?
 

I'm not too familiar with the products, but I doubt much would compare to CX or EKs new J products. Especially compared against DL, no offense.

Which J service to chose? DL, EK, CX, or AF?
 

I actually think DL's long haul J product is perfectly fine, and completely adequate if their schedule & pricing is equal or better. CX, EK, and SQ will be better J products, but I wouldn't really pay a huge premium for them, nor would I go out of my way route/schedule-wise just for the product. And if you're building miles/status with SkyTeam, there is value in that as this sounds like a trip that will generate lots of miles.

The only J product I might avoid is AF on certain equipment. But again, if you can get one of their new 777s or if their route and schedule is significantly better, it is still a perfectly fine way to get from A to B.

Which J service to chose? DL, EK, CX, or AF?
 

Depends what matters to you.

Seats:
1. EK on A380 or Air France 777 with new cabins or CX
Very close 2. Delta

Food:
1. Air France
2. Cathay
Distant 3. Emirates
Clear 4. Delta

"Service protocol", service, FAs
Cathay has top professional, very reactive and attentionate staff and service. But "Asian" in a way that they are a little cold and distant, looking up to passengers. Great
Air France has extremely classy, lovely, warm and engaging FAs - usually. But they have some inconsistency, and you may get an FA that hates the whole concept of customer service and may look miserable throughout the flight. Slightly less reactive than others, but things have improved a lot. Still among the four this is "the class act"
Emirates is usually overrated. In a way they are like trained service machines, I find them more stressed than others and less natural. Often not reactive at all.
Delta: Jurassic park. The concept of "class act" is completely foreign to them,in general they don't take a lot of pride in their job.

All in all Cathay is great as always, Air France is making a very successful comeback (just avoid the old cabins) and generally under-rated whilst Emirates is over-rated. Delta is better than its reputation, but still is and remains a U.S. major, hence it's not bad but surely not great either.

I hope that helps

The seats/food/service distinction is actually a very good one.

My earlier post was primarily about seats, since on long-haul flights I can deal with so-so food and service and am mostly interested in being able to sleep comfortably for most of the flight.

I haven't found DL and AF service to be completely miserable, but there are some bad apples. Seems that CX and EK are more consistent in their level and style of service.

??

I agree that it comes to what you're looking for. For long flights, I'm much more concerned with the comfort of the seat and seek out the EK 380 wherever I can. Be sure it's a 380 (though it's getting harder to find anything else) - long haul on the EK 777 is completely different, and much worse.

Thanks for pointing that out. Corrected now, Emirates food is greatly over-rated, it is a distinct and distand third behind Cathay (always good) and Air France (which has made tremendous progress in quality, quantity, choice, presentation).

Emirates Business Class is good on the A380, because seats are lie-flat and are in fact mini-suites that offer a lot of privacy. But so do the new Air France and Cathay seats, and also the new Delta seats. Emirates 777 and old Air France cabins have a 2-3-2 configuration which is not great, and both of them have seats that don't go fully horizontal.

nonstop can be good

also LH? (timing?) not sure if their new J is available on that route?

For SIN-MUC, I'd just take SQ J for the nonstop.
Or, you might consider QR as they fly the latest A350 or 787.
I'd avoid EK as they fly 777 on DXB-SIN route.

Small correction EK flies daily 777 and A380 on DXB-SIN route.

Thanks everyone.

I would say comfort is my primary driver. i could care a lot less about the quality of the food (nothing tastes that great to me in the air), but i do care about the service. My last few TATL on DL have been just fine. I find the seat a little narrow when trying to sleep, but not that bad.

Narrowing down, the SIN-MUC, looks like its EK on two A380's or AF on the new J through CDG. The flight times are similar enough, while the AF one is slightly better. I may take EK just to try it out and b/c I am less of a fan of having a domestic flight after a long-haul (CDG-MUC).

I'll likely try the new AF J going MUC-PVG though.

The SG non-stop means leaving before i would like to (my target date appears to be sold out), and i don't think LH flights that route.

The last hole is the transpac flights, DL is more expensive than CX (for SFO-SIN), but CX is two stop (positioning flight to YVR, LAX, or SFO). Would like to try CX, but not sure if giving up that many MQM's, RDM's, and an extra stop makes sense even if CX is a bit cheaper.

ah, some sold out dates, unfortunate

and LH flies to FRA i see, sorry