Emirates Airlines

[jolyjacktar]

Hi Guys,
Booked to fly Emirates from London to Bangkok via Dubai in January as they offered the best price for that period. Can anyone tell me what they are like in Economy class as ive never flown them before. Normaly fly Thai but fancied a change as Thai aircraft seem a little tired these days. Still usr the big screens for movies and havnt upgraded to seat back monitors. Where i think Emirates have the personal tv screen.


Thanks
Jack xxx

I have flown with Emirates every year (and even twice a year) for the last 10 years. You have made a good choice!
I have always found them to be excellent and this December I shall be travelling on the new A380. The seats are more comfortable than many arlines in economy and the food (with good choices) is very good compared with other airlines. They now have a new entertainment system which has many channels, both sound and vision, on seatback monitors. They also have cameras outside the plane so you can see take off and landings etc.

The staff always seem to be courteous and will help if there is a problem - especially for me as I am disabled and need a wheelchair.

Ther pricing is alway competetive compared with most airlines and return journeys can be easily be changed on payment of a small fee. You can choose your seat on line.

I hope this doesn't sound too much like a commercial but you have made a wise decision.

Anything else you want to know you can PM me

A Thai friend of mine just departed last night to Rome on Emirates. Say's its his airline of choice, and flies long haul frequently.

It is also my airline of choice fattman and has been now for ten years. I have made many long haul flights with Emirates over those ten years and I firmly believe, they are second to no other airline. Although I do not fly in the economy section myself, I believe from what I have been told by those that do, it is also superb in that section too.


Cheers,


George.

[jinks]

Although I do not fly in the economy section myself, I believe from what I have been told by those that do, it is also superb in that section too.


Me too, I once looked through the curtains and saw the cattle were quite comfortable.

You can check out reviews at the following:

http://www.airlinequality.com/

You might also consider Qatar Airlines which is usually similarly priced to EK. My opinion is that QR is a bit more roomy in Y. Another option is Etihad. The problem with all 3 is the transit in the Gulf. All the airports are equally diabolical. As far as flight times they all pretty much arrive and depart BKK with an hour or 2 of each other.

[thanatorn-old]

Although I may have just had a bad day but Ethiad - despite having various awards has got to be the worst flying experience I have ever had. As stated somewhere in my previous posts at some point, I have remained loyal to Thai, ( I really just want their airmiles as part of star alliance), but they are starting to price themselves out of the market or seem to be heading that way.

An alternative has to be found. Ethiad are cramped, filthy aircraft, basic food choice, staff may exert themselves to serve with a smile now and again, and the airport at Abu Dhabi is appalling. Poor signage, surly staff, seriusly overcrowded and unorganised- my god - i could go on and on about them.

I have flown Emirates once before and they were not bad at all, and surprisingly spacious in the cattle pen. All the usual trimmings - seatback monitors etc, ( I do wish Thai would get their finger out and upgrade all their aircraft to this basic requirement) despite an unbelievable 12 hour delay in Dubai ( in fairness not their fault, but not a lot of info given about projected times) -their airport is not that great for that length of time.

The one good thing about the Arabic airlines is that the stopover does break the flight from the UK which is nice if you have to go cattle.

It is also my airline of choice fattman and has been now for ten years. I have made many long haul flights with Emirates over those ten years and I firmly believe, they are second to no other airline. Although I do not fly in the economy section myself, I believe from what I have been told by those that do, it is also superb in that section too.

I would agree almost 100% with the views expressed above and in other posts on this thread and Emirates economy class is definitely better than most. However, I disagree that it is 'second to none' especially if you are flying business class from the UK. There is another airline which beats Emirates hands down --- Qatar Airways. They are far superior to Emirates in customer service, in-flight comfort and catering and other facilities and their stopover lounge at Doha for business class passengers is far better than any other I have seen anywhere in the world.
OK, their prices may be very marginally higher but well worth paying for the extra comfort and service (if you can afford to fly business anyway).

[fedssocr]

I have remained loyal to Thai, ( I really just want their airmiles as part of star alliance), but they are starting to price themselves out of the market or seem to be heading that way.

Depending which airline you are earning miles with, Qatar is a partner with many Star Alliance airlines. So you may be able to earn miles in your program flying on QR. Their fares from Washington are fairly competitive. I flew on ANA last year and this year I will be on them again using my United miles for business class seats. But once I have to start paying again I am thinking I might try QR and go the other way around the world.

[jolyjacktar]

Thanks guys seems i made a good choice after all. Hope to meet some of you in January.

[thrillbill]

Me too, I once looked through the curtains and saw the cattle were quite comfortable.[/quote
______________________________

ewwwwwwwwww, and I looked from economy class into business class and saw fat slobs that would be very boring to sit nest to... :cheers:

I fly Emirates from South Africa to Europe (via Dubai).

Emirates is an okay airline - nothing wrong but nothing spectacular. Cattle class in any airline is an uncomfortable hell and probably only varies marginally in entertainment equipment and cabin service. Having flown Emirates, Thai, Malaysia and Cathay regularly, still find Singapore Airlines and KLM to be exceptional.

Agree there's not much to choose from between different airlines in terms of cabin comfort in economy, but when it comes to cabin staff there's a huge gap between the best (malaysian/Thai/Singapore) and the worst (Qantas - who make a 12 hour flight seem like a week in gaol).

I was particularly fond of Malaysian because they had some very cute stewards as well as stewardesses - though both were very charming.

[Lunchtime O'Booze]

Although I do not fly in the economy section myself, I believe from what I have been told by those that do, it is also superb in that section too.


Me too, I once looked through the curtains and saw the cattle were quite comfortable.

how vulgar looking through curtains and watching the common people and their habits. The reason we go in first class is to avoid them..now we obviously have interlopers hoping they can be one of us !!

[Lunchtime O'Booze]

Although I do not fly in the economy section myself, I believe from what I have been told by those that do, it is also superb in that section too.


Me too, I once looked through the curtains and saw the cattle were quite comfortable.

how vulgar looking through curtains and watching the common people and their habits. The reason we go in first class is to avoid them..now we obviously have interlopers hoping they can be one of us !!
Wow this would have to be the first time you not mention your lover HOMI IN A REPLY IN A WHILE but you still like the degrade the normal working class man

well I shall correct that now, but Homitern..lover ?..good grief man I may be stark raving mad but I do have some taste !

I'm not sure I've met any normal working class men ..I've met some working class men but none seem to be normal.

I'm not sure I've met any normal working class men ..I've met some working class men but none seem to be normal.My cousin Cedric Montdore (as he became) took up with a truck driver whose vehicle broke down at the castle gates. One of the horrors that the Establishment has about homosexuals is that we'll go to bed with anyone we find attractive, irrespective of class - very threatening to the social fabric

As for Emirates, the only thing I can say about those who enjoy flying that airline is that they must be easily pleased

[topjohn5]

Although I do not fly in the economy section myself, I believe from what I have been told by those that do, it is also superb in that section too.


Me too, I once looked through the curtains and saw the cattle were quite comfortable.

how vulgar looking through curtains and watching the common people and their habits. The reason we go in first class is to avoid them..now we obviously have interlopers hoping they can be one of us !!
Wow this would have to be the first time you not mention your lover HOMI IN A REPLY IN A WHILE but you still like the degrade the normal working class man

I frequently had my ex dress up as a Russian peasant boy. He loved a good degrading now and then. Ahhhhh, those were the days.......

Qatar Airways London-Bangkok return 449 pounds from Jan - Mar 2009. Book by 30 November

[Nathan B]

If you're tall Thai is the best airline in economy because it has a generous 34" inch seat pitch. The other airlines mentioned here are mostly only 32", even Singapore.

www.seatguru.com (http://www.seatguru.com) is a good place to check seat layouts.

Here's the comparison of leading Business Class products. Emirates? Ah yes - they have a larger than average personal television screen. Way to go - http://www.smarttravelasia.com/businessclass.htm

Here's the comparison of leading Business Class products. Emirates? Ah yes - they have a larger than average personal television screen. Way to go - http://www.smarttravelasia.com/businessclass.htm

12 trips on Emirates, so I reckon I'm qualified to comment:

FOOD - Excellent
ICE entertainment - Excellent
SEATS (Econ) - Pitch ok but Very tight in width - They put 10 seats across a Boeing 777 300ER where most others put only 9. Result is you can hardly move your elbows .
CABIN STAFF - Average.

However, after 12 flights I get an upgrade next time - so I'll be able to pontificate about business class next time, just like the other blowhards on here!

If you REALLY want to slum it - go with Austrian - worst flights ever.

:cheers:

[jolyjacktar]

scottish-guy i agree with you there, Austrian was not a good experience. I flew them once from Heathrow and boy never again.
KLM isnt a favourite either. Overpriced, rude staff and cramped seating.
Best i think ive flown in Econ is Malaysian air,like Thai they have 34" pitch but better service than Thai.

Emirates is a big disaster in economy, as long as u have the missfortune to fly on their B-777.
they squeeze 10 seats in one row, no other airline has done that so far (normal is 2-5-2, as on Malaysian Airlines,. for example).
then they have some big boxes under the seats (window seat), whioch they need to store some equipment for their inflight-entertainment system.
extremely uncomfortable.
there are only a few rows what are a little more comfortable and where u can recline the seats a litle more.
I did fly them 4 times in 2008 already, bangkok - Europe and vv., and I only did so, because their FF-program gives me 125% miles in economy class if booked through their website. thats certainly unique. and they do have some good airline partners, though they are not in any alliance. will earn miles until I have my long-wanted redemption ticket to South-America, then will NEVER EVER fly them again, even I am a SILVER member at the moment.
I may consider flying them again once I have won the lottery and can afford B-class ^_^

by the way, since 1st of April 2008, they are EXTREMELY strict when it comes to luggage allowance. Before, even 27 Kg were no problem. now u will have to pay exorbitant excess-luggage-charges as soon as your case is over 21 Kg of weight.
early April, I checked-in for Emirates at a major european airport, and there were about 20 people waiting in the queue in front of me, when the check-.in started. I had already heard that they have changed their luggage-policy and prepared myself. the others didnt. NONE of those people waiting in front of me were able to check-in immidiately. ALL of them were sent to the "excess luggage" - desk and had to pay. and those were just regular travellers, couples, families, not a group. my case was the first to go down the belt.....

to be fair: other airlines do the same now (QATAR, GULF), and all those airlines that had a 30-Kg-allowance, reduced it to 20 Kg lately (Egypt, Jordanian, Turkish).

I just grabbed some information about the new Emirates excess-luggage-rates, and from BKK to any destination in Europe it would be 2.500 THB per KILO (yeah u read that right). lovely...... so better dont buy that huge wooden elephant you liked so much here in that night-market :compress:

[Khor tose]

http://graphics2.snopes.com/photos/airplane/graphics/etihad01.jpg

The story behind the photo is hillarious..............

Yes, tell it please.

[Khor tose]

You can read it here:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/etihad.asp Also see the full photoset of the incident (for some reason the photo I posted isn't reappearing now?). Sounds like someone should have stuck to riding camels :bom:

Thanks for the story. The pilots where probably related to someone high in the UAE. You and I would be very carefull with something that cost 20 million. They could care less. I wonder how they drive a car? :mat:

I wonder how they drive a car?.........With less care and attention.

I'm not sure I've met any normal working class men ..I've met some working class men but none seem to be normal.

Witness everyone, the birth of Neurocracy! Although I suspect it's been around a lot longer than I have, it has only been recently identified and classified. :compress: