EMIRATES review :   28 September 2008 by  J Nadarajah    (UK)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Good experience flying out of UK. Onward flight to Far East is made difficult by passengers boarding in at Dubai with no respect for seat allocation causing confusion and disrupting cabin crew duties. Not all passengers are regular fliers. Some need to be educated. Check in staff should make an extra effort to organise seating arrangements that do not conflict with seating preference of certain religious groups (females).

EMIRATES review :   25 September 2008 by  J Kneijber    (Australia)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

BNE-AKL on 777-300. Very cheap fare (less than low cost carrier on the same route). Able to select seats 47A/B at booking, some of the few that only have 2 seats next to the window, instead of three. Seats are fairly cramped and pitch some of the smallest I have experienced. OK for a 3 hour flight to NZ, but could not recommend for a long haul flight. Entertainment system was very good and food also very good for economy. FA's polite but not exceptional. On price this was exceptional value for money.

EMIRATES review :   25 September 2008 by  K Black    (UAE)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

BKK-DXB in Business Class - new flat bed seats that were comfortable with a wide array of positions. The inflight entertainment system has a huge catalogue of movies and documentaries. The food was quite good. I bought the ticket at BKK airport and as my name was not mentioned on the crew manifest of passengers the FA thought I was upgraded and made it known. Once this was corrected the service improved however still offered the usual Emirates crew disdainful service.

EMIRATES review :   24 September 2008 by  S Ryan    (Australia)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

The 5th time I've used Emirates economy for a short haul to Auckland from Brisbane and a bargain price for a full service airline. I had my 10 year old son with me this time and he was extremely well looked after (last time 3 years ago we went business class together) and we both agreed that although the seats are tiny, the service was ok. Business class price has nearly doubled in a couple of years making it frankly a waste of money for a short flight - hence this section off the plane is empty.

EMIRATES review :   22 September 2008 by  S McCarthy    (UK)

Customer Rating : 1/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Gatwick to Dubai, economy class. Once we had taken off I plugged the headphones into the jack. The sound quality was poor. I then noticed that some of the wires were sticking out near the jack. I pushed the button above my head to call a crew member. After continuously pushing it for more than 15 minutes the passenger next to me asked me what the problem was and offered me her headphones as she was not using them at the time. A while later a crew member was serving drinks. I mentioned to her about the earphones and she said that she would bring another set when she was finished. I never saw her or the new pair of earphones. Customer service on board needs looking into.

EMIRATES review :   22 September 2008 by  A Hempel    (South Africa)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

JNB-DXB-FRA return. Plane on every leg was a 777-300ER, comfortable and pleasant flight experience. Leg room and comfort sufficient for Economy class. Cabin crew friendly and quick to respond to passenger requests. Food was excellent. IFE was great and kept me busy for most of the flight time. Transit in Dubai bearable but could have been better. Especially the toilet and smoke situation needs to be improved - it is impossible to walk along the airport and not catch smoke clouds from the inadequate smoking rooms.

EMIRATES review :   19 September 2008 by  C Chakraborty    (UK)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

LHR-DXB-CCU in economy class. LHR-DXB was good, food and service satisfactory, DXB-CCU was a bit chaotic - food was good but they don't care about after meal service like tea or coffee service. I called the crew five times but they never returned. On my way back, upgraded my class to business through my mileage, service fantastic, but they should upgrade their seats - also very poor selection of movies.

EMIRATES review :   19 September 2008 by  Peter Pomeranze    (USA)

Customer Rating : 5/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

First

Sydney-Auckland First Class. 777 aircraft, great check-in, express immigration and wonderful lounge. The flight was amazing with a most comfortable seat, gracious service, wonderful brunch and top drawer entertainment - and a complimentary limo to my hotel in Auckland.

EMIRATES review :   18 September 2008 by  C Antipod    (Australia)

Customer Rating : 3/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

MEL-DXB-CDG / DUS-DXB-MEL in Economy. Online check-in was easy and getting boarding passes at the airport barely took a few minutes. Boarding was fairly chaotic at all airports, and perhaps Emirates' biggest drawback is that they fly through DXB, which is overcrowded, underserviced, and just awful. We got bussed to the terminal on both landings and one of the departures. This airport desperately needs an upgrade. Once on board, things are a bit better. FAs were friendly and particularly helpful to passengers traveling with babies. We got a toiletry pack on the MEL-DXB sector, but not on the way back, strange. Food was inedible in my opinion but no worse than what other airlines serve you. Leg space best on the 777-300ER, not so good on the A330 and A340. The ICE system is Emirates' saving grace - endless channels and very smooth, easy operation. They're okay as an airline but I'll probably try to avoid them in future because I found the DXB experience downright traumatic.

EMIRATES review :   15 September 2008 by  A Taylor    (Australia)

Customer Rating : 2/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

PER-DXB-NCL-LHR-DXB-PER and I doubt we would fly Emirates again. My husband is 6ft 3 and I am 5ft 7 and the legs where we weren't given exit row were appallingly uncomfortable. I was unable to sleep as I just couldn't find a comfortable position, we were sandwiched in the middle row of 5. Dubai airport is second rate. There aren't enough seats so there are people sleeping and sitting all over the floor. We also stopped there overnight on the way over and the time taken to get through check in, security, immigration etc was far too long. Lots of counters but not enough staff and they are quite rude. We never experienced the ICE entertainment system we thought we were going to get. Only on the older aircraft which replayed the same four or five movies over and over again. On such a long haul this was simply unacceptable. I have flown Malaysian and Singapore previously and I think I will go back to flying with them!

EMIRATES review :   13 September 2008 by  M Jensen    (New Zealand)

Customer Rating : 2/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

We recently flew from New Zealand to Rome via Dubai on Emirates A340-500. I had high expectations of this airline given it's rating, but was disappointed with what was delivered. The seats were hard and cramped and the drinks service was almost non-existent. When the seat in front of you was reclined you couldn't open your tray and it was extremely difficult to see the TV screen. I am above average height and my knees were pressed against the seat in front of me. It was without doubt the most uncomfortable long haul flight I have ever experienced. The one redeeming feature was the meals, which I thought were very nice, although they did have a habit of running out of the more popular choices and given that we were at the back of the plane we often had to take what was left.

EMIRATES review :   13 September 2008 by  Suki Chandrasekera    (UK)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

Dubai-Colombo in Business Class. The BC lounge at Dubai Airport should have better shower facilities! The airport itself was busy as usual and I found the staff quite unhelpful. The flight however was quite a pleasant one, the food was nice and the service friendly. The inflight entertainment system had a lot of variety, which was nice!

EMIRATES review :   13 September 2008 by  Ewan Barr    (UK)

Customer Rating : 5/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

HKG to GLA, then ATH to HKG, via DXB in J Class. A330 from HKG to DXB was clean and tidy although showing its age, seats comfortable. DXB to GLA on 777-300ER which was good with great staff and food - no complaints. ATH to DXB we got upgraded to First and enjoyed the 777-300ER. DXB to HKG on new J Class flat beds (they do exist on some planes!) which were almost as good as First and we slept very well. Emirates seem to have got some consistency back, plus the staff seem happier than 2006/7.

EMIRATES review :   9 September 2008 by  Shane Jones    (UK)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

BHX-KUL, SIN-BHX via Dubai 777-300 ER throughout. Whilst BHX is a pleasure, the lounge is far from adequate. Limited drink selection and no food. Chose Emirates for three reasons - schedule from BHX, ICE and the chauffeur service. The ticket was £1000 cheaper than BA. Overall very pleased with the level of service. We didn't have lie-flat seats but they were fairly comfortable and we did manage to sleep. Onboard food & service was excellent. Lounge in SIN first class with plenty of refreshments. The lounge at DXB was fairly quiet when we arrived although it did get busy. I can understand the complaints below. Would fly Emirates again although I would recommend choosing your aircraft carefully.

EMIRATES review :   8 September 2008 by  Scott Truman    (Australia)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

First

Beijing to Dubai 1st class on A330-300. Caught the early morning flight so I would be in Dubai at lunch time. Only passenger in 1st class so service was wonderful. This was my 5th Emirates flight and although the 330 is an older plane I really find the seats very comfortable. Better in my view than the 777ER. Food was very enjoyable and the Dom flowed continuously. A very enjoyable flight. Dubai to Sydney on A3340-500 1st class suite. Quite comfortable although as a bed it is a little lumpy, IFE worked well, food was good and had a good sleep. FA's whilst pleasant, weren't quite as nice as I had had on previous flights. I found the limo service in Dubai very good, check in was quick and efficent and the 1st class lounge is excellent. The only complaint I would have is that, like other people, I have found that a flight from Dubai to Sydney in a suite is 1/2 price to that if you fly from Sydney to Dubai.

EMIRATES review :   7 September 2008 by  P Van Reusel    (Belgium)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Dusseldorf-Dubai-Bangkok return. On all flights I did online check-in and got the seats I booked. I had no problems with the seats, leg space was enough and seats normal width. The stopovers in Dubai were OK, there were long bus rides from the airplane to the terminal, but acceptable. Dubai terminal Very crowded, and a lot of people sleeping on the floor. The flight crew was very good on all flights, food was good in quantity and quality. The inflight entertainment system is very nice, a lot of choice in movies, music and games. I was not overwhelmed neither disappointed in Emirates.

EMIRATES review :   3 September 2008 by  R Traherne    (UK)

Customer Rating : 2/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

LGW-DXB-BKK-DXB-LGW. I had high hopes of quality service flying with Emirates, but was sorely disappointed. The outgoing flight was OK, although the seats on the Airbus from London to Dubai were really uncomfortable, due to an odd back support and side head supporting wings that didn't work. The return leg was much worse. Having prebooked seats for my family including 3 small children, I was horrified when I checked in and found that due to a change in airplane, my youngest child, aged 4, had been reallocated a seat on his own 12 rows back from us. This was ridiculous. After complaining they found two seats together, but our party was still split. On boarding the aircraft, this had clearly happened to many passengers as family groups and even couples were scattered randomly around the economy cabin. I agree with previous comments that Dubai is a foul airport to transit in. It is long and drawn out with totally inadequate seating, toilet facilities and it stinks of smoke as the designated smoking rooms are not properly segregated. The flight DXB to LGW was delayed for 40 minutes on the tarmac and as we had boarded half an hour early, I was disappointed to not receive a drink during this time. The drinks and food service were not good either, fair quality but nothing great and inadequate numbers of drinks served during a longhaul flight. Emirates, I think you need to wake up and listen to your customers, rather than resting on the laurels of your good name. We will not fly Emirates again.

EMIRATES review :   3 September 2008 by  Steve Crocker    (UAE)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

MAN-DXB-BKK, SIN-DXB-MAN in J class. Check in at Manchester smooth although the lounge is not great. MAN-DXB on 777-300ER was comfortable even though not flat bed (do they exist?). Crew very good as was food and ICE. Dubai airport was in its usual state of chaos although for once we were not on a remote stand. When we got to the main business class lounge they suggested we use the second lounge near gate 13 from which our onward flight was leaving. Big mistake! Overcrowded though the main lounge is the second lounge is worse. DXB-BKK on a 777-300 with the very old business class seating which was uncomfortable and cramped to say t- and barely up to the standard of premium economy seats of other airlines. Emirates really have to get a grip and replace these seats if they are not to drive me and others to other airlines. Arrival at BKK efficient and we were through with our bags in 25 minutes. SIN-DXB check in smooth and lounge was excellent. The flight on a 777-300ER was good as was the crew - although again no flat bed, though seats better than on the BKK flight. Had to be bussed in from a remote stand although as we arrived just after 0500 this was relatively quick and the lounge still had plenty of seats. DXB-MAN again on a 777-300ER was comfortable with yet another good crew. The only problem was that as usual they did not have enough of each meal to allow passengers their first choice, although after I dug my toes in they did come up with mine. Emirates are still quite good but they do let themselves down on things that could easily drive away premium class passengers to the increasing competition from other Gulf airlines.

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