EMIRATES review :   7 May 2008 by  Tom Russell    (Australia)

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

Sydney-Dubai-Glasgow, Manchester-Dubai-Sydney. SYD-DXB A340-500 economy class - not really sufficient leg room for somebody of my height (185 cm). I am sure that the seats previously featured footrests which have been removed - this slightly improves the legroom as the footrest previously intruded into ankle space. A good tip if tall is to go for aisle seats (B/D/G/J) as these do not have an ICE box intruding into the footspace. General ambience (stars at night and dawn effect lighting), cabin quietness, food and ICE are all good, and I prefer the 2-4-2 layout to 3-4-3 on the 777. There don't seem to be enough bathrooms in Economy on the 340-500. Service friendly and attentive, with two members of staff personally welcoming me back as a silver Skywards member - this did not happen on any of the other flights. Dubai-Glasgow B777-300ER I upgraded my seat (at time of booking) to business class using Skywards miles, and was allocated seat 1A. This route is only sold as two class (economy/business) but Emirates provided a 3 class plane so I had the benefit of a first class seat, admittedly of the older variety. Standard business class service provided, food of good quality and generous quantity. Very large ICE screen located on the bulkhead in front which required use of hand controller rather than touch-screen. Service efficient but not over friendly. leg Manchester-Dubai B777-300ER, economy class. Satisfactory, but not amazing comfort for a 7 hour flight. Food good, leg room slightly better than A340-500 but narrow seats in 3-4-3 configuration would be problematic for larger (wide rather than tall) people. Footrests seem to have been removed from this plane too. Dubai-Sydney, A340-500, business class upgrade with miles - these business class seats seemed small and tight. The shell-type seats do not lie flat but have a reasonable amount of recline. Located against the bulkhead (row 8) I thought there was slightly less leg room compared to other seats in the same cabin - plus slightly more noise from the galley, although this was not excessive. Food plentiful and of good quality, with the option of extra hot or cold snacks between meals. Service friendly and attentive on this sector. Undoubtedly, the journey was more restful in this cabin than in economy, but I did not sleep for the many uninterrupted hours which I was hoping for. All four seats seemed hard and thinly padded, although ergonomically shaped. I agree with other comments that once reclined, the angle of the main economy seat swab changes resulting in a lot of pressure under the thighs and a sensation of relatively dangling/unsupported feet (especially now footrests are missing!) Emirates Business lounge in Dubai was busy but had seats to spare on both occasions. The rest of the airport is very busy with people sleeping on the floor whilst in-transit. Both flights arriving in Dubai parked a long way from the terminal and involved a long bus trip. Emirates has great inflight entertainment, good food, and acceptable seating. I found cabin crews generally attentive and moderately enthusiastic depending on the flight.

EMIRATES review :   7 May 2008 by  A Wiseman    (n/a)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

n/a:

Value for Money:

n/a:

Cabin Flown:

Business

Business Class AKL-SYD seat 7K. Whilst older style seats on B773ER are okay for short trips, I would not like to do long haul with this airline. Check-in okay, lounge has no view and quite dungeon style, plenty of food and drink options. Onboard service felt very rushed for a 3 hour flight. Inflight announcements in English very rushed by Australian crew member. Overall, limo great and service adequate - previous trip in Emirates F Class underwhelming. J/F class on this airline on B773 is just okay.

EMIRATES review :   6 May 2008 by  Eric Bateman    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

GLA-DXB-SIN. About 30 seconds to check in at Glasgow - friendly and professional. Excellent service on flight into Dubai. Took about 15 minutes from landing in DXB to being in Emirates lounge which for once wasn't too crowded. Plane to Singapore left a little late but arrived on time and I slept well on the new seats. My gripe is that Emirates don't have a consistent seat in business class across the whole seat. As usual, baggage on belt in Singapore in about 5 minutes after landing.

EMIRATES review :   30 April 2008 by  Neill Beasley    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

Heathrow-Dubai-Melbourne and return. Disappointed no flatbeds on any leg despite hype on Emirates website. Deeply reclining seats are dreadfully uncomfortable and not conducive to getting much sleep during 14 hour flight. Lack of leg oom for anyone six foot tall when seat fully reclined. Did think I was onto winner for the flight back from Dubai where the aircraft actually had flatbeds fitted as advertised but after 70 minutes in the plane, still stationary on the tarmac with mechanical trouble, we were ushered off to wait a further four hours before a relief plane and another crew arrived. Business lounge at Dubai on arrival was crowded and toilet facilities are inadequate with queues forming. Total lack of communication while waiting for relief plane and further delays while searching for relief crew. Old noisy 777/300, and same uncomfortable seats, for the journey back to Heathrow arriving five hours late. Cabin service nothing special and food disappointing. Can't see how Emirates got award for airline of the year - its nothing special in Business.

EMIRATES review :   30 April 2008 by  S Crook    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

Manchester-Dubai-Cape Town return. We found cabin staff to be excellent, courteous & attentive on all legs of our journey. Cabin was comfortable, with meals, drinks & entertainment of a high standard. Dubai airport can be pretty manic, but we found check-in/transfers etc pretty smooth. The free rides to & from the airports were very convenient. Lets face it, Emirates business class is about half the price of most other airlines.

EMIRATES review :   28 April 2008 by  David Allan    (UAE)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

DXB-BEY and back. A330-200 both ways; aircraft showing its age, especially with old ICE IFE (no AVOD and small screens). Dirty cabin BEY-DXB. Inedible breakfast outbound; slightly better dinner inbound. Both ways had to wait an eternity for a half cup of coffee after meal, and no refills. Seat design makes it impossible to eat or watch TV if the person in front of you has reclined his/her seat. Upon return to DXB, had to wait for about 15 minutes for someone to come to operate the aerobridge - and this after a delayed arrival.

EMIRATES review :   28 April 2008 by  A Rezakhani    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

LGW-DXB Business Class lunchtime flight. Gatwick lounge excellent, great food and drinks, showers very clean. B777-300 ER, bulkhead aisle seat was not what I asked for but what i got - however seat was comfortable. Cabin service excellent, food good and drinks flowed thoughout the flight from a friendly crew. DXB was poor - waited on a bus for ages to get us to the terminal and getting my chauffeur car from DXB quite busy and disorganised. On the upside my bag was 1st off the baggage carousel.

EMIRATES review :   28 April 2008 by  B Flower    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Manchester to Beijing via Dubai. First leg 777/300. Seats far too narrow and hard. Not designed for prolonged use by people with arms and legs! ICE box takes up far too much foot space. Cabin crew un- impressive. Food hot but don't know what it was supposed to be. Second leg A340/500 - again, seats far too narrow and seats at least 2in too high. This caused a great deal of pain/pressure across the back of the legs behind the knees and by the time we got to Beijing I could hardly stand up. It would seem that Emirates has quite a morale problem among it's staff. Why is it that airlines try to take your mind of how cramped their seating is by use of fancy ICE systems?. I'd rather have a couple of extra inches of seat width and footrests anytime.

EMIRATES review :   27 April 2008 by  M Sayer    (Cyprus)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

LCA-DXB-SYD and return. Been using Emirates regularly on this route for 2 years but first time we have flown the A340-500 non-stop to SYD, previous trips featuring the B777 and a dreary and time consuming refuel stop at BKK. The A340 has a 2-4-2 seat configuration which is an improvement over the B777 3-4-3; no third party to disturb when you need to stretch your legs. Unfortunately, there then isn't much scope for exercise with the business section, bulkheads and close fore and aft seat spacing preventing all but a short walk up and down the one aisle. The loos are inadequate in number and the adjacent seats are, well, very adjacent. However, the aircraft is otherwise a dream, quiet, great performance. Cabin crew proficient and friendly, food above average and ICE system superb. I think the service on the 14 hour legs to and from SYD is about right, with plenty of lights-out time (it is mostly night after all) but also very adequate attention from the crew with 2 meals, a midnight snack, a regular soft drinks trolley or on demand at the galley. I would prefer the mealtime drink service to precede the meal: it doesn't usually on any of their flights. Emirates on- line booking and check-in are easy to use and accurate - just remember to stay away from those loos. Overall an above average, on time, value for money service

EMIRATES review :   27 April 2008 by  Greg White    (South Africa)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

CPT-DXB-TUN, J-class. Unfortunately both aircraft were fitted with old-style seats, but were reasonably comfortable. Service on CPT-DXB was particularly good. The 9.5 hour flight time allows for a reasonable night's sleep. The normal chaotic and overcrowded early morning arrival in DXB, and the business lounge was jammed to capacity. Long queues for toilet facilities, and keeping them clean remains a challenge! On-time departure for Tunis, good food and service. I'm surprised that EK does not offer chauffeur drive service in Tunis, as dealing with the 'sharks' (local taxi drivers) on arrival is really unpleasant!

EMIRATES review :   27 April 2008 by  P Karunaratne    (Sri Lanka)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

SIN-CMB on economy. I was connecting to this flight from Qantas, from Melbourne. Since they did not issue the boarding pass from MEL, I had to get it from SIN, and It was an absolute disgrace. Emirates had an exclusive check in counter opened, the problem was it was just 1 counter for a lot of connecting passengers on that flight. The whole process took more than an hour. The aircraft was a 777-300ER and a new aircraft. The cabin was spotless, ICE excellent. The cabin crew was attentive, and for once they actually looked like they wanted to be there. Overall, a positive experience with an airline whose service is sinking faster than the Titanic.

EMIRATES review :   24 April 2008 by  J Jobling    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Sydney-Dubai on A340-50 was our worst air experience. The economy seats were cramped and uncomfortable; lights were kept off for 12 hours (we assume for the convenience of the cabin crew). The transit facilities at Dubai Airport were chaotic.

EMIRATES review :   23 April 2008 by  D Gray    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Glasgow to Perth WA via Dubai was fine. Pre-booking seats was easy and all four of us were allocated four together. Our first experience was fine due to excellent cabin crew, decent entertainment and better than average catering. Arrival in Dubai was straightforward and onward travel went without a hitch (including transfer of luggage) with arrival in Australia being stress free. The return trip was a mirror image of the outward bound.

EMIRATES review :   22 April 2008 by  Martine Callaghan    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

Business class Gatwick to Jakarta via Dubai and Singapore - a really poor experience with this airline. The planes were old and seats did not fully recline. No toiletries were supplied on the first leg (unlike Qatar Airways for instance). The Gatwick lounge was excellent but Dubai was overcrowded and the ladies' toilets an absolute disgrace. Dubai airport is too small and the transfer to the plane by bus (no business class bus) took 20 minutes of standing uncomfortably. The food on the return journey was of a poor standard and the cabin staff service indifferent. I would not use them again.

EMIRATES review :   21 April 2008 by  Michael Kinghorn    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

London to Heathrow to Bangkok (via Dubai). All flights operated by Boeing 777-200ER/300ER aircraft. Departing Heathrow, the aircraft was almost completely full, but departed on time. Staff were all particularly miserable and unhelpful and the hot dinner was acceptable, although the meat was grissly. On all flights, the headsets and blankets are collected around 30 minutes prior to landing. I was angry when one of the cabin staff tried to wake a member of my family to get her blanket from her - she had it wrapped around her and was fast asleep. When I insisted that he get it later, he abruptly told me that he needed it right now. 2 hour 55 minute connection was bearable, although we were bussed to and from both aircraft, which was inconvenient. The airport is handling too many passengers. The terminal was very overcrowded and there was a severe shortage of seats on both visits, with many connecting passengers sleeping on the floor. The flight to Bangkok was brilliant and a fairly empty one, too, with about a 30% load, meaning that we could move around. Cabin staff were all very friendly and were present for just about every last minute of the flight, offering drinks, meals and snacks. Both of the return flights were also very full, although not particularly enjoyable. Meals were acceptable, cabin staff appeared very laid back, with many even chewing gum as they served meals. Inflight entertainment with Emirates cannot be faulted - access to hundreds of hours of audio and video entertainment on demand. Unfortunately, the biggest letdown for this airline, and the reason why I will never fly with again is because of their very narrow seats. Unlike any other airline operating this type of aircraft, Emirates has 10-abreast seating in economy class. The 'norm' is 9-abreast. These narrow seats can be extremely troublesome during meal service and eating can be an impossible task as you constantly hit the elbows of the other passengers around you.

EMIRATES review :   21 April 2008 by  A Ropertz    (South Africa)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

JNB-DXB-FRA return business class. Service by ground staff and flight attendants excellent on all sectors. JNB lounge very poor -dirty and little to offer. Two transits through Dubai were fast and easy. Dubai lounge good, Frankfurt lounge the best I have seen. Emirates comfort onboard their flights depends largely on the aircraft flown - try to book flights were updated seating has been installed.

EMIRATES review :   14 April 2008 by  M Ramezani    (USA)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

First

BKK-DXB First Class. Other travelers have mentioned the chaos at Dubai airport, lets hope things will get better with the new terminal opening soon. B777-300ER with lie flats, service and food ok, seat comfort adequate but it doesnt fully recline. Biggest complaint is reserved for excessive PA announcements in English and Arabic. ICE in-flight entertainment despite offering better selection than before, still disappoints mainly because of heavy censorship of almost all movies. Why feature an R rated movie then downgrade it to PG?

EMIRATES review :   14 April 2008 by  Christophe Mage    (Switzerland)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Zürich to Male, Maldives. Airplanes almost new, seats good, space is better in A330 than B777. Entertainment is top with a large variety of movies and series. The crew was international but coordination was good. Staff customer oriented and helpful all the flight. At Male airport no possibility to book the seat on the next flight to Zurich from Dubai. Then when we arrived at Dubai, we stressed to find an Emirates desk and it was not possible to get a place together with my wife. A shame for the honeymoon trip.

EMIRATES review :   7 April 2008 by  N Whitelock    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

First

Have just returned from a lovely holiday in the Maldives. We flew as a family of 5 in first class. The trip out was very comfortable but the return trip Dubai to Heathrow was unsatisfactory. The cabin was worn and tired and was in the category of a poor business class rather than first. The pasta was uncooked for two of our party, the sandwiches for the other two were curled up and stale. Four out of five televisions didnt work. The seats were uncomfortable and didnt recline fully. We fly regularly out as a family of 5 and have come to enjoy and expect a good service which we certainly didnt have. I understand that there were several complaints of this journey from other passengers and even the crew were surprised that this particular plane turned up to collect from Dubai. We had two friends with us, who we had persuaded to fly first with us so this was a total of 7 first class seats in one party. They were so disappointed that they said they wouldn't be flying with Emirates again, this being their first experience with them in this cabin class. I wouldnt normally write a review but I do feel strongly that Emirates have charged First class prices for a very poor second class service.

EMIRATES review :   7 April 2008 by  A Bochor    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Glasgow to Dubai recently and enjoyed the experience. I think that EK seating is too tight on the B777, however as we had the emergency exit row, it eased the space problem. ICE was good, however in need of an update and food delicious: a nice touch to get a menu in economy.Overall a pleasant experience.

EMIRATES review :   2 April 2008 by  R Farhat    (Italy)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

FCO-DXB-MRU, JNB-DXB-VCE.It was one of the best travel I done in Business class. Very good service and cabin staff well qualified

EMIRATES review :   31 March 2008 by  J Jones    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

LHR-DXB-MEL-AKL return. Economy legroom on London to Dubai far too tight for such a long flight, as was seat configuration. Food very average. Have flown long haul to Australia and New Zealand many times and was disappointed to discover that Emirates isn't a patch on any of the main Pacific rim airlines. Would avoid in future.

EMIRATES review :   25 March 2008 by  Simon Smith    (Saudi Arabia)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Economy

Jeddah to Dubai Economy, a grim experience on 777, seating of 3-4-3 is far too tight and the food was a congealed chicken dish, totally inedible. Bags took 1.5 hours to arrive in Dubai airport, all in all an unsatisfactory experience. Dubai to Jeddah First Class, don't be deceived that First Class is business class by any other name. 30 minute delay in departure after we had all been called on 'final call' to the gate. Lounge in Dubai was OK, food average (asked me if I wanted bread whilst eating desert). I remember Emirates from the 1990s when they were really outstanding, these days they are an average airline and I found myself thinking that Saudia are actually not so bad after all.

EMIRATES review :   25 March 2008 by  U Naresh    (India)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

Delhi to Heathrow, via Dubai business class on 777 aircraft. I found the service on both flights to be improved from my last experience, but all else remains the same - prehistoric. The seats are a disaster - recline are is not good enough for a premium class, and footrests just don't go up far enough making the seating very uncomfortable. ICE is a saving grace along with noise canceling headsets. The screens are small. The selection of wine is good. The food was okay, desserts were just great. Service very good by the all European crew on the second leg, and Indian female crew on the first. I would not rate Emirates very high for business class.

EMIRATES review :   22 March 2008 by  P Dublet    (UK)

Customer Trip Rating :

Recommended:

Value for Money:

Cabin Flown:

Business

Totally disappointed with Emirates Business Class - we did 4 different fights all with different configuration of seats and only one flight was OK. Gatwick and Singapore lounge was fantastic, Dubai was the pits, an absolute disgrace for the hub of Emirates. We have flown other airlines on this route and will never bother with Emirates again. Might as well saved our money and flown economy.

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