Emirates

Emirates cancelled our flight without warning. We found out as we approached the counter at the airport to check in. The staff was rude and dismissive, and the airport staff had zero direction as if they have never experienced a cancelled flight. They refused to refund our pre-paid hotel and travel costs in Italy, suggesting we inquire with the credit card co. we booked with. The service was aggressive and bizarre. Do they abuse their staffers into compliance?? A bad experience, lesson learned, cheap flights on a bad airline just not worth it. Will definitely not be flying them again anytime soon.

I'm a silver Emirates Skywards member and need one more flight to become gold. I booked a Flex Plus ticket to upgrade my journey all the way from Kuala Lumpur to Kuwait via Dubai. I had enough miles in my account. The airline upgraded me from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai, but from Dubai to Kuwait they refused to upgrade me, despite being a silver member. Onboard service was slow and not personal. Cabin seats felt cramped and uncomfortable. Onboard food was average. I e-mailed them my complaints regarding the upgrade but they didn't care.

I flew Emirates from Dubai to Karachi. When I had online checked-in, Emirates had changed the aircraft without informing passengers on their cell no and emails and our seats was different rather then original one allocated. Also the cabin crew was robotic and not smiling. Please, when you change aircraft kindly inform passengers.

Frankfurt to Sydney via Dubai. From the disinterested cabin crew, faulty entertainment system, lack of refreshments, to the flight delays, we do not have a good word to say about Emirates. Transiting through Dubai is a nightmare. Overpriced food (desperately needed as so litte food is served on board) and undrinkable coffee, and half hour long queues for the filthy toilets. Toilets onboard the aircraft were not cleaned and as the flight progressed more of them became 'out of order'. In over 20 hours of flying, tea and coffee was served twice. When I asked for a cup of tea I was advised they didn't have any cups. All in all a nightmare trip.

We were looking forward our Emirates experience a lot, since I heard so many things about that company. We flew 4 sectors within 3 weeks with them, and the check-in on all airports used was smooth and didn't take us long even though we were economy passengers. Aircraft were average, typical Boeing 777 but I could manage to get double seat rows on all sectors, so seating was ok. I was surprised that they really put 10 seats across in a row instead of 9 which many airlines do. Cabin crews were in general nice but realizing that there were so many of them compared to other airlines, the performance was just average. The inflight service on all 4 sectors was a joke, once it took exactly 1hr 47mins before the first bar trolley was pushed out of the galley. On all 4 sectors only one meal was served, not even a sandwich before landing which is quite poor in my opinion. Emirates competitor on flights to Dubai does a lot more with less crew. Duty free was just offered via announcement on one sector only and after the service we never saw a bar trolley again. So why does Emirate put so much crew in the cabin if they don't have to work during the flight. I have to say that the tickets were quite cheap but others who paid more probably had the same experience.

I found Emirates to be better after an absence of more than 10 years. Professional and courteous staff in BKK, HKG and onboard. Well appointed A380 cabin, good food and service, generous baggage allowance. Last minute changes to my return leg were efficiently handled.

I did 4 flights with Emirates over a 3 week period and on each trip there was issues. Seats and entertainment was fine with no issues. Service and food horrendous. Cabin crew were rude and only thing they where interested in was how quickly they could dish the meals out. Have put a complaint in with Emirates due to a member of staff 'pushing' my fiancé out the way when letting another passanger sit down. On the way home even though sitting next to the cabin crew station, they wouldn't answer the cabin crew service button so I could buy duty free. Also having to listen to the lead cabin crew staff member tell off her staff was a joke. Avoid if you can.

Ground staff at Lisbon we're polite and good natured, but they couldn't for some reason check me for the 2nd leg of my flight from Dubai to Sydney despite trying for sometime, and in the end I told them I'd sort it in Dubai - in hindsight a mistake. The flight was pleasant enough, although as this is Emirates you'll have to endure Arabic subtitles over your movies. I'm not sure why as an international airline they don't offer non subtitled option. Arrived at Dubai and no information about my next flight anywhere. Lined up at Emirates customer service only to be told by a very rude and disinterested customer rep to go to customer service next door and then waved away. Everyone has a bad day so let it go thanked her and went next door. Next customer service rep was the same, told me to catch the train and waved me away. Walked away feeling a little a bit annoyed at Emirates for not being just a little more polite. I then had to cross security twice in queues to finally get to a Qantas desk. Got there to be greeted by a fairly happy and polite rep who handed me my boarding pass with an upgrade to business. Excellent, or so I thought - I spent the next 6 hours waiting for the flight, even made arrangements to take my kids first thing in the morning when I land due to being fresh at the other end. Got to the boarding gate in the lounge, made to wait 15 minutes as the rep was late, to be bumped back down to premium economy by a rude Emirates Rep! Didn't properly click what was going on until I got to the door of the aircraft where I approached the Qantas cabin crew. The first girl was disinterested, non-empathetic and in the end I had to walk away from her. In the end I got to talk to a cabin supervisor and after being questioned by one of his peers (insinuating that maybe I'd made up the story) might not have been the intention but perception is reality especially after only a couple of hours sleep. I was told that 3 people were mistakenly upgraded and that the Lisbon Emirates ground staff shouldn't have upgraded me. I briefly explained that they had nothing to do with it. So I was stuck where I was - I guess you get what you pay for. I was a platinum FF for 5-6 years now I'm just a gold it's amazing how differently you get treated.

This is the second time I flown Emirates Business class to Europe from my home town of Adelaide. The check in was courteous when I asked for my luggage to be tagged as fragile. Boarding was swift. My only complaint at this point in time is the lack of lounge in Adelaide, and we had the share the domestic Qantas lounge which was accessible prior to immigration and custom check. That means that I have very little lounge time. Once boarded the plane, welcome drink was served. Personal introduction by the chief purser of the cabin. Whilst evening meal was offered, we were also offered the option of having breakfast or not being woken up. I chose to have breakfast as it was a long flight of 12 hrs to Dubai. The aircraft departed on time. Hot nuts and a second drink was served prior before the main meal. The options and portions were generous. The food choices were tasty. The seats were comfortable, and better with a soft comforter. The IFE choices were great with latest movies available. There was a separate tablet console which made navigation through their IFE system easier. Time passed very quickly and after breakfast, we soon landed. A good meal and good rest made this overnight travel easier.

My wife and I heard a lot about Emirates: new planes, incredible service and even chauffer ride. We decided to try it on our vacation, as there was a nonstop flight JFK to Milan. The van was on time and the fact that the driver farted did not break our high spirits. It was not too hot and an opened widow saved us. At JFK they did not have a separate line for Business class or Global Access and it took us more time than anticipated to get through. The lounge was calm, clean, fresh air, great selection of food and premium drinks. On board we were greeted with Veuve Clicquot and a selection of juices. My wife asked for different juice and it was produced in seconds. The plane looked new with a lot of gadgets. Stewards were very nice and friendly and were only interested in servicing us even better. We were offered a great selection of premium drinks and very good wines. The dinner meals selection was also good, served hot and delicious like at very good Manhattan restaurant. After dinner the beds were made with mattresses and we had a good rest. In the morning, we had a great breakfast. On exit the chauffer was already waiting and the ride to Milan was very nice. All our expectation were exceeded. On the way back there was a separate line for business class and it took us minuets to get to the lounge, where, again, there was a great selection of tasty food and premium drinks waiting for us. A nice touch: the gate was inside the lounge and it took us few steps to get to our seats. I told my wife that I would rather fly Emirates with a layover in Dubai than a direct to Europe with another airline. On the plane we were greeted with a great selection of orange juice only and when I asked for cranberry, had a beaming smile as an answer and stewardess left. Next time we saw her taking drink orders. I asked what Scotch they had, but she did not know what I meant. I asked for whiskey and she offered John Daniels without alternatives. I decided to try something new and was rewarded with Johnny Walker (I think by taste). Contrary to our first experience, to see a stewardess we had to call and wait for awhile and she always came giving the impression that we drew her away from something important. For dinner we had a selection of two wines: red and white and she did not know what a Wine card was. But she promised that her colleague will come to help me which never happened. I can't say speak to food quality, because she brought somebody else's order and I did not have a chance to get mine. No beds. For breakfast I ordered hot beef sandwich which was served deadly cold. When I asked to warm it - beaming smile and it disappeared, forever. We had the imprudence to check my suit in, shortly before the final descent my wife and I asked for it, five times, but tough luck, I got it when all people were clearing the plane and had to change in the airport bathroom. We were out a bit early and did not find our chauffer at the exit area. We waited for about 30 minutes, until I found the Emirates desk where we were told that my ride is waiting for me outside terminal and around the corner. On the way back we left the highway and stopped as chauffer needed to use the bathroom, which, to be honest, was better than farting. We can take any airline anywhere, but we don’t pay a premium for the flight, we pay it for a service. At home my wife asked: "Emirates again?" and we laughed.