Emirates

Recently flown Emirates while on holiday with my family to Singapore and Sydney from New Zealand. I have very specific requirements when traveling due to using an electric wheelchair for mobility. Despite emailing the airline in advance with these requirements I had a distressing experience using this airline. It was awful from check-in to landing. The customer service was terrible at the check-in desk. The Emirates crew at Sydney airport were unfriendly and they were more interested in talking amongst themselves. At check-in I explained that I'd like to drive my wheelchair up to the entrance of the plane. Check-in staff made a lot of calls and eventually they assured me they were happy with my request. Having reached the gate with my family the bad service continued. The lady at the gate was surprised to see me and asked why I wasn't in a transit chair. She refused to process my boarding early. She ignored my explanation regarding my wheelchair and brought out a transit chair for me to transfer into. When I refused she made more calls and finally she allowed my family and I to continue toward the entrance of the plane. On board usually when a passenger with a disability is onboard a Cabin Service Manager (CSM) comes to say “hello”and make sure all is OK. I was totally ignored. The food was terrible to say the least. Flight attendants did not seem interested in passengers. When we landed I had to wait for other passengers to get off first. Once the cabins were cleared I was told that a chair was on its way. 15 minutes later she showed us to a transit chair. My heart sank. I asked where my chair was and I asked that it be brought to the entrance of the plane instead. I pointed out to her that she clearly saw me board the plane with my chair and I was requesting the same procedure to happen in order for me to get off the plane. Within a few minutes my chair was brought to the plane. What could have been a very simple problem to resolve turned out to be a nightmare. I am hesitant to travel with Emirates again.

Bangkok to Sydney departing 10/1/14 QF 8418. Very disappointing after all the hype. Check in was a long and tedious process and between my wife and I we were a couple of kilos over the checked baggage allowance and had to argue the toss for them to allow to 2 kilos over between the two of us. Boarding at Bangkok was confusing. The inflight service was not too bad except we were served breakfast missing the promised croissants and whe we brought this to the cabin crews attention they found two cold ones for us. We had to ask three times for our Sydney arrival cards to be given to us. The entertainment system is excellent. Following our first experience with Emirates would not recommend them as a first choice airline as there are better alternatives. Emirates is either expanding too fast or resting on its laurels.

MEL-KUL-DXB-DEL COK-DXB-KUL SIN-MEL (the latter-most operated by QF). Return ticket (AUD1250) was excellent value for money. One of the more noticeable (but unfortunate) features was the rather surly and cold service across all EK flights. Most attendants were not too friendly concentrating on mechanically serving their flights which were fully booked. However food and beverage was solid and entertainment was excellent. Some points about particular flights: The EK409 MEL-KUL-DXB flight was unusually full of large families with young children so be prepared for a screaming economy cabin if booking this flight I would hazard a guess. This is not ideal especially given that the flight leaves MEL a few hours after midnight when you'd want a sleep. EK give me an opportunity to upgrade my COK-DXB flight to business through email for AUD330 which I took up. It was an amazing experience (for someone who has never flown business before). Service (unlike the economy service) was very warm friendly without being overbearing and the food and drink was excellent and constant (I ordered extra bread and dessert brought out very willingly). One of the attendants even got out a staff camera to take a picture for me which was a nice touch to the flight as I had told them it was my first time on business class. EK346 DXB-KUL on the A380 didn't seem any different from other aircraft although the inflight wifi was a added bonus. Overall I'd recommend EK for the excellent price but don't expect tip-top Singapore Airlines-type service.

FRA-DXB / SIN-DXB / DXB-FRA. One of the most overrated airlines in my opinion. Seats and food okay but not more than average. Cabin crew far to young to provide professional service. All service rounds appeared quite disorganized and took ages. Crew friendly but more into interaction with themselves than with the passengers. It´ s a pity that QF is codesharing with this airline on the FRA-SYD route.

Perhaps it really doesn't quite get any better than this. Traveling in Emirates suites on the 777-300ER from Bangkok to Amsterdam is pure luxury and there are less than a handful of airlines that can compete with this product. The suite is luxuriously appointed very private and the seat converts into a very plush bed. You may as well be flying in a private jet. The service is impeccable. From the champagne Arabic coffee and dates that greet you prior to take-off to the a la carte food menu that you can choose to eat at any time the service is attentive friendly but not over-bearing. Perhaps the only complaint for the 777-300ER product would be that the lavatories are a bit cramped. Given that you want to change into your pj's prior to take-off there could be a bit more space to change.

First Leg was SYD-DXB then DXB-DUB and return was LHR-DXB then DXB-SYD. First leg was great journey considering was on the A380 so much space and room to move about the aircraft. Inflight entertainment was excellent so much on offer (all four flights) maybe too much on offer. Was hard to pick what to watch. Food was decent though I did order special meals to get served first. Second Leg was in a B777-300 this flight was jammed full! Limited seat pitch and hard to get out of the seats and crowded. Staff on this flight very slow and a smile seemed to difficult. LHR-DXB was excellent although the purser seemed a bit childish! Flight wasn't full but still busy. Now the DXB-SYD this were the troubles begin! Check in agent in LHR doesn't check all the way through to the final stop. Got to the gate in DXB wasn't checked in came as a shock so spent 13 hours in Dubai which thanks to Qantas was made easy not Emirates. DXB-SYD night flight with night arrival. Flight was full but once again on an A380 so made that journey a little easier. Overall a good journey with Emirates!

Business class Dubai to Los Angeles - 16 hour flight regular fare and the entertainment system did not work on my seat kept resetting itself. Cabin attendant friendly but apart from resetting (which he did about 5-6 times) he didn't offer any other options. After nearly 3 hours I asked for the purser who re-set yet again twice and finally offered a change of seat. The selection of the entertainment wasn't great. Food average. I took another trip in December to Europe again due to the direct connection but again very poor selection on entertainment and food was not good at all. I would book Emirates again or recommend to family/friends but only if the price is much lower than other options.

Flew from HK to Lyon via Dubai for Xmas holiday. I usually fly with Cathay but this trip with Emirates was much cheaper this time and since I had never tried Emirates before I gave it a try. Overall it was good but I think it depends on the aircraft you are in. For HK to Dubai was in a Boeing 777 seems a brand new one inflight entertainment was excellent! For Dubai to Lyon was in a A340-500 not bad either but the inflight entertainment was not as great as the on the Boeing. For the return trip was in a A330 inflight entertainment was really disappointing. Food was ok as well as staff. Compared to Cathay I would say that Emirates' crew is not as friendly as Cathay's (less smile seem to be quite "cold" sometimes). Nevertheless for the value for money I think I will fly again with them.

Kuala Lumpur to London Heathrow on 5th January 2014. The prices are reasonable and the service is quite good. 2 years ago I felt the attitude of the cabin crew was poor so I avoided the airline after that. The staff were not responding to calls and was even rude to passengers. This year I thought I'd use Emirates again. I rang my call button twice and both times it took them more than half an hour to respond. They just didn't seemed bothered about serving. The food was served very late. In summary Emirates is a good airline but they just need to buck up with the cabin crew service.

DXB-DUB - Business class out and Y class back. Gold Member. The experience is a mixed bag outward in Biz pick up on time. Flight on time lounge is to me nothing but an upgrade from the main terminal with free food and drink. Staff all look over stretched and it is not in comparison to other leading airlines where you can have a quiet zone to work. Its over crowded busy and too open meaning that all sounds travel. Flight fine very full. Staff did their job but lacked any interaction skills. Return in Y again flight over booked their policy of 3x4x3 seating on the 777 is just too tight. ICE as ever was good and staff were not attentive pressed the call button numerous time they walked past me. Vanished for over 2-3 hours mid flight. Food on both legs was terrible had ordered a low cholesterol meal with low fat. Both times a salad with lettuce and tomato no dressing and fish in biz class was actually burnt so bad to was like plastic. I asked for an alternative and they had Biriyani. You get better in Y class on Saudia for a 1.5 hour flight. In Y class on return chicken breast that you could put through a window and white rice inedible. Its a pity Qatar don't start entering this route as I would gladly fly them in future. Emirates are expanding at a fast track rate but seem to be loosing the edge when maintaining standards.