Emirates

Expecting a great deal based on other reviews we decided to pay more to fly with Emirates from Dubai to London Heathrow. Unhelpful Emirates Staff at Heathrow - could barely muster a smile. Completely oversold their family friendly service. It was a guessing game as to what we had to do with the stroller for our 7 month old. Although the kids meals were given as they had been pre-ordered I don't think they were particularly great quality. In terms of the cabin crew - rude, unfriendly and I could go on. We were issued the wrong menu - no apology. I asked for a glass of water for my little girl and it was as if I'd asked for gold. The serving of the food and drinks was very disjointed - no system, no organisation. I wasn't offered food twice as they bypassed me. My partner was missed out on a few occasions too. No apology. They didn't bother with the kids, I went to change the baby and when I was returning to my seat I had to wait in the aisle for 5 mins for them to move out of the way. They are clearly more important than you. The toilets were not maintained. I have always flown with Virgin in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

EK208 from New York JFK to Dubai on May 18. Check-in lines were slow and the agent that checked us in acted like he wanted to be anywhere but there. Boarding was late and done by Zone numbers on boarding passes. The agents were strict about it and I like that - board when it's your zone and not just push and shove. Friendly flight attendants throughout the flight except one attendant who was stoic and robotic. All the others were smiles and happy to get water or snacks. Smooth take off and delicious meal (and plenty of it) was served within 90 minutes of take off. Tons of movie/TV options on ICE - but wifi wasn't working. No big deal but Emirates touts it so much it was a bit of a bummer. Screaming kids throughout the flight - not EK fault but they put the families with children in the first 2 sections of economy so if you want quiet sit in the last 2 sections. Pizza snack provided mid-flight, and in the galley fresh fruit, drinks and snacks available throughout flight. Landing in Dubai around 1pm they provided a breakfast which was good but better if it had been a lunch due to the time. One thing - the seat is ok at first but after 10 hours your bottom will be sore. Bring your own pillow or cushion and save yourself some pain. Smooth landing and short taxi to Terminal 3, but sat on the plane an extra 20 minutes as gate agents had some issue with electrical connection to the plane for the APU. Off the plane and quickly through immigration, but bags took a bit of time coming. Overall a good flight and for the price ($800 round-trip) worth the value.

Barcelona to Dubai with Emirates. Barcelona is one of the most passenger friendly airports we have ever flown through. From arrival to departure everthing to negotiate is very easy and it is for sure one of most favourite airports. However, the business class lounge is really in the dark ages. The food offering is really just appalling. Yesterday, there were 3 bowls of crisps, tortillas chips and bread bits. Sandwiches which had no butter, and just a piece of meat shoved in between. On another tray with a sign that says no pork, there is another tray of small rolls with cheese and stuff etc. It was lunch time when we went in and I was hungry having had a 4 hour journey to get to the airport. A tray of danish pasties appeared from the kitchen, at lunch time. On another counter there were plastic bowls of pasta salad. Just pasta with a dollop of cesar dressing. Getting on wifi is a huge mission. This is not in anyway shape or form Emirates standard of lounge and really needs to be addressed. Business and First class fares are not cheap and we have come to expect better than what is offered in Barcelona Airport.

Good trip with Emirates from Bangkok to Hong Kong on A380 which is a great plane. Great entertainment system. The meal service appeared disjointed but this is because they have 2 sections of service on the upper deck which is not consistent and gets confused - often you hear "my colleague will be back with this or that" but it never appears. The staff are individually very good though and the bar service onboard is great.

The trip from Gatwick to Bangkok via Dubai with Emirates was uneventful which is good. The A380 is a great plane but somehow this is proving to be an issue with the service. I think the Premium cabins are too big for the staff to handle. They have devised some scheme of serving meals but are very confused about it. It ends up with the second line of means not being served consistently like the first. That is wine not served till food is done, etc. This actually needs managing and maybe a different approach. Otherwise, entertainment system is good, fascinating and will provide hours of pleasure. I noted that meal service has been cut on the sectors. The service staff are individually good but really the team work needs managing.

✅ Verified Review | Flew from Dubai to Shanghai. I have been traveling with Emirates since 2002 and a Skywards gold card holder since 2006. Over the last 3-4 years their inflight service can be best described as indifferent, this is especially true of the younger set of flight stewards. At Dubai airport the Emirates ground staff service is abysmal, it has been that way for a long time, even the food in the business lounge can be best described as average. The inflight service has been going downhill. Service it seems mainly depends mainly on individual personalities rather than as mantra. I used to complain before but no longer. I don't care I guess and I use other airlines when I can.

✅ Verified Review | Travelled last month to Mauritius via Dubai from Manchester and returned back a few days ago. The flights were comfortable in general. Service was good, though some of the cabin crew appeared tired and not happy when requests were made. The A380 is a great aircraft and the journeys made did other make me tired. Food was OK, though concerned that the quality has somewhat changed as opposed to previous flights with the airline. Some meals were nice, though could have been better in some aspects. The WiFi service is ad-hoc and did not always work properly. This could be explained by virtue of the fact that there are Internet restrictions when flying over certain countries. No complaints otherwise.

✅ Verified Review | Dubai to Lisbon with Emirates. The B777-300 looked a bit tired compared to the B777-300ER, seat pitch seemed tighter, the entertainment screen was cracked and did not fully respond, the headsets were awful - seeming to increase engine noise and necessitating deafening volume to hear anything on screen. The seat cushion was a bit lacking in padding. Wine arrived early but from about climb out and for nearly 3 hours we experienced severe turbulence and in spite of regular calls for seat belts to be fastened and even the crew having to return to their seats for lengthy periods the service was somehow maintained. Dinner this time was king prawns with rice and greens in sweet chile sauce and better than we have often had in business class. The approach to Lisbon was equally bumpy but finishing with an excellent smooth landing about 20 minutes late. When I complimented the purser on the staff performance she invited me to their area at the rear to repeat my comments "because I want them all to hear your compliments" and gave me a couple of Drambuies to take home as a souvenir. There can be no better way to fly economy than this although try to get the B777-300ER and possibly bring your own noise cancelling headset.

✅ Verified Review | Flew Emirates from Lisbon to Dubai. Full flight on fairly new aircraft with adequate pitch although a bit narrow. Take off and landing on time although parked away from the terminal at Dubai. The cabin crew were excellent - smart and friendly as always - to the extent that, knowing the habit of serving drinks after the food, I asked for a wine when getting seated and it was brought even before we were at cruising height. The seafood meal of chargrilled salmon was delicious and accompanied by yet another wine. After dinner coffee was accompanied by a wide range of liqueurs. Cabin staff were regularly coming through the cabin to offer drinks and to check after passenger comfort and finished with ice-cream about an hour before landing. The other thing to mention is the 'assisted passenger service' which was superb at both ends with a helper staying with you from check-in to the aircraft door and again from aircraft door to pick-up transport and then actually refusing a tip.

✅ Verified Review | I was flying Emirates from Muscat to New York via Dubai, with a friend who has an Arabic last name. During boarding we were called aside at the boarding counter as his name had to undergo an additional security clearance. We were the first ones to commence the boarding procedure, but after 2 hours of waiting they still had not resolved the issue. They told us the visa was OK, and that it was some kind of issue in the Emirates systems. We were not told exactly what the issue was, all we could see was that the boarding desk in Dubai was arguing with the Emirates office in JFK for the boarding release. The debate affected three travelling parties. Despite the flight already being 45 minutes delayed the JFK office refused to support the Dubai ground staff in clearing the passengers, but instead opted to open a roughly half-hour general debate with the Dubai desk on how to use the system and on the trainings they needed. This debate was held on loud-speaker. Long story, short: In the end I was told to board the plane alone or lose my flight while my friend was offloaded to take a following flight. (Curiously enough 5 minutes after Emirates closed the flight my friend was cleared, but by then it was too late to get aboard). I ended up waiting for him half a day at JFK. I found the whole incident to be quite unprofessional, and I believe the airline ground staff (especially in JFK) should collaborate more in the interest of the customer rather than power playing games with each other. This is the third incident I had with Emirates (I was once told to choose another carrier if I didn’t like flying with Emirates after they kept delaying my flights for 2 working days).