Emirates

This was my third encounter with Emirates. First the booking did not go through and I had to call the office with 10 min in waiting. Got it finally and confirmed my seats at night. Woke up to drive to the Airport, checked my emails and had a new itinerary for the next day flight. I was 45 min on hold and finally given a reason of bad weather. Wasn't offered anything, not even the later flight. Had to fill in my own refund request. You cannot do anything for the weather, but not letting passengers know is just not good enough.

Flew Emirates business class from Birmingham to Bangkok via Dubai on 1 March, comfortable flight with no problems. However return journey on 9th was a completely different story. Total lack of customer care. I appreciate problems were caused by the storm in UAE, but this does not excuse Emirates of customer care. No information was supplied in Bangkok as to rescheduled flight and connections and therefore had 12 hour wait. Once on board flight the crew were indifferent and unhelpful. Arrived in Dubai and no help with connection flight. Went to business lounge and was told we had been downgraded to economy and we had 27 minutes to make the flight or would have to wait for 2 days for another flight. Was told luggage would be transferred on flight so we decided to run to catch the flight. Seated next to toilet and disturbed by smell and passengers all flight. Arrived at Birmingham to be told luggage was still in Dubai. Have yet to be contacted about compensation for downgrade or delayed baggage despite making complaint at BHX. I think Emirates is on the slippery slope of becoming arrogant and then awful.

I flew Business Class with Emirates from Brisbane to London with my daughter, her husband and three children - a three year old and twelve month old twins. I knew this was not going to be easy, but in my worst imaginings I hadn't dreamt it would be such a nightmare. The babies were booked on bassinet seats with their parents, but were too big to be able to use them. I was a few rows back with the 3 year old, but shared baby duties through the night. Right from before take-off, I could see we were not welcome. Even with the comfort of lie-down seats, it was very difficult to keep the little ones asleep. So we would take them to the bar area so they could crawl around a bit without disturbing too many people. On two occasions when I was there with our little twin with cerebral palsy, her fingers were stepped on by the same hostess who had made us feel so unwelcome. Towards the end of the long flight to Dubai, we were all exhausted, but not once was there any offer of relief or assistance from the attendants who were standing around chatting amongst themselves. Believe it or not, the next leg of the journey was worse, as the seats I was in with the three year old would not recline. On two occasions I sought help. The attendant said she would 'reset' the equipment. This meant the video system also went off for 15 minutes. I didn't see this attendant again. His seat did recline after this, but mine still did not! I tried again, different attendant but same story! I was forced to sit upright all the way. Having outlaid almost $10,000 for Business Class, I was not happy! Emirates boast about how many different countries the attendants come from. Perhaps they would do better to choose staff with a bit more empathy towards their passengers instead.

The Emirates A380 product is very good, although the seats in business class are rather tight, especially in fully flat position. Food was okay. The real issue is the diverse quality of the cabin crew: on the leg from DXB to ZRH they were just okay. From BKK to DXB I flew First: nobody addressed me by my name with the exception of the cabin crew director when she introduced herself to me. The service was not efficient, neither friendly nor First Standard.

Sensational experience on Emirates A380-800 from Bangkok to Newcastle via Dubai on March 10th. The cabin crew on this flight were fantastic. I fly through the Middle East a lot on business and have never encountered such a professional, well trained cabin crew. Another major plus was the extra leg room.

Singapore to Brisbane with Emirates was our last flight of a two week trip, so we were a tired family when we boarded. We couldn't believe our luck when we got row 23 (pretty sure that was the row number) which was facing the bulkhead. Plenty of room for the four of us to spread out and also to stretch our legs. The two attendants who looked after us made the four of us feel special. I wish I had taken the name of the Austrian attendant as she deserved special mention.

It was my third trip to Indonesia, and I had always chosen Emirates for that. Me and my mate were flying from Jakarta to Malpensa, via Dubai. The first flight was ok, while the Dubai to Malpensa flight was horrible. A passenger had a health problem when we had just taken our seats and we had to wait about two hours. Then the passenger and his wife left the plane. But the wrong luggage was taken from the plane, and another bag not belonging to anyone was shown by a steward to us all. None of the staff apologised for the delay or inconvenience. I arrived at Malpensa two hours late and very tired, having started my trip the day before in Yogyakarta. The A380 has no place for standing up, just to change position and relax the body in a many hours trip. It is filled with seats and nothing else. I will not choose Emirates for my next flights.

I flew Business Class for the first time on an Emirates upgrade offer from Auckland to Melbourne. Incredible experience, so much space in terms of the seat which also offered a huge variety of functionality, great crew who were really friendly and really enjoyed the bar area at the back of the plane. Great flight and airline, would definitely recommend!

Chose Emirates as part of our package holiday to the Maldives. It was a bit of a mixed bag: I did my back in badly the day before the long flights. Walking/sitting was a real struggle. When we arrived at Heathrow we got a wheelchair and asked about an upgrade. I was not looking for it to be free but hoped a concession could be made. There was no movement however we were given a front seat in economy so I could move around as freely as possible. My discomfort was not a negative against the economy seats as ordinarily there would have been no issue. The A380 flight out I couldn't really settle in to. The food was excellent and immediate service good. The lead attendant saw the pain I was in and said if there was anything he could do just ask. I appreciate their ability to do anything to help me was extremely limited however because of my discomfort I couldn't enjoy the in-flight entertainment but again, not their fault. Transfers etc in Dubai went well. They appeared a bit chaotic but it seemed to be controlled chaos. Because of my condition we were shepherded to a holding area where I could be taken to the right gate at the right time. The 777 flight to Male I slept through as took a strong sedative to knock me out, however I did wake for breakfast which was again very good. By the time we flew back my back was feeling a bit better so I could appreciate the in-flight entertainment more and it really is excellent. A huge choice of music, films, tv shows to eat away the hours whilst flying. The A380 we had from Dubai to Heathrow was newer than on the way out and the tv screen in economy was about the size of an ordinary laptop screen, which I thought was excellent. It was touch-screen and again the food was excellent. My only negatives (discounting my bad back which obviously wasn't Emirates fault) were that I enquired about an upgrade to business class from Dubai to Heathrow. Quoted $5000 for 2 people, which I thought was ridiculous however we wanted to finish off the holiday in style so offered $4000. Didn't move. Would they rather not sell the seats and make the extra cash anyway? She told me that Dubai had the highest upgrade charge of any airport in the word. The flight back from Dubai to London, whilst more comfortable with excellent food and in-flight entertainment, we really felt like we were economy. You get what you pay for I suppose but having your (and your girlfriends) flight-attendant call button on for 20+ mins with no response and no-one going past is unacceptable. I only wanted a drink. In the end I gave up and waited for food to be served but in typical British fashion, didn't say anything. They bragged about having in-flight Wifi. I personally didn't try to connect but my girlfriend did and had zero joy. So, overall very good. A few grumbles where perhaps they could have been more adaptable but recently flew BA to Barbados and Emirates pretty much topped them in every department.

Since we were traveling with golfbags I phoned Emirates in Amsterdam requesting for a Van or MPV to pick us up for our transfer to the airport. A few hours before pick up time we received a call confirming our request and indeed we were picked up by a van. Smooth check in, we could hand-over our golfbags to the groundstaff who delivered them to the special luggage desk. Emirates uses the Aspire lounge in Amsterdam which is hard to find due all ongoing renovation work in this airport. Boarding went OK in group, F and C passengers boarding straight to the upper deck. Arrival in Dubai in the B-concourse and we had to disembark via the forward stairs, making all Y passengers wait. Transfer was smooth, we used the Emirates longe in the C-concourse which was very crowded at that time of the day. In Mauritius the luggage was delivered using 2 belts, one for F/C and one for Y. Our luggage was delivered quickly, the golfbags were hand delivered from a different belt, again a very good service. Being seated in the middle (E/F paired) seats, both of us were served by different flight attendants. We asked them in the beginning of both flights whether they could synchronize their service as much as possible, and this worked perfectly. Cabin crew were very nice and attentive. On both flights the food was plenty and of good quality.