Emirates

BKK-Istanbul-Johannesburg. The A380 BKK-Dubai leg was very comfortable the widebody offered plenty of room to stretch out. The B777 on the Dubai-JNB leg was dated and the IFE screen did not work properly on the JNB-Dubai leg. The service offered by the cabin crew on all flights was excellent. The entertainment system (ICE) is the best I've experienced. The only thing that they need to improve on is the meal portion size.

Vienna-Dubai-Manila and return in Business all on B777. Emirates is decent 4-star airline. The night flight out of Vienna was as one would expect - quick dinner service (good meal but nothing special) friendly staff (always addressed me with my name) but seats are far too narrow for business class because Emirates squeezes a middle seat into the centre row. On arrival in Dubai we were bussed to the gate (out of 4 arrivals/take-offs 3 were from bus gates and the bus ride takes quite a while). The business lounge was a disappointment. It is fairly large as it stretches across almost the whole first floor of the terminal but it is rather narrow and dull it overlooks the shopping concourse below (noise) there are showers but they are tiny. Strangely I had to ask for a non- alcoholic beverage at the bar as only juice and water are freely supplied but all hard drinks are self-serve. The onward flight to Manila was on a noticeably older 777 in a two-class configuration. The staff performance on this flight was outstanding. On the return flight one of only two washrooms for C-class broke which lead to queues. The plane was spotless and new but cabin crew performance was below par. Coats and jackets were handed back some 30 to 40 minutes before landing some pax had to keep them over their knees as the adjoining seat was occupied. Drinks and snacks were taken away all of a sudden without warning due to landing (still some 30 minutes away). Generally I would recommend them although I still prefer Qatar or Turkish when travelling into Asia.

MAN-DXB-CPT in business class. The chauffeur service on time. The Manchester lounge was one of the best lounges I've ever used. The flight to DXB was the A380 - the business seats and service are very good. We never bothered with the bar at the back but it did look good. The business lounge at DXB was fairly gruesome to be honest. To crowded dirty and quite a let down after Manchester. The flight to CPT was a 777-300ER. The seats and facilities are not a patch on the A380 still much better than economy. The service was better probably due to the fewer business class passengers. The return flight was all 777-300ER on both legs. Again the seats weren't the best but the food and service on all the legs was generally very good. The chauffeur service was excellent. Our bags turned up first both at CPT and MAN. Overall a very positive experience.

Flew Emirates MAN-DXB-KUL and back. A380 from MAN-DXB and B777-300ER from DXB-KUL andmB777-300ER for all legs back to MAN from KUL. The overall flight experience is below average. The seat was OK and a bit weary and some seats had visible stains. The aisle was too narrow the meal cart always hit the the aisle seats every time the cabin crew served the meal. The meal was below average nothing impressive about it. The crew have to learn to be more friendly and definitely need more training to communicate with the passengers. Toilets were fairly dirty after a few hours and crew couldn't be bothered to look after them. The only good thing about the flight experience was the entertainment system. I am totally disappointed as I was expecting Emirates to be one of the best airlines in the world.

JED-DXB-HYD the trip from JED to Dubai the plane was an A380. The economy seat was quite comfortable and the service was good. The food was outstanding and I liked the ceiling LED lights which give a look of stars. Dubai to Hyderabad was a B777-300ER - the inflight entertainment and the breakfast was good and as usual the service was good.

MAD-DXB-SYD economy. A380 great seats B777 impossible seats very uncomfortable. Cabin crew poor. Food is good. At gates in Australia the staff were also poor.

SYD to DXB in Business and upgraded to First with Skywards miles from DXB to MCR. Business was OK - Slight problem with hand controls for ICE which couldn't be resolved. Minor inconvenience. Staff were efficient and tried to help. Always enjoy the small bar/lounge at the rear of the plane. Good to stretch legs and meet people. Food was fair though nothing special. Seat is a little narrow when lie flat but infinitely better than economy. First Class Lounge in DXB was disappointing. Apart from table service for eating I think that the Business Lounge is better. In First there is also a large "Smoking area" which I was amazed at. It is not enclosed and the awful smell permeates into the eating areas. Would not recommend. Flight to MCR in First was good. Privacy is appreciated and the crew were very attentive when you wanted them. Touched down at MCR and was through Passport Control and baggage recovery in record time. Chauffeur Drive was a nice finishing touch.

Boston - Dubai - Mumbai. The long haul 777's economy section is scandalous. It's the equivalent of flying on a cramped domestic airplane for 14 hours. Honestly I have flown many international trips in Economy and never have I been this uncomfortable. In a standard seat it is so narrow that I had to take turns eating with the passenger next to me because neither of us had enough arm room to cut food. There was absolutely no back support in the 'new and improved' economy seats and the 3-4-3 seating is too much for the 777 – so much so that the flight attendants do not even apologize when they hit your seat every time they walk by you in the narrow aisles. On the way from Dubai back to Boston my entertainment touchscreen misregistered every tap meaning that any time I went to pause a movie the system either exited rewound to the beginning or switched to a view of the map. It is clear that Emirates the is flying on a reputation clearly earned before its new-found desire for profit over passenger well being. Like American domestics they will now punish the passenger for the benefit of their bottom line. Unfortunately I will not fly Emirates again if they continue their push for more and more seats in Economy.

Glasgow to Male via Dubai and return economy class. All flights on time with Emirates' usual professionalism and efficiency in dealing with quick transfers of baggage between flights. The standard economy seats provide enough legroom even for big guys like me (6 foot 6 with long legs). Excellent food and utterly superb in-flight entertainment. Friendly and responsive staff on all flights.

BKK-DXB-Moscow. Excellent flight on the way to Moscow entertainment system is excellent with plenty of choices food was very good excellent service. On the way back from Moscow to Bangkok the flight from Dubai - Bangkok was delayed nearly 2 hours for technical problem on their A380 but overall Emirates is still very good. Being a gold member is excellent as the chief purser came to greet you personally before departure.