Emirates

DXB-JFK on the A380. Boarding and departure was delayed by nearly an hour due to the late arrival of inbound aircraft. Seats were comfortable but worn out. No footrests but legroom was great especially at the back of the plane when it started to curve. Entertainment system as expected is simply the best in the industry. The choices of movie shows music and cool things like exterior cameras is virtually endless. However this was the only exceptional part of the flight. Flight attendants with the exception of one or two looked exhausted disinterested and frankly very rude. I've never encountered such bad mannered and grumpy flight attendants. I've had wonderful and memorable crews on domestic flights here in the United States and the crew on this flight was just a disappointment. Service calls were constantly ignored and service was extremely slow. It took them more than two hours to serve dinner that the sun already rose so it might as well be called breakfast. Catering was another disappointment while the quantity is good the quality and choice is disappointing. Omelette or scrambled eggs for breakfast? So basically it's a choice between an egg dish or an egg dish. Also the bathrooms were filthy and the cabin was a disaster. Only good part was the cool mood lighting. Overall it was a mediocre flight the hard product is competitive but Emirates' customer service from ground staff to flight attendant is just inconsistent and most of the time cold and unfriendly.

Flew CAI-DXB-CAI Boeing 777-300ER on all sectors. Outbound was first day of Eid loads in Y could not have been more than 60 people. Very pleasant flight cabin crew friendly and efficient. Hot towels and a menu with 2 options lamb kofta or chicken. Seats were okay for a 3 hour flight but definitely not as comfortable as on the Qatar Airways or Egyptair 77Ws. On return flight baggage was slightly over the 30kg allowance and the baggage drop agent asked us to shift some stuff onto our carry-ons. While I have no problem with EK enforcing the 30kg rule it did seem odd as the plane was going to carry the additional 2-3kg anyway and in the end the carry-on was taken by a gate agent to the luggage hold before boarding. Cabin crew were friendly and welcoming at all times and promptly responded to passengers' requests. The service and EK Y product is what really makes a difference and of course the added advantage of flying non-stop as opposed to connecting.

I recently flew from Singapore to Melbourne on a Boeing 777. On the plus side the fare was extremely cheap - $79 for a round trip ticket. The food was good and the entertainment system was enjoyable - especially the selection of movies. It was an overnight flight though so I didn't use the system much. The cabin mood lighting during "sleep" periods was also relaxing. On the negative side the seats were quite uncomfortable and I could not recline the seat enough to attain any sufficient degree of comfort to rest. Admittedly I was travelling in Economy class but I have no trouble reclining the chair enough to fall asleep in economy class of most other major airlines. Unfortunately the Emirates chair stopped short of achieving a comfortable level of relaxation and I was only able to doze fitfully. The other thing I was disappointed with was the service. Emirates provided stickers to instruct the crew to wake us up for certain events (such as meals DFS etc). I used the sticker to instruct the crew to awake me for meals. However they did not do so. The service was also not the friendliest - though that could probably be due partially to the timing of the flight when the flight crew are undoubtedly tired too.

Flew EK384 BKK-HKG today my first Emirates flight in 2 years. Every time I fly this airline I swear I never will again - things have not improved. The planes are good but the cabin crew are just horrendous. Without doubt Emirates is the rudest airline I have flown and they are not improving. Instead of asking passengers to do something they demand it. Instead of asking if people would like a landing card they say "where are you from?" I think in the entire flight I heard one please or thank you. I really don't care if they don't enjoy their jobs but it would make for a pleasant experience for the pax if they weren't abrupt surly and clumsy. I've flown economy and business and in all instance staff attitude has been absolutely appalling. For completeness the flight was also an hour late although compared to the staff this was only a minor annoyance.

Flew Sydney to Istanbul return in May and August. Booked through Qantas but didn't set foot on a Qantas plane. As a codeshare passenger you are a second class citizen. No online check-in and no seat selection you get what's left at the airport. An unnecessary stop in Bangkok with even more unnecessary duplicated security checks even we were just stepping off the plane then back on again. Flight and food were good though I always score the entertainment system that doesn't work they were able to move me to another seat (I wasn't able to sit with my wife anyway). One whinge Emirates (and other airlines) really need to police their hand luggage policies. I'm sick of having my reasonably sized cabin bag under my feet because some selfish person has put a suitcase in the overhead locker. Hand luggage is for what you need on the flight not overflow from your check-in bag.

19th August GLA-DXB DXB-MRU. Poor experience at silver skywards check in glum emirates staff when asked about upgrading (paid) to business class told "speak to someone at the lounge". Upstairs at lounge was told "there are 4 spare seats but you booked with a company so it's difficult to upgrade you". After 10 seconds of silence I put my credit card away. Upon boarding I was told "no seats in business class" despite what lounge said. Flight great FA's a mix of good and poor food and drink good IFE good. DXB the usual chaos refused entry to emirates lounge as "it's not family oriented". A380 boarding chaotic request to pay to upgrade again met with "it's too complicated to do" FA's a mix of rude disinterested and superb flight good food and drink good IFE good. Flight on time. Emirates a strange mix clearly not interested in anything below gold / platinum skywards in terms of service.

Traveled SIN-DXB-BCN and MXP-DXB-SIN on Economy. On the flight outbound nothing special besides the connection in Dubai the filthy and overcrowded toilets in DXB which is still not up to the standard of Changi in Singapore or HKIA and the wifi that I could never get going (and I wasn't the only one). On the flight DXB-BCN on the 380 they ran out of cold beers and had to serve warm beers declined the suggestion and opted for red wine which was also warm so I just asked for a glass of water hoping this one would be fresh. There seemed to be friction between the FA's as I was waiting for the toilet one was scolding the other in front of the passengers didn't look very professional. On the way back from MXP we got a remote stand and were transferred by bus. Nowhere to sit people sitting on the floor toilets were filthy and overcrowded. Managed to get to my gate (after a long walk) and boarded the flight. Nothing special the meal trays seem a lot skinnier than you get on Singapore Airlines or Qatar. FA's doing their job and that's it nothing like Thai Singapore or Cathay they are young but not very service oriented. And last but not least they lost my bag. I am not happy with the whole experience it is value for money because it is cheaper than most airlines but don't expect a whole new dimension it is just an OK airline with good value for money and an average service an extremely good brand positioning and an overrated self-attributed reputation with below average delivery. Business Class doesn't look anything special narrow seats on the 777 and if you're on the middle section you will be seated 3 abreast.

Bangkok-Hong Kong-Bangkok. I take this round trip fairly regularly. I love the A380 especially the on-board bar where I spend most of my time! I think the Emirates lounges on the ground are the best. However the flight on 20th August Hong Kong to Bangkok just did not gel. The business cabin was only a third full and there seemed to be more flight attendants than passengers. A decent time after seat belt sign was switched off we strolled back to the bar and had a pleasant drink and snack. We were then told (and not too nicely!) that if we wanted to eat we would have too return to our seats. Fair enough but I wish I had forgone the dinner presented and stayed with the snacks. My prawns with noodles was atrocious. The noodles were a dry tangled coagulated mass and impossible too eat. My companion's chicken was similarly inedible. Are these business class dinners cooked and prepared in Dubai 24 hours before? They certainly seemed to be. After dinner back to the bar where with one hour to go before landing we were told by the attendant that the bar would be closing in 10 minutes and it did. And no further service even to the seat with 20 minutes to go before even the captain announced the descent. Weather perfect no turbulence. I just had the feeling the entire cabin staff were in a "couldn't give a damn" frame of mind. This was disgraceful. On no other Emirates flight has this happened. I was very disappointed.

Flew round trip from Houston to Dubai in August 2014 seated in economy class party of four. Seats are fine but cushions are on the firm side. Inflight entertainment was very good several choices of things to watch across several categories. Children enjoyed their flight having found several movies to watch received their food first with colorful cutlery had their pictures taken with flight attendant hat etc. The adults suffered from what seemed to be lacklustre customer service. Attendants were professional but seemed somewhat inexperienced; never truly felt that they valued me as a customer. All meal services experienced lack of stated item availability. Decent flight but have experienced better customer service on Qatar Sri Lankan and Singapore airlines. I may fly with them again for direct flight to UAE but if I am continuing on I will choose other airline(s).

This was my first flight on both Emirates and the A380. Neither lived up to the hype. Emirates is trying to build a reputation as a premium carrier with budget prices but ultimately they failed in some crucial areas. The food was sub-par especially on the HKG-DXB leg where it was downright inedible. Flight attendants were reasonably efficient but neither particularly friendly nor very welcoming. The layover in Dubai was simply too long at 4 hours but the A380 requires extra time for transfer which brings me to the second major issue with Emirates. The A380 is a cattle carrier I will never fly again. Emirates loves those planes because they can fill them up and maximize profits with sheer volume of passengers. There are inherent flaws like the lavatories behind the cockpit that have staircases leading to them. This causes unnecessary risks and inconvenience to passengers. Another problem of course is that moving that many passengers requires extra time and increases the risk of delays and other mishaps. After an 18 hour journey we had to wait for an infuriating hour at the baggage carousel in MUC. This experience was repeated by friends who traveled on the same route a few days later. Even efficient HKG couldn't move the baggage in an acceptable time frame. For me that was not only the first flight on Emirates and the A380; it was also the last.