A mixed bag usually, but it also depends which bag Lady Luck gives you
Written: Jan 09 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good in-flight entertainment, excellent website, good lounges, decent food, safety record.
Cons: Unreliable staff performance, unreliable booking system, rigidity.
The Bottom Line: Are Emirates "the ones"? Depends on luck, really. There is no universal rule, if you’re lucky and do your homework you get quite a good experience/service and the opposite.
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| antonkpuska's Full Review: Emirates Airlines |
Reading through some of the reviews, I find a lot of truth in all of them, basically because they are what I myself have experienced, too. I work overseas for a number of years now and am often forced to use airlines as they are available. One can not always choose as much as in the US or Europe when working overseas. And I have flown Emirates at least 20 times as they were the best option out of or into Africa and Asia. I've flown most of the reputable and not so reputable European airlines also. And I base my review of Emirates on years of experience flying with them and comparing with others.
So let's start with bookings. Emirates are usually difficult to book with as they are often overbooked. Then, at times, you can get everything done nice and easy over the phone or over the web, depending where and when you fly (basically how much demand there is for the flight). The travel agents are increasingly complaining about Emirates not responding to their requests or inquiries and even bookings. You have to book everything well in advance and watch out carefully not to have two bookings on your name on dates close to each other (say on 15th and 16th of the month - as you are not sure when you can make the flight, but the seats are overbooked and you need a booking just in case), Emirates will cancel both without notice at about 36 hours or so before departure of the earliest of two flights.
Booking extras, visas: if you decide to explore any of the numerous offers Emirates so nicely advertises on its website, you should exercise caution again: you need everything booked well in advance and 100% within the package parameters. Or else you risk being unpleasantly surprised by a rigid explanation by a tired or ice cold Emirates official that "this is not allowed, Sir". Or even worse, you’ll be left to the mercy of his/her interpretation of the rules. So, if unsure about the package details, make sure
you ask ands ask again until all is absolutely clear. Afterwards, everything usually functions relatively well, with lots of glamour and pomp (provided you are ready to pay) unless lady luck serves you a bad hand and something somewhere in the numerous options things can go wrong does go wrong and the next thing you know is you are spending hours trying to rectify it. Good luck, you will need it!
If you need a visa for UAE (Dubai being the main emirate) you can get it through the airline, for a fee. Make plans well in advance here also, 'cause you'll need at least 3-4 days to get the answer, but again, you can not count on this, as lady luck may serve you a bad hand and you will need even weeks to get an answer (this has happened to a colleague of mine once and I believed him that it was not fun at all). Otherwise, you can get a visa at the airport upon arrival that is again if you are ready to spend some time waiting at a long queue and pay a higher fee.
Checking in, at the gate and boarding a flight, you will most likely have no major problems. The check in counters usually open 15-30 minutes behind schedule, which is almost always 3 hours before flight departure anyway. I have rarely had a problem with an Emirates check in staff, and I have found them to be reasonably flexible with my extra luggage (which I often have). But then again, I have witnessed many passengers mercilessly charged for any extra kilo they may have while letting me pass for free with 20 kg over the limit! Is it racist or is it just luck? A combination of the two above, most likely. Changing the seats or having the family seated together can sometimes be a hustle, as not all the check-in staff understands the importance of doing so. And the flights are often full... so, again, get your seats pre-booked when booking if you can, if it needs your agent contact Emirates, have him/her do that.
The gates sometimes open well before the flight and somewhere else they open only 30 minutes before departure and the flights can get delayed. Emirates will most often manage to recover most of the time lost during the flight, but not always. And again, if you suffer a loss as a consequence, you need lots of patience and time to get your compensation. Not always to the best of your satisfaction, either. Emirates will sometimes call for boarding families with children first, and will always call first and business class passengers. Then they will call passengers based on their seat numbers to avoid jams. But many passengers will disregard the instructions and will attempt to to board the flight immediately and the long queue is there.
Boarding the aircraft is usually hustle-free, but most attendants will not help you lift the cabin luggage. They will however try to find a place for your piece if you ask them to do so, or if they see you are unable to find it and you are blocking other passengers boarding the plane. If you can, try and board early, as in most flights passengers carry large amounts of hand-luggage and storage space runs out quickly. Don't be surprised if a lady seated next to you will get up from her seat and demand from the attendant to move you to another seat! This is because they would often request not to be seated next to a man when booking, but this was ignored by their agent or the check-in staff. This will not affect you if you don't allow it to affect you. Simply refuse if you don't want to move and the attendants will honor that. Boarding first class or business class is not always as nice as it can be, as the Economy class passengers may sometimes board through. If you are traveling Economy class you will have to wait a bit before served anything unless you demand explicitly and politely. A nice detail is a warm towel handed over immediately after boarding is completed.
Flying with Emirates is almost always good fun. They have an up to date in-flight entertainment programme, with lots of movies, games, TV series and music to choose from. Unless lady luck served you with a seat that has a problem: it does not fully recline or does not recline at all, it can not stand upright, the entertainment system does not work properly or your headphones line doesn't work. This does happen, and it is not just in a few isolated cases. Frequent announcements are a pain and yes they do announce everything in Arabic after English, but why should that surprise or bother anyone? It is an Arab airline, after all...
Some of the attendants can be rude, intolerant and even racist. I think most of them are in it for the quick money and are changed so frequently that they lack a sense of "loyalty" towards Emirates passengers. But it is also true that many of them will be helpful and considerate, often if you just happen to have a cute kid that they like or they like you for whatever reason. Most of them suffer from a superiority complex of some kind. They will do what they absolutely have to do, but often not more, and not always with a smile. They will stand looking all too "pretty and inaccessible for the poor buggers (passengers)". This includes the non-eastern attendants also. I found male attendants to be often more understanding than the female ones - the females probably treat your requests for personalized care as a pass at them, as ridiculous as it may seem.
The choice of food is always two meals, and attention is paid to the preferences of the population of the destination. You may end up having one option of a main dish only, but that is because the other option was exhausted due to previous passenger’s choice. And Emirates does warn passengers about the possibility and does apologize in the menu leaflet they disseminate.
The quality of food is decent and sometimes very good. Choice of drinks is excellent for an economy class and standard or higher in the higher classes. Service is decent and they will not save on you, so long as it doesn't affect other passengers. They will make rounds of drinks throughout long-haul flights, but not too frequently. Ask for more drinks or food in between and you will get it, sometimes quicker sometimes later and sometimes only after asking twice for it. You can choose from a very wide range of meal options by requesting it at booking.
Kids get a toy before take-off and a nice kid meal. If you have a baby on-board and have requested a baby cott seat, you will get it if available at the time of your request. And you will get an excellent baby care package with baby products, for free.
In general, the chances of having a good or bad experience are the same irrespective of class of travel and flight duration, and most likely depending on your luck and what you make of it. Book early, book everything you can and if anything goes wrong, go after whatever it is you should get. And pray for good luck, you will need it. Their safety record, by the way, is excellent.
So, do your homework well, find out what you are getting yourself into and lower your expectations. This will not be a dream-flight for sure, and Emirates does not deserve the awards it has won. But it will most likely be a good flight and often the best flight available! You even stand a very good chance of being positively impressed. That's with a little help from Lady Luck...
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
antonkpuska
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Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 0 members
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