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Re: Emirates - Don't believe the hype (Reply to this comment)
by dragons99
Having just returned from Glasgow to New Zealand on Emirates, I have nothing good to say about the airline. To be honest, I thought the good reviews about Emirates was propaganda put out by the airline itself; so was amazed to read that it had won awards. Obviously the person giving the award has never experienced an economy class flight from the northern hemisphere to down under.
I have flown to the UK from NZ at least once a year for the last four years and have always used NZ's carrier Air New Zealand; the positive comments about Emirates were the only reason I flew Emirates this time - never again.
For some reason, there was no direct flight or connecting flights within a few hours from Glasgow to New Zealand as was the case on the flight to Glasgow. However the fact that Emirates threw in a night's hotel rest in Dubai (while waiting for the connecting flight) won me over since the flight from NZ to UK is 27 hours; a long and difficult trip especially for someone who cannot sleep on planes.
This meant that the trip from the UK to NZ came in at 42 hours for me. Check-in set at three hours prior to departure (although I checked in one hour earlier to ensure I got an aisle seat (ha ha no such luck!). The plane was 45 minutes late in taking off and the reason given was that some passengers had not turned up. An eight hour flight time to Dubai meant we got in at around 1.30 am, one hour approx in finding the way out of the airport through passport control to find the hotel bus meant I got to bed at 3.30. Only to have three hours sleep to ensure I made it in time for the 9 am flight. The flight was 1.5 hours late in taking off again the reason given was that passengers had not turned up.
The late departures seemed unreasonable to me since Emirates is quite clear in advising that if your 15 minutes late to the departure gate, the plane will go without you. Emirates advise that passengers must be checked into the departure gate (a separate room) at least 35 minutes before the flight is due to leave; so there seems no reason to me that it cannot abide by its stated policy and go without latecomers. A delay of 15 or so minutes while baggage is removed from the hold is acceptable and appears to work for Air NZ.
Late departure from Dubai meant late arrival in Bangkok and resulted in transit passengers not being able to get off the plane to stretch their legs at all (Emirates were trying to make up for the late Dubai departure and obviously felt they could not allow the delay of getting the passengers back on). Another delay in Bangkok for latecomers; this even though the plane was now at least 2 hours late leaving Bangkok! Final arrival in NZ via Sydney was only half hour late than the publicised time. I can only say thank you Emirates for making its passengers' lives a misery while it made up its lost time!
In respect of inflight sevice, significant improvements should be made there. I was stuck in a window seat in a row of three and was reluctant to ask my neighbours to move frequently (they were old) so put on the steward call light three time during the flight for some water - twice it was turned off by the stewards without them asking me what I needed! The third time, I waited ten minutes and watched 5 stewards go past my seat and ignore the call before I became so deperate and called out and waved to the next passing steward (yes I know they're busy but some acknowledgement that they would see to my request shortly would have been nice).
During the night when everyone is doing the best to sleep (frequently difficult) one steward spent nearly an hour chatting to a passenger; which must have annoyed the passengers sitting close by (perhaps Emirates should provide earplugs as does Air NZ) but some consideration wouldn't go amiss.
Then there was the case of the 2- 3 year old sitting next to me who was given an adult meal (very spicy chicken) and funnily enough didn't want it but was obviously hungry. Her mother asked the steward for a child me which other children passengers had received. However, it turned out that it is necessary to preorder a childs meal at booking time. It seem odd to me that Emirates (who are supposed famous for its customer service) who obviously knew that this child was on board did not think to automatically provide a child's mean for every child without being asked. No child's meal could be found for this child and its mean ended up as plain boiled rice.
On the hole, the food was of poor quality, unimaginative and I thought cheesecake with breakfast quite unusual.
However by far the worse experience was the fact that my baggage was checked in from Glasgow directly to New Zealand without my being asked if this was what I wanted. My flight was in September 05 one month after the terrorists had been apprehended taking bomb making materials onto a UK/US flight and during the period that carry on luggage was restricted and therefore only a toothbrush and toothpaste were allowed on board. This didn't bother me too much as I knew I would have access to my luggage and washing equipment and face creams etc in Dubai and would be able to shower at the hotel. Little did I know until I reached Dubai that the baggage was unavailable to me during my forced stopover in Dubai. The hotel provided only a bar of soap and shampoo; certainly not sufficient for what I had intended to be able to provide from my own belongings. And gosh, Dubai duty free is expensive. And did I mention that the hotel provided no breakfast? Emirates provided a coupon for one sandwich at the hotel which I ate on arrival since the only meal was served shortly after take off from Glasgow. Breakfast at Dubai airport - one toasted sandwich and a coffee cost me the hefty sum of US$11. In NZ this would have cost NZ$11.
Al in all, I would not recommend Emirates and will not use it again. I am so appalled by their service will be providing them with a long list of complaints.
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Sep 25 '06
6:43 am PDT
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Emirates - Don't believe the hype (Reply to this comment)
by uktraveller
Travelled from LHR - Dubai and back recently.
What a disapointment.
Having been a regular traveller on BA in Club World, Emirates were worth a try.
Travelled in First (same price as BA Club World)
Total lack of personality, individual attention and that special feeling you should get in First Class.
It might sound like a small thing, but it was the worst wash bag i have ever seen - cheap, nasty and ill thought out, random brands, something you'd expect from Aeroflot.
Service was bizarre, a bit like stepford wives and lacking in any personality. Robotic approach to the order of service - if you asked for something outside of the service plan, it was as if you'd asked for the impossible.
The seats were truly dreadful, something from the early 90's, as was the lounge at Dubai airport.
Boarding was a joke - felt like the whole plane was boarding through first class, endless stream of people, and endless catering trolleys going backward and forward.
To top it all off, i have never heard so many PA announcements in my life - you name it, they announced it, throughout the night, and way too many videos running on the big screen at the front of the cabin. And everything in arabic, then english.
I won't be flying with them again, makes you realise how fantastic BA are, and how they get it right every time.
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Sep 23 '04
2:42 am PDT
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Re: In total agreement (Reply to this comment)
by vodkaboy
Hi, thanks for the nice comments.
I did notice the crew chatting and bantering with a few non-western people, funnily I thought the same thing!
Cheers, VB
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Jul 28 '03
11:57 am PDT
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In total agreement (Reply to this comment)
by down_the_back
I agree with everything that you have said. You didn't mention the "multi-coloured" seats, green, cream, grey, brown, blue etc, a bit wishy washy really.
The crew thing again! Did the western attendant have the same banter with everyone on board, all races? I do find that I get much better service on EK for being a westerner - which I do not agree with of course?
Have you noticed the same?
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Jul 27 '03
12:27 pm PDT
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great review... (Reply to this comment)
by grey002
....always very good, and creative. Thanks for sharing.
-grey002 -Sandra
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May 13 '03
8:04 pm PDT
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