Who has flown Emirites Airlines???

[qdda5]

Hi all,
Me and the wifey are going overseas to Dubai for a couple of days and then of to Athens ,Rome, Florence Touscany blah blah blah. Cant wait to go and its only a week and a half away. We are flying Emirites over and back to Oz as well as a couple of internal flights as well. Who has flown with them and what was the food like??? I love to have a few beers on the flights as well, so I guess more importantly what sort of beers do they have???

[gcg2503]

I rate them above qantas and BA

Still prefer Singspore though.

Enjoy the trip. I am off on July

[qdda5]

What did you like about them specifically.
And what sort of beer did they have on the flight???

[yueses]

I flew on Emirates several times to/ from London in the late 90's & early 00's.. they used to be very cheap but are expensive now.. but TOTALLY worth it!!!!!!! the food was amazing, restaurant quality & they came around giving out ice creams after dinner for free, drumsticks etc.. it was awesome and that was a good 10-15 years ago..!!!!!!!!!! food & booze used to be all inclusive, aswell as all movies etc.. I have heard Etihad are better but now that Emirates are well known they are just a bit too pricey.

my only complaint was that during the middle of the night, ANY announcement that came over the PA was in Arabic first.. which is fine being an arabic airline.. but when you get woken by " Hala alala mahala khalem ka halal" in a loud, fast booming voice it sounds like a hi jacking & white people used to freak out- then the english translation would follow with something like.. "ladies & gentlemen we will shortly be commencing our descent into...." hahaha.. it was hilarious!!

GO EMIRATES or ETIHAD over anyone else.. 5 star service all the way.

[Miss_XR6]

Flown them many many times to many destinations service is 5* and the planes are 5*
Staff are young (20-40yrs of age) not like United with 60yr olds haha and its a well serviced airline never let me down
Food great always on time and great ongoing connections once your in Dubai if you dont want to overnight
Etihad rates just over them in my books but there first class is to die for

[ebxr8240]

Service couldnt be better...

[gcg2503]

Originally Posted by qdda5

What did you like about them specifically.
And what sort of beer did they have on the flight???

Food was good
Nice fleet of planes
Great service (stewardesses are pleasing to the eye - unsure why they don the towels over their heads for take off and landing though)

[bob^]

They also bring around some warm damp towels so you can refresh yourself during the flight.

[sgt_doofey]

I believe that they are regarded as the best airline in the world.

[whynot]

Have you seen this site to compare airports and airlines?

http://www.airlinequality.com/

[The Yeti]

I fly quite a bit for work mostly Qonus (company policy) but from time to time I need to go and conus don't have a flight available so I end up and then I get emerits and that's when you know it's gonna be a great trip

The service is excellent the food is good excellent for flight food.

When I have to pay for flights (not frequent flyers) I always fly emerits

[Racecraft]

been to Dubai a few times and always Emirites.....

from the check-in to the landing, they rate A+ imho

I am impatient and not a great 'flyer' but the service, eye candy and hospitality seems to make the trek shorter

[qdda5]

Thanks for the feedback guys.
The link was really helpful too WHYNOT.
Pretty much has all the detail I need.
Looking forward to it.
Cheers

[Pedro]

Originally Posted by yueses

..................
GO EMIRATES or ETIHAD over anyone else.. 5 star service all the way.

I will never fly Etihad again. The hostess ***** got the ***** when I asked her politely when we'd be served lunch, and threw the food down on my tray and it burst open and went all over my clothes. She never apologised and when I got the Purser over, he treated the whole matter with indifference. I wrote a lengthy letter of complaint to their head office and all I got was an offer of a couple of thousand points on their rewards program. I wrote back and told them to stick their points where their mother never kissed them.

[bender5lt]

There awesome!! Just came back from a big trip 2 Dubai.. Check out desert 4x4 hill climbs. Have a good 1

[madwag]

i flew with them on my own when i was 17 to Dubai. i went on Christmas so there was almost no one on the plane.
I had a whole row to my self, turned on the charm with the air hostesses and they ended up letting me help my self to drinks and snacks for the whole flight.
Only time i have slept well on a plane hahahah

[Yellow_Festiva]

Flown both Emirates and Etihad several times now.

Always had great service, and had not 1 complaint till the last trip.

Flew the A380 13ish hrs and the entertainment system didn't work in 5 rows of the plane... They tried to 're-set' the system several times but to no avail...

It was a middle of the night flight, and I cannot sleep sitting up.. it drives me up the wall. I will be dead tired and take 2 sleeping tablets and I still will not sleep! I calmly explained this to the staff and respectfully asked if myself and my wife can be moved. I had flown with them several times etc etc etc. Was told there was nothing else available. So for the whole trip I just stared blankly ahead.. didn't bring a book as I assumed I could cram in several movies.

About 4 hrs into the flight the kitchen developed a bad leak. The 4 rows behind the kitchen needed to be moved due to the carpet being soaked... How they instantly found 12 seats is beyond me!

I did make a complaint on a card they gave me, but never heard of it again. You will also note that the Emirates site has no section for complaints at all... Pretty poor effort if you ask me, especially from a new plane. I had flowen the A380 before and had no problems.

Will this make me change carriers next time?? Doubt it. As a whole, they are great but their arrogance that day left a very sour taste in my mouth.

Word of advice... if you are wanting to go up the Burj Khalifa (that real tall building) I hear you can book tickets online prior. They have a (scam??) going where the 'regular' tickets for $25 will not be available for 2-3 days (generally after you leave), but you can buy 'special' tickets on the spot for $100 each. So look into that.

If you want to really splash out, book lunch at the Burj Al Arab (sail looking hotel).. I had Easter lunch there last year and boy was it worth the money...

Dubai Mall has awesome shopping.. Wifey will be very happy!

Sounds like a great trip!

Another thing... Italy, Greece has got awesome sales at the moment due to the financial crises blah blah.. and Dubai has just got great sales all the time.. Know exactly what your baggage limits are and get the biggest, lighest bag you can. And pack lightly! Last time I did Europe our party of 4 left with 2 suitcases and 2 carry ons and returned with 4 of each packed to the limit. And we wanted to get more.

I have a mate based in Dubai who works for Emirates... he told me this little 'inside joke' acronym

English Managed, Indian Run, Arabs Take Exessive Salaries

Have fun. Want any other info let me know. Been to Dubai and Italy a bunch of times

[qdda5]

Wow . Great feedback there. We are on the older style plane and not the 380.Hopefully the crappy experience you had was pretty much a one off. I have visited a review site for the airlines and the feedback has been more positive than negative so hopefully the odds are all good. If the movies play up we wont be happy as there isnt much else to do. Wifey happy to hear about the shopping however. Me not so much. Too many handbags.

Did you go to Seville at all???. We are seeing Bruce Springsteen at the stadium.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by qdda5

Wow . Great feedback there. We are on the older style plane and not the 380.Hopefully the crappy experience you had was pretty much a one off. I have visited a review site for the airlines and the feedback has been more positive than negative so hopefully the odds are all good. If the movies play up we wont be happy as there isnt much else to do. Wifey happy to hear about the shopping however. Me not so much. Too many handbags.

Did you go to Seville at all???. We are seeing Bruce Springsteen at the stadium.

Haven't been to Spain yet.. Portugal, Morocco and Spain is near the top of my 'Where to next?' list (Just got back from Samoa today actually)...

Have fun. If you have any specific questions about any city in the world look up the applicable forum page at www.tripadvisor.com

[wrongwaynorris]

This whole question NEVER fails to amaze me . I place an inordinately greater emphasis on the guy at the blunt end driving it . Who gives a flying XXXX what the inflight service is like in the case of an emergency and its not like BA or Qantas throw your food at you in a bucket . I ONLY fly B.A. , American , United or Qantas because the odds are you have either an ex R.A.F. , U.S.A.F or R.A.A.F. pilot driving the thing not the son a a rich sheik who decides on a whim he wants to be an airline pilot this week . Want to see what these camel jockeys are like ,

" Investigators have determined that an Airbus A340-600 collided with a test-pen wall in Toulouse after it was powered up while unchocked, and an attempt to steer the aircraft out of danger reduced the effect of the brakes.

The test crew failed to reduce the engine thrust as the jet surged forward, attempting instead to stop the aircraft by pressing the brake pedals and turning the nose-wheel sharply to the right. It smashed into the pen wall, seriously injuring four of the nine people on board.

A division of the French Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses, which conducted the inquiry, has released its final report into the accident, stating that “lack of detection and correction” of test-procedure violations helped lead to the accident.

It points out that procedures for the test, aimed at checking for oil leaks, were not correctly followed, noting that the engines were all operating at high power and the aircraft was left unchocked.

Detailing the events leading to the collision, it says the aircraft arrived in the test-pen at 14:19 on 15 November last year and underwent routine engine tests for about 1hr 40min.

Just before 16:00 the power of the Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines was increased to an engine pressure ratio of 1.25 - with the thrust levers corresponding to a position between maximum continuous thrust and maximum take-off thrust.

All four engines were operating. While the parking brake was on, registering 2,600psi, the inquiry says the applied thrust was around the limit of the parking-brake capacity.

At the time of the accident an Airbus employee was occupying the right-hand seat of the jet while an Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies technician was in the left-hand seat.

Flight-recorder data shows that, shortly after 16:02, the person in the left-hand seat warned that the aircraft was moving. The ground speed began gradually increasing to 4kt over the next few seconds and, after a second call that the aircraft was moving, the recorder registered pedal-braking and the deactivation of the parking brake.

Brakes on the A340-600 are linked to two hydraulic circuits: the ‘green’ normal circuit and the ‘blue’ alternate. The parking brake is on the blue circuit and only applies to the left- and right-hand main undercarriage bogies, not the centre bogie.

If the parking brake is released and the brake pedals applied, the ‘green’ circuit comes into play. The pedals act on all three main bogies.

Recorder data shows that ‘green’ circuit brake pressure on the A340 rapidly rose to 2,500psi while the ‘blue’ circuit pressure dropped.

About seven seconds after the first movement warning the nose-wheel was turned sharply right. Activating the nose-wheel steering inhibits braking on the central bogie, becoming completely ineffective past 20° of steering.

The aircraft swung 37° to the right but continued to accelerate, its speed increasing from 4kt to 31kt in seven seconds, before the aircraft struck the test-pen wall, demolishing its forward fuselage. The jet was written off.

In its report into the accident, the BEA says the aircraft and its braking system functioned correctly, but states that the nose-wheel steering “limited the effectiveness” of the brakes.

“Surprise led the ground-test technician to focus on the braking system, so he did not think about reducing the engines’ thrust,” it adds. Only after the collision with the wall were the throttle levers retarded to the idle position. "

Hardly in the same league as Eric Moodie are they .

[Kieron]

With all due respect wrongway, that article lays the blame on a technician working for Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies, it's possible that this person was from BA/QANTAS etc, he's also not a pilot so a little unfair to compare him to the likes of Moody.

I'd also venture to say that these sorts of incidents do and have happened to the traditional western airlines.

A lady I work with is a former Emirates flight attendant, if I remember i'll ask her about the towels on heads during takeoff and the nationality of their pilots if your interested, I do know they employ from all over the world.

[qdda5]

Wow Wrongway.
Didnt see that coming at all.
Hopefully the plane will arrive in one piece and all will be fine.


Thanks to all for the feedback though.
Looking forward to the trip and will send some photos of the trip through.
Hopefully my photographic skills will pay off while over there.
Cheers

[Full Noise]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Want to see what these camel jockeys are like.
" Investigators have determined that an Airbus A340-600 collided with a test-pen wall in Toulouse after it was powered up while unchocked, and an attempt to steer the aircraft out of danger reduced the effect of the brakes.

I remember when this happened. Unbelievable f-up.

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/fl...nt-photos.html

Originally Posted by Kieron

A lady I work with is a former Emirates flight attendant.

I don’t suppose that you have any pics to post up?

[Kieron]

Spoke to the former Emirates flight attendant this morning. Very interesting, she's certainly not just an ex trolly dolly, very passionate about the airline industry and follows it quite closely.

I spoke at length with her about the industry and could have gone on all day. However, I will summarise it to fit in this topic and what was raised by a few here.

Towels on flight attendants heads during take off/landing - she actually laughed, had never heard of this and said it's against Emirates regulations, why? safety - they need to be aware of whats going on in the cabin at these times.

Safety
- Emirates training (she didn't say exactly what but it was in conjunction with safety) is 8 weeks, QANTAS is 4.

- Emirates has a policy of keeping aircraft young, its fleet age average is around 6.5 years, QANTAS is over 11.

- Emirates employ pilots, cabin crew, ground staff and management from across the world. She has seen pilots been knocked back 3 times by Emirates, only to be employed by other airlines.


The big one if you a QANTAS fan - with the ongoing industrial issues their over the past few years, staff moral is very low and that's across, aircrew, cabin crew and in particular maintenance crew. This is not a good company to be working at currently, and with staff at an all time low, it has an effect on their work understandably.

I asked who she would fly with, QANTAS she said she would be hesitant about, but would chose Emirates, Singapore Air, Etihad, Malaysian over them.

Oh yes, I mentioned the pic request Full Noise, she had a good laugh and was actually sorta flattered. However, i'm not going to post one unless she provides one, I will say she is a very attractive lady though

[Miss_XR6]

Originally Posted by Kieron

Spoke to the former Emirates flight attendant this morning. Very interesting, she's certainly not just an ex trolly dolly, very passionate about the airline industry and follows it quite closely.

I spoke at length with her about the industry and could have gone on all day. However, I will summarise it to fit in this topic and what was raised by a few here.

Towels on flight attendants heads during take off/landing - she actually laughed, had never heard of this and said it's against Emirates regulations, why? safety - they need to be aware of whats going on in the cabin at these times.

Safety
- Emirates training (she didn't say exactly what but it was in conjunction with safety) is 8 weeks, QANTAS is 4.

- Emirates has a policy of keeping aircraft young, its fleet age average is around 6.5 years, QANTAS is over 11.

- Emirates employ pilots, cabin crew, ground staff and management from across the world. She has seen pilots been knocked back 3 times by Emirates, only to be employed by other airlines.


The big one if you a QANTAS fan - with the ongoing industrial issues their over the past few years, staff moral is very low and that's across, aircrew, cabin crew and in particular maintenance crew. This is not a good company to be working at currently, and with staff at an all time low, it has an effect on their work understandably.

I asked who she would fly with, QANTAS she said she would be hesitant about, but would chose Emirates, Singapore Air, Etihad, Malaysian over them.

Oh yes, I mentioned the pic request Full Noise, she had a good laugh and was actually sorta flattered. However, i'm not going to post one unless she provides one, I will say she is a very attractive lady though

Working at QANTAS is good at the moment maybe not for aircraft technicias but other parts of the company are booming and staff is at higher numbers then before

[rancidpunx]

Thumbs up for Emirates here.

I do long haul trips fairly regularly and Emirates are in my top 2. Virgin Atlantic are number 1 for me, although I have not been with them in maybe 2 years. They are not as chic as Emirates but they are very British and their inflight entertainment is better. Both have great food and friendly crew.
3 and 4 for me are Cathay and Singapore. Again both excellent. I will also pay extra to avoid Qantas.

[jackson105]

you will love the flight and the service mate. Have a fantastic trip

[ltd_on20s]

"This whole question NEVER fails to amaze me . I place an inordinately greater emphasis on the guy at the blunt end driving it . Who gives a flying XXXX what the inflight service is like in the case of an emergency and its not like BA or Qantas throw your food at you in a bucket . I ONLY fly B.A. , American , United or Qantas because the odds are you have either an ex R.A.F. , U.S.A.F or R.A.A.F. pilot driving the thing not the son a a rich sheik who decides on a whim he wants to be an airline pilot this week . Want to see what these camel jockeys are like "

good to see your true colours coming out.

go on, tell us what you really think.....


http://www.theemiratesgroup.com/engl...-training.aspx

http://www.cae.com/en/aviation.training/tc.dubai.asp

http://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/...tio_Pilot.aspx

but of course, that all amounts to nothing if your not the son of some rich dude in robes, and have the ability to artificially inseminate camels.

as for the rest of what you wrote, thats no different to any other carriers issues. they all have issues at one point or another.

but because they don't ride camels, that makes them safer.

[TheSneakiness]

A school friend of my wife's recently got an attendant's job with Emirates. They pay for you to go over to Dubai for training and put you up in accomodation, etc etc etc.

Wish I could afford to fly them, one day it'll happen.

[XKCOOL]

Originally Posted by madwag

turned on the charm with the air hostesses and they ended up letting me help my self to drinks and snacks for the whole flight.

Looks like you got stitched up.... That's what the flight attendant button on your remote is for .

You paid for the flight attendants and done their job for them