Qatar & Etihad Airlines

[Luckydog]

I've flown with Emirates on a couple of occassions now and have been impressed with their all-round service and inparticular their great inflight entertainment (on-demand). I've also flown BA, EVA & Thai direct and thought Eva were much better than the other two as they had newer planes.

How do Qatar & Etihad compare to Emirates in terms of overall service and specific points.

Would appreciate comments

Thanks

I've flown with all of them and for overall value for money I prefer Etihad. Good inflight entertainment and food and only 2 hour wait at Abu Dhabi, although the airport is on the small side! ebookers has best prices.

Jim

Absolutely! Etihad is best. But the others are good too. Eva is a bit dodgy. old Planes......

[Levent]

Bring back Phuket Air International!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why? Because of their great new aircraft, excellent in-flight service and AVOD entertainment system? Not to mention their efficient business model...

[ChangMaiSausage]

Fly direct if possible I personally do not like connections too many chances of delay etc....

EVA now have a batch of new planes my friends flew out with them in Feb and really enjoyed the flight (overstatement how can anyone enjoy twelve hours sitting)

The lounge in Doha was okay for Qatar Privilage club members but since they stopped the booze it's not so good. You must fly business or first class to sit in their purpose built lounges, which are very sterile but they do have drinks.

[frankthetank]

Bring back Phuket Air International!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why? Because of their great new aircraft, excellent in-flight service and AVOD entertainment system? Not to mention their efficient business model...

On one flight with them, I noticed that the tail was waggling a lot during take-off.

I asked the stewaress if it was normal.

She insisted that there was no waggle in the tail!

The tail was stable as it should be!!

It was the rest of the plane that waggled!!!

Edited April 30, 2007 by frankthetank

[Levent]

Eva is a bit dodgy. old Planes......

EVA operates new Airbus A330s and Boeing 777-300ERs. They do have a number of older 747-400s as well, but the age of the plane is less important than the condition it is in and the maintenance performed on it. A 20-year old aircraft can still be in top-notch condition if taken care of well.

On one flight with them, I noticed that the tail was waggling a lot during take-off.

I asked the stewaress if it was normal.

She insisted that there was no waggle in the tail!

The tail was stable as it should be!!

It was the rest of the plane that waggled!!!

Maybe you drank too much before flying?

[libya 115]

I travel Emirates because I have a regular-flyer account which gives me lounge access at Dubai, so I can have a cooked breakfast and free booze. IMHO Emirates are excellent because of their ICE entertainment system which easily helps pass the time for a few hours.

I travel from the U.K. so the stop at Dubai is a good half way to Thailand to stretch the legs and pick up some genuine malt whiskey.

I have travelled Qatar Airlines twice, once business, once economy. The business class is far superior to Emirates business class.

However the economy class is roughly the same, but I found the flight attendents were better with Qatar than Emirates. (Emirates flight attendents are either hopeless or superb depending on whether they have just begun duty after a rest.)

I have never flown Etihad, but trusted friends who have, say they are excellent. I would use Etihad, but I am locked into Emirates 'Skywards' programme.

Abu Dhabi airport can be a nightmare if you don't have lounge access. Last time I was there, it felt like I was in Calcutta.

[enyaw]

Hi wayne, I just missed your post (btw I am from Walkden near swinton m/c) nice to meet you.

I have just (before I read your post) with south all travel my itinerary is

10/12/07 to 14/01/08

(L) M/C 20.15 (A) D/H 6.05 (L) D/H 8.13 (A) BKK 18.50

(L) BKK 7.50 (A) D/H 11.20 (L) D/H (A) M/C 18.15

I got this for £505 so I am happy with that (as you can guess)

My only problem is that I have never overstayed before (this time about 7 days, I am to excited to work it out yet) so any advice on what I should do (pay on arrival pay later etc) would help.

Thanks to everyone (to happy to type now )

Steve

Well bowl me over... I'm from the same neck of the woods and it's nice to meet you also mate I can sometimes be found in Bongs.

Well it's good to see you've got your flights sorted and as for your visa you used to be able extend your 30 day visa on arrival in immigration in bangkok or there's one in Pattaya aswell on soi 8... I believe you only get 7 days extension these days if at all? Maybe someone can confirm? It used to cost 1900bht.

Cheers Wayne.

[helicoptor]

I have flown with both Emirates and Qatar

Emirates have better customer service, friendlier cabin staff and the food is a lot more palatable than Qatar, I was on a 777 that has the 3-4-3 seating but it was not an issue for me as I am not oversized.

Qatar is only better than Emirates for one reason - in that there is half the waiting time at Doha on connecting flights than Dubai.

I would not fly Qatar again as I was 'scammed' at Manchester Airport for over 1000 GBP for excess baggage allowance, this despite the fact that I had sent them prior warning of my excess baggage via fax but got no acknowledgement, when I called the airline I was verbally told it would not be a problem and I asked them to confirm this in writing they failed to do so.

So when arriving at Check In they had me cornered, this little Hitler initially said I had to pay 1700 GBP, after I got back on my feet, he said he can 'help me out' and said 1000 GBP would be sufficient. It seemed he was making it up as he went along.

Its all water under the bridge now but Qatar have lost a customer thanks to this episode.

[tag420uk]

i have flown with thai airways and qatar airways and i thought qatar was much better allround.

only negative if flying with qatar make sure when you book you get the 50 min plane changeover and not the 6 hour.

[Who, me ?]

I just flew Etihad from Bangkok to Manchester and return

Absolutely great. I flew Emirates many times, but I have to say that Etihad is really better....

Will fly them again whenever possible

Edited May 15, 2007 by Who, me ?

[Naam]

i like Qatar very much, wanted try out Etihad but the difference in price Qatar 69.000 / Etihad 83.000 Baht (business class BKK-FRA) is a bit too much to spend on a "trial" flight.

[highchol]

I used to travel with emirates regulary for 12 years or so but not for the last 2. I voted with my feet. The standard of service dropped and frequency of late arrivals / missed connections etc just got too much for me. They were good in the early years and I did like the dubai lounge. The last straw was bkk /dxb I woke up prior to arrival ....very sorry sir we have run out of breakfasts! I was travelling in business class.

I see nowadays that Emirates ticket prices have dropped to match thier service level.

I have not tried either Qatar or Etihad but I have heard favourable comments on both from work colleagues.

[Ricardo]

Last year flew Etihad 3 times, and just made my first trip on Qatar, would DEFINITELY prefer Etihad !

Qatar are VERY tight on their luggage-allowance, the seat-back IFE is not quite as good, no moving-map or cameras, the economy meal was a choice of 2 options (3 on Etihad), but they DO still go to LGW - whereas Etihad no longer do. Also Doha airport requires buses for ALL passengers, on all flights, but the D/F-shopping was keenly-priced.

Thw ticket would have to be much cheaper, for me to go on Qatar , again.

[tartempion]

Strange, I checked fares on both Qatar and Etihad websites and found Qatar to Paris 32k baht eco, 70k biz, Etihad to Brussels 38k eco and 80k biz. I flew Qatar biz two weeks ago and at that price will fly Qatar again....

My Bangkok travel agent quotes Qatar biz at 67k though...so travel agents are cheaper???

[Naam]

Last year flew Etihad 3 times, and just made my first trip on Qatar, would DEFINITELY prefer Etihad !

Qatar are VERY tight on their luggage-allowance, the seat-back IFE is not quite as good, no moving-map or cameras, the economy meal was a choice of 2 options (3 on Etihad), but they DO still go to LGW - whereas Etihad no longer do. Also Doha airport requires buses for ALL passengers, on all flights, but the D/F-shopping was keenly-priced.

Thw ticket would have to be much cheaper, for me to go on Qatar , again.

fly Qatar business or first and you are shuttled from the aircraft to the lounge and back in individual BMW 7series limousines.

[TBWG]

Last year flew Etihad 3 times, and just made my first trip on Qatar, would DEFINITELY prefer Etihad !

Qatar are VERY tight on their luggage-allowance, the seat-back IFE is not quite as good, no moving-map or cameras, the economy meal was a choice of 2 options (3 on Etihad), but they DO still go to LGW - whereas Etihad no longer do. Also Doha airport requires buses for ALL passengers, on all flights, but the D/F-shopping was keenly-priced.

Thw ticket would have to be much cheaper, for me to go on Qatar , again.

Hi

Does anyone know if Etihad have finished with LGW permanently or is it just a temporary measure?

Thanx

TBWG