Airlines-comments

[OldAsiaHand]

As I mentioned in another thread, Emirates is my vote for the best airline - but followed closely by Singapore.

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Again, for what it's worth, I've got a couple of million miles behind me and I agree with the choice of those two carriers absolutely. I might quibble about the right order to put them in, but which one you use pretty much depends on where you're going anyway, so who cares?

[Rumpole]

just steer clear of Gulf Air they are really bad , with the new compensations for delayed flights they are gonna be paying out a lot of dosh , as they are very unreliable.

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Totally agree. Gulf Air is an acronym for Get Used to Late Flights And Irregular Reservations. To be avoided like the plague!

Emirates are pretty good though. Don't mind the layover in Dubai.

[trawler]

Did a couple of trips to/frm Dxb last month and found Emirates economy seating very uncomfortable due lumbar support poor.Also the flight from Dxb to Hkg was jam packed full of Indonesian Haji's to Bkk and then full of Chinese 'upcountry'hadji's from Bkk to Hkg,who looked like they had never flown before,crew were unable to control them and it was a mess.More akin to a cattle stampede than boarding.They also kept popping out of their seats during the take off roll..........

8 hrs in Dxb on the way up to Amman and 13 hrs on the way back......While EK provided a hotel both ways in Dxb, would have prefered a shorter total trip time.

Use Thai often on domestic Bkk-Cnx-Bkk and find them ok,also Nokair is fine.Air Asia is ok too but dislike the free seating system as its a bun fight getting on the plane.

cheers

[Serendipitist]

Did a couple of trips to/frm Dxb last month and found Emirates economy seating very uncomfortable due lumbar support poor.Also the flight from Dxb to Hkg was jam packed full of Indonesian Haji's to Bkk and then full of Chinese 'upcountry'hadji's from Bkk to Hkg,who looked like they had never flown before,crew were unable to control them and it was a mess.More akin to a cattle stampede than boarding.They also kept popping out of their seats during the take off roll..........

8 hrs in Dxb on the way up to Amman and 13 hrs on the way back......While EK provided a hotel both ways in Dxb,  would have prefered a shorter total trip time.

Use Thai often on domestic Bkk-Cnx-Bkk and find them ok,also Nokair is fine.Air Asia is ok too but dislike the free seating system as its a bun fight getting on the plane.

cheers

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Agree on the Emirates economy seating - I too found their packed planes' seats to be very uncomfortable with poor lumbar support.

Just cannot understand why the airline continues to have so many fanboys.

Is their football sponsorship really that effective!?

[TizMe]

I'm 6'4". I get on Enimates in Dubai and am asleep within 15 minutes of take off. Usually wake up about 1 hour out of BKK.

I find the seats comfortable.

I only make sure that I avoid flying from the middle east just after hajj or going in just before.

[Steve2UK]

As an Aircraft Engineer and someone that has flown hundreds of thousands of miles over the past 200 years (well it seems like it) I think that EVA are very hard to beat.   The service is good, on board and before depature and their saftey record is exemplory. I normally like to try and upgrade as I am a silver card holder and upstairs the food is great. It used to be very good in evergreen delux as well. Twice I have been upgraded to super first and that is something else. O.K. they have only been flying 15 years and time will tell whether they learn from what little mistakes they make, or, like a lot of Airlines simply go to pot. British Airways is a prime example. They have been steadily going down the pan the 15 years since EVA inorgarated. Ask most British frequent flyers who they would travel with and a lot of them say 'Anyone except BA'

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Ditto on both counts. Love EVA - particularly when Evergreen Deluxe is available (as near Business class as makes next to no difference). EVA economy is fine; regarding the food, I always request vegetarian whatever the airline because a) the food tends to be fresher/lighter than meat/fish meals and you get served first - meaning you can usually finish your meal, get to the washroom and back to your seat for a good sleep before the others even see their food and the aisles are blocked with trolleys etc.

LOUSY experiences with BA (even when I've been in Business) have put me off their often snotty, always offhand service for life.

Can't complain about Gulf. Only time I flew with them was on a seriously discounted Business ticket. Two days before I was due to leave London, Trailfinders (agent) called me up to say that Gulf had switched planes and there was no longer room in Business - so would I mind being upgraded to First?!

Only time I've been able to turn left after boarding and my, my - how the other 2% live...................

[wilson steer]

There is a massive difference between travelling business class and economy class. The airlines I have travelled business class with have varied between good to excellent. Oddly enough I nominate Lufthansa for business travel, better than Emirates, KLM, BA and JAL and Qatar.

I say oddly enough because I am British.

However, Economy is a different story, let's face it I am not paying for business class out my own pocket, that's for the company to pay, I see business class is £400 quid minimum extra.

Economy I say Emirates, the stop in Dubai is good, good lounge access, even if you have to pay £15 or a silver card gets you into the business lounge.

British Airways used to be O.K. but now economy class is terrible. Really bad, I have complained but I will never pay for a BA ticket for as long as I live.

Lufthansa economy is packed and lots of babies, slow service because they are so busy.

KLM economy passable, but attendents will never be forgiven for serving me a glass of whiskey and coke with no whiskey, just smeared the edges with tissue doused in whiskey. True story :they still do it on three-four drinks in to a flight.

JAL economy good, very good, I wanted the flights to last longer, sadly it is an Airline I only use in Asia, not European travel.

A special mention to PAL, Philippine Airlines, travel from Tokyo to Manila, an aged 747 but the amount of whiskey they served me direct from a full litre bottle was surreal, the giggling Filipina staff (men and women) were actually trying to get me supernugs.

Worst ecomomy Saudi, obvious reasons no booze plus anti western hostility from male only staff. But otherwise avoid BA, they have a bad delay record as well, particularly short haul. Very bad. I feel a lot of anger towards BA and regularly rip advertisments from glossy magazines and ....well I better stop here.

Wilson Steer.

[bkk_mike]

Am surprised at negative comments re. Qantas/BA. If it wasn't for price would fly with them every time. Flew Heathrow/Bkk last week with Thai and service and In Flight Ent. useless.They will need to keep their low current prices to compete even with Qatar who are OK.Huge advantage with BA having seat back entertainment.No big heads in the way!

  Biman Bangladesh worst I have flown with. Most recent movie 10 years old!

  Emirates prices seem to be going up too much, last time above Thai & BA.Oil shortages out there I expect

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I will give you that BAs seatback entertainment system isn't bad. (and I like the comedy channel on the radio)

But their food is crap, and they obviously believe that people in economy should be thin, and never taller than 5'9". (based on how the seats are set up).

If I was short, and didn't mind the food - I would think BA was great to fly on... However, I'm over 6 foot, so I spent 12 hours of agony (each way) in a seat designed for people obviously shorter than me. I'll travel BA in business class - but I'm never travelling long haul in economy with them ever again.

Finally, their frequent flyer program is great if your company is flying you in Business class back and forth to New York every week, but is truly pitiful if you're paying for your own seats in economy. I don't know how many flights it needs to go up a level on their frequent flyer program. With Thai, it's a single return to Bangkok, in economy, and you get silver status. BA I've flown business BKK-Sydney return, and Business (on Qantas, but you still get the points) from Sydney to Tokyo (I wasn't paying for the tickets), and economy LHR-BKK return (me paying), and I'm still on a blue card...

Edited March 21, 2005 by bkk_mike

[orchis]

V.Good Singapore , especially SIN LAX and SIN Newark;

Good China Airlines, flew 6 times BKK AMS BKK everytime on time and service ok, anyway once the plane takes off from BKK I fall asleep; was better when they used to have economy + class;

Never flew Thai on INT flts (doesnt fly to AMS or BRU direct) , only domestic about 2 returns a month, always ok;

I flew Lufthansa once, there was a passenger on the staffseat -which is not allowed- facing me for 11 hours, not a lovely sight;

the pits : Gulf Air, Airlanka,

I took Tarom right after their crash in 95, the hostess imitated sounds of a crashing airplane to entertain us;

[PeaceBlondie]

Just finished four flights; they should have been two flights. Thai makes you think it's direct Chiang Mai-Narita, but you go straight to Don Muang and that adds over two hours, maybe three. The Chiang Mai-BKK is high at 2100 baht one way economy. Their website can be terrible; I've never made and paid for a flight online.

United wasn't so bad Tokyo-San Francisco yesterday, and I'm not onboard to oble young bodies in the aisle; the ladies are broad-hipped but competent. United from S.Francisco to Houston was terrible. Narrow little plane, NO FOOD on 3.5 hour trip unless you paid $10 for a boxed sandwich!! And no drinks to sell, but lots of free soft drinks. My seat didn't lean back. No more United. I'm partial to Continental, my hometown company - but that doesn't mean Continental is best.

My first LAX-BKK round trip was on EVA; great.

Over 100,000 miles now - been silver for more than a year - am I ever going to be upgraded?

Food: I told Thai to give me a fruit plate; they always do. Coming back from Singapore, I got the best jumpo prawns in maranada sauce (this is economy class, THAI). United had decent food trans-Pacific, poor other times.

I'll try Singapore Airlines and EVA more now. And maybe that Continental long haul between Houston and Narita.

Absolute worst so far: Ryan Air. They should pay you for flying it.

[aletta]

On long flights i was always disappointed with the quality of the food but Eva Air's food has always been excellent.In fact it's hard to believe it is airline food after forty years of some real horrors.Also excellent continous service.

[fatter than harry]

Malaysian is a great airline, flown with them about 6 times now and always have a good flight, great staff throughout, in seat entertainment, seats seem more comfortable than others.

Singapore and Emirates are better and so they should be for the price.

I took an Air Asia flight from BKK to Macao last week that was brilliant, fantastic seats, great staff, cheap as chips, luggage was a little bit of a bummer as they charge you for anything larger than a pippet's worth of belongings, but if you don't mind travelling light or the bus to and from the plane - always pissed me off with Thai domestic - then the saving of 50% of a standard fare is hard to resist.

As for US airlines, am I alone in finding their air-hostess's to be among the most ugliest in the world? Must have something to do with political correctness, equal rights for ugly people. Don't like the attitude of the staff, either.

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I thought exactly the same as you did, until I wrestled one. Sat in the lobby bar of the Westin LAX on a beery pool session with two Air Canada stewardesses, the one that was larger than me reckoned she could take me in a wrestle, she nearly did as we WWF'd in front of a gaggle of airline staff eating their dinner. Easy to forgive Air Canada for the following day's &lt;deleted&gt; flight with a wrestle under your belt.

Ding ding!

[ForeignExchange]

My wife and I have flown from Toronto with Cathay Pacific for many years and are very happy with this airline. Great connections in Hong Kong with maybe a one and a half to two hour wait at most, and their flight arrives in Bangkok late in the morning. No complaints with their service whatsoever.

[cdnvic]

All well and good, except that Air Canada is not a US airline.

cv

As for US airlines, am I alone in finding their air-hostess's to be among the most ugliest in the world? Must have something to do with political correctness, equal rights for ugly people. Don't like the attitude of the staff, either.

I thought exactly the same as you did, until I wrestled one. Sat in the lobby bar of the Westin LAX on a beery pool session with two Air Canada stewardesses, the one that was larger than me reckoned she could take me in a wrestle, she nearly did as we WWF'd in front of a gaggle of airline staff eating their dinner. Easy to forgive Air Canada for the following day's &lt;deleted&gt; flight with a wrestle under your belt.

[snoophound]

Yes United certainly take the cake for ugly and old esp in biz class where seniority rules.

BA and Qantas going same way.

Qantas Matrons waddle down the aisle sideways and the men mince down the aisle.

Fly BA biz class Syd-BKK Tonite will report tommorrow.

Virgin have the best IMHO.

All well and good, except that Air Canada is not a US airline. 

cv

As for US airlines, am I alone in finding their air-hostess's to be among the most ugliest in the world? Must have something to do with political correctness, equal rights for ugly people. Don't like the attitude of the staff, either.

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I thought exactly the same as you did, until I wrestled one. Sat in the lobby bar of the Westin LAX on a beery pool session with two Air Canada stewardesses, the one that was larger than me reckoned she could take me in a wrestle, she nearly did as we WWF'd in front of a gaggle of airline staff eating their dinner. Easy to forgive Air Canada for the following day's &lt;deleted&gt; flight with a wrestle under your belt.

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[Steve2UK]

On long flights i was always disappointed with the quality of the food but Eva Air's food has always been excellent.In fact it's hard to believe it is airline food after forty years of some real horrors.Also excellent continous service.

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Just returned BKK-LHR with EVA and the point about continuous service is well made. Trays of varied juice drinks were brought round about 8 times in a 12 hour flight (refreshing towels twice) - always with a friendly smile to passengers and between staff. Compare that with the BA switch-on/switch-off rictus (IF you get it).

[ForeignExchange]

A little history about airline meals:

http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-173-986-20...da_airline_food

[Miaow]

All well and good, except that Air Canada is not a US airline. 

cv

Thanx god it isn't

Edited March 26, 2005 by Miaow

[snoophound]

Flew in last night on BA10 syd bkk

Biz class

Seats fully reclining good sleep

Food absolute crap lamb stew 3 bits meet 2 bits veg some mashed spud and half the plate was beans

Service nowhere near thai or sing biz class.

Completely underwhelming.

The World traveller plus seats looked value for money my girlfriend was in there as she wanted the extra money for shopping.

Her food inedible too,as soon as we landed it was into the hotel and looking for food!!!!

Am surprised at negative comments re. Qantas/BA. If it wasn't for price would fly with them every time. Flew Heathrow/Bkk last week with Thai and service and In Flight Ent. useless.They will need to keep their low current prices to compete even with Qatar who are OK.Huge advantage with BA having seat back entertainment.No big heads in the way!

  Biman Bangladesh worst I have flown with. Most recent movie 10 years old!

  Emirates prices seem to be going up too much, last time above Thai & BA.Oil shortages out there I expect

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I will give you that BAs seatback entertainment system isn't bad. (and I like the comedy channel on the radio)

But their food is crap, and they obviously believe that people in economy should be thin, and never taller than 5'9". (based on how the seats are set up).

If I was short, and didn't mind the food - I would think BA was great to fly on... However, I'm over 6 foot, so I spent 12 hours of agony (each way) in a seat designed for people obviously shorter than me. I'll travel BA in business class - but I'm never travelling long haul in economy with them ever again.

Finally, their frequent flyer program is great if your company is flying you in Business class back and forth to New York every week, but is truly pitiful if you're paying for your own seats in economy. I don't know how many flights it needs to go up a level on their frequent flyer program. With Thai, it's a single return to Bangkok, in economy, and you get silver status. BA I've flown business BKK-Sydney return, and Business (on Qantas, but you still get the points) from Sydney to Tokyo (I wasn't paying for the tickets), and economy LHR-BKK return (me paying), and I'm still on a blue card...

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[cigar7]

I highly recommend avoiding Air Canada, use it only as an airline of last resort.

I flew AC001 from Toronto to Tokyo on their new Boeing 777, for my first leg to BKK. It was the most horrible international flight ever, in the last 30 years for me. The female cabin crew are just lazy and stand around socializing amongst themselves. My call light was on for 45 min., I had to go back to the kitchen to get my own drink. They screwed up the entertainment system so there was nothing to watch for the first 1.5 hours. They spilled hot soup onto my lap and then brought wet towels to mop it up., and then showed up 5 min. later with dry towels after I requested something dry to absorb the soup. (They did give me a $15 dry cleaning voucher). There was no turbulence when the spill occurred, the plane was flying smoothly. I assume my food poisioning, 10 hours after the flight, was from the food served on AC001, since I didn't eat anything after the flight and only drank bottled water.

Oh, the real kicker is that if you ask for too many alcoholic drinks, they start recording all of your actions. The chief flight attendant Mr. St. Jean, threatened that if I did not stop asking for alcoholic beverages, they would have me met in Tokyo and have me escorted off the plane and detained. These guys are going to go bankrupt again beacuse of this type of service, or lack thereof. After all, it is a service business.

[aussiestyle1983]

EVA air, new 777. Flew BKK LAX via the hub. New seats are so un-comfortable I would not fly them again just because of the seats. For some reason, Emirates can fit 10 across seating into the same 777 that EVA only fit 9 across seating in and still make it more comfortable?

[tartempion]

Lufthansa: bru-fra-bkk always full, overbooked, unpleasant economy experience

BA: bru-lhr-bkk not too bad, I am small seating fine, food ok, FF milage went down, stopped flying them

China airlines: ams-bkk, old 747/300, no inflight entertainment, plane leaves bkk around 02 am (seems they fly new 747/400 now and plan bru-bkk this winter?) might try them again.

Qatar: cdg-doh-bkk super in business, excellent economy, flew them many times over the last 4 years

Ethihad: bru-abu dhabi-bkk will fly them in sept, have good connection in abu dhabi at last (saves me trip to cdg on tgv)

Qatar might be flying to bru in 2008

I do like Middle east stop over: cuts the too long 12h flight

Access to business lounges with ff card is important: relaxing before flight- stop overs.

Edited July 2, 2007 by tartempion

[Naam]

As I mentioned in another thread, Emirates is my vote for the best airline - but followed closely by Singapore.

Emirates service in business class mediocre plus i don't like airlines which have rows with three seats in business.

personally i prefer BKK to Europe with Qatar Airways.

[baboon]

I understand that the "flying menopause" (B.A.) and Quantas are the highest priced of the lot for an Asia - Europe flight. And the service leaves much to be desired.</font>

Flew BA SVO-LHR a couple of years ago. Got completely legless in the galley with the freindly crew.

My Mother came over last year with BA business class, swore never again and continued swearing after.

Aeroflot - Perfectly decent if you dont expect Rolex for a casio price. Have used them many times and no, the planes are not old.

Binman Bangladesh - Just about OK if leaking toilets, delays, long routes [bKK- Dubai- Paris-LHR] baggage missing never to be seen again and power outages at Dhaka airport are your thing.

Uzbekistan - See Aeroflot.

China Airlines [1st class] - Superb, simply superb. Asked the Purser for a can of Taiwanese beer to show the missus. He came back with a carrier bag full.

[qualtrough]

Use to fly NWA back to states, but tired of really poor service, particularly when flying with children. Switched to Singapore and lately Cathy, have no complaints at all about either one. The only reason I would fly a US carrier outside of the US is price, and even then the difference would have to be pretty great to make me switch back.

[qualtrough]

Oh, the real kicker is that if you ask for too many alcoholic drinks, they start recording all of your actions. The chief flight attendant Mr. St. Jean, threatened that if I did not stop asking for alcoholic beverages, they would have me met in Tokyo and have me escorted off the plane and detained. These guys are going to go bankrupt again beacuse of this type of service, or lack thereof. After all, it is a service business.

:D :D

[Nignoy]

Could never get used to the Outside Toilets in Tourist Class on Aeroflot very draughty, Nignoy

[Mighty Mouse]

I have just booked a China Airways flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong, return. It was the most convenient airline to be able to book on-line and the flight times were the most suitable for my needs as compared to the others. (with the exception of the much more expensive Thai Airways.)

I have previously heard that China Air seldom fly on time.

Reading some of the posts this thread, it is about 50-50 positive and negative comments.

I don't really care too much about the flight attendants attitude, the quality of the food or the comfort of the seats, just as long as I get there safely and my bags arrive with me.

[chinthee]

As I get ready to fly Thai again to India, I ran across an interesting site on the web that ranks airlines/airports and has a forum where travelers can submit their latest experiences.

Interesting that on a 1-5 star rating system, Thai still manages to score a 4 along with Qantas, China Air, Eva, Emirates, BA.

Lowly 3 Star rankers include United, Northwest, Aeroflot.

As expected, Sing Air, Cathay, Qatar got the highest rating, 5 stars. Surprising in this elite club is also Malaysia (hard to believe) and Asiana.

Skytrax

[brianw]

OH OH OH my god after reading Cigars comments on Air Canada I hope it was just a one off bad flight Me and the missis are travelling with them in sept from London to Toronto and I could be in trouble as I am one of the worlds worst complainers any way i wont tell the missis what i have just read