Should i do it ?? (fly EK)

[Evan]

Last time was horrible ! but that was a little while ago now....
Should i do it again ? fly EK ?
At half the price of QF,BA,SQ on SIN-MEL-SIN i am actually thinking about doing it !!! Thats a whY airfare... EK = 414, the rest 800+

EK is on B777 (no idea what config)
QF is on a 744
SQ is on a 744 and/or 777

And yes i am WP.

Here is your chance to talk me into it or talk me out of it ?

 

[Evan]

OMG !!!! its 3-4-3 in whY... :shock:

 

[moa999]

I just paid $15 more than DJ (Pac Blue) to fly CHC-SYD.
Moreso for the food and avod than the seat pitch though...

And for my first flight on EK.... despite already having Skywards points from flying

Jetstar has stupid flights on this route - both morning - not at all good for a long weekend skiing at mt hutt

 

[Evan]

CHC-SYD is a bit (although not that much) shorter than SIN-MEL.
I was all set to give them a go before i found 10 across.... hmmm...

QF i sometimes don't even care for the food on the plane, i just have some food in the lounge and enough drinks that i can even sleep in the back of the bus

The EK price is just crazy cheap... I have no desire to collect any miles for future EK flights. Its only public transport to me.

E

 

[Bundy Bear]

Take EK: its not that bad; 3-4-3 means that the leg room is pretty good.

 

[dajop]

On Sunday night I booked this fare $406 SGD SIN-MEL-SIN for travel in June (which for reference is currently $375AUD). Just a bit too difficult to pass this one up, Emirates or not.

My partner has done the trip (in reverse MEL-SIN-MEL) twice since the start of March (my turn now), and is quite happy with EK. Meals apparently are quite generous, but to make the flight more bearable aside from the exit row, which can be difficult to allocate there are couple of other seats that are more than OK. I'll probably accrue to DJ or start an EK account, but my partner is handily building up UA miles.

 

[spiggy_topes]

You're concerned about the recently reported Emirates near-prang at Melbourne, right? Wouldn't blame you if you were - a fully-laded A340 not getting airborne is the stuff of nightmares...

 

[Evan]

You're concerned about the recently reported Emirates near-prang at Melbourne, right? Wouldn't blame you if you were - a fully-laded A340 not getting airborne is the stuff of nightmares...

Actually not really, i have had the not very pleasurable expereince of EK changing a flight before... ended up on MH via KUL as a replacement but it was the total and complete lack or knowlege/organisation/braincells that the EK ground staff had that made it really fustrating. And i have had my fair share of missed connections etc and this was by far the worst.

There is also the small matter of an A340 almost not getting off the ground but you know these things do happen... then again it is the second time for them... you think they would have learned after the JNB incident.

E

 

[browski]

Probably best you fly cheaper, incident-free airlines like Qantas........

 

[UP4014]

Should I do it? (fly EK)

In a word - No.

 

[docjames]

you think they would have learned after the JNB incident.

E

I dont recall this - care to shed more light over this direction?



/on topic/
FWIW - Personally, I'd pass.

A340s barely taking off plus 3/4/3 in Y is not worth it. Wait for a cheapie on someone else.

 

[dajop]

Probably best you fly cheaper, incident-free airlines like Qantas........

Or even Singapore Airlines who are the other carrier on the route, who are even more incident free than Qantas

If incidents are the measure then looks like it will be JQ via DRW ....

 

[Alanslegal]

Go for it, try everything at least once! And @ $405SGD all inclusive is just too tempting!

Any incident makes the TR worthwhile to write about

 

[Evan]

I dont recall this - care to shed more light over this direction?
<..>

Yes, a few years ago now enough thrust was used when taking off causeing an EK A340-300 to tail strike and damage some strobe lights etc on take off, almost identical to the MEL incident. Was pinned on poor training of the pilots in that type.

I will find some more info for you later.

E

 

[Evan]

Or even Singapore Airlines who are the other carrier on the route, who are even more incident free than Qantas

If incidents are the measure then looks like it will be JQ via DRW ....

JQ via DRW or QF or SQ direct or via SYD/PER for the same price... i wil give JQ a miss unless i wanted to stop in Darwin just to check it out one day.

E

 

[JohnK]

It is only ~8 hours. If my heart was set on going somewhere and the difference was ~SGD400 I would do it. But then again ~SGD800 for QF flight is not that bad either. I paid over A$1,000 before Christmas for a one-way BKK-HKG-BNE on CX and QF.

Take EK: its not that bad; 3-4-3 means that the leg room is pretty good.

How does 3-4-3 across help the leg room?

 

[anat0l]

The EK price is just crazy cheap... I have no desire to collect any miles for future EK flights. Its only public transport to me.

I don't have personal experience on EK, but they seem reputable enough. Give them another chance perhaps. Anecdotal evidence suggests that EK Y is at best above satisfactory but mostly ho-hum. (EK premium, on the other hand, is apparently "where it's at".)

3-4-3 in a 777 sounds like a bit of a squeeze. MH 777s are 2-5-2, but then again MH have some of the widest seats around the region.

Mind you, the anecdotal evidence of poor SQ customer service post-flight or when things go belly up is considerable. (This is different to QF where they are average across everything, so they always look brilliant and horrible all at the same time in all aspects of operating an airline.)

You'll miss out on QF F Lounge, but I guess from your position that's not such a big deal. Nor is any form of status qual/requal, or points/miles.

You could credit your EK flight to Velocity.

 

[JohnK]

I don't have personal experience on EK, but they seem reputable enough. Give them another chance perhaps. Anecdotal evidence suggests that EK Y is at best above satisfactory but mostly ho-hum. (EK premium, on the other hand, is apparently "where it's at".)

If by "premium" you mean business class then I hope EK's offering has improved since 2006. And no I do not mean the A380 product.

I had a Finnair flight severely delayed in 2006 and I chose to try out EK business class BKK-HKG on the 777 (not sure if it was 200 or 300) and I was not impressed. Seats were nothing special and the service was not much better.

The only reason I would fly EK again would be if they had extremely cheap airfares....

 

[NM]

Or even Singapore Airlines who are the other carrier on the route, who are even more incident free than Qantas

By what measure do you come to that conclusion? Do you come to the same conclusion of you exchange "incident" for "accident"?

 

[NM]

Yes, a few years ago now enough thrust was used when taking off causeing an EK A340-300 to tail strike and damage some strobe lights etc on take off, almost identical to the MEL incident. Was pinned on poor training of the pilots in that type.

I will find some more info for you later.

E

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