Impeccable Emirates Service

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fountainhall

Impeccable Emirates Service

Post by fountainhall »

Anyone who reads the media or reviews on Skytrax will know that overbooking and involuntary downgrading can result in very nasty experiences. Worst seems to be that refunds for downgrading can take months.

On Sunday I flew to Hong Kong on the Emirates A380 having booked my pretty cheap biz class ticket online two months earlier. Dropping my bag at the check-in area, a very pleasant supervisor approached me. The flight was overbooked - quite a surprise as in a couple of dozen flights in recent years I have never seen biz class even remotely full. For a moment I thought she was about to offer a first class upgrade. Then she said it was overbooked in all classes. Would I consider downgrading to economy?

My initial reaction was No and she said that was perfectly my right. But if I would consider giving up my seat, she would either get me a biz seat on a THAI flight departing 15 minutes earlier. If I did not wish that and accepted an economy ticket, I would be given full use of the fast track service, access to the excellent Emirates lounge - and a fully unrestricted complimentary Emirates biz class return on the same route valid for a year. That was the clincher. I agreed. She then put me in a window seat on the first row downstairs - tons of legroom. When I got to the gate after an excellent lunch in the lounge, she pulled me out of the economy line, handed me the voucher for my free ticket and invited me to board first!

Great service! The return last night was flawless, although I consumed too much of the rose champagne they now offer and a couple of large glasses of the superb Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. I doubt if any airline apart from Emirates, Qatar and Etihad serve such excellent wines in biz class.
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Smiles
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Re: Impeccable Emirates Service

Post by Smiles »

Sounds like you are a full-fledged member of the Globalist Deep State [CEO Component/Middle East Faction] ... superb kow-towing expected. 8-)
Cheers ... ( and just one more reason why I love living in Thailand )

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fountainhall

Re: Impeccable Emirates Service

Post by fountainhall »

You are blowing my cover, Smiles! Seriously, though, I don't know any airline that can beat those three Gulf airlines for service, quality and price. I have sic flights on Qatar coming up at the end of next month. Really looking forward to them.
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Re: Impeccable Emirates Service

Post by Smiles »

My destinations have all been over the Pacific lately: best airlines ... Korean Air, China Southern, China Airlines.
I would take Korean all the time ~~ even if Trump's nuclear war is on :shock: ~~ if they would relent and offer an Economy Plus option. But they don't. Korean's Business Class is also quite expensive. On the other hand, Korean has arguably the best Economy seating ... i.e. decent leg room.

China Southern Business Class is $1500 cheaper than Korean and it is quite excellent on every other metric as well. They also hand out air miles on Korean.

China Airlines is just slightly less perfect than China Southern but it's Premium Economy is an odd bargain. For some strange reason they do not have Premium Economy on every plane, so if you buy a ticket where one leg has no Premium Economy seating ... what do they do? They shunt you into, not Economy, but Business! Love it! Also air miles on Korean.
Cheers ... ( and just one more reason why I love living in Thailand )

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firecat69

Re: Impeccable Emirates Service

Post by firecat69 »

I'm flying Qatar to South Africa in a few weeks and it will be my first experience with them. I took the connection of 10 hours rather then 6 because they provide you with a Hotel Room if connection is more then 10 hours. It was however a deeply discounted Business Class airfare. Thus when I wanted to get out of Trump country earlier and gave them a span of 2 weeks to change my initial leg to CPT, the change fee was more then my whole ticket.

Deeply discounted, even Business Class tickets are very dangerous.
fountainhall

Re: Impeccable Emirates Service

Post by fountainhall »

Deeply discounted tickets have their own fare rules, just like other fares. It is vital that those booking any ticket check the fare rules for that ticket. I happen to think Qatar's rules are quite transparent because they flash up on the screen in a box as soon as you click one of the various fares. With some other airlines, you have to do more research in the small print. Although I admire Qatar and they have a generous biz class 40 kg baggage allowance, you have to be careful about anything in excess of that. Between Europe and Bangkok they change $100 per kg!
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