Airline reviews - no fakes!

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#2015607 14-May-2018 11:00

Interestingly I have just done a bunch of research for some flights I'm planning on booking this week going to San Jose and Los Angles. With Premium Economy as a benchmark price (company paying) I have worked out I can get Business/First class on Hawaiian with one stop in Honolulu for about the same price. The short stop (2h) in Honolulu nicely breaks up the long flight and the bonus of a direct flight to "Silicon Valley" (rather than having to go through Los Angles or San Francisco) is fantastic. Also, the A330's are not subject to any major defects as it stands!

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#2015621 14-May-2018 11:14

Gemini: Related question
Which is easier 2x12h flights OR 1x17.5h+1x6.5h ???
Struggling with the idea of 17.5h in one hit!

I only ever fly to the UK now via the US as i a) much prefer traveling that way around the world due to the flight times and timezones to minimise jetlag, and b) don't actually fancy a long flight followed by a short flight. I'd much prefer to even length flights.

openmedia

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#2015650 14-May-2018 11:55

I've flown Emirates and Qatar to the UK and they've both been excellent. The middle of the 777 on the Qatar <-> AKL Leg is actually quite good due to their 333 configuration.

I also flew a mixed Qantas / Emirates trip and the Qantas flights were shocking in Economy compared with the Emirates legs.

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Shoes2468

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#2015982 14-May-2018 18:49

openmedia:
I've flown Emirates and Qatar to the UK and they've both been excellent. The middle of the 777 on the Qatar <-> AKL Leg is actually quite good due to their 333 configuration.

I also flew a mixed Qantas / Emirates trip and the Qantas flights were shocking in Economy compared with the Emirates legs.

That’s interesting about the 777, are the middle 3 seats better than the seats to the side?

openmedia

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#2016115 15-May-2018 08:17

Shoes2468:
openmedia:

I've flown Emirates and Qatar to the UK and they've both been excellent. The middle of the 777 on the Qatar <-> AKL Leg is actually quite good due to their 333 configuration.

I also flew a mixed Qantas / Emirates trip and the Qantas flights were shocking in Economy compared with the Emirates legs.

That’s interesting about the 777, are the middle 3 seats better than the seats to the side?

The middle of the middle 3 seats was by far the widest seat and has no IFE under the seat in front so has better leg room.

Also my wife and daughter tend to get up more than me so they have the isle seats and I take the middle one.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

allan

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#2016160 15-May-2018 09:54

openmedia:

Shoes2468:
openmedia:

I've flown Emirates and Qatar to the UK and they've both been excellent. The middle of the 777 on the Qatar <-> AKL Leg is actually quite good due to their 333 configuration.

I also flew a mixed Qantas / Emirates trip and the Qantas flights were shocking in Economy compared with the Emirates legs.

That’s interesting about the 777, are the middle 3 seats better than the seats to the side?

The middle of the middle 3 seats was by far the widest seat and has no IFE under the seat in front so has better leg room.

Also my wife and daughter tend to get up more than me so they have the isle seats and I take the middle one.

Not to mention less people to clamber over than at the side

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Gemini

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#2021185 23-May-2018 14:58

Decided to try Qatar as Cathay stopover was effectively 2am NZ time and I didn't fancy deplanning and hanging out in the airport when I could be blissfully asleep on a 17 hour flight instead
Now if they could just fix their website so I can do seat selection ...

Gemini

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#2140962 7-Dec-2018 10:05

Qatar were great
Compared to Air NZ AKL-USA trips I did 2014 and 2017 cabin crew were more available, there was more food and it was better, inflight entertainment was better on Qatar

Geektastic

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#2141438 8-Dec-2018 09:33

I flew to AKL to LGW on China Airlines in PE earlier this year.

Recommended.

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#2141479 8-Dec-2018 10:38

every airline i've flown with there are some horrendous experience and there are some amazing experience, both at customer service and in-flight service levels. it really depends on the mood of the person interacting with you that day.

so I never rule out any flights in particular, my main concern is how many stops, when it takes off and when it lands! but then we have small kids. if flying budget airline make sure you book on the max service level!

once i overheard an english speaking caucasian lady calling her spouse in the departure lounge for an Air NZ flight in Singapore. she was complaining how she hated the poor service, and if she was made to fly air NZ again she would not go.

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#2142252 9-Dec-2018 22:05

My wife and I, and two friends flew on a 4 or 5 hour flight on Pan Am a few months before they went under. Was brilliant, IIRC a 727, the four of us were the only passengers - so about 150 vacant seats. We had a cabin crew - maybe even two, food, drinks. Could run up and down aisles for exercise, flip armrests up and lie down on 3 seats for a nap, no queues for toilets. Clearly not a sustainable business model, but highly recommended nonetheless.

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#2142258 9-Dec-2018 22:19

Did CHC to BHX... Im a larger guy and flew A380 economy no issues (and I think anyone of any size has issues with the WC compartment).

CHC to DXB via brief stop in SYD was about 19.5 hours?? Then DXB (brief stop) to BHX (Birmingham UK), was another 6-7 hours I think.

I found it ok all in all...the last few hours was hard but it was because we were in a 777 for that last leg.

Ride back was A380 all the way...

I believe my active noise cancelling ear buds helped (not over headphones), which meant I could sleep/rest my head anyway I wanted.

On the outbound, it was a early evening flight, so got changed into comfortable summer wear at SYD. At DXB, refreshed myself (spashed some water on face, cleared the greese off the the ears etc).... including clothes at DXB. (shorts/Tee/Undies).

Made a world of difference.

Like I said, im a larger dude... A380 economy is good.

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#2142274 10-Dec-2018 07:50

Gemini:

Qatar were great
Compared to Air NZ AKL-USA trips I did 2014 and 2017 cabin crew were more available, there was more food and it was better, inflight entertainment was better on Qatar

Curious which seating layout you ended up on? I flew on them in October. My AKL-DOH leg was operated by an aircraft with the older 3-3-3 seating layout which I found very comfortable. My return DOH-AKL leg was operated by an aircraft with the newer 3-4-3 seating and I did not find it as comfortable. I actualy flew PRG-DOH on a Qatar 320 which I found more comfortable! I also found the flight attentants on the AKL-DOH leg to have more time for pax compared to DOH-AKL which may be due to having less passengers.

It's not just Qatar though, most 777 operators have switched to to 3-4-3 (or like Qatar are in the process of doing so).

Loved the food on Qatar. Even the short 320 flight from PRG had a pretty good meal.

eracode

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#2142288 10-Dec-2018 09:11

Linux:

@Gemini The Stop in SYD was nothing enough time to disembark the 738 and get to next gate to board the A380 then onto DXB stop in DXB was 1 hour 30 minutes then onto LHR

John

Confusing - a bit of punctuation would do wonders.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

surfisup1000

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#2142340 10-Dec-2018 09:55

Behodar:

In my single dealing with Qatar they cancelled my return flight with no notification or refund. It's subsequently been sorted out through travel insurance, but obviously I'm not likely to use Qatar again!

I've used Emirates a handful of times with no issues. I've never used Cathay.

How can they cancel a flight without giving a refund?

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