It does of course depend where you want to go and what you are doing. EK to BKK was a good experience, not as polished as i'd envisaged, but good nonetheless. However, when I go to Oz my plan is to visit HKG on the way back. EK, EY and QR were of no use. Hence I will use BA/QF. BA's product isn't as good as either of the above and I'm not expecting it to be but I think some folk are a bit too keen when it comes to bashing BA. They simply haven't had the money or the geographic advantage (other than Transatlantic) that EK and DXB have had respectively.
Later in the year I will also use EY to BKK and their fares were excellent!
I hope that by now everyone accepts that BA does exactly what EK, DL etc do. The problem is indeed that BA to OZ offers 2 stop as opposed to one with middle/far East carriers. Ultimately that isn't BA's fault. Equally you can't blame Joe Bloggs for wanting to go 1 stop. However, psychologically I believe it goes further. It's the short hop down to London that can be the off putting factor. Many would rather just get straight onto the long haul. Secondly theres the anti-London centric factor that many Northerners display (I can sometimes class myself as one) who feel they are being neglected by BA but don't understand how the hub and spoke airline works. And thirdly there is of course price. My flight with all the sectors/destinations that I wanted with BA/QF were cheaper than EK. However I accept, as with my EY flights, the Middle East carrier can be very competitive and of course price is so very important in this industry as we all know.
I also believe that with the leisure travellers and holiday of a life time folk, of which EK carries plenty, EK etc are the new VS. These People are often wowed because they get a complimentary drink and the crew (usually) look the part. The name also has glamour written all over it, increased by recent football sponsorship deals.
In my assessment please don't mistake me as a BA apologist or a fan nor a Middle East basher. I think it's fantastic that the spoke that MAN is can support 7 daily Middle East flights with connections across the globe. I'm quite proud of it in fact when you consider MAN counterparts such as BCN and DUS. I just think that people lay it on thick slightly and go to town when it comes to knocking BA. They aren't always as competitive, they aren't always as convenient and they haven't had the money to splash out like EK has. They do however still have a strong following and a reasonable product. Is it as good as EK? From my own experience i'd say not but it's certainly not dire.