I fly EK pretty frequently - in all classes for both work and family, not through great personal preference, but because their schedules suit where and when I want to travel.
Couple of personal observations of them over recent years.
Massive degradation in the value of Skywards. Reward flights rarer and more costly in 'fees' than they used to be. Upgrade availability also gone badly south.
Oh, and being Gold or Plat means nothing. You might get a 'welcome back Sir' if your lucky - thats it.
Don't bother complaining. They just don't respond. Save your time and blood pressure.
Whilst the A380 is a great aircraft in all classes, the cabin service is shoddy in all but F. I'm sick of cold tea and coffee in Y due to the time it takes to serve everybody. I'm sick of getting poor and slow service if i'm unlucky enough to get stuck in the back of the J cabin.
Their older aircraft are a disgrace. How the A330's have spent their entire life at EK without any major refit i just cant fathom.
The 777W's are well known for being cramped in Y, but for me, their biggest weakness is the 7 across J cabin. Yes, I understand their J fares are cheaper than most other carriers, but it really is a substandard product to many competitors offerings now.
BUT - its all irrelevant!
Their aircraft fly round near full on most routes, most of the time.
Fares are going up, but loads are not going down.
They continue to treat their customers with little short of disdain.
Yet they continue to grow massively.
For me, the interesting question is at what point will they have annoyed enough of their customers for loads and yields to go south??
Until this happens, don't expect any positive change in Emirates service standards.
Ryanair got away with awful customer service for well over a decade before it finally and recently caught up with them.
I'm waiting for the same thing to happen with Emirates - but i'm not holding my breath.
In the meantime, i continue to use them when it suits me, but without any loyalty - next flight for me is on EY........