Economy Long Haul - Best carrier ?
 

Shall be flying "Economy" back to Heathrow from either Syd or Bris shortly.
Have done similar with Emirates, Malaysian and Singapore Airlines. Given any choice of carrier who would you go with? Also interested in feedback on the Syd direct Dubai route.

Thanks:)

Doggone

Best carrier
 

Malaysian, every time.

Cheers,

robroy

Air New Zealand, via AKL and LAX

Just flown SYD -HKG - LHR return in Virgin Atlantic economy, pretty good overall.

Best economy
 

Virgin Atlantic are very good in economy, their upper class blows away the competition though.

Cathay and Singapore are fantastic too although the f/a's can be a little robotic

Malaysia Airlines are great but I could never fault Cathay Pacific, although the crew don't smile a great deal the comfort and service is fantastic. The food is good and plenty of it. Mixed cultures of crew. A friend of mine works for them and they work bloody hard but they deliver great service in economy. Singapore Airlines used to get the vote but in my opinion CX has taken over the lead. Have heard horror stories about Emirates, Virgin Atlantic & BA. Thai used to be pretty awful but have heard they have done some major service improvements as have China Airlines and Korean Air. Stay well clear of the US carriers, I only hear complaints about them. Or you could fly Qantas, we will certainly look after you, the Australian Way.

I would have to say Malaysian as well- especially for econo class. Friend of mine just went to the UK and back from Brisbane with them. Loading were not great so he had a whole group of three seats to himself and said the service was very good. They were also one of the cheapest!

From experience of flights to Perth I favour Malaysia and Emirates.

Personally I use CX. The transit time in HKG is only about an hour and a half, which makes it one of the quicker total journey times.
If you are not too worried about losing half an hour then I always take the second CX flight out of HKG for LHR, it is usually less busy and I have often had a row to myself!
EK are OK via DXB, but just make sure that you have minimal connection time in DXB. The A340-500 has probably the best IFE system that I have come across so if you can't sleep you get every chance to catch up with the latest movies. They were a lot more expensive than CX, MH, or SQ for my last trip though.

Flew Emirates Syd- direct DBX last yr, to be honest with ya, has to be the best Economy ive ever been no, without doubt. Done Malaysia, Singapore, Cathay, Qantas, Lufthansa to mention a few, and EK was by far the best.

Aussie

Cathay are crap....give them a BIG miss....the food they are serving out of HK at the moment is probably the worst I have EVER seen on an on an international airline and that includes Business Class!!! They are a monopoly airline and it shows.....
As for the service, geez even QF would give them a run for their money (haha now thats saying something)

Thanks all.

Please keep the comments coming. Always useful to know as much info about the variables before booking. Have now learnt that the A340-500 has a very useful IFE and that the second jet out of HK is likely to give you a bit of personal space. My tip of the day - If you ever want to get fed before the pack and go to sleep asap (at least on Emirates) choose a "special needs meal" through the net booking system and your sorted about 40 mins before the rest!
As an aside - Define "Best Economy Carrier"?
When choosing do you consider:

Cost only
Flight duration times
Flight Departure Times
Connection times
Seat size
Cabin creature comforts -IFE systems
Likelihood of seeing at least one attendant on patrol at all times (and not all down the back gassing)
Type and age of aircraft (777/200 or 777/300) - 2 or 4 engines?
Company safety culture / history
Cockpit CRM

and in what order of priority?

Personally I dont worry too much about a few hundred bucks between fare prices. But, having done several flight safety courses, I tend to subconsciously focus on the safety aspects of a flight, and prefer a newer aircraft with a good company maintenance programme and crew that sound as though they understand CRM even if local culture doesnt always facilitate it.

Intrigued about the promise of being treated in the special "Australian" way as promised by MLF at Qantas!! ::ooh: MLF Please expand!!

DogGone (Well not yet)

how would you know the crew at time of booking?

T3:hmm:
I dont ...so...fair point - well made!

In economy i recommend Malaysian.
I have only flown Emirates in economy from the UK to Dubai and return, i didn't rate it very highly, not a lot of room.
I believe that if you get a delay at Dubai, Emirates don't have much interest in you and don't give out information leaving you to wait around for hours..

Hasn't Air NZ got the biggest eco seats and greatest recline on the market at the mo????? I could be wrong tho:hmm:

Still fly QF whenever we can. We went to other carriers, but always came back.

Flew economy with Malaysia last year from Syd to KL......veryordinary.

Will avoid if at all possible.

So the message here seems to be.................its pot luck! Granted, there will be some airlines who maintain a better average standard, but over time, no matter what airline you fly, you will often get the level of service you pay for if you fly economy.

[quote=DickyPearse;2963576]So the message here seems to be.................its pot luck! quote]

Not always. If you fly British Airways you can be guaranteed it will be sh1te!:(