Post: #1

Since this is the travel forum and a few of us, are heavy travelers, it would be a greatly beneficial to all and specially to those of us who do travel frequently, to have a thread (perhaps even a sticky) where we would review and share our experiences with each airline we've flown with. This way, we'd know which ones offer great service, great food and a pleasant experience as opposed to a bad one.

I'll start:

On my recent trip to Thailand from which I just returned on Monday, I had 4 legs and flew ith 3 different airliines to get me from Canada to Thailand and back.

Toronto-Narita: 13 hour flight with Air Canada. Is it me or is the service on Air Canada, even on international flights is getting worst and worst by day? When I used to fly with them to São Paulo, the food was decent and the service with a smile (mind you not a smile in the Thai sense) but still acceptable, specially for North American standards. Food was acceptable at best. On the positive, their inflight entertainment is among the best in North America. And Air Canada is rated as the best North American carrier.Verdict: 6/10

Narita-BKK: 6.5 hour flight with All Nippon Airways ANA. Superb service, comfy chairs, real cuttleware and delicious food. Just the steak they served during their meal would put to shame steaks you'd get from a place like the Keg. And their flight attendants were very friendly, very sexy and always checking to see if you are ok or need anything. All in all, impeccable service. 8/10

BKK-Hong Kong: 2.5 hour flight with Thai Airways International. I would say without hesitation that Thai Airways, has been so far and by far, the best airline I've flown with (Etihad being a very close 2nd). First, they greet you with the biggest, widest and warmest smile you can imagine upon boarding. Flight attendants are very good looking and the women are dressed in traditional Thai attire which is very beautiful by itself and when you add the Thai manners and feminity, it is just incredible. The food is oustanding. It could easily pass for gourmet food. Overall oustanding. Yes, they're more expensive to fly than say Air Asia (LOL), but as they say, you do really get what you pay for here. 9/10

Hong Kong-Toronto: 15 hour flight with Air Canada.. What a freaking long and uber boring flight (15 hours non stop). The food was the worst I've had in a very very long time. Their lunch meal after take off was mediocre at best. The kicker was when for dinner, they offered us those noodles that you can buy at any supermarket for 2 or 3 bucks per pack with a little tiny sandwich that wouldn't even feed a toddler. Are you freaking kidding me? And then to make things even worst, for breakfast, they had the audacity to give rice purridge? That crap is disgusting. It's a scandal for Air Canada, to charge extorsion-like fees for their flight and to offer food that even inmates at high risk prisons wouldn't even touch. It doesn't take much to offer quality food. It wouldn't cost them more than a lousy 20 bucks to offer good food, they could offer food that is food and that is eatable. And when they charge a minimum of 1500 to 1700 for a flight to Narita or Hong Kong, the least they can do to justify those crazy prices is to provide good food. I paid 2K for that flight and I was aghast and furax by the quality or lack of thereof of their "food" and overall service, specially on that HKG-YYZ flight. As a comparison, even on a 1 hour flight from BKK to Krabi on Thai International, the snack was waaay better than all the meals served by Air Canada on both flights to Narita and from Hong Kong. That is a scandal. And if this is the so called best airline in North America, then God helps us as far as the quality of food on american carriers...It's been ages since I flew with a US carrier (last time was American Airlines to Fortaleza and the food I remember was acceptable). 3/10

BKK-Krabi return with Thai International, 1 hour flight each way. Oustanding service. Awesome food, the snack was like gourmet food. Delicious chicken sandwich and an awesome pastry mix between a donut and a cake. Yummy. Unlimited drinks throught the short 1 hour flight. Service always with a wide and warm smile. 9/10.

For my next flight to Asia, I'd be looking at other alternatives to Air Canada. Can those who have flown with Cathay chip in about their experiences flying to Asia with them in terms of their quality of their service and their food? I know that flying Etihad or Emirates would be a great alternative as usually the best airlines in the world in terms of quality of service and food are by far the airlines from the Middle East and Asia and the worst are those from North America. I was under the impression that Air Canada was a cut above from the rest of crappy carriers from NA but now, regrettably AC has sunked to the level of the rest of North American carriers. How about European carriers like say Lufthansa, KLM, Air France, Swiss International, AlItalia, British Airways? I haven't flown with a European carrier in ages so how is their services and food on international flights? And how would you rate/compare them with Asian and Middle Eastern carriers who are the gold standard in the world?

Post: #2

Emirates generally has really nice planes but the plane from Dubai to Hyderabad isn't so great. Also, Emirates doesn't let you pick your seat online unless you have FF account with them and you are putting your miles on that account -- this is irritating. One time when checking in, I asked for a window seat. She checked her computer and then said I needed to have their mileage account to get a window. So either get a good seat or burn all those miles (we are usually talking about a lot of miles for an Asian flight). I can't believe Emirates' mileage partners let them get away with this.

One time this happened to me with Emirates: when I checked in, I told them, please credit my Continental airline account (mileage partner) and I handed him my mileage account number along with my passport and itinerary. The check-in guy said ok. He checks me in and gives me the boarding pass. I then said "did you put down my Continental mileage number for this flight?" He said, "oh, I forgot, I'm sorry -- and it's too late now. There's nothing I can do." I asked to speak to his manager and his manager pretended to do something about it. He worked the computer and printed out some piece of paper that looked something like a receipt. I thought it was odd that I got a receipt for that. The receipt was bullshit. I never got my Continental miles.

You asked about European carriers. I recently took short flights on Czech Airlines and Poland Airlines (LOT), and they were not bad.

Post: #3

As a frequent flyer (FF) with hundred thousands of miles flown and collected in programs I try not to judge individual flights but instead the airline as a whole. When travelling in this day and age You should be thinking more in the lines of alliances as this will greatly affect your miles accrual. Some notes of my experiences with the 3 different alliances and some of their airlines.

One World:
British airways - The best economy class product in the western (maybe the whole) world. Serves good food and offers free alcohol (from a selection). Their stewardesses are generally very service minded and not as stuffy as you'd think. Their business class product is also great.

American Airlines - One of my motto's is "friends don't let friends fly AA". The longest hours of my life has been when I've waited for a delayed AA plane. The only reason you'll ever want to fly these guys

Star Alliance (*A):
The biggest and oldest alliance. This shows in that having a status level in any of their FF programs entitles you to similar benefits on the same level on their alliance partners programs. The other two alliances have not managed to get that far.

SAS - Not particular good but has long held the spot as the world's most punctual airline. Their planes are very rugged and their ground crews very well equipped in order to resist the Scandinavian winters As such the best choice when you're expecting adverse weather. For a vacationer that is not a super-biggie but for a business traveller it's a major factor.

Lufthansa - Average cabin comfort but very efficient is my general take. Affectionately called "The Mothership" among *A FFs. Their ground personnel has a lot of leeway in the *A such as being able to reserve you seats on other partners planes for example. Their FF program is also thus widely recognised and the higher levels SEN/HON ensures you good attention on their alliance partners.

United/Continental - Soon to be merged under the Continental name. Pretty unremarkable I say, neither good nor bad.

US Airways - Has one of the most generous FF programs and a favourite among travel hackers. Many FFs have never flown in a single mile in a US Airways plane but credited all their earned miles on their partners to their US FF accounts. I'm personally using their program to go on an all business class tour of SE Asia this winter. I wouldn't know what actually flying with them is like though!

Singapore Airlines - Bliss.

Sky Team:

Delta - Has the best availability of inflight wi-fi and fairly good cabins. They will take every opportunity to wring more money out of you however. Anything but a light snack will cost extra, checking even ONE bag will cost extra. On top of that their FF program SkyMiles is so devalued that it goes by the name SkyPesos among FFs.

---

Great additional reading:
http://www.flyertalk.com - THE place for travel hacking

Expertflyr/KVS Tool - Subscription services that allows you to directly access airlines inventory and fare rules.

Decoding Air Travel by Nicholas Kralev - Ever wondered if you really got the best possible price for a ticket. This is the book that will answer that question. It will require expertflyer/KVS tool to make use of all the advice but will quickly save you hundreds of dollars.

Post: #4

(08-03-2011 01:39 PM)The Duke Wrote:  I can't believe Emirates' mileage partners let them get away with this.

Emirates only have code-share partners. They have neglected joining an alliance just because they want this kind of control.

Post: #5

(08-03-2011 02:24 PM)Vicious Wrote:  One World:

May be the best choice if you fly to Asia often. Especially from UK. If you mostly travel in US, avoid it as their main US carrier is AA - which, as you correctly stated, sucks hard.

Quote:Star Alliance (*A):

Pretty good one. If you fly between Europe (esp. Western), Asia and the US, it is a good choice.

Quote:Sky Team:
Delta - Has the best availability of inflight wi-fi and fairly good cabins. They will take every opportunity to wring more money out of you however. Anything but a light snack will cost extra, checking even ONE bag will cost extra. On top of that their FF program SkyMiles is so devalued that it goes by the name SkyPesos among FFs.

I fly Delta most of the time; what you stated is true for domestic flights, international flight are different. I'd say Skyteam has better coverage of US and Europe (including Russia as it has Aeroflot), and worse coverage for Asia (their only Asian airlines are Korean Air and Vietnam Air or so). However they have Air France and KLM, which fly directly from SFO to Paris/Amsterdam, helping me to avoid dreading JFK connections.

Post: #6

(08-03-2011 12:15 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Can those who have flown with Cathay chip in about their experiences flying to Asia with them in terms of their quality of their service and their food?

Cathay is good and has been for years.

I flew from NAIA to Hong Kong then to Surabaya a few months ago on Cathay. I took a girl with me, and we were in the first class deal, which was like a little bedroom. You can close this curtain and just fuck away in there. Each bedroom has closet, which I have no idea why you would need, considering luggage restrictions.

Maybe a year prior to that I took something real shitty, I think was Air Asia (VERY hot stewardesses, the seat was awful, there was a delay, and NO BOOZE) from NAIA to Cebu. From Cebu I took Cathay to HK again but then to Denpasar. That was the regular class which was better food (burrito type wrap things that were warm, and free) and service than the first class I just took a few weeks ago from Honolulu to Phoenix then to St. Louis on US Airways.

When I was in the Navy Cathay flew to Honolulu, and I was on them every other Friday from Narita. That wasn't too long ago and they served a full on meal to everybody. They cut that flight half way through my time there, and JAL was nowhere near as good, and a few times I took United, which was more comfortable.

I'm going to Indo again in a few weeks but I'm taking China Airlines from HNL to Taipei then EVA Air, which I've never been on, to Surabaya. If anybody has any heads-up type info with them I'd appreciate it.

Since you're asking about Asian airlines, the reason I'm not taking the HNL to NAIA flight this time almost feels blasphemous for me to type. There is an extremely convenient flight from Honolulu to Manila. Unfortunately Hawaiian Airlines is really getting rough. The inter-island service is awful, and disgustingly overpriced. The HNL-NAIA flight the last few times has just been worthless even in first class. They push their meal service, but that shit is terrible. They always cut me off on the booze prematurely. They laid off a lot of young stewardesses, which was a real blow. I've been loyal to them for many years, all the way back to college, and have the miles to prove it. I'm also a stockholder. I cannot recommend them to anyone right now.

Aloha!

Post: #7

Vicious,
I agree with you that it's better to plan flights using alliances. I've been partial so far with Star Alliance for which I'm a frequent flyer. At this time, I have enough miles for a free trip to GRU or a deeply priced ticket to BKK/NRT/HKG. Since I flew to Asia last October with Etihad, I went and signed up for their FF programme which is quite generous and their service and food is top notch. I'll later post a review of Etihad. I signed up pretty much for all the 3 major alliances's frequent flyer programme.

Kona, aloha dude. THanks for the feedback on Cathay. Much appreciated.
Btw, anyone flown with Korean so far? Their fares are quite competitive to BKK via Seoul.

Duke,
My brother flew Emirates to Dubai and he had only praises for them, he flew from Toronto to Dubai which has nice big planes for their daily non stop flight. Thanks for the mention about Czech airline.

ON,
How would you rate Delta on their international flights from NA to South America and Asia? Quality of service and food? Leg room, luggage allowance? I usually fly light so that's not a biggie for me but just curious.

Post: #8

Remember, NEVER redeem points for an economy flight. A business class/first class ticket is usually only 20/40% more whereas when buying such a ticket in cash it's more like 400%/900%.

Post: #9

In the US I usually fly Delta. I *NEVER* fly United. They're awful. From the check-in desk to the baggage claim, they suck every step of the way.

Best airlines I've been on have been Cathay Pacific and LAN. In general, Asian airlines tend to be very good. Great service, well run. Worst airlines were in Eastern Europe... but that's to be expected I suppose.

Post: #10

(08-05-2011 06:54 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Btw, anyone flown with Korean so far? Their fares are quite competitive to BKK via Seoul.

I have. Korean Air, China Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, all kind of run together in my head. They're all the same. Maybe the first classes will pop out at you if they have something cool. But all quite similar.

And they all blow the hell out of any US carrier.

The only Country's airline that sucks is Philippine Airlines. Stay off that. It smells like balut.

Aloha!

Post: #11

Korean Air and Cathay Pacific, in my experience, have been the best.

A lot of people hate on British Airways but my experiences with them have not been awful.

Delta/American/United are awful. I will never fly on those again, if possible.

Continental is all right.

Post: #12

The bad reviews on Air Canada are somewhat troubling, I'm flying with them when I'm going across the atlantic to Vegas.

Post: #13

I don't care about the service of the flight, I always buy the cheapest one I can find cause I'd rather save the money for when I'm traveling. Once I'm making enough money to not care how much I pay I might look more into it, but for now I'm interested in flights that have the cheapest deals. I don't care if there's no meal on a 12 hour flight, I just wanna get from point a to point b.

Post: #14

Just flew with Qatar Airways recently from Houston to Kuwait. By far the best service and onboard entertainment of any airline. The economy class felt like business class. Well worth it.

I agree with you IP. I always go for the cheapest flight when coming outta pocket. [/i]

Post: #15

Air India- Avoid. Air India is crap and the service/food is pretty bad.

Finnair- Also Avoid- No legspace, shitty meals(they didn't have non-veg meals on the flight).

Continental- I was satisfied with them. They are pretty good imo.

Singapore Airlines- Went on them quite a long time ago. Was amazing. From what I hear they're still great. Lots of leg space.

Post: #16

Japan Airlines- I used to think it was great, but now its just good. I think what happened is other asian airlines have gone over and above while JAL just remained at the same level. It became just good only by comparison. Still has great food, excellent service and decent in flight entertainment.

All Nippon Air (ANA)- Seems to be a more business oriented airline and therefore has better looking attendants, and very orderly efficient service. I have only flown this on short haul flights so I can not vouch for long haul. And a bonus is they fly to Haneda which is convenient as Narita is a ways out of Tokyo.

Post: #17

Just hopped a flight on Sri Lankan Airways. Pretty decent overall but the stewardess's were the hottest Sri Lankan chicks I've ever seen. One kept staring at me but I choked and didn't say anything.

Post: #18

Spirit Airlines : Coolest budget airline I've ever set foot on.

Post: #19

The flight on Finnair from Helsinki to Toronto is horrible. Extremely cramped seats thats worse than domestic carriers that I've flown for a long 9 hour flight.
Finnair is pretty shitty, avoid them for long haul flights.

Post: #20

I've had great experiences with Malaysia Airlines (London - KL), Air Asia (Bali - Jakarta) and Cathay Pacific (London - Hong Kong).

Gulf airlines tend to be great as well: Qatar Air, Gulf Air.

China Air I found ok at best. Bit outdated and most of their films were in Chinese (jeez).

American Airlines and Canada Air ain't all that.

Air Portugal (TAP) is good as well.

Post: #21

CONTINENTAL/UNITED AIRLINES FUCKING SUCKS. The only reason I ever fly Continental is if it's the cheapest (I always go for the cheapest). Continental has horrible service, they don't give you any food on the flight, and they charge you an extra $25 to check in a bag... so your flight may be cheap, but expect to pay an extra $50 round trip if you're checking in a bag.

Turkish Airways- I flew with them a few years ago to Israel. Awesome flight. The food was delicious, and the alcohol was free. From what I remember, it was a great flight.. things may have changed over the years though

Air Asia- No comment on the service, but they are really cheap if you're flying around Asia. Look for their promotional sales.. some of their flights are ridiculously cheap

Post: #22

Just discovered FlyDubai. Sort of the Southwest or Easyjet of the Middle East. Stewardess' were hot, planes were clean, and the ticket was cheap. They didn't pop up on most of the major booking sites. I highly recommend if in the region.

They were advertising flights all the way out to Tbilisi for around $240 rt. Interesting.

http://www.flydubai.com

   

Post: #23

Once I pay my amx delta skymiles card I plan on transferring all my points to starwood. They do a 1:1 transfer

Post: #24

(08-03-2011 02:24 PM)Vicious Wrote:  One World:
British airways - The best economy class product in the western (maybe the whole) world. Serves good food and offers free alcohol (from a selection). Their stewardesses are generally very service minded and not as stuffy as you'd think. Their business class product is also great.

Could not disagree more with that paragraph. BA for me is the worst national carrier I have flown. I dislike the airline and it's frumpy stuck up stewardesses with a deep passion. Because they have such a strong union they feel they can get away with being rude,unhelpful and often unpleasant. Don't press the service button or you'll get one come to your seat ( eventually after repeatedly pressing the button ) pissed off that you've dared to disturb her whilst she was gossiping with her co workers at the back of the plane. I can't stand the over priced shit heap of an airline.

None of this would be a problem if I didn't have to fly with them every year to get down to the Bahamas. Unfortunately they are the only direct flight flying from LHR into Nassau. I'm flying with them next month in Club class so that might possibly be better but I doubt it.

Best airline for me is undoubtedly Qatar. Great airline that I've used a few times to Asia from London. I especially love the phone that allows you to phone home mid flight they provide in your arm rest,great entertainment options,decent food and good transit lounges at Qatar.

Transaero has without a doubt the friendliest stewardesses flying. Hot Russian girls who are chatty and flirtatious. I got my first and only stewardesses phone number 2 years back on their Domodedovo flight. She lived in Windsor so we met up a week later and went to Lego land on a date together. Happy days.

Post: #25

(03-21-2012 01:00 PM)Vorkuta Wrote:  

(08-03-2011 02:24 PM)Vicious Wrote:  One World:
British airways - The best economy class product in the western (maybe the whole) world. Serves good food and offers free alcohol (from a selection). Their stewardesses are generally very service minded and not as stuffy as you'd think. Their business class product is also great.

Could not disagree more with that paragraph. BA for me is the worst national carrier I have flown. I dislike the airline and it's frumpy stuck up stewardesses with a deep passion. Because they have such a strong union they feel they can get away with being rude,unhelpful and often unpleasant. Don't press the service button or you'll get one come to your seat ( eventually after repeatedly pressing the button ) pissed off that you've dared to disturb her whilst she was gossiping with her co workers at the back of the plane. I can't stand the over priced shit heap of an airline.

None of this would be a problem if I didn't have to fly with them every year to get down to the Bahamas. Unfortunately they are the only direct flight flying from LHR into Nassau. I'm flying with them next month in Club class so that might possibly be better but I doubt it.

Best airline for me is undoubtedly Qatar. Great airline that I've used a few times to Asia from London. I especially love the phone that allows you to phone home mid flight they provide in your arm rest,great entertainment options,decent food and good transit lounges at Qatar.

Transaero has without a doubt the friendliest stewardesses flying. Hot Russian girls who are chatty and flirtatious. I got my first and only stewardesses phone number 2 years back on their Domodedovo flight. She lived in Windsor so we met up a week later and went to Lego land on a date together. Happy days.

+1

Really hate British Airways, the stewardesses are grumpy old bitches and they employ lots of bitchy gay stewards too.

Food has really gone downhill these days also. I avoid them whenever possible.

Best airline I have flown with is Sinagpore airlines, and Singapore airport is freaking awesome