TrickyTree

1) Singapore
2) Emirates
3) BA
4) QANTAS

With the first two you should get to use the new A380 at some part of the journey which gives you a little more room in economy compared to the other options. I have found the service on Singapore to be slightly more consistent than Emirates but prefer the entertainment system on Emirates. I have nothing bad to say about BA its just the overall experience is average. QANTAS is the only airline where I thought I was not going to make my destination. After a 24 hour delay for engine repairs the damn bird shook, vibrated, rocked and rolled its way to LA making some noises I have never heard on a plane before (but other than that journey they have been average).

Cathay is certainly causing some discussion at the moment in our office and on various boards with its new non reclining seat it has introduced.

tramway

Thanks all, really appreciate your help

I too have never had prob with Qantas, so long since I flew with Malaysian, Singapore and Thai I can't rightly rem but Cathay Pacific do seem to be the cheapest in every search.

So at mo its prob between Malaysian & Cathay Pacific price wise anybody else used either of them?
Have they both got TV in seatbacks as I recall Thai didn't years ago?

Thanks again

Pollyana

I'd go for Cathay. Flown with both a couple of times, the service and the food/drink on Cathay far exceeded Malaysian.

That would be enough to sway me. Having spent numerous flights with people in front refusing to put their seats up for meals, or putting them down aain as soon as the crew leave, I would LOVE to be on a flight with non-reclining seats. It also makes it far easier to get in and out of your own seat during a flight if the seat in front isn't back so far you nearly have someones head in your lap.

And before anyone asks - no, I don't recline my own seat!

bcworld

Yup...lots of people seem to have an issue with the new Cathay seats.

I'd have no problem flying with any of Singapore, Malaysian, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, BA, Qantas. All much of a muchness, I think Malaysian & Emirates have the most legroom, Emirates probably the narrowest seats though on a lot of flights.

I like Thai service but the Thailand to UK flights still have no seat back TV.

Virgin Atlantic economy I find particularly claustrophobic....and I don't need much legroom....so I'd probably give that a miss.

hantsfamily1

Singapore Airlines.

New planes, polite staff, nice stop over, beat the rest easy.

koalakim

We always try to fly with Singapore because of the great service, comfy seats, good safety record, get to stop in Singapore which I love and just overall the best airline we've flown with!

Malaysian are good but I found their seats uncomfortable so that would be our second choice because we like KL too as a stopover.

Cathay, I've only done once years ago and not to Oz but they were pretty good but I've never found a cheap flight with them.

Emirates...is only nice if you get Biz Class but then that is no where near as good as SIA! I find their service very hit and miss, sometimes I've waited so long to get fed. Plus I once spent 7 hours in Dubai airport and nearly died of boredom - give me Changi T3 anyday!

Qantas....erm....have done one long flight from MEL to SIN and was so glad to get off. No leg rests, so my little legs were dangling, not good for poss DVTs - the pre dinner drink was a bottle of water, they forgot my main course, lots of niggly little things which I felt glad I wasn't going all the way to London with them.

BA - did London to Singapore once with them and it wasn't a great cabin experience although I would say in a crisis I'd like a BA pilot at the helm!

I usually love flying but now we are just doing the Oz/UK route I'm finding it more and more tiresome so I'm happy to pay a little extra for comfort these days. Can't wait for the day when I can afford Biz Class with private lounge, no bundling with the masses to get on and off....ooo would be sooo nice!

If only they could make T3 at Heathrow a little more welcoming as well, the baggage hall is such a depressing place!

knockoff nige

I've only flown with Singapore and Etihad. Both fairly decent airlines, Etihad being the cheaper one though.

Singapore has better food, slightly better service and better looking staff. Leg room seems to be the same on every flight to me, ie not enough. Singapore airport is gorgeous though and worth stopping to see.

tramway

Thanks, Twice when we flew with Qantas the plane was nearly empty so could stretch out.
Unfortunately price wise this time they are not competitive so for Economy everything seems to point to Cathay, Malaysian or Singapore.

Any recent expereinces on those esp with baggage allowance?

Thanks again.

TrickyTree

It does seem to polarise opinion to either 'I love it' or 'I hate it' with the later coming out on top in my office.

s1mon321

The Mrs and myself have done London to Sydney and Sydney to London twice in the past six months......

Singapore Airlines - amazing value and service, brand new A380, A+ A+
Qantas - ok, bit over-priced, but not too bad really
BA - you get what you pay for, bad service and a plane that was older than me!

Have also done Emirates in the past - great service, new planes, ok value for money.........don't like the short flight to Dubai and then epic length journey to Aus though.

DadAgain

FAR too much fuss made about the difference between airlines if you ask me.

Look at the prices, look at the timetables - pick whichever suits you best.
Whever happens you will:

1) Be bored
2) Be cramped
3) Have the possibility of unpleasant passengers in your vicinity
4) Have to eat without using your elbows
5) Have to deal with long queueues at airport security

My tip - to make in flight entertainment less arduous (and to make the entire flight more pleasant) spend some hard earned cash on noise-cancelling headphones (decent ones that cost at least 100GBP)- they are worth their weight in GOLD!!!



..and this differs from the epic journey to SIN followed by the short flight to Australia how exactly? Its all much of a muchness really

Mickinoz

I fly regularly between Australia & the UK and have flown a few airlines. I will avoid Qantas and BA as best I can as I have never had a good flight with either and IMO they don't seem to want to deal with young families, plus using Qantas points is virtually impossible but that's another story.
Singapore are great with kids and I use them regularly, plus always seem to get the kids meals right and are relatively accommodating when it comes to dealing with bored kids. I have also started using Emirates and find them very good, apart from one flight on an older aircraft where the seat design must have been an after thought, but generally a good experience.
As mentioned though, flying is a generally uncomfortable experience in cattle class no matter who you fly.

Daydreamer123

BA and Emirates are the ones I have had the least pleasant experiences with.

BA had no tv, lights or aircon for the entire duration of the trip - that was really terrible.

Emirates gave me mouldy sandwiches and lost my luggage. Also I dont like Dubai airport

Obviously both are subjective and I only had problems one way on each of them. The other part of the trip both times was fine.

I do like Singapore, they seem to be very pleasant and have the best airport, which in my opinion makes a difference for your stop over.

Malaysia are also nice, but not such a good airport.

I normally choose my flights based either on shortest overall travel time, or on cheapest flight

sassie

[

..and this differs from the epic journey to SIN followed by the short flight to Australia how exactly? Its all much of a muchness really[/QUOTE]

Differs by approximately an extra 2 hours. its about a 14 hour flight from Dubai to Brisbane compared to about 12 hours from London to Singapore. 14 hours is a long time to sit on an aircraft. Trust me I've done it.

Wol

>>My tip - to make in flight entertainment less arduous (and to make the entire flight more pleasant) spend some hard earned cash on noise-cancelling headphones (decent ones that cost at least 100GBP)- they are worth their weight in GOLD!!!<<

Agreed: well worthwhile. I've done hundreds of flights with them and they make a big difference.