Centurion

Actually that's not quite true. It depends entirely on the type of plane in the Emirates fleet and some do indeed have 34" such as the 777-300ER which serves LHR, whereas Singapore offer 32" pitch no matter which plane type.

http://www.seatguru.com/charts/longhaul_economy.php

louise

Well I have now done the journey with Emirates, the 1st leg Manchester to Dubai was 9pm out of Manchester sat on left hand side 3 seats 1 row back from Emergency Exit. Kids absolutely loved the ICE system and never slept a wink, to be fair they weren't one ounce of trouble.

2nd leg - OMG what a nightmare, got the airbus out of Dubai at 10.25am, 3rd row back from hub on a middle 4 (thought we may get the whole 4 to ourselves, sadly mistaken, the plane was chocka. However we were sat next to a lovely lady who was going to visit her son who she hadn't seen since September.

My problem was the lovely young Australian lady sat in front who sat down, reclined her chair and slept for 14 hours good luck to anyone who can sleep on a flight for that long However, she didn't even have the decency to put her seat upright for meals. This was far from acceptable so I had a word with the air steward/ess, most of them agreed with me and asked her to sit upright which she did eventually and most begrudgingly. One air stewardess said she wouldn't wake her so I did.

The long and short was the airbus was a lot smaller, seemed a lot older (not sure if it was or not) and the service was not as good.

If I had my flight to do again I would have gone 777 all the way and done the 2nd stop in Singapore for 1 hour.

Just my opinion

Griffangus

We have flown Emirates a few times now and I completly agree with your comments about both legs - not sure what it is about the 2nd leg but the plane does "seem" older

We have decided this time that we are going to try Singapore Airlines so am looking forward to drawing the comparisions.....50 days and counting...... (50 days 2 hrs 49 mins ....... )

bcworld

The plane is older!

EvannTel

BC, the font all airline knowledge is correct. The airbus is older, old style seats and not very good!
They often offer extra airmiles or cheaper fares on the route in/out of Perth on it but we avoid A) because of the seats and B) the times are truely awful.

Griffangus

What do you guys not know?????

Fair point - we have actually got great flight times on Singapore - noon departure from Heathrow 2 hrs in Singapore and 1500 landing in Perth! Hopefully we will be able to keep the 3 yr old going for a few more hours then a good nights sleep and no jet lag!!

renth

At this time of year there is only the option of the 6am Emirates flight from Perth on the older plane but closer to Xmas they do 2 flights out of Perth, the later one is an evening flight on an awesome 777, however I found the seats really hard.

We didn't go Emirates this time because of the 6am flight. We went Malaysian and apart from the fact that most of the planes (the 747s especially) were obviously quite old, there was plenty of legroom, comfy seats, great food and plenty of booze.

The entertainment system wasn't as good as Emirates or Singapore though. I think it's all changing soon when they replace their 747s with A380s. Very good fares too. I'd definitely go Malaysian again, all down to fares/times. Don't discount Cathay Pacific either.

Back to the OT, out of the 2 I'd pick SIA for comfort/service and Emirates for less time in the air/more direct route to UK (from Perth anyway).

EvannTel

I thought Emirates ran 2 day all year? Anyway whenever we fly them we've always got the 10:30pm out and 17:00 return all on 777-200ER.
I think I've said before I actually prefer Malaysian by a very short head. Its Heathrow and a 13hr sector that stops me using them more. Likewise Singapore.

EvannTel

Good research for a better flight is the key! CHeck and recheck!

You'll be fine with Singapore, they're good.

mrsjotaylor

Hello
We're looking to book one-way to Perth with Singapore with a stopover in Singapore for a week. It it possible to book the stopover if I book online - also is it possible at all to book your seat in advance? If we're flying on one of the shiney new A380s, can we reserve one of the upstairs sets of twos? If we're not able to book in advance, what's the best strategy for securing decent seats...we are two big tall people!
jo