Jaime.Burrows

Hello, this is my first post - I would be grateful for any help.

Me, hubby and 2 kids (9 & 4) are going on a reccie to Sydney and Brisbane on 3rd July for 3 weeks. The cheapest flights are with Emirates by a long way (£2,500 return). The problem is I have been reading up on the on the internet and they have had some terrible reviews, especially customer service i.e kids being placed in different rows to parents, and Dubai airport, which is worrying me anyway being so strict etc. We have never flown long-haul before and on our last 4 hour flight, my son screamed all the way - which I dread happening this time. I guess what I am wondering is, is it best to go for the cheapest airline or pay £3,900 to go with Singapore, which I've heard are fantastic with kids, just for peace of mind and a nice stopover at the singapore transit hotel.

I would really appreciate your views.

Thank you.

Jaime xxx

LouiseR

We're flying with Emirates in March and they were more expensive than Singapore (We're going one way ) We chose Emirates because of the good reviews we have read, the complimentary pushchair they provide in stop over and what we heard from family and friends. We have heard equally good things about Singapore but we fancied seeing Emirates.

With regards to putting kids in seperate rows we've prebooked our seats so that wont happen to us and besides we have a 7 month old baby - I don't think anyone else would like to sit next to him for 24 hours!!

Best of luck whichever one you choose.

BudBrain

The thing to remember is that people that were happy their service rarely mention it, which is a shame in itself.

I think you could have a bad crew on any flight, even a good crew could be having a bad day.

I've not flown with either though, but that's just my 2p

Edit: Oh, and £2500 return is a bargain...may I ask who you booked with? website/direct?

squeezzii

You will always have differences of opinion on airlines, there are, however some airlines that are better than others. I wont get into a discussion as to who is better/worse as every airline has its duff flights every so often for whatever reason.
anyway I have flown emirates many times now and if price is restricting you then they are a very good choice. Once you have a definate booking with them you can join their 'Skywards' club. It is free and you can join on the internet in a few minutes. this will enable you to book the seats on the aircraft for all sectors of your journey with them- providing you dont leave it too late of course!
regarding the kids airlines have lots of kids stuff to keep them occupied nowadays. contact which ever airline beforehand to advise of your concerns and to arrange kids meals etc
hope this helps

Damson

The main thing is that you aren't considering BA (see the many previous posts about just how bad Bloody Awful are for families flying with them).

Regarding Emirates, we have heard of a great many positive reports and from feedback, I would have to say that they seem on a par with Singapore. We are booking to go in July to Melbourne and we are happy to go with them.

Ref seating, pre-booking (if possible) I would say is essential. Having said that, there are pro's to seperate seating. When we flew to Oz last year, we deliberately booked seats behind each other with OH and 1 x child in front, and me and the other behind. This allowed us to 'swap' kids around and provided different conversation/interest along the way rather than all being sat in a line. This does however only work if it is a 2-3-2 or 2-4-2 seating configuration and also has the benefit of 2 of you getting a window seat. Just personal preference.

Don't forget to all wear easy to get on and off shoes due to having to remove them at customs wherever you are. As for worrying about your little un crying as they say 'we were all young once', so sod anyone who is put out by it. You can only try your best and you won't see them again anyway, so what the hell! I personally would also advise a night flight because kids are fit to drop after the day spent chasing around and the airport that they will sleep for quite a long period (hopefully). Long haul with kids is a bit trying, but it does end and isn't usually as bad as you think. Good luck
Lorraine

pab1974

Hi

We have flown to Sydney with Etihad, BA and Quantas. Etihad were great, BA and Quantas were absolutely rubbish in comparison.

The down side with Etihad was Abu Dabi airport, which I imagine will be similar to Dubai, and was awful but we only stopped over for 3 hrs so it wasnt too bad.

We are flying to Melbourne next month with Emirates with a 6 and a 4yr old. I have no worries at all flying with them. They were the cheapest at the time we booked and I would only consider spending an extra £1000 for business class, not a different airline, however good they may be.

Jaime.Burrows

It was direct with Emirates. I've contacted Austravel but they are quoting £2,800. It's a special fare if you fly before 10th July apparently. When I've looked at other websites, some are offering fares as low as £2300 but that departing from Gatwick then returning to Heathrow. Gatwick is much easier for me, where I am.

JRB

I haven't flown with Emirates before but I have heard they are really good! I have heard there is ever so slightly more leg room. Make sure you prebook the seats or get to the airport early in plenty of time to check in and kick up a big fuss if you are apart. I have never heard of families being seperated like that with Emirates but I have heard about this with Qantas/ BA. I had friends in Perth who would deliberately book with Emirates as they thought it was the best. We travelled quite a few times with young children and at the end of the day it was pretty horrendous, we just had to get on with it!!! Prior to having children we would maybe privately groan abit to ourselves when a family with small children came to sit near us on a flight, now we ourselves have become that loud annoying family!!! I usually tell the people we are near that I'm sorry they have drawn the short straw!! We made sure we stock up with new small toys, lots of changes of clothes, babywipes, colouring books, change of clothes for us as we ended up covered in grime, drinks, especially a good supply of water, bottles and dummies for take off and landing. It was truly exhausting and I'm glad we don't have to do it again. A 4 hour flight with 2 young kids now seems easy!!!

EvannTel

We always fly Emirates. A big factor is the excellent routings from Perth but also we find them a very good airline.

Joint the Emirates frequent flyer program Skywards (free) and then you can boom your seats on line for all sectors. If you plan on doing this trip often its also got excellent rewards.

Dubai airport is fine. Very modern and excellent shopping but also normally very busy, however Emirates has now opened its own terminal so should eb much better.

Not sure why you are worried about Dubai being strict? There's nothing to worry about.

tonytony

I fly with emirates and Singapore Air quite alot. Both are good. Singapore does have better service but Emirates service isn't bad. The newer Emirates planes seem to have more leg room than Singapore if thats a consideration. Oh and the new terminal at Dubai airport is outstanding so I wouldnt worry about the wait, although again I do prefer Singapore airport.

Oh but be aware that the Emirates Brisbane flight also Stops in Singapore (I think), so might be two stopovers..

CDM

I would assume this has something to do with the zero-tolerance policy that the Dubai authorities now have taken with regards to finding even trace amounts of drugs anywhere on your person or in your bags.

There have been reports of people claiming to be completely innocent after having been found with minute trace amounts of 'insert some drug substance here' in their bags that they could not explain. Because of the zero-tolerance policy, people have been thrown in jail. There was a report of such an incident a few months ago on the BBC news service (it made the national TV news bulletin).

Such stories are rarely what they seem on the surface, particularly after the rumormill has churned things about a bit, however, such stories can and do put people off.

- CDM

LouiseR

Oh god my suitcase has been to Amsterdam ! Think I may just burn it ...

Damson

There have been reports of people claiming to be completely innocent after having been found with minute trace amounts of 'insert some drug substance here' in their bags that they could not explain. Because of the zero-tolerance policy, people have been thrown in jail. There was a report of such an incident a few months ago on the BBC news service (it made the national TV news bulletin).


- CDM[/QUOTE]


I know, apparently the machinery is so sensitive, it can detect practically negligible traces on shoes. It would be my luck to follow a druggie into a loo and pick some up on my shoe! Having said that, my friend has just come back from her 3rd holiday in Dubai, including one on her 40th birthday as she loves it so much.

CDM

I've also been to dubai and it is lovely. We stayed for 2 nights in the Burg Al-Arab (that huge sail-ship shaped hotel). This was a very-last-minute splurge based on a hugely discounted room rate. It was the last 2 days of our Africa & Middle-East backpacking tour and we spent more money in those 2 days than we did the previous 6 weeks combined! But what a way to end a holiday :-)

Anyway, I digress. We travelled to Florida recently and our double buggy was swabbed at security at Heathrow and the machine triggered a hit. The best explanation that the operator could come up with was that we'd taken the buggy to a childrens petting farm the week before and the machine might have picked up on traces of fertiliser.

They cleaned the machine and checked again and the second time around it didn't find anything. The operator told me that if it triggered a second time, they would have referred the matter to the police, who would probably have just asked us a few questions and let us on our way but who knows what would happen in this situation in other countries - such as Dubai?

- CDM

Katmac

Hi We travelled with emirates with two children and was very pleased with the service and children remained occupied for the duration with films colouring etc..

Our only concern was at Dubai airport it is very busy and spotless with lots of lovely shops but.. my8 year old blonde blue eyed daughter had lots of stares from lots of arab men which made my husband very uncomfortable. He held onto her for our 3 hour stay within the airport.

Keep children close and enjoy the flight ..