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SWISS have just been voted number one in Europe, well deserved..

Off to Taiwan tomorrow. China Airlines, Gatwick to Taoyuan International Premium Economy.
Will report back next week.

Well the outbound trip was uneventful. Gatwick airport assistance staff were helpful and polite despite it being very busy (Mrs S requires assistance through airports as she finds the distances and the rush difficult and standing in queues almost impossible).
The China Airlines flight was good, Premium Economy a definite improvement on basic cattle class, though the seats that only slide forward rather than recline are not good to try and sleep on, the legs have nowhere to go. Found it easier to be upright with head on one side at least that way the legs can stretch out. Food and service was excellent.
assistance at Taipei was prompt and helpful.
Overall a good trip and will use CI on future trips.

Unfortunately have to go to work tomorrow.

This list lacks street cred
There isn't an African airline or airport in either of the 'worst' lists!

And ExA's opinion of Qatar Airlines wasn't very complimentary.

The credibility of that and most similar surveys is about zero. To say it lacks street cred is an understatement.

To put easyJet below Ryanair is just blatant nonsense.

Singapore Airlines is consistently rated one of the best and yet doesn't appear in the top 10, nor do Swiss and NZ who usually rate very highly.

A friend of mine recently flew with Slashers old mob and he couldn’t believe how much the inflight product has been reduced in the last year, much lower standard then any of the other sandpit carriers, he’s a regular traveller to Far East and has added them to his avoid list.

I've never flown on any of that top ten list. Only one of the worst list, too. Only been to one of the best/worst airports, too.

From personal experience I rate Emirates above Qatar; the only benefit of flying with Qatar was the one hour connection at Doha. Otherwise it was more expensive, the business class lounge at JNB was cr@p and the standard of Buisiness class was not as good. The cabin crew were good but the new policy of locking the toilets and putting the seat belt signs on 45 minutes before landing and making the cabin crew belt up 20 minutes before landing is ridiculous. Next year it's back to Emirates.

As for Manchester airport which I loath, in my opinion Toilet Town airport should have been on the worst airport list.

In addition to the above, both flights had planned time changes and we were not informed. One was an hour late. Also although minor the champagne was not flowing but delivered when requested. The flight entertainment system was pathetic compared to EK. The seats didn't have vibrating modes so I had no excuse to get a cabin crew girlie on my knee to test it. No mattress, duvet and pillow just a blanket. As said above the cabin crew were fine as was the grub. Also the wines.

We are booked return with Qatar so it will be the crap Service Air lounge at ATH which EK use. Quick transfer Doha but then SAA lounge at JNB which is very good.

Hmmm...grew up flying TAA and then Australian domestically here in Oz...mostly Business and First, when a breakfast flight from the Gold Coast to Sydney (1hr15 mins) included a full cooked breakfast with white linen tablecloth and linen napkins.

Spent a few years on standby flights OZ (SYD BNE or MELB or combination of) to LGW via HKG & BAH. Hit and miss Y & 'Marco Polo' business class. The old CX J class product on the 'Cucmber sandwich' scheme was fabulous.....the Y product not far behind....not the airline it was now though!

01:30 local in BAH was always an eye opener!...then we got the 400s and BAH was a distant memory. Unscheduled stop via Riyadh once was also memorable for not being allowed of for a leg stretch.

Going to FNQ in August and regrettably that will be J*, but 2 hours is hardly a hardship the departure airport is 'home base', so no need to drive to BNE as once was the case. Jagged a few good ones down over the years, some excellent J classs QF Trans Pacifics...

Will try to venture to the Carribean next year, and have looked at every angle to avoid flying through the US (& being treated as though you are some sort of criminal)....but mostly it looks as though that will have to be the way to go. Hawaiin / Delta pehaps? Mostly all experiences with US carriers are very average. Avoid EK for all the reasons Cape., states, and with all of the 'ME3' actually.

QF I have avoided as much as possible since the 2011 shutdown fiasco, this hasen't been always possible though, some are code shares.

FINNAIR are a current favourite.....an easy way up to that part of the world, and not so far on to other parts from there. Everyone talks of QF safety record....but FINNNAIR have never had a hull loss in the jet age either.

I personally find their A350 a fabulous experience (Asian based crew can be a bit hit and miss...seemingly more interested in getting the meal service out of the way and back to bed!) ... That said my last with them left HKG at 10:30 local and a very leisurly and pleasant service up over Mongolia & Russia....and at 9:45 flight time ex HKG very good!

A friend who lived in Mexico for years sends his Mexican Son back to vist his Mother in Mexico every year via Vancouver, also to avoid the US treating him as though he is some sort of criminal.

I will NOT be doing a TransPac on a AC configured 787!!

Fliegenmong wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:05 am

FINNAIR are a current favourite.....an easy way up to that part of the world, and not so far on to other parts from there.

Son and his family used Finnair to Thailand, and, although the aircraft lost a panel before the return flight from Bangkok - delaying them for five and a half hours - they were well looked after with information and drinks and meal vouchers and reserved onward seats (they missed their original connections) and received full compensation without quibble.

Having done two sectors yesterday on Swiss business class, another vote for them and for ZRH airport.

Yes Cape we will give them a bash next year. Really not impressed with Qatar both ways. Also why are airlines trying to discourage pax going 1st by pricing themselves out of the market. Business is usually twice economy but 1st is astronomical. We always used to fly 1st but it is ridiculous now. Qatar don't even do 1st on our ATH run from here. EK have reduced their 1st class seats to just a handful and I am sure no one up there is paying. All rag head princes and dead heading Captains.

Aegean: they are excellent practically all the time on board. Their turn around (or was it their ground handling agent) last weekend was done by people who couldn't organize a piss up in a brewery. They allowed people to move to the apron next to an airport bus (which was used because of the rain) but pax remained in the rain and not allowed to board the bus. Then the bus filled with Commercially important Pax and normal pax voiding any pre-board advantage. Obviously if some one here sees that as a rational movement I would be glad to hear the explanation.

After the flight I realised how the handling agent can ruin a good flight experience.

Rumour has it that a big airline with Spanish CEO has had a major IT failure this morning and many flights leaving without baggage on board

The fail has got hold of the story, my sources say that it’s T3 and LGW problem

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... r-comments

Flew Thomas Cook Airlines to Spain this morning and for a s/h loco was quite impressed, aircraft was impressively clean inside and the cc were far superior to Big Airlines, we even got the exit row for no extra cost

Friends have used them a couple of times LGW-CPT which is a seasonal service, and say the premium class is very good, far better value and quality than Fat Spanish Waiter airlines.

Problem is that he’s got a monopoly on the LHR-CPT route,thanks to SAA and Delta Atlantic withdrawing.

Finnair, Swiss, Austrian, easyJet, BA, Aegean, etc are all good. BA's product has definitely shifted south, however, I finally can do something with the Avios points. Will be travelling first class with them in Oct. Wizz is good.
Virgin Atlantic is great. Really enjoy them. Emirates is fine too. JAL were good. Will be flying with Qantas later this year.
I do fly with Delta and American often enough. Meh, they're ok.
Air France I prefer to avoid. I do not like Vueling. I don't like Ryanair either.