Best airline

partnership

Two people I know have recently had bad experiences with flights to Australia and their customer service and delays. Airlines were Singapore Airlines, BA and Eithiad and all had very long delays which in one case meant that the person didn't make their connecting flight and ended up having to fork out 800 dollars. In the other case it led to nearly not making a funeral and certainly added stress to the occasion. My question is are they all the same?

Kenny_D

Singapore, Etihad, Emirates and Qantas are all around the same and are all pretty good to be honest. They all have good days and bad days. Delays can and will happen and it's not always the fault of the airline. Just book whichever has the best deal. The only thing I'd say it try get an A380. A lot more comfortable and less cramped than the 77W

catbear

Over the years i've never missed a connection with the airlines you mentioneed, I haven't used ethiad. Usually I give myself a good break of three or four hours for a connection so I can have a good stretch although I did do a short 90min stopover with emeritus and it went smoothly even with having to change terminal.

partnership

I know that delays can and will happen. However when customer service are heartless it is another matter and of the three BA in particular were utterly callous despite the fact they actually cancelled a flight without telling the person flying. I thought Ryanair was bad until I experienced them!

Catbear - one of the people had allowed a full day but because Singapore Airlines delayed them 48 hours they missed a connecting flight and had their return flight cancelled. The other person also allowed plenty of time and was told their connecting flight would be held because of fog but it wasn't.

catbear

partnership wrote: »

I know that delays can and will happen. However when customer service are heartless it is another matter and of the three BA in particular were utterly callous despite the fact they actually cancelled a flight without telling the person flying. I thought Ryanair was bad until I experienced them!

Catbear - one of the people had allowed a full day but because Singapore Airlines delayed them 48 hours they missed a connecting flight and had their return flight cancelled. The other person also allowed plenty of time and was told their connecting flight would be held because of fog but it wasn't.

You could always sail to Australia if you're worried about missing a flight connection. I think it's 44 days from Plymouth to Sydney via Panama.

partnership

Catbear I am not worried about missing a flight connection. If you read what I have said I am commenting on the poor customer service when problems arise. I accept that delays can happen and you have to allow for them but I will not accept poor customer service.

catbear

partnership wrote: »

Catbear I am not worried about missing a flight connection. If you read what I have said I am commenting on the poor customer service when problems arise. I accept that delays can happen and you have to allow for them but I will not accept poor customer service.

No one here is making you! Do you need someone here to tell not to fly with these airlines?

Zambia

I have found Etihad really good, the security at Abu dhabi is a joke. But the airline were fine. Sure half the staff are irish. They probably have more irish staff than Ryanair.

If you have booked a trip from Australia to ireland with them and miss the connection. I assume they will get you there. If you book a separate flight I doubt any airline would entertain you

.the trip home is a dog of a trip, just try it with toddlers. It's like playing any video game on expert.

CarpeDiem85

Oh don't say that Zambia. I was going to take my 18 month old out to Aus in March. I'm dreading the journey! Are some airlines better to fly with a young child than others?

Batgurl

$800??? They obviously weren't booked on the one ticket and without insurance. Their own fault so. Not the airlines.

Airlines are often at the mercy of weather and customer service will always help you if and where they can. Just because you get told they can't book you on the next flight because it's full, doesn't make it bad customer service.

If you are flying economy all the airlines are much of a muchness. I usually go with travel times and departure / arrival time when going home. Far more important.

Peregrinus

Generally, if the airline has sold you a multi-segment trip for a single price, and has scheduled the connections for you, then if the connection is missed the airline will take responsibility, and find a later connection or an alternative route for you. Since they are having to do this simultaneously for everyone on the delayed plane, don't expect instant attention and don't be surprised if you have to wait in a queue to get sorted out. But you will be sorted out. Budget airlines like Ryanair are an exception to this rule - if, because of a late Ryanair arrival into Stanstead, you miss your Ryanair flight out of Stanstead, tough - but any of the carriers offering services from Europe to Australia will do this.

However, if you book a flight from (say) Dublin to Sydney, and indepdently book another flight from Sydney to wherever, the first carrier is not going to accept responsiblity for making sure you make the second flight. They will get you to Sydney, probably late, but that's the end of their responsibility.

Peregrinus

CarpeDiem85 wrote: »

Oh don't say that Zambia. I was going to take my 18 month old out to Aus in March. I'm dreading the journey! Are some airlines better to fly with a young child than others?

When we were flying with our baby, we went with Singapore, mainly because of the very strong customer service culture among the cabin crew.

jackbhoy

Kenny_D wrote: »

The only thing I'd say it try get an A380. A lot more comfortable and less cramped than the 77W

Funny, I prefer the 777. If you can get the 2 seats together seats closer to back where layout is 2-4-2 it is very comfortable. Hate 3-4-3 or 3-5-3 layout on all A380s I have been on, especially if you get the guy who goes to toilet every 20 mins or for a stroll around cabin like neighbour did on my last flight!

Zambia

CarpeDiem85 wrote: »

Oh don't say that Zambia. I was going to take my 18 month old out to Aus in March. I'm dreading the journey! Are some airlines better to fly with a young child than others?

It more depends on the child at that age no airline can help.

Do entire before hand what flights have milk on board. Some don't.

catbear

Singapore seem to look after babies best. I've seen staff dote over babies and even taken them off parents to give them a break. Malaysian are good like that too.

jank

Etihad have a dedicated 'nanny' on board to look after kids, if you want to consider them

d.pop

Over the years I've flown with most of the bigger carriers and found them all pretty much the same to be honest.
Having settled in Perth now and with 2 under 7 we tend to go for the most direct flight with shortest stopover now which is Emirates via Dubai to Dublin.
Of course it helps that I'm platinum with qantas who codeshare with emirates so if travelling on my own I use the lounges to shower etc...very posh me, haha..

90% of horror stories I've heard revolve around people using multiple airlines, booking on line and trying to juggle way too much at once.
I would choose one major airline who partner with one world or another big group and do it all with them.
They will take full responsibility for your trip (normally) and sort you in case anything goes wrong,
I've had flights held for us and others for over an hour because our connecting flight was late and they were prepared to wait for us. Similarly any long delays, straight to 4/5 star hotel to overnight.

Child wise we did the trip, I think, about 3 times when kids were babies. Used Singapore and Cathay and Qantas I think. All were good in fairness.
You are allowed take your own liquid for kids, we took goats milk in flasks (due to some dietary requirements). I had to taste it in security a few times and I had printed off the relevant info from airport security in case we got an over zealous security officer but all went fine.
Only other advice is to not rely too much on airline to feed your child, some of them think kids with no teeth can eat chicken nuggets....kids were hungry but boy was I full at end of trip !

These days I pack a few snacks for kids (in case), jellies etc and get 4 seats together and pretend we're in cinema for 18hrs eating and watching movies. 11 to Dubai then 7 to Dublin.
Dubai is a 1:45hr stop, we take kids to macdonalds and make it all part of the treat then on to next plane.

People say the asian airlines are good with kids, Cathay were ok, but they lost our buggy and we had to carry our son for 4.5 hours around heathrow, avoid heathrow at all costs if possible, better to go via Amsterdam or similar if having to do 3 flights.

To me it's all about stopover time and most direct route, after that it's all much of a muchness...

partnership

Thanks for the comments though not for the unhelpful ones. Just to clarify one of the people was delayed in Abu Dhabi due to fog fine, they were advised of this and told their connecting flight would wait. The connectinf flight did not wait (again these things can happen), however after a 3 hour queue to see about getting on another flight, after hearing someone else being offered a seat on a flight and declining they were not offered the seat and had to kick up a fuss to get the seat in order to make a funeral. There were subsequently loads of empty seats on the plane. This is bad service by anyones standards.

The other person has learned their lesson about booking through flights and taking out insurance but it is still hard to believe that an airline can cancel a return flight (even though they have told you it would be ok) and then you have to pay again.

The customer service element is not about the crew on the flights themselves it is about when things go wrong. I am not a person who complains but the circumstances were particularly upsetting with a funeral and the airlines attitude did not help.

jank

I must have done the NZ/OZ -> Ireland trip around 6 times now at this stage and never had an issue. I agree with one of the posters, some horror stories can be controlled with better planning and foresight. I had one of my flights canceled with Air Asia a few weeks out, it sucked but just had to organise another flight and get on with it.

Zambia

jank wrote: »

Etihad have a dedicated 'nanny' on board to look after kids, if you want to consider them

You mean the chick who gave me a kids activity pack and was never seen again.

Seriously though there is only so much she can do.

Rua1

Zambia wrote: »

You mean the chick who gave me a kids activity pack and was never seen again.

Seriously though there is only so much she can do.

I flew to Wellington with my then 3 month old son by myself (hubby followed later). The one time I asked the flying nannie for help, just to hold my son for a minute while I fished things out of my carryon bag, she very nearly refused!

I know there is only so much the flying nannie can do, but holding a baby for a minute???!!

jank

Zambia wrote: »

You mean the chick who gave me a kids activity pack and was never seen again.

Seriously though there is only so much she can do.

I don't know. I don't have kids so obviously don't fly with them but they do have a dedicated nanny on board to help parents with their kids. That is all I was saying.

http://www.etihad.com/en-au/experience-etihad/family-travel/onboard/

It could be just marketing or it may be of help to some parents.

Zambia

jank wrote: »

I don't know. I don't have kids so obviously don't fly with them but they do have a dedicated nanny on board to help parents with their kids. That is all I was saying.

http://www.etihad.com/en-au/experience-etihad/family-travel/onboard/

It could be just marketing or it may be of help to some parents.

I know on paper it looks awesome....in economy ...not so much.

d.pop

Zambia wrote: »

I know on paper it looks awesome....in economy ...not so much.

Presume it is just a member of the cabin crew who has the additional task of looking in on kids as opposed to a dedicated "nanny" ?
Couldn't see any airline justifying that cost?

Zambia

d.pop wrote: »

Presume it is just a member of the cabin crew who has the additional task of looking in on kids as opposed to a dedicated "nanny" ?
Couldn't see any airline justifying that cost?

For older kids she does things like face painting. She handles meals and stuff as the kids are fed first.

FYI my kid didn't want most of his so I ate it. Much better than my meal.