Emirates, Etihad or BA?

fullstop

Flying to Sydney in a couple of weeks and have the choice of these 3 to fly with, all economy class. Emirates and Etihad are via Abu Dhabi, BA via Singapore. I've flown long haul quite a bit with BA to the US and South Africa, but never flown with the other two. Which is the best airline to fly with?

Growler!!!

Have a look at Qantas. They code share with Emirates and worked out cheaper on my recent trip to NZ.

fullstop

Growler!!! wrote: »

Have a look at Qantas. They code share with Emirates and worked out cheaper on my recent trip to NZ.

Haven't been given that option unfortunately! Was looking at BA as I'm very close to bronze tier with them but the benefits of that aren't much use. Also they're a partner airline with Are Lingus so I thought they'd have reciprocal lounge access for Gold Circle members but they don't which is pretty crap. So now it's down to the most comfortable and spacious really.

fits

Id prefer to transfer through Singapore rather than Abu Dhabi but other than that, Id just go with the cheapest. Id also probably look at frequent flyer points. They do add up quickly on the long haul journeys.

Delta Kilo

Emirates will be through Dubai, not Abu Dhabi.

Personally I would avoid transferring through Abu Dhabi, the airport there is not suited to the volume of traffic it receives. Dubai is quite good. I would go the BA option if the price was similar to Emirates. Its an A380 which is a comfortable aircraft and Singapore airport is a great airport to transfer through.

Seanie_H

Singapore Airport, just like the airline, is great but it's not worth having to do 2 stops. One stop strategy is the best IMO so via Abu D or Dubai for me. I'd even pay a 300€ premium just to avoid that third flight on each leg.

fullstop

Thanks for the replies, went for BA option, mainly because i'm signed up to their loyalty programme and there wasn't much to choose between the 3 price wise.

Skuxx

Delta Kilo wrote: »

I would go the BA option if the price was similar to Emirates. Its an A380 which is a comfortable aircraft and Singapore airport is a great airport to transfer through.

Is BA to Australia not a 777-300?

andy_g

Moved to Travel Forum

Delta Kilo

Skuxx wrote: »

Is BA to Australia not a 777-300?

I believe its a daily A380, used to see a BA A380 in Singapore every day for a few weeks last year anyway.

Batgurl

Too late now but doesn't BA transit in Heathrow? I'd be paying to actively avoid that!

On the plus side 2 x 23kg baggage allowance!

Korat

Depends what planes are on the route. Emirates and Etihad have terrible economy classes on their 773s that serve Dublin. The seat configuration means you've less space than you'd get on a shorthaul Ryanair flight. It could be balanced out if there's an A380 on the Sydney leg of the journey but if BA fly an A380 from Heathrow to Sydney then definitely take that. Economy on the A380 is as comfortable as business class on some aircraft.

Skuxx

Delta Kilo wrote: »

I believe its a daily A380, used to see a BA A380 in Singapore every day for a few weeks last year anyway.

It's seems they use a A380 on the London-Singapore return route but it's a 773 that does London-Sydney!

http://m.smh.com.au/business/aviation/british-airways-to-use-a380-on-londonsingapore-flight-20140219-330pb.html

Zonda999

They've two daily flights, one continues to Sydney (B77W), the other doesn't (A380 & B744)

See here: http://airlineroute.net/2014/12/11/ba-380-s15update1/

LXFlyer

Batgurl wrote: »

Too late now but doesn't BA transit in Heathrow? I'd be paying to actively avoid that!

On the plus side 2 x 23kg baggage allowance!

Since BA flights from Dublin now arrive in terminal 5, transiting Heathrow on BA flights is way easier.


Just make sure to pick BA flights between DUB and LHR rather than Aer Lingus as they serve T2 which means a bus transfer.