Your personal top 4 airlines for flying long haul economy

The Magnificent Falcowboys

My personnal top 5 for travelling economy are

1.Emirates
2.Etihad
3.BA
4.Qantas


What are yours and are they any you wont fly with?

ArnieSilvia

I like wizzair for flying to Poland. Nice, relaxed atmosphere.

Hate flying with Ryanair, sadly all I'm left with in Dublin (economy). Always nervous people and with big hand luggage so hard to find space for my own. Last time I flew with a group of young people returning from weekend in Krakow and you could get drunk from the fumes from their breath. One of them went to the length of taking his shoes off and displaying white socks that were so dirty that were brown-black and smelled like mice sh*t. Disgusting.

galwayjohn89

1. Malaysian
2. Air Koryo (believe it or not very good experience and service) // Just noticed it's long haul Air Koryo was short haul
3. Thai Airways
4. Philippine Airlines

jaymcg91

ArnieSilvia wrote: »

I like wizzair for flying to Poland. Nice, relaxed atmosphere.

Hate flying with Ryanair, sadly all I'm left with in Dublin (economy). Always nervous people and with big hand luggage so hard to find space for my own. Last time I flew with a group of young people returning from weekend in Krakow and you could get drunk from the fumes from their breath. One of them went to the length of taking his shoes off and displaying white socks that were so dirty that were brown-black and smelled like mice sh*t. Disgusting.

Poland isn't long haul . Nor are any Ryanair routes :P.

jaymcg91

1. Emirates
2. Virgin Atlantic
3. Japan Airlines
4. Delta

TheMilkyPirate

Vuzuggu wrote: »

1. Malaysian
2. Air Koryo (believe it or not very good experience and service)
3. Thai Airways
4. Philippine Airlines

Malaysian really?

jesus_thats_gre

Not flown too many airlines long haul but Emirates (BC twice to India) are a major improvement on BA (BC 4 times to India and once to the US).

galwayjohn89

TheMilkyPirate wrote: »

Malaysian really?

Yep absolutely no complaints at all, all 4 of us commented how good it was especially compared to the 2 ME out of Dublin in Economy.

The Magnificent Falcowboys

What would be best for thailand from dublin, also would you fly with finnair to thailand if it meant saving 200 euro, theres no sacrifice in flight time or layover time either, its one of the quickest routes from dublin

islanderre

Mine would be

Turkish
Emirates
Lufthansa
KLM

roundymac

Virgin
EI
SAA
Air Mauritius.
The last two I hav'nt flown for a long time so I am just guessing that they are still good.

IRLConor

The Magnificent Falcowboys wrote: »

What would be best for thailand from dublin, also would you fly with finnair to thailand if it meant saving 200 euro, theres no sacrifice in flight time or layover time either, its one of the quickest routes from dublin

I've only ever flown short haul with Finnair but they were lovely to fly with. I've heard that their long haul isn't bad at all.

Long haul economy I've flown Lufthansa, BA, Delta, Aer Lingus, Virgin Atlantic and Jetstar. I don't look back on any of them with any sort of enthusiasm, but BA, Virgin, Aer Lingus and all but one of the Lufthansa flights were fine.

In general, my experience is that (apart from budget carriers) Asian airlines are better than European airlines and European airlines are better than American ones.

BZ

Qantas
Thai Airways
EI
BA

I'm flying with Singapore Airlines in August for the first time in economy. 777-300 on the way over and A380 on the way back. Anyone here flown with them before?

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

I prefer United Airlines out of all
Air Canada were decent enough
Didn't rate BA at all
Flew American airways too recently and no complaints
Aer Lingus were always ok the few times I flew long haul with them

The J Stands for Jay

BZ wrote: »

Qantas
Thai Airways
EI
BA

I'm flying with Singapore Airlines in August for the first time in economy. 777-300 on the way over and A380 on the way back. Anyone here flown with them before?

I've flown in both, the A380 is excellent, the 777 isn't quite as good. The service was good on both.

Never understood all the love for Quantas. I've never been impressed by the aircraft or the service. Suppose there's so many Irish people who have fond memories of Oz and that warm glow carries over.

horse7

The Magnificent Falcowboys wrote: »

My personnal top 5 for travelling economy are

1.Emirates
2.Etihad
3.BA
4.Qantas


What are yours and are they any you wont fly with?

Etihad no1
Singapore no 2
Quantas no 3
Air new Zealand no 4

mjhickeyie

1. Singapore Airlines
2. Emirates
3. Malaysia
4. Aer Lingus

verywell

BZ wrote: »

Qantas
Thai Airways
EI
BA

I'm flying with Singapore Airlines in August for the first time in economy. 777-300 on the way over and A380 on the way back. Anyone here flown with them before?

I found SA great. Much better leg room and the usb charger is so handy. Great entertainment set up also. I have flown them 3 times in the last 2 months so current info.

duffman13

Emirates
Jet Airways
Etihad
Qantas

Jet was an unusual one, used them to go to Bangkok via India. Really good service and planes.

BA have to be the worst airline I've flown long haul service poor and the planes was so old

Daisy 55

Definitely NOT American Airlines!

faceman

Out of curiosity, what are people basing their top airlines on? It's interesting that the airlines with the poorer seating set ups are coming out on top. (Not a criticism, just an observation)

verywell

faceman wrote: »

Out of curiosity, what are people basing their top airlines on? It's interesting that the airlines with the poorer seating set ups are coming out on top. (Not a criticism, just an observation)

For me it would be leg room, seat size, entertainment. The use charger was a major bonus. Singapore came out top when I was researching my long haul options.

faceman

verywell wrote: »

For me it would be leg room, seat size, entertainment. The use charger was a major bonus. Singapore came out top when I was researching my long haul options.

I agree on your comments but seat size, isn't it pretty standard with economy? (Bearing in mind the Middle eastern airlines are usually smaller?)

I'm a total seat power and wifi whore. If a flight has wifi I'm happy!

(Incidentally I'm on a flight over the U.S. now while posting this!)

faceman

Better post my top 5. This is not in any particular order.

British Airways
Emirates
Aer Lingus
Delta
Virgin

tommy100

Currently on route from mexico. American airlines and US Airways are ****. Emirates Quantas BA are good. Air france was good too. Flew Thai airlines also, sat up in the big bubble (1st class). Twas good. Anyways. American airports are the easily worst ive been in.

bamboozle

Singapore
Malaysian
Emirates
Philippines

Singapore are by a long shot the best I've used and they've just brought out premium economy, Malaysian are very good and I use them a lot, a lot of their flights are not fully booked so there's lots of space. Emirates staff are excellent and good planes but I find flying through Dubai not great. Philippines are very good, got a few upgrades from them.

One other one I use a bit is scoot, part owned by singapore, they use the dreamliner and for a budget airline it's a great choice for Asia.
Not a fan of Cathy, BA are good as are aer lingus.

franklyon

1. KLM
2. B.A
3. Luftansa
4. Air France
5. United (Only because was half empty and got a row to myself)

Noxegon

I'm surprised how many people are listing Emirates at the top of the pile. I'd be inclined to agree for their A380 services, but the seats on their 777s are too narrow for comfort.

Also, for me Aer Lingus wouldn't even figure because of how often they use the PA system – it does my head in...

billy few mates

Singapore
Malaysian (but haven't used them recently)
Delta (been really impressed with them over the last few years)
Aer Lingus (still have a bit of a soft spot for them but they do have their bad days)

brettmirl

1. Air New Zealand (best in flight service I've ever experienced)

2. British Airways (business class excellent)

3. Turkish (in flight service very good and lounge at IST excellent)

4. Hawaiian (very comfortable on board and good customer service)

5. Aer Lingus (still the best carrier flying direct from Ireland to USA)

BuffyBot

For flying economy I've always found the following to be good

1) Lufthansa
2) TAM
3) BA
4) SAS

pclancy

I've got points and status with Qantas so usually use them and Emirates to make the long journey to Ireland and back every so often. But as others have pointed out, their aircraft and service are certainly not the best in Economy. In business or premium they do very well though, Emirates A380 business is incredible! I have been lucky enough to enjoy some cocktails in its bar!

So my list would be...

1. Singapore
2. Qantas
3. Emirates
4. Korean Air (fantastic legroom and free Hyatt stopovers going through Seoul)

I find Air NZ's legroom to be terrible, though their service and IFE is always good. Malaysian I hear are also excellent but havent had the chance to try them yet.

man98

A few of people saying AA strikes me as odd, I've heard they aren't great. 1 airline I hope I don't see up there is NAX, they're shocking.

smurfjed

I dont have a lot of respect for airlines that add an extra seat to each row in economy, ie, 10 across is a 777-300 rather than 9. It may not sound a lot but the resulting 1.5 inches makes a huge difference to someone of my size.

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Emirates_Airlines/Emirates_Airlines_Boeing_777-300ER_3class_private.php

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Saudia/Saudia_Boeing_777-300.php

I fail to see how Emirates gets mentioned so often!

pclancy

Totally agree. Hence my dislike for air nz's 777 config. They also have packed their new 787s so tightly that it feels like a step back in comfort instead of forward. Sadly profit before people.

Emirates IFE and food is probably why they rate highly. Plus most people probably think the legroom and width is fine , not for big guys like smurf and meself

smurfjed wrote: »

I dont have a lot of respect for airlines that add an extra seat to each row in economy, ie, 10 across is a 777-300 rather than 9. It may not sound a lot but the resulting 1.5 inches makes a huge difference to someone of my size.

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Emirates_Airlines/Emirates_Airlines_Boeing_777-300ER_3class_private.php

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Saudia/Saudia_Boeing_777-300.php

I fail to see how Emirates gets mentioned so often!

mighty magpie

No mention of Cathay Pacific.

Are they no good or have people on here not used them as much?
Thinking of a stopover in Hong Kong from Sydney and they have best prices.

Just a little Samba

Virgin Atlantic
Cathay Pacific
Turkish
Malaysia

pclancy

Cathay are good I flew a lot with them home via Hong Kong and London and they are consistent.

smurfjed

Its nice to see that Cathay kept the 9 abreast seating in the 777-300.

Last time that i flew on them was in the Tristar days :)

TPMP

Only been on 4 but,

1 Air New Zealand
2 Virgin Australia
3 Delta
4 Etihad

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

Rawr

I've only ever flown 4 times with a long-haul carrier, but here is my list and the reasons:

1) SAS
-Journey taken: DUB - Copenhagen - Shanghai Pudong
-Long-haul aircraft: A340-300
-Why I like them:
Transferring in Copenhagen was very pleasant and well managed. There was a 2 hour delay to leave but we were well informed throughout. The A340 was comfortable and the IFE system was very extensive and included access to the external cameras. Food was OK, and service was friendly.

2) Virgin Atlantic
-Journey taken: Shanghai Pudong - LHR - DUB
-Long-haul aircraft: A340-600
-Why I like them:
Return trip from China with Virgin. Their A340 was a bit nicer, but my seat had the IFE computer in my seat-well which reduced comfort. The IFE menu was not as extensive as with SAS, but was still pretty good. The food service was excellent, and we were regularly provided with little snacks throughout the flight. Service overall was excellent. Had to transfer via Heathrow, which I don't like. Otherwise very good.

3) Monarch (Charter)
-Journey taken: LGW - The Gambia
-Long-haul aircraft: A300
-Why I like them:
Kinda 'medium haul' really. My return leg was on a A321, so not that far away. All-in-all ok service. Generous baggage allowance and flew on their A300 not long before it was withdrawn. The seats were very thin and not all that comfortable. Service was pretty good though. They are just ok, and are only on this list because I this is the only other 'long-haul' flight I've taken

Blut2

In general in my experience quality in Economy goes:

1. Middle-Eastern airlines
2. Asian
3. European
4. US
5. Developing world

Emirates would top my list, like many of the other posters. This is down to their entertainment system, their high quality food and the attentive staff. I'll take the improvements in all these areas for the 1.5" width loss happily. Plus the slightly reduced fare that results.

The worst first world airline I've flown long haul recently was U.S. Airlines - shabby older airplane, surly cabin crew and ground staff, terrible food/entertainment. I've flown a couple of South American / African airlines medium haul that were downright scary, but may not deserve mention given thread is long haul.

dogmatix

1. Virgin.
2. BA.
3. Aer Lingus.
4. Air Canada.

Worst -
1. Delta.
2. American.
3. Northwest.
4. Continental.

numbernine

Hi, can i ask what makes people hate American/US airways so much??

Blut2

numbernine wrote: »

Hi, can i ask what makes people hate American/US airways so much??

I've had 2 business class US Airways flights, and 10 US Airways economy flights, in the past 24 months (don't ask).

- All flights were on older planes, so old internal design.
- None of the long haul flights in economy had any in-headrest entertainment systems. I flew Virgin Atlantic in 1998 and they had these - to still not have them almost 20 years on is a disgrace.
- Low quality food
- Surly cabin crew
- Business didn't have layflat seats (it was a longhaul flight). We were supplied with rather small iPads to use as our in-flight entertainment. Screen size smaller than on newer Emirates economy seats, and a far worse selection of available content.
- Of the 12 total flights, 8 were delayed by 45min+, 2 were cancelled. I know flight delays aren't the best metric to judge an airline on, as lots of things can happen that are out of their control. But this seems an exceptional percentage in my experience.

The quality difference between Delta (for example) and US Airways is noticeable, but wouldn't draw too much comment I think. But for anyone who's flown Emirates or Cathay or similar, US Airways is just a painful step down.

civdef

Just by way of contrast I flew with them (US Airways) last week, transatlantic economy.
Nice tidy A330s with decent headrest mounted screens and recent movies, usb socket in armrest of each seat. Food was fine and cabin crew were friendly- flight was on schedule and baggage made it to final destination nearly first off conveyor so really couldn't complain.

dogmatix

numbernine wrote: »

Hi, can i ask what makes people hate American/US airways so much??

1. Aging and tatty aircraft.
2. Trying to get away with using narrow body aircraft on long haul routes.
3. Surly staff.
4. Dire food.
5. Really bad in flight entertainment - north american airlines always seem to be about 10 years behind European and 20 years behind asian airlines.

Jude13

1. Etihad (although change to Emirates if its an A380)
2. Emirates
3. KLM
4. Aer lingus
.
.
.
9. Qatar: Every time I have flown them there's and entertainment system under the seat so I can only stretch out one leg.

A Primal Nut

TheMilkyPirate wrote: »

Malaysian really?

Yeah, really good leg room and best airline food I've had. Overall I prefer Etihad and Emirates; mainly due to the conveniant plug sockets:

1) Etihad
2) Emirates
3) Malaysian Airlines
4) United (also have power sockets and especially good if you get a cheap upgrade to Economy plus - the price varies).

A Primal Nut

faceman wrote: »

Out of curiosity, what are people basing their top airlines on? It's interesting that the airlines with the poorer seating set ups are coming out on top. (Not a criticism, just an observation)

Poorer in what sense? I am very tall and tend to find the likes of Etihad, Emirates and Malaysia have the best legroom.