How do you rate the Gulf carriers

I guess for those of us who mostly east the Gulf carriers have the potential to play an ever greater role in our travel plans. Almost all of them have grown from nowhere over recent years and most offer an excellent standard of premium services.

I was trying to sort out how I rate them and came to the following conclusions placing them in order:

F service:
Oman
Etihad
Emirates
Qatar (where it is offered)
Gulf Air – no offering

C service
Oman
Qatar
Etihad
Emirates – inconsistent offering
Gulf Air

Lounges – based on home base
Qatar
Oman
Etihad
Emirates
Gulf Air

Network
Emirates
Etihad
Qatar
Gulf Air
Oman

Just my thoughts, I wonder what others think?

This is timely as I fly Qatar today, JNB – DOH – MXP with my 8 year old (well behaved) boy in Business – no F available!

I’ll let you know tomorrow how I fared.

Despite the consistently good reviews the gulf carriers receive, I have, unfortunately, not had the greatest experiences with them.

Etihad (business) was by far the best gulf carrier I’ve flown with.

Service faultless, bed a little short for my especially tall frame, but otherwise I cannot find flaws with their onboard product. Overcrowded lounges and no apology or explanation for delays did spoil my good experience though.

Qatar (economy) is good, FAs excellent, entertainment marvellous, food delicious, but the seats were not especially roomy or comfortable. I’d be interested to try their business if I need to fly with them again.

Emirates (business) – I found the seats a little uncomfortable, especially when flat, and that they lacked shoulder room (777 aircraft, I haven’t experienced the fully flat A380). The food was good but far from class leading, and the service inconsistent (perhaps I was unlucky and caught their FAs on bad days).

I cannot comment on Oman or Gulf.

I only fly with these airlines if I actually need to visit UAE / Qatar. I find that some other airlines, particularly the best Far East carriers, offer far more attractive alternatives if flying between Asia and Europe or Africa.

We arrived back yesterday after two very smooth flights. First leg in a 777 and the second in a 330 with a 3 class config but 1st was not being sold. We both agreed the 777 was far more comfortable with plenty of space for ones bits and pieces, watch, glasses etc. The bed is flatter on the 777 and on the 330 the tables do not fit flush with the arm rest so it’s quite uncomfortable unless you put a pillow there, which we did.

The crew were great but lack that polished professionalism found on Swiss. They try hard but are lacking on the finer detail.

For me the bugbear is having to change in Doha. We arrived from JNB at 7 am and deplaned onto a small bus reserved for Business Class. We then headed off for 5 mins to drop one person at Doha arrivals before turning back, driving past our plane back to the transit terminal. Of course we got stuck in all the airport traffic so only reached the terminal 20 mins later.

At this point you go through security so at least that’s over and done with, but there was by now a long queue with only one of three machines open!

Finally, my son and I wanted bacon! But there was only chicken bacon available. Ughhh! It’s the rules apparently, no pork. I understand the point but then why serve alcohol? It’s a bit hypocritical I think!

It was fine but I’ll go back to Swiss for my next flight.

Never thought of it as a tin can before Pierre, but I guess you’re right. Though it is made of titanium and composites and does have seats 😉

Shopping not much cheaper either. Cigars in fact more expensive!

Hi, Gin&Tonic,

I travel most of my time, and by company rules, must check the most competitive offer on flown routes. Today, on line agencies, airlines offer a very wide range of prices(I prefer contacting American Express rather than Opodo). I organize my travels as early as possible to get better prices. I am paid on my work not flights, and transit time. Flying for instance to India from Paris (where I live), why should I transit via the Gulf, losing time and shape, when the daily flights allow me to land late evening in Mumbai/Delhi for instance, rest and be fine the next early morning to meet my counterparts. The same everywhere. To South Africa, why transiting by the Gulf, when the daily AF on a 380 is convenient.

Preparing a trip to Japan, I will fly SWISS because they have a better offer than AF or LH, but the connection is at the end/beginning of the trip, not in the middle, reducing the hassle to the minimum. Job at first, my preference goes to the quickest & simplest way to reach my destination, the true quality is there. I prefer the moto taxi to the limo. Luckily, I was not said to fly Gulf carriers.

G&T, I choose who I want to fly with, the class I want and when subject only to seat availability.

I’m happy to pay, and indeed fortunate, to be able to choose my preferred carrier according to convenience. Mine that is, not the airlines.

I understand this is not the case for everyone but I think most company’s recognise that a 10 hour direct flight is preferable to a 12 hour flight broken up in the middle of the night with a 2 hour stopover on top.