[Sami]

I hope Business Traveller takes my comments with an open mind and not be as sensitive to criticism as SkyTrax, but I have some comments about the recent Business Traveller awards:
1 – Qatar Airways is undoubtedly one of the best airlines in the world and deserves all the accolades it gets. But for British Airways to be among the top 5 airlines in the world is mind-boggling. BA’s services have deteriorated strongly in recent years and for it to beat such service powerhouses as Eva Air for example or Asiana is puzzling. Also, I think Emirates has lost much of its shine.
2 – Etihad and El-Al do not deserve to be among the top 4 Middle Eastern airlines. Oman Air and Royal Jordanian are better than both from personal experience.
3 – In North America, Alaska Airlines and Southwest offer better services than Delta and United.

And finally, In the Luxury Hotels category, the Four Seasons should be number 1.

[Tom Otley]

Thank you for your reasonable comments.

Opinions differ on these matters, of course. The one thing I would say (and I always say this) is that the Awards are voted for by readers, so if readers think differently, then all they have to do is vote and the results will be different. If the awards were judged (by me, for instance) they would perhaps be very different, but then everyone would question the judging. In fact they have always been voted by readers, and I hope will continue to be so.

Although the results sometimes don’t chime with what people think, over the years I have seen things change considerably, and winners who used to get a lot of awards do not do so anymore, while some continue to do so (take a bow, Changi). To take an obvious example, only a few years ago, Qatar didn’t win any awards, and now they do…

Let’s see what effect (if any) the new business class products coming on board Virgin and BA and Air France (to name three with A350 deliveries) have…

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ASK1945, rferguson, fatbear, DerekVH, Sami, esselle, AFlyingDutchman

[AFlyingDutchman]

I believe as Business Traveller is a British Publication, and the vast majority of readers are either living in the UK/I, or are British nationals (i’m guessing of course, and I am one of the non-Brits that loves the publication), that this impacts their vote as their experience will likely be more often on one of the British carriers. As Tom says, opinions differ. For instance, in my opinion Royal Jordanian could never match the standard of Etihad, but that is my opinion based on my experience (albeit limited) with the two carriers. In the Luxury Hotel Category, for me Manadrin Oriental is far superior to Four Seasons, but again my opinion. And so on……..

I always enjoy reading the award winners as the list often surpirses me in numerous categories.

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cwoodward, Tom Otley

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=971360]Let’s see what effect (if any) the new business class products coming on board Virgin[/quote]

Has there been a thread yet (apart from the BT article) about the new VS seat? Didn’t take long after the BA seat was launched….. for the ‘volcano’ to start smoking ….

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AFlyingDutchman

[AFlyingDutchman]

[quote quote=971364]for the ‘volcano’ to start smoking ….[/quote]

I love that, I will start using that one!

[SimonS1]

[postquote quote=971363][/postquote]

I’m sure this is right. British publication with readership skewed towards (albeit not exclusively) BA.

To me the ratings are a bit of mystery (third place in best First class lol), but to be fair there is quite a strong following of BA fanboys in places like FT and to be honest if you put a BA badge on a set of plastic BBQ chairs there would be some people along to tell you how fantastic it all was.

Best FFP I could understand if you are a OneWorld regular.

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AFlyingDutchman

[Sami]

AFlyingDutchman, have you taken an Etihad flight recently? I would have agreed with you a few years ago when Etihad was a legit competitor to Emirates, but with multi billion dollar losses, Etihad’s services have suffered terribly. You said your experiences with Etihad and Royal Jordanian are limited, mine are not. I have taken both airlines extensively in the past couple of years and RJ has surprised me with its improvement. Delays have shortened, prices have gone down and the once-arrogant flight attendants have probably been given a lesson in courtesy. True, RJ no longer serves hot meals on short and medium flights but the snacks offered are reasonable, drinks are free, and Queen Alia airport is easy to navigate.

Also. I again insist (my personal view of course) that the Four Seasons should be number one in the luxury category. In the past 3 years I have stayed at 4 Four Seasons hotels (Doha, George V in Paris, Toronto, Beirut) and the service has been impeccable. In that same period I have stayed at 3 Mandarin Oriental hotels and the only one from the 3 that matched the Four Seasons was the out of this world Mandarin Oriental Bodrum in Turkey

[AFlyingDutchman]

@Sami, once again, it is your opinion versus someone else’s. No one is saying you are wrong or right, just welcome to your opinion. For context, I flew Etihad 7 weeks ago from Brussels via AUH to BKK, superb flight in Business. To be fair, my last flight on RJ was in January, in Business from Amsterdam to Basra via Amman, and I was not overwhelmed. Im not a great fan of Queen Alia Airport, but again, this is my opinion from two flights with them recently. As far as Mandarin vs Four Seasons, look, its personal taste. The only thing I like about the Georges V is the floral arrangement, other than that, one of my least favorite hotels in Paris. A great Four Seasons is the Lions Palace in St. Petersburg. Again, from my experience and my opinion. I have not had a bad experience ever at Mandarin, they are understated, elegant, and have a superb understanding of refined luxury.

[Sami]

OK. George V is someone’s least favorite hotel in Paris. Wow. I think a hotel should not be rated on a flower arrangement we might peek into from the street window, maybe actually staying in the hotel!

[AFlyingDutchman]

[quote quote=971677]OK. George V is someone’s least favorite hotel in Paris. Wow. I think a hotel should not be rated on a flower arrangement we might peek into from the street window, maybe actually staying in the hotel![/quote]

Sami, I have actually stayed at he Geroge V a few times, probably more often than you, and I just dont like it. You dont have to be presumptious and insinuate that I havent stayed there as the only positive comment I can make about it is their Floral Arrangement, which is usually spectacular, as that is the only thing I find noteworthy of the hotel. Is it a nice hotel, yes, do I prefer other hotels in Paris yes, so drop your attitude and insults. I prefer the Prince de Galles next door, and the Fouquets on the corner of avenue George V. You can like what you want for whatever reason you might have, but do not make assumptions or accusations about someone you know absolutely nothing about, and I will try to do the same when it comes to you!

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capetonianm, SimonS1, esselle

[esselle]

I am not a big fan of grapefruit, but I know plenty of people who really like it. (Tongue firmly in cheek).

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fatbear, Jacob, AFlyingDutchman

[SimonS1]

[postquote quote=971677][/postquote]

With respect, may I suggest you wind your neck in a bit?

You don’t know the poster’s circumstances, and the good thing about this board is everyone has different tastes in hotels, airlines etc.

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Ahmad, fatbear, Jacob, AFlyingDutchman, capetonianm

[capetonianm]

You don’t know the poster’s circumstances, and the good thing about this board is everyone has different tastes in hotels, airlines etc.

If people didn’t have different tastes this and similar forums wouldn’t exist. Different views are in fact the ‘raison d’être’ of forums such as this one.

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Ahmad, fatbear, AFlyingDutchman

[Sami]

Guys, lighten up a little bit,lol. I agree that everyone is entitled to their holier than thou opinions, but I’m afraid, I stand 100% with what I previously said. And to even compare the tired Prince De Galles which is in desperate need of renovations or Fouquet’s with its prison cell size rooms with George V, well no comment so I won’t upset the usual suspects.

[EU_Flyer]

As others have said, these awards are a perhaps reflection of BT UK’s readership as much as anything else.

While the select few who regularly participate on this forum often have very valid and insightful views on the quality of BA etc, these may not be in line with the remaining readership? Maybe not everyone dislikes BA as much as some do.

Personally I find them predictably decent but not outstanding. But maybe that’s what business travellers want these days – ‘decent’ over ‘occasionally amazing’.

I would never vote for BA, but clearly many others have.

As Tom says, let’s see how the roll out of new product goes for BA, Virgin and others and see if this changes anything in the online chatter.

[Author]

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