[Anonymous]

[Henkel.Trocken]

The suggestion about Emirates being a five star carrier made me wonder who we as a group of fairly critical frequent flyers would award five stars to. So who do you rate and who among those who might currently be considered to merit five stars would you omit?

My five star carriers would be:

Cathay, Qatar, Lufthansa and Swiss.

My obvious omissions would be:

Singapore and Malaysia.

[VintageKrug]

British Airways, natch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4JdQi60an0

And then Virgin America, Cathay Pacific, Qantas (longhaul only) and Swiss.

[BeckyBoop]

Agree British Airways every time!!! :o) xxx

[LeTigre]

Keep it zipped VK, we are all fed up with BA’s outdated cabins and below par IFE and catering. Remember, it is the economy classes that need to be good for 5 stars, not the 1st, as it done on the majority of experiences. On that front, BA is truly abysmal.

On the other hand I think that Oman Air deserve recognition, they have an incredibly good biz class and they offer really good connectivity and IFE on well maintained modern planes. I also do have a soft spot for Etihad.

[VintageKrug]

I flew BA economy in 1998 and thought it was excellent!

Whenever I potter back for a walk, the masses look happy; plenty of water and juice distributed, tuck box in the galley, jolly cabin crew, seatback TVs in every aircraft, the vast majority with AVOD and a decent quality of programming, including BBC TV and Radio, and direct flights to most everywhere I want to visit.

It’s a compelling proposition, unless we happen to have one of our favourite turbulent posters back from times of yore; I am seeing something of a pattern here…..

[LeTigre]

I cannot imagine what you are referring to VK, in every sense.

I fly economy rather a lot on short-haul trips, and when with family on long-haul, but not for work. The reason why everything looked fine was that you either a) did it too soon into the flight or b) didn’t look very hard or c) are doing some traditional VK deception.

By the middle of the long-haul flight, all BA economy passengers (except on 77W) are famished (snacks ran-out, meals not enough), dehydrated (not enough water on board), bored (IFE stopped working and it loops anyway), and short-sighted (screens are too small).

PS. 5 stars aren’t awarded for destinations.

[BeckyBoop]

Hengli123 if BA is as bad as you make out why are they still in business? xx

http://www.justtheflight.co.uk/news/7428-top-accolade-for-british-airways.html

[LPPSKrisflyer]

I would award five stars to Cathay, Qantas, Lufthansa, Swiss, Qatar and Oman. My recent experience of Oman was exceptional and I will use them again.

All I think go the extra mile for their premium travellers. My travel is usually in F, occasionally in C, never in Y.

Omissions from the norm would be Singapore who are falling fast and their website remains a disgrace more than six months later.

There is no way BA get five stars and only the seriously misguided who don’t get out enough would rate them that highly, they might get three on a good day but the poor food offering (a colleague calls the new offering sh*te cuisine), premium business class they sell as F with too many seats which are not up to today’s standards and the variablity of their crews let them down, they continue to reach for the ceiling rather than the sky. Yes, T5 is OK but you don’t rate an airline on it’s terminal which doesn’t belong to them in any event. On board remains mediocre at best.

[LeTigre]

Virgin America should be on the list as well, I have several stellar reviews of them recently. We also shouldn’t forget Asiana, perhaps ANA are deserving as well?

[SaveFLR]

I think that I don’t see a real five stars airline. SQ, that I awarded as the best is now worstening, QF has many problems, BA is a classic choice but it doesn’t deserve a top award. LH is too cold, even if the F product is very good, LX is better than his german mother. The Gulf wave is coming up and EK is a monster, QR and EY are very strong and improving, OMAN is a real surprise, but very small at the moment. A good mention for CX, but not for a fifth star. US airlines are, for me, in another league…
Sorry for my English.

[RichHI1]

I would say JL, NH, CX. (Never flown SQ). BA would get 3 stars from me. They compete OK against the Europeans and US carriers but the asians beat them hollow. Becky they are in business a) because some Brits will only fly British carrier and b) the Asian carriers only compete with them to Asia. They are not bad but they are not brilliant either.

[Henkel.Trocken]

BeckyBoop may I ask how many airlines you’ve travelled with, my sense of your travel is that it’s short haul and very occasional long haul.

To rate BA so strongly, I’m interested to know who you are comparing them to. Please enlighten me.

[LeTigre]

I only fly with BA cause I find direct flights convenient…if only I lived in Qatar! 😉

[RichHI1]

Guys let’s stop the BA bashing (appropriate though ti is) post is about which are 5 star. Keen to hear baout ME airlines as I hear their customer service is crap but their in flight is good. I do not fly with them as I prefer direct and my only ME visits have been Turkey and Israel.

[Author]

Posts