Long Haul - Emirates/Etihad/Qatar/Turkish

Lopéz · 23 Jun 2016 at 12:38

I should be flying to Bangkok later this year and I have the choice of the above 4 airlines. I know we have a lot of long haul travellers here, which option would you go for?

In price order (cheapest to most expensive) it runs:
Turkish ~£400; Qatar ~£420; Etihad ~£480; Emirates ~£500

Any thoughts?

Repta · 23 Jun 2016 at 12:41

Qatar are fantastic, I normally true to fly with them long haul. My Dad used to fly a lot with Turkish and Emirates, has very little good to say about Turkish but a huge fan of Emirates. For the sake of £20 I would say Qatar is a no brainer

Bear · 23 Jun 2016 at 12:55

I've only flown with Emirates out of the ones you've listed and they are very good, but from what I can gather from people I've known that have flown with the other two Arab airlines they are very good as well. I have no idea about Turkish though.

gjrc · 23 Jun 2016 at 12:56

qatar or etihad.

byeo · 23 Jun 2016 at 12:58

Lopéz said:
I should be flying to Bangkok later this year and I have the choice of the above 4 airlines. I know we have a lot of long haul travellers here, which option would you go for?

In price order (cheapest to most expensive) it runs:
Turkish ~£400; Qatar ~£420; Etihad ~£480; Emirates ~£500

Any thoughts?

Depends which aircraft they use on that route, I'm guessing for most it'll be a A330, 777 or even A380 and what times work best for you. I'd opt for Qatar, Etihad or Emirates myself.

Ricochet J · 23 Jun 2016 at 13:01

I flew Qatar to Sri Lanka and they were awesome. To our mid-stop we were on a Dreamliner. Space was plentiful and the snacks/food was good. From our mid-stop to Sri Lanka were on another Dreamliner and had an awesome flight.

Scottland · 23 Jun 2016 at 13:02

Ricochet J said:
I flew Qatar to Sri Lanka and they were awesome. To our mid-stop we were on a Dreamliner. Space was plentiful and the snacks/food was good. From our mid-stop to Sri Lanka were on another Dreamliner and had an awesome flight.

Wishing we paid the extra now, flying to Sri Lanka with Turkish in August.

Cryfreeman · 23 Jun 2016 at 13:04

Etihad for a non direct flight. I managed to grab a direct flight with Thai air on the new airbus 380 for £500, flying next week. Defo can only use the non direct airlines?

Ricochet J · 23 Jun 2016 at 13:09

Scottland said:
Wishing we paid the extra now, flying to Sri Lanka with Turkish in August.

I've flown Turkish Airlines to Turkey. They're not bad. Just a standard bog standard mid-haul supplier.

Qatar on the other hand made efforts to ensure passenger comfort.

EvilRob · 23 Jun 2016 at 13:18

Ricochet J said:
I've flown Turkish Airlines to Turkey. They're not bad. Just a standard bog standard mid-haul supplier.

Qatar on the other hand made efforts to ensure passenger comfort.

I've found the food on Turkish Airlines better than average.

antran · 23 Jun 2016 at 13:19

I've flown with Emirates for last few years to Vietnam. The first leg is on A380 from Gatwick to Dubai then on A330 to Ho Chi Minh.

If you can get a direct flight to Bangkok that would be better.

Ricochet J · 23 Jun 2016 at 13:20

EvilRob said:
I've found the food on Turkish Airlines better than average.

I thought the food was so-so compared to the food my Turk wife has given me.

Diddums · 23 Jun 2016 at 13:21

Etihad is hands down of the best airlines I've ever flown with.

EvilRob · 23 Jun 2016 at 13:22

Ricochet J said:
I thought the food was so-so compared to the food my Turk wife has given me.

Better than average compared to other airline food...

paradigm · 23 Jun 2016 at 14:11

I preferred flying Emirates to Qatar, never flown with Etihad.

I'd write off Turkish from the off.

Jacksonn · 23 Jun 2016 at 14:16

Flown Emirates numerous times, both economy and business.. I really do rate them highly. Only second to Singapore Airlines in my opinion.

CraigN · 23 Jun 2016 at 14:25

I have flown this route with Emirates and wouldnt again.

The A380 from Dubai to bangkok was fine the 777 service from UK to Dubai was terrible.

Emirates also screwed me over on my honeymoon flying from Dubai to Male they overbooked the flight. Our transfer was late but still we arrived 2 hours before the flight and had to trade a view of the palm from the 5 star Atlantis for a night in a hotel worse than a travel lodge and missed a day in the maldives.

wez130 · 23 Jun 2016 at 14:44

I flew Emirates to NZ last year, 6 flights there and back and can't complain, haven't used any of the others though so can't compare.

Diddums · 23 Jun 2016 at 14:56

On a slightly related note, I thought that cattle class in the A380 was awful. It was more cramped than other aircraft and sitting in a window seat was the worst. Due to the circumference of the fuselage there is a huge gap between where your head sits and where the body of the plane is so you can't rest your head against the side of the aircraft like you can on most other aircraft.

I'm flying to Sydney in January, seriously considering booking first or business, I can't see me getting off the plane in any decent mood after such a long flight being so cramped and uncomfortable.

Lopéz · 23 Jun 2016 at 15:01

Cryfreeman said:
Etihad for a non direct flight. I managed to grab a direct flight with Thai air on the new airbus 380 for £500, flying next week. Defo can only use the non direct airlines?

antran said:
If you can get a direct flight to Bangkok that would be better.

I can go direct with Thai for about £500 but it means getting a coach to Heathrow - no major trauma admittedly.