Anyone travelled with Qatar Airways or Emirates?

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I have to choose between long haul flights with one of the two. Qatar is a bit cheaper, but a friend told me that their service is appalling.

Anyone with any personal experiences to share? Esp. of flight comfort and so on. Would help me make a decision :).
 
Economy class I presume? I flew Qatar long haul last year, they were pretty good, the food was better than most airline food, the multimedia thing worked. Only thing is that Doha airport is pretty third world (they are supposed to be building a new one before the world cup). I've never flown with Emirates but Dubai airport is a much, much better. I don't reckon that any airline's economy class can be a pleasant experience so it's all much of a muchness.

To expand on the airport thing, you have to get on a bus from the plane to get to the terminal, go through security, then get on another bus for your connection - if your connection time is short, they give you a priority sticked on your hand luggage to get you through quicker. In the terminal, the seats aren't comfy, there appeared to be one shop and the toilets were disgusting and full of Africans brushing their teeth. I had an 8 hour stopover on the way out - spent $80 for a hotel room instead which was a damn fine decision.
 
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I have only been on Emirates. The service is very good and the entertainment system is up to date with the latest movies. It's a very good airline. Dubai airport is very nice to.
 
I flew to Bangkok with Emirates last year and they were superb. Only airline I've ever used that I thought were better was Singapore.
 
Yup economy. Just checked their safety records and both are pretty much 100%.

Thanks for pointing out the changeover airport thing, I think there's a 6 hour lay-over there if we go by Qatar.
 
Flew Qatar to Bangkok, brilliant service, food was nice, plenty of movies on offer. There isnt much at Doha airport but i managed an 18 hour stop over there fine. Just get into one of the lounges!
 
I've flown on Qatar, emirates and etihad and there wasn't much between them except the airports. Great planes and service on all.

Dubai has the nicest airport, Qatar is fine if rather sparse, abu dhabi was overcrowded and small. For a 2-3 hour transfer who cares, go for the cheapest.
 
I've flown with Qatar (London-Beijing via Doha) although that was a few years ago. I thought their service and quality was very good. In fact probably one of the better airlines I've flown on.
 
Used Emirates a few time, prob slightly above average, service good, seat comfort variable, the 777s are better than the A340s, even then they manage to get 10 seats across a 777 when most airlines only fit 9
 
Flown to Australia 3 times, twice with Emirates and once with Singapore.

The trips to Oz (In 2007 and 2010) via Emirates where fantastic, I'm quite tall and I found myself quite comfortable in Economy. Flew in an A380 in 2010 and I found it very good. :)

Stopped over in Dubai for a few days both times, only issue with it was going through passport control, It took ages! The people working there just couldn't be bothered at all it seems.

Other than that it was very satisfying, the entertainment had the latest films and TV onboard and the food was very nice.
 
My wife has flown both Emirates and Quatar recently, but in business class.
She says Emirates is better, both in comfort, entertainment and business lounge. She likened Quatar to KLM despite them pitching themselves as an equivalent to Emirates.

In all likelihood they will both be pretty good.
 
Flown from Heathrow to Dubai with Emirates before and it was a great experience. Definitely recommended.
 
Emirates are now my airline of choice regardless of destination, they have cracking service, nice staff, great planes, good food and entertainment systems, when I was on the A380 they allowed someone from economy up to business class on the top deck and we all sung him happy birthday in the skylounge.

Economy is never going to be a great way to travel but it trumps many other airlines offerings, also another point of note is the rewards scheme is also one of the best.
 
Flew with Singapore last year and going with Qatar this year on my annual Aus xmas trip so this thread is interesting. I've got an hour and change stop over in Doha beetween flights on both legs (inbound and outbound from LHR), so interesting to see how long it takes to go beetween the 2.
 
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