Post: #51

For me, the Asian airlines are top notch - Cathay, Malaysian, Thai, Singapore.

Chinese airlines are so so.

Emirates is ok.

Qantas is very good. All the euro airlines are nothing special and often expensive.

Turkish airlines is very nice overall and the prices are good and Pegasus (out of Istanbul) prices are even better.

http://www.flypgs.com/en/default.aspx

Post: #52

Bangkok Airways- BKK to PP, Cambodia
Great flight. The competition is fierce amongst BKK Airways and ThaiAirways. The flight was about 70 minutes I think and I got a full meal. Of course the worldclass Thai friendly service. The seats were ok. I forget the size of the plane but I sat around row 28 which was close to the back. The food was straight for such a short flight. Coffee, tea, and water are all given. I dont think they offered any juice. The attendents were all young and white. Thai and their colorist shit. Beautiful though but they don't have time to bullshit with you. Overall great service.

I've also flown Thai Airways to Samui and Cambodia Air from PP to BKK. All are about the same.

Post: #53

Emirates all the way baby.

*A380s
*Warm Towels
*Snazzy uniforms
*Dubai homebase
*Boarding music video

Listen to the Emirates music video, the soft sweet trippy Arabic notes, see the hot stewardesses, and look at the A380, the worlds biggest baddest passenger jet, pierce the clouds, beautiful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3qJa94nYwM

Post: #54

I have yet to fly any Asian Airines so the best so far had to be Turkish Airlines. I'm 6'3 and their economy class gave me quite a bit of room. Best thing about them is that they have some crazy deals flying from the East Coast to Istanbul.

Post: #55

Air New Zealand is my favorite carrier on the planet. Star Alliance member, luggage is free including surfboards, booze flows, food is decent for an airline, the stewardesses are attractive and friendly, in-flight entertainment is top-notch, and they're usually one of the cheapest options for the routes they fly, including hauls like LAX-LHR.

I will never set foot on TACA again.

Post: #56

Royal Jordanian is pretty good. Nice planes, good inflight entertainment systems, good looking attendants. Might be my favorite overall.

But I like the food on Turkish more than any other airline.

FlyDubai is ok unless something goes wrong, like an equipment problem or weather delay. Then everything falls apart because they have inadequate numbers of staff and equipment. Dubai Terminal 2 is a circle of hell. Also watch out for baggage charges - they soak you if you don't pay in advance on-line for a checked bag.

Emirates, Qatar and Etihad are also very good.

Kuwait Airways is surprisingly shabby, old equipment, not that great service.

Gulf Air is not that great.

Iraqi Airways has flexible schedules - meaning they take off when they're ready. They get the job done, though.

Post: #57

Curious to read more about your experience with them. While doing some pre-eliminary searches on flying to Central America, Taca airline has come up quite a few times. So please do tell us more about your negative experience about them!

(04-20-2013 12:10 PM)lurker Wrote:  I will never set foot on TACA again.

Post: #58

i go back and forth from asian to east coast us a few times a year. i always go with an asian airline, especially japan airlines or cathay. a little pricier but worth it. i did san fran to beijing with united and it was horrible. shitty food, bad service, no entertainment.
cathay and jal are almost the same, except japanese people are way better than chinese so other passengers are never a problem

Post: #59

(04-21-2013 07:25 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Curious to read more about your experience with them. While doing some pre-eliminary searches on flying to Central America, Taca airline has come up quite a few times. So please do tell us more about your negative experience about them!

(04-20-2013 12:10 PM)lurker Wrote:  I will never set foot on TACA again.

They charged me a ridiculous fee for carrying boards that was different than what I was told when I bought the ticket, badly dinged them both ways, then kept claiming they never received the paperwork when I filed a damaged luggage claim. I also got sick after eating the in-flight meal, but that may have been just from being in South America and not specifically TACA's fault.

Post: #60

Seems like guys here liked Turkish airlines. I am looking for a cheap ticket on Star Alliance to Poland/Ukraine and it comes up as one of the cheaper tickets. Aeroflot is cheaper but no status. Anyone have a recent experience with them or somehow layover for a day to look around while keeping the ticket cheap?

Post: #61

Most of my airlines have already been spoken about, but I'll add El Al.

Good food (for an airline), decent leg room, decent entertainment. Beats United by 10 miles.

Post: #62

Generally, I always fly AA, or Oneworld alliance members, due to loyalty. I have never had any real problems at all and have yet to get my bags lost or something else. Then again, I am pretty patient with these sort of things. My experience is on Busi/First and has always been good but sometimes you do get an older plane that has very bad busi/first accommodations but this is all being upgraded.

Outside of this the only real complaint is 2 of the Ryanair planes I flew in smelled like fish, which I hear is common.

Post: #63

I hate giving Muslim governments my money but I always travel Emirates if I can.

I see it as like paying the mob security money...nobody's gonna go blowing up the airline of the biggest sponsors of terrorism in the World are they??

Post: #64

Shout out to EVA airlines, Houston-Taipei new polar route (just started in July 2015) with some light chop.

Comfortable economy seats on the Hello Kitty themed 777-300ER. Flight attendants all young women, slim and feminine eye candy, surgically efficient at their jobs, half with smiles and half without smiles.

They don't let you die of thirst like other airlines. When an attendant passes by I could flag her down and ask for a cup of water. She gets one to me in less than 1 minute without any hint of rudeness or contempt. Hydrating properly makes a HUGE difference in a 16 hour flight.

Wasn't impressed with the food, though. Qatar airlines had much better food.

I'm calling it mostly a tie between Qatar and EVA in terms of overall quality for the price, but advantage goes to EVA because the trip to Asia is much shorter for me.

Post: #65

I don't fly much but another +1 to Turkish Airlines. Good service and pretty decent food even for economy class. They also have some great deals from the East coast as mentioned earlier.

Post: #66

I just had a hell of a time deciding how I should get to Hong Kong.

Lately I have been doing all my long hauls to Asia on the 787 (with JAL and ANA) and I have become reliant on the great cabin pressure. The downside is I have to transfer in Japan, so one stop.

Cathay and Air Canada are direct on the 777. Its a 13.5 hour flight though, and I'm flying economy and I usually hit my limit at around 8-9 hours. Upside is obvious, non stop both good planes (777 has a bit more room in economy) and Cathay is good service and AC is good too.

In the end I went with JAL again. I was planning to stay over in Tokyo for a few days but timing is not on my side with Christmas coming up and all. Too bad. I have never had a bad experience with JAL, however the planes all seem rammed full for some reason.

Post: #67

Just flew Qatar biz from Amsterdam to BKK at around $1.5k return. Superb service onboard, nice lounges and new planes (787 and A380). If you catch their sale and position yourself in Amsterdam, Oslo or Stockholm then the fares can be outstanding. I live in London and just by making a short Easyjet hop across to one of these airports you can effectively fly biz for a close to economy fare. For instance I booked Stockholm to HK last week for $1.3k in May. If you smash a couple of bottles of Krug on the plane / lounge then your pretty close to breaking even on that deal...:-)

Arrived in HK last night from BKK on Emirates biz. Notch down on Qatar although the onboard bar is cool. Gorgeous EE crew on the flight. If I had my time again then the career to follow for top-end clunge would be a male steward flying Emirates. Reckon you'd be smashing quality on a very regular basis.

Post: #68

Jet Blue -- It's a nice friendly airline. It's best for flying in and out of New York. Seats are comfortable. I've only had one round trip on them.

Southwest--I like open seating. If you don't like it, fly with someone else. I've generally had better seats on Southwest than on anyone else. It's also the airline that most American pilots and flight attendants want to work for. And I always know I'm getting a Boeing 737--that's their only plane.

Frontier--I only have a little experience, they're nice as well. They fly in and out of Denver.

United--Lots of people bash United, but I haven't had a bad experience with them. I did prefer Continental to them, and many Continental employees were upset when the merger happened. I found service to be good either way.

Delta--I've only flown with them on a round trip once, and my experience was fine. They were old planes though. My only really bad experience was with Northwest though, which merged with them a few years ago.

American--I've almost always had headachers or ears popping for hours after flights with them. They also spend the most time and money lobbying. As a result, I haven't flown with them since 2006.

I've heard good things about Alaska, but I've never flown on them. I've never flown on any foreign airlines.

Post: #69

JAL supposedly has 34 inch leg room in economy.

Post: #70

(11-12-2015 06:43 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  Shout out to EVA airlines, Houston-Taipei new polar route (just started in July 2015) with some light chop.

Comfortable economy seats on the Hello Kitty themed 777-300ER. Flight attendants all young women, slim and feminine eye candy, surgically efficient at their jobs, half with smiles and half without smiles.

They don't let you die of thirst like other airlines. When an attendant passes by I could flag her down and ask for a cup of water. She gets one to me in less than 1 minute without any hint of rudeness or contempt. Hydrating properly makes a HUGE difference in a 16 hour flight.

Wasn't impressed with the food, though. Qatar airlines had much better food.

I'm calling it mostly a tie between Qatar and EVA in terms of overall quality for the price, but advantage goes to EVA because the trip to Asia is much shorter for me.

Good to hear. I'm flying EVA in February. Also changed my return date at no cost.

In Mexico

VivaAerobus. Low cost. Good for a quick flight. Really bad leg room.

Interjet Not expensive either but slightly more. Really good leg room, which is the most important for me.

Volaris Also low cost, very slow to check in bags in DF. Bad room leg room.

All these companies are fairly new, so all new and clean planes. All my flights here were the smoothest Ive been on in any country in the air.

I cant fly American anymore, there always some kind of issue every time I have. Ive been doing strictly with United recently. They had satalite tv on one of the jets back from Houston. Was able to watch the world series.

Norwegian was pretty good in Europe for short flights. All new fleet i think.

Post: #71

Some recent reviews:

Japan Airlines Flown F, Business and Economy long-haul from the US to NRT on the 777 and Business and Economy both regionally and long-haul on the 787. I've had a consistent level of happiness that exceeded my initial expectations. JAL's F long-haul product is among the best in the world, bar none. Business is solid but a notch below Cathay. Economy is livable as well, though I prefer ANA's long-haul economy, especially on the 787. JAL's cabins are humid, which is great for a flight, though hot. Perhaps the best deal in travel is NRT's micro hotel smack in the middle of T-2. An affordable 700Yen/hour for a room makes flying economy bearable if on a layover there.

Cathay Pacific Flown F and business long-haul from the US to HKG on the 777. Start to finish, probably the most professional airline in the world. F is excellent, though I prefer JAL. Business class is better than most F cabins outside of Asia. Lounges are excellent - beautiful and functional. HKG is a dream airport to fly through.

ANA Quick note on their 787 economy cabin. Found it to be the best economy experience I've ever had. Flew medium-haul with them, ~5.5 hour flight.

Thai Enjoyed business class on the 787 short haul, not so much on the 380 BKK-CDG. The 380 just falls flat to me. Service was indifferent as well.

Air Berlin A surprisingly solid business class. TXL-JFK. Found it to be on par with BA for trans-atlantic trips. Comfortable lay-flat seats. Enjoyable though unspectacular meals. TXL itself needs work and is perhaps the world's worst semi-hub airport.

Post: #72

I flew Aeroflot recently. I burned all my points for business class. It was ok. All the movies on the plane that were Russian had no friggin subtitles!

The lounge in Moscow sucked balls.

The one cool thing about business (for the ego part) was I took my time getting my shit and as soon as I was ready to leave the plane, the stewardess stopped all economy passengers from moving until I left the plane.

On one of the connections the plane did not stop at a gate and we needed a bus. I was no biggie, as I stepped down there was a business class shuttle.

Post: #73

By far, the two best airlines that I have taken have been Virgin and Cathay Pacific

I took Virgin from New York to London on my way to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I have nothing but excellent marks for this airline. The plane was nice and modern and the in-flight entertainment was on point. I had the opportunity to watch good movies and munch on tasty food. The thing that stood out to me was how genuinely nice the Virgin staff was. I experienced nothing but friendly smiles from the counter staff to the stewardesses. I usually don't sleep on planes but I felt so comfortable that I did

Cathay Pacific- New York->Vancouver->Manila. I had a top notch experience with Cathay and would recommend them to everyone going to Asia.

Post: #74

Speaking of safety videos, I didn't like United's new video where they made a plane out of paper and then showed the exists and life rafts. They thought they were being cute and artsy, but the last thing I want to think about is a plane that is made out of paper.

Post: #75

Seems like alot of wealthy travelers in this thread.
I have never ever paid for a business class flight, let alone first class. It has always been on price and I really don't care how I am transported there. For budget I would recommend air asia which is usually pretty decent.
Would I folk out double that price to fly Thai or Cathy or dragon when I can get to the same destination usually at same speed？ no freaking way. air asia usually has more destinations too, so is rynair and easyjet.

I remember once flying to Brazil from Paris on a air morroco plane that was something like a small a320 or 767 and seem like that they couldn't reach enough range. But somehow they figured it out from Casablanca and I didnt really mind it compared to air France flying direct. Ya the Casablanca airport is abit small and strange in design but so what?

I would rather spend the extra hundred or thousand on drinks or clubs.