Different flights, different experiences
Thanks to the corporate career, I have been fortunate to have traveled to many parts of the world. What often discomforted me with the long distance travels of over 15 hours in flight was the fear of being sitting at one place — not much leg room, not being able to relax the body and walk around the aisle space.
During one of my trips to Seattle, I was traveling Emirates with a few of my colleagues. We all got upgraded to business travel. That was my first experience traveling in this premium segment. And whoa — what a difference it made. I landed over feeling fresh and much more relaxed. At Google, I have been fortunate that the company allows us to book a flight in any segment, provided it fits the caps. And most of the times, all of us are able to fit the bill for the business class.
I now have the experience of traveling business in 5 different airlines. And I found a lot of differences in each of these. Besides Emirates, I have experienced business travel in Air India, Singapore Airlines. And traveling today in Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon, I wanted to look back and compare what I liked in each of those.
Ok, so the first thing it is about the dimensions that matter in this comparison. Business class offers us a wide variety of benefits. But it is up to every individual on which benefit matters the most. If you are a foodie, you will judge an airline by the food assortment. If you are a movie buff, your most important parameter will be the freshness and variety of movies they have to offer in the in-flight entertainment. And so on.
I mostly travel sleeping and hence for me the bed alignment and the comfort of the bedding is extremely important. If the seat does not fully flatten out, it gets uncomfortable. And that makes a lot of difference in how I land. I found Air India’s and Emirates seats to be fully reclining and the best in those I have traveled. I have heard horror stories of seats not reclining in Air India for many people, but my personal experience has always been comfortable with AI. I also like the think blanket that AI provides, unlike the thin sheet I got today in Cathay. Plus, sometimes some airlines do not well maintain the flight temperatures which makes me feel nauseous and that is a no-go for such long flights.
Food wise again, AI and Emirates suited my palettes the most. Though I mostly prefer to eat light when flying and hence this isn’t an important criterion for me as the seats. AI once served me non-veg food mistakenly, and that has meant I am careful when consuming anything on that flight. Emirates not just offered a wide menu but they actually had the assortment available. I was totally awed by it, as it would have been costly for the airline to be able to serve so much variety.
If there is one parameter which everyone cares about and is almost a hygiene, it would also be the quality of the washrooms and the toiletries. I found Emirates win here. Not just are the washrooms well maintained but also the toiletries are top-notch. I have often kept the vanity kits they provide for some time, simply because the products were too good.
Emirates was the only airline which not just said they offer in-flight wifi but the wifi actually worked. The other airlines either don’t claim to provide one (e.g. — Air India) or claim but the wifi did not work (e.g. — Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific)
I found air hostesses on each flight responsive. Though the hostess on the Singapore Airlines went out of their way to strike conversations. This may or may not be generalized, since in total I have traveled four such legs on Singapore airlines.
I cannot compare the quality of movies as I hardly watch them much.
I also love the fact that Emirates provides airport pick up and drop; which I am not sure if any other airline does.
For most of us, the length of the travel, the number of hops are equally important. And there is no way to pick one airline which will win here always. For example, the last time I traveled to Tokyo, it took me 14 hours; compared to 10.5 hours today. For that reason, I like direct flights and always prefer them over the one-hop ones. But for some people, the preference is to stop mid-way than go non-stop.
Business travels are often long and there are a lot of unknowns. It is equally important that should something unpleasant happen, the airline is your best friend to claim insurance, etc. I have not had an extremely bad experience with any airline to be able to comment or compare on this dimension.
I have a bias for AI also because I can easily use the points I get on it to book my domestic flights. Compared to that, I can hardly use the points I get on Emirates. Singapore airlines falls somewhere in between as I hope to be able to redeem them on some personal travel on that airline.
All in all, I have been fortunate to have had these experiences in the first place. And lucky to be able to write this note. I have loved Emirates and would rate it the best among the ones I have traveled — food, comfort, hospitality. AI is a close second, followed by Singapore Airlines and finally Cathay. If not for AI being non-stop from my home town and also giving quite usable points without loosing on the basics of comfort; I would have picked Emirates every time I flew to the US.
Thoughts on any parameter I missed? Different experience with any of these airlines?
