I have flown with a number of airlines and I would say Singapore airlines is excellent, recently I used Qantas to go to Hong Kong and the staff were very slack going over coming home the stewards seemed to be doing all the work and were friendly while the women were scruffy and rude. I also agree that if you do need something during the night you never see any one and if you call them very rarely they come. I have use Air New Zealand in the past two years flying from Oz to San Francisco to see my daughter and there service was not bad, at least they were friendly and attentive.

In our local paper today, it listed Singapore Airlines as the best in the world, with an Indian Airline 2nd and our own Air New Zealand 3rd equal with a small airline I had never heard of. I was quite surprised that we listed so highly as I thought we would have quite a lot of competition. I think that Singapore Airlines would have to be the pick of those I have travelled with (Air NZ, Qantas, BA, Singapore Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, and one of the European ones from London to Frankfurt which I can't remember the name of).

Here is the report Flying Kiwi spoke about in the above post.

Air New Zealand has tied for third best carrier in the world, trailing winner Singapore Airlines and Indian carrier Jet Airways.


The airlines were chosen from survey compiled by British consumer magazine Which?

Singapore Airlines carries 18 million passengers a year and won top prize, while India's Jet Airways, about 10 million passengers, was runner-up.

Air New Zealand with 12 million passengers shared third place with Palmair, which operates just one plane, a 34-year-old Boeing 737, which carries just 70,000 passengers a year.

Palmair was founded by British businessman Peter Bath in 1957 and now flies to 14 European destinations, including Spain, Tenerife, Portugal and Croatia, the Guardian newspaper reported

A veteran employee, Teresia Rossello draws out the seating plan for each flight on her kitchen table the night before departure, and greets each passenger arriving back in the UK.

Stewardesses place fresh flowers on the plane every day, and the plane flies daily, but not at night as Bath believed night flights were antisocial.

Which? asked 30,000 consumers about experiences on airlines. They were asked to rate factors such as the cleanliness of the planes, the amount of legroom, the quality of the in-flight meal and the helpfulness of the cabin staff.

Air New Zealand's group general manager international, Ed Sims, told NZPA it was quite refreshing to be ranked in a survey which did not take in into account just the size of the airlines.

"Which? is regarded as a tough advocate for consumers and to be rating highly in such a transparent survey adds extra meaning for us."

Congratulations New Zealand on equal third place, Well done.

quote:

Originally posted by Penny1:
It is that attitude of looking down their noses that I dislike about QANTAS staff. I don't "buzz" for service, I don't ask for drinks until they bring them by in the trolley, and then I ask then for water. However I have found that their demeanour and attitude is of "customers are such a bore".

I have seen the rolling of the eyes and glances of "oh dear" to each other as they emerge from the hide aways. I have never approved of people/staff being so disrespectful in front of customers.

I guess flying and working in an aeroplane would be so much easier if the seats were empty. Dinner would be served faster, trash collection would be minimal, no one would call for service outside of trolley duty, they could rollick all they liked in the galley and they wouldn't have to roll their eyes at each other in mock exasperation.

I guess some/most/all QANTAS staff carry the burden of being wait staff in the air a little more keenly than staff on other airlines and then we bear the brunt of their frustrations.

If Australian airlines want loyalty from Australians they need to deliver a quality, competitive service willingly.

I don't feel guilty at all. Cross, obviously , but not guilty.

You've echoed my sentiments entirely. Last time I flew Qantas, which was in 2001, I vowed never to fly with them again unless necessary........I was terribly thirsty and wanted a drink, so I did the right thing and buzzed for a flight attendant. And buzzed. And buzzed. And buzzed. Finally I wound up going to the galley MYSELF and getting MYSELF a drink! And when they did come around with the trolley service and whatnot, they made it so obvious they'd rather be elsewhere. When I am paying over $2000 for something I darn well want my money's worth.

Have never flown Singapore Air, but have flown Thai, Cathay and Emirates and would not hesitate to fly with these again. I am flying Emirates when visit Dubai and Egypt in September and October.

Goodbye Qantas!!!!!!!!!!!

We flew Emirates for the 5 legs of our trip last year and it was a good experience. I hope you have a good one too Stinkerbelle. The only little niggle hubby had was that on their Airbus from NZ to Dubai he was a little cramped but the rest of the flights were on a Boeing 777 which was better for him. They did provide good service though throughout all the legs of the journey.

NZ Nurse, We also flew 5 legs with Emirates. The airbus is more cramped than the 777. On the last leg, we had an older 777. It had the older TV in the seat, in which you can not start a movie whenever you like. You need to watch it as soon as the crew start the run. Anyway, that actually had more leg room again. When the seat in front was laid back, there was still room. Water is the thing on a flight. Because we could not take water with us (100ml rule) we carried an empty water bottle and asked the crew to fill it up. This way we had water all the way through. We learned this after 14 hours of waiting for water to be bought around.

All airlines have their good and bad flights I am certain. We flew with Singapore on our last trip and whilst 3 of the 'legs' were good, well as good as can be expected in economy seats , the leg from Paris to Singapore was horrible. The airconditioning seemed to be wrong and the flight was boiling. Instead of snuggling under a blanket and trying to sleep we spent the whole 12 and half hours fanning ourselve. The cutlery was filthy- actually came out of those sealed plastic bags dirty, the stewards indifferent- a complete contrast to the excellent service on other flights and we were constantly thirsty from lack of drinks being brought around. My partners earphones did not work and he ended up going back to where the staff were and getting a new set himself after asking about 3 times to no effect. I was really surprised given their excellent reputaion and it may have been a one off. For the first time in my life I was tempted to write a complaint- I am normally quite easy to please. If that had been my only experience with Singapore airlines I would never fly with them again. But as I said 3 out of 4 flights were great so I will give them another go. I guess this is what happens though when someones first experience of TT does not live up to their expectations. It would put you off going again. Even the best companies have off times I guess.

You just have to smile a bit at security though.They search your bags for nailfiles or scissors. They make you remove your belt and shoes to go through the metal detector. Real thorough check !
Then when you get on the plane, you are issued with a metal knife and fork ! For goodness sake ! I think you can be more of a threat to the pilot with a knife , than with the tabs on a shoe lace !!!

They also give you the chance to purchase a bottle of inflammable liquid which once broken over someone's head is a lot scarier than a simple knife!

They call it duty free alcohol.

I am interested to see how I fare going through security with my brand new artificial hip made out of titanium. I will bet that it will set off all kinds of bells and whistles. I sure hope the security people will not want to see my scar!!!!!!

Re security -
Last year we took our 22 year old sons to Sydney for the week-end.
Prior to leaving my son said he had something to tell me - he had a tongue stud - and was worried that it might set off the metal detectors - it didn't.
I asked how long he had had it - he said approx. 4 weeks and I hadn't even noticed, neither had his father.
My excuse is that he is 6'4" and I'm only 5'2" and I can't see into his mouth when he speaks.
Even now it is not all that noticeable.

quote:

Originally posted by NYJudy:
I am interested to see how I fare going through security with my brand new artificial hip made out of titanium. I will bet that it will set off all kinds of bells and whistles. I sure hope the security people will not want to see my scar!!!!!!

Judy ~ As you know my husband had this op. late last year. His specialist gave him a card to show at airport (& other) security gates. We will be testing it out on our trip to the U.S. in September.

I will let you know the outcome.

quote:

Originally posted by rmcrf:
Re security -
- he had a tongue stud - and was worried that it might set off the metal detectors - and I can't see into his mouth when he speaks.
Even now it is not all that noticeable.

rmcrf:

Those studs can be found on just about every part of the anatomy. I thought they were removeable - am I wrong?

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by NYJudy:
I am interested to see how I fare going through security with my brand new artificial hip made out of titanium. I will bet that it will set off all kinds of bells and whistles. I sure hope the security people will not want to see my scar!!!!!!

Hmmm I'd like to know if they have to be quite so thorough scanning my underwire.