NationStates Jolt Archive

I apologize for the limited options, and intend no bias toward the West... but, well, I am from the West and have had extremely limited experience with airlines of Africa and the East.

If you've had great service or an otherwise generally good time on an eastern airline, please share it with us.

At any rate, please vote and discuss -- which is your favorite airline?

Sabena was great, but they went out of business a couple of years ago.

I really like KLM though.

I quite like Lufthansa, it's slightly better than BA at any rate.

I don't fly enough to have a favorite (though I want to try out JetBlue), but I have a most hated--Continental. No fare will be low enough for me to fly them ever again.

BA are shit. They can't even organise vegetarian options for long flights. My friend repeatly phoned them to make sure they knew to get that she wanted the vegetarian option as they'd made a mistake on the outward flight. But they still fuck it up and she had to wait till the plane landed in Yerevan for passengers before they could get her a vegetarian meal.

BA are shit. They can't even organise vegetarian options for long flights. My friend repeatly phoned them to make sure they knew to get that she wanted the vegetarian option as they'd made a mistake on the outward flight. But they still fuck it up and she had to wait till the plane landed in Yerevan for passengers before they could get her a vegetarian meal.

Yeah, they couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery. That's why I prefer Lufthansa.

Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines are good.

malaysian airlines is the best i've been on.

Yeah, they couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery. That's why I prefer Lufthansa.I've never flown Luftwaffe... sorry I mean Lufthansa, but that's what the name always reminds me off. Probably because Luft means air or something in German. I've only ever flown cheap economy flights over than BA. And I find them good enough. Nice and cheap too.

I had a good experience with Delta recently.

Alaska Airlines was HORRIBLE. Six hour cross-country flight with NO food (not even snack), NO in flight movie or even radio, horrible seats with little to no padding, and a rude staff.

Northwest Airlines used to be great, but is now one of the worst I've ever flown. Out of the last 5 flights I've taken with Northwest, they've lost or mishandled my luggage 3 times. The service is terrible, too.

EasyJet kicks ass. Every time I've flown with them, I've managed to sit on the front row, so leg room's not a problem, and they have cute stewardesses. And it's cheap.

I've heard good things about Virgin, although I've never flown with them myself. BA has been good when I've been with them.

Of all the airlines I've flown with, however, Swiss Air has been the best.

ive never flown before...:(

ive never flown before...:(

I laugh at you...

I haven't flown with too many airlines, so I can't really make a decision. But I can tell you, avoid Air France at all costs, pack of total wankers

(Not bitter, am I)

I've heard good things about Virgin, although I've never flown with them myself.I've heard that too, but I also hear they're quite pricey. EasyJet are great considering the low costs and convenience that they provide. In terms of long haul flights, BA are fine, but I thought American Airlines were great when I flew with them - truly excellent service, and a second-to-none in-flight entertainment system. So they got my vote.

I haven't flown with too many airlines, so I can't really make a decision. But I can tell you, avoid Air France at all costs, pack of total wankers

(Not bitter, am I)
I flew on an Air France jet back from India. It was the nicest flight ever. Good wine, pretty girls as flight attendants, okay food, and really good wine.

I've never flown Luftwaffe... sorry I mean Lufthansa, but that's what the name always reminds me off. Probably because Luft means air or something in German. I've only ever flown cheap economy flights over than BA. And I find them good enough. Nice and cheap too.

Luft = air.

Luftwaffe = Air-fighters

Lufthansa = Air-travel (I think)

I had a good experience with Delta recently.

Alaska Airlines was HORRIBLE. Six hour cross-country flight with NO food (not even snack), NO in flight movie or even radio, horrible seats with little to no padding, and a rude staff.

Northwest Airlines used to be great, but is now one of the worst I've ever flown. Out of the last 5 flights I've taken with Northwest, they've lost or mishandled my luggage 3 times. The service is terrible, too.

Yeah, I've heard Northwest referred to as Northworst.

I flew on an Air France jet back from India. It was the nicest flight ever. Good wine, pretty girls as flight attendants, okay food, and really good wine.

Yeah, it was great when I actually got on my flight, 24 hours later than scheduled and anothr $600 for a ticket, because they refused me boarding, saying I was late, even though I arrived 5 minutes before the doors were scheduled to close. In fact, they only started to shut the doors when I arrived. I was totally convinced my luggage (I was moving to the US at the time, so there was a lot) was gone with them, but they never put it on the plane. When I complained, they brushed me off. I want to sue their arses...

I quite like Lufthansa, it's slightly better than BA at any rate.

Lufthansa is ridiculously overpriced and crappy.

The nicest airline I ever flew with was British Midlands (but that was in the mid-90s), the friendliest and most competent was Air Canada, but my favourite would still be Aer Lingus. Affordable, reliable, and frequent flights to anywhere in Germany.

Am I the only one who still thinks "It's the safest airline, they never had a crash!" when they hear Quantas, just based on Dustin Hoffman's ramblings in Rainman?

Please don't say yes, it'll only make me feel old. :S

Lufthansa is ridiculously overpriced and crappy.

The nicest airline I ever flew with was British Midlands (but that was in the mid-90s), the friendliest and most competent was Air Canada, but my favourite would still be Aer Lingus. Affordable, reliable, and frequent flights to anywhere in Germany.

BMI are pretty decent, and I'd fly Aer Lingus any day over Ryanair (they're infamy has even reached the ears of Americans over here!), but I'd still rate Aer Lingus as mediocre to OK. Their customer service is decent enough though, and they're really helpful with disabled passengers

I fly a lot and with many different airlines, so from my experience so far the best Airlines I have flown with are Finnair and Blue1. Both have extremely helpful, professional and curteous cabin staff, the food on Blue1 is really good, Finnair is a bit strange especially their sandwiches.
As for the worst KLMuk now KLM cityhopper because of their delays, cancellations and loosing my lugagge repeatedly.
Now having a baby daughter has opened up a whole new world of appalling service from airlines, top of the list has to be Air Berlin. On one flight after asking a stewardess for assistance to put our bags in an overhead locker as I was finding it difficult while holding a baby, to be told to do it myself it wasn't her problem. Another flight I asked for assistance repeatedly from cabin crew both in English and German, I was ignored and one stewardess actually pushed me against a wall. Now you may think I was being obnoxious or something to receive such treatment. Not so, my fellow passengers where so appalled that the nearest ones all got up and were helping me. I have had 2 good flights with Air Berlin, but the bad times outweigh the good so I will never fly them again.

I fly a lot and with many different airlines, so from my experience so far the best Airlines I have flown with are Finnair and Blue1. Both have extremely helpful, professional and curteous cabin staff, the food on Blue1 is really good, Finnair is a bit strange especially their sandwiches.
As for the worst KLMuk now KLM cityhopper because of their delays, cancellations and loosing my lugagge repeatedly.
Now having a baby daughter has opened up a whole new world of appalling service from airlines, top of the list has to be Air Berlin. On one flight after asking a stewardess for assistance to put our bags in an overhead locker as I was finding it difficult while holding a baby, to be told to do it myself it wasn't her problem. Another flight I asked for assistance repeatedly from cabin crew both in English and German, I was ignored and one stewardess actually pushed me against a wall. Now you may think I was being obnoxious or something to receive such treatment. Not so, my fellow passengers where so appalled that the nearest ones all got up and were helping me. I have had 2 good flights with Air Berlin, but the bad times outweigh the good so I will never fly them again.


Geez! Pushed by a stewardess? With witnesses? I would have pressed assault charges against them! Especally if you had the baby!

On our flight back to the US, one of the stewards called the people around him white trash. They were all walking down the plane, collecting rubbish near the end of the flight, and he called out: 'Trash, trash, white trash, trash...' all the way down the plane. If we weren't rushing to catch our connecting flight (which we missed and it was the last one that night) we would have made a complaint!

I laugh at you...

*smack*

[QUOTE=Krakozha]Geez! Pushed by a stewardess? With witnesses? I would have pressed assault charges against them! Especally if you had the baby!

I was sort of working for the airline at the time, so complained informally, total waste of time, really should have done it through legal channels. Especially as there were witnesses and I was holding my baby at the time.

BMI are pretty decent, and I'd fly Aer Lingus any day over Ryanair (they're infamy has even reached the ears of Americans over here!), but I'd still rate Aer Lingus as mediocre to OK. Their customer service is decent enough though, and they're really helpful with disabled passengers

Well, the one thing that puts Aer Lingus above all others in my eyes are their prices. Generally lower than Ryanair if your traveling to the continent (which I frequently do), with more destinations than Ryanair, and more comfortable than Ryanair.

And we are talking prices of around 350-400 Euro with Lufthansa and 40-80 Euros with Aer Lingus ...

info:

http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/home/qualifier-region-au

http://www.aa.com/

http://www.united.com/

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/globalgateway.jsp/global/public/en_

http://www.airfrance.us/cgi-bin/AF/US/en/local/home/home/homepage.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0850057392.1145373581@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfaddhighedjgcefecekedgfndflh.0

http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/LH_COM?ctest=67591774552

http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp

http://www.klm.com/travel/klm_splash/splashpage.html

http://www.alitaliausa.com/

http://www.other.com/

hehe

Well, the one thing that puts Aer Lingus above all others in my eyes are their prices. Generally lower than Ryanair if your traveling to the continent (which I frequently do), with more destinations than Ryanair, and more comfortable than Ryanair.

And we are talking prices of around 350-400 Euro with Lufthansa and 40-80 Euros with Aer Lingus ...

how far can one travel on Aer Lingus for 80 Euros?

info:

http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/home/qualifier-region-au

http://www.aa.com/

http://www.united.com/

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/globalgateway.jsp/global/public/en_

http://www.airfrance.us/cgi-bin/AF/US/en/local/home/home/homepage.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0850057392.1145373581@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfaddhighedjgcefecekedgfndflh.0

http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/LH_COM?ctest=67591774552

http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp

http://www.klm.com/travel/klm_splash/splashpage.html

http://www.alitaliausa.com/

http://www.other.com/

hehe

I went to other.com- wtf? Lol

Am I the only one who still thinks "It's the safest airline, they never had a crash!" when they hear Quantas, just based on Dustin Hoffman's ramblings in Rainman?

Please don't say yes, it'll only make me feel old. :S
If I wasnt an Aussie, I probably would. Awesome movie, to bad tom cruise is in it.

Eh, Ryanair?

how far can one travel on Aer Lingus for 80 Euros?

2 hours. Dublin - Frankfurt, and Dublin - Berlin

United: NEVER AGAIN. They are late, lost/misplaced my luggage 4 times on one trip.

Northwest: Not bad. I like the Detroit terminal :D

American: makes you pay for the snacks?! But the seats are comfy. They also pay handsomely for giving up your seat on a plane.

Midwest: Warm chocolate chip cookies and extra comfy chairs for all!! Their smaller routes suck because they are flown on props, but I suppose that's the nature of the beast.

Luft = air.

Luftwaffe = Air-fighters

Lufthansa = Air-travel (I think)
I think hansa is after the Hansa trade organsiation in the 17th or so century, mainly working in the Baltic Sea...

I've only flown with SAS and Ryanair, and the most comfortable one was definantly SAS. Since I've never paid for a flight, that's what I've cared about :)

Edit: My sisters boyfriend works for AerLingus, but I think he's quiting. Lousy boss, apparently.

American: makes you pay for the snacks?! But the seats are comfy. They also pay handsomely for giving up your seat on a plane.


Yeah, I noticed that! My husband was offered $600 is flight vouchers or $400 in cash for taking a flight the next morning instead of the flight he took. If it wasn't for the fact that he HAD to be back in Ireland by the next day, he would have taken the cash! Seriously! It's practically a free transatlantic flight if you take the vouchers!

2 hours. Dublin - Frankfurt, and Dublin - Berlin

wow, Ireland to Germany... for less than $100

that sounds like a pretty good deal.

they don't force-feed corned beef and cabbage for lunch, do they?

hehe

United: NEVER AGAIN. They are late, lost/misplaced my luggage 4 times on one trip.

Northwest: Not bad. I like the Detroit terminal :D

American: makes you pay for the snacks?! But the seats are comfy. They also pay handsomely for giving up your seat on a plane.

Midwest: Warm chocolate chip cookies and extra comfy chairs for all!! Their smaller routes suck because they are flown on props, but I suppose that's the nature of the beast.

I had to walk about a mile at Detroit on one occasion. lol

think it was the H terminal.

There's a little airline i use to go from here to Milwaukee -- Midwest Connect (part of Midwest Airlines). Anyhow, they had (fairly) fresh brownies for the in-flight snack. There were maybe 10 people on board, and i hadn't eaten all day, so I got 4 or 5 of them.

Sis and I took Delta into Paris and out of Rome when we did our Euro thing a few years ago.

I don't remember what airline we were on for our school trip to Prague. Well wait... we flew into Frankfurt, and then from Frankfurt to Prague on Lufthansa. THAT was cool... we were offered salami or cheese sandwiches.

Air New Zealand.. Grown up flying with them. The obvious choice for me.

One of my students (Japanese business exec.) reckons Emirates is the best, and I'm inclined to go with that just on what I know about them.

Of the ones I've flown myself, JAL or Singapore are the best.

I've flown JAL a few times, and they have nice roomy seats (I could lay full down in my economy class seat). I've only flow Sinagpore once, and the had the best service.

ANA has pretty good service.

KAL was just OK.

Of the US airlines:
American was OK - decent service, individual movies
United only slightly sucked - so-so service and food, typical small US airline cattle car seating
Northwest was god awful - horribly rude, rude, rude service - last time my my ex-girlfriend flew on them, a flight attendant told her to move out of her aisle seat so he could put his bag in the seat! The seat he moved her to had a broken headset. :mad: Plus they ran out of drinking water half way back to Japan on my last flight. Then there was the early bird flight "breakfast" going out of Houston. I only fly Northworst when there's no other choice and someone else pays. I'd rather not fly than pay for that shit service ever again.
Southwest is OK - I loved flying on them as a kid going out to visit my granparents, but it's been ages, so I don't know what they're like now. At least I've heard good things.

I went to other.com- wtf? Lol

...i wanted to post the URL for each poll option... and didn't want to leave out "Other". hehe

One of my students (Japanese business exec.) reckons Emirates is the best, and I'm inclined to go with that just on what I know about them.

Of the ones I've flown myself, JAL or Singapore are the best.

I've flown JAL a few times, and they have nice roomy seats (I could lay full down in my economy class seat). I've only flow Sinagpore once, and the had the best service.

ANA has pretty good service.

KAL was just OK.

Of the US airlines:
American was OK - decent service, individual movies
United only slightly sucked - so-so service and food, typical small US airline cattle car seating
Northwest was god awful - horribly rude, rude, rude service - last time my my ex-girlfriend flew on them, a flight attendant told her to move out of her aisle seat so he could put his bag in the seat! The seat he moved her to had a broken headset. :mad: Plus they ran out of drinking water half way back to Japan on my last flight. Then there was the early bird flight "breakfast" going out of Houston. I only fly Northworst when there's no other choice and someone else pays. I'd rather not fly than pay for that shit service ever again.
Southwest is OK - I loved flying on them as a kid going out to visit my granparents, but it's been ages, so I don't know what they're like now. At least I've heard good things.

is it 2:37am there?

Where's the "they all suck" option?

is it 2:37am there?

You're about an hour off - 1:37 when I posted that.... (Nice random question though. :D)

Of the ones I've flown, I'd have to say British Airways.

From all the airlines on which I've traveled almost all Star-Alliance members are good (United was my least favorite). Lufthansa is still my favorite and most solid choice.
Best service was on Singapore Airlines (Hello airhostesses :D:D:D)
Worst service was on a British Airways flight.

Biggest question though - where have all the peanuts gone?!?

I really enjoy peanuts with my beer!

I've always had it good with Air Berlin, despite them being a cheap airline. Always good, on time and very nice sandwiches :D

Probably, Cathay Pacific.

Certainly the most attractive staff I've ever had. But I've only flown with them once, so it could have been luck.

The main thing is to not fly in the cattle class..

Emirates, deffinetly. I've never been on such an awesome airlines. Now, British Airways comes in a close second, but it's just not as good. However, this is from the Business Class perspective, and I have to say BA economy on a 9 hour flight is NOT

Air Canada.



Just kidding. WestJet is pretty darn snazzy with TVs and all that jazz.

Theres no "best", but air transat is the worst.

Luft = air.

Luftwaffe = Air-fighters

Lufthansa = Air-travel (I think)
No. its really means air-company

Meh, I don't have a favourite airline. My favourite flying memory is from when I was little, on a flight on what is now a long defunct airline (I believe it was called US Africa Airways). It was a looong flight (Johannesburg to Washington Dulles), and during some down time when most of the passengers were sleeping one of the flight attendants sat down with me to colour and play cat's cradle. :D

Air Canada.


Ha. You mean Air Bankrupt.

Singapore and Emirates.

I've had a little experience with the Chinese domestic ones as well, they're just like any other cheap carrier.

No. its really means air-company
"Waffe" means "weapon". So literally, the Luftwaffe means "air weapon".

Lufthansa is a little bit more tricky. Air company is pretty close, but the word Hansa really comes from the "Hanse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanse)", a trade federation that used to rule much of North-Eastern Europe.

So my personal translation would be "air fleet".

You're about an hour off - 1:37 when I posted that.... (Nice random question though. :D)

hehe

i reserve the right to hijack my own thread. j/k mods.

Qantas, best safety record in the business.

From all the airlines on which I've traveled almost all Star-Alliance members are good (United was my least favorite). Lufthansa is still my favorite and most solid choice.
Best service was on Singapore Airlines (Hello airhostesses :D:D:D)
Worst service was on a British Airways flight.

Biggest question though - where have all the peanuts gone?!?

I really enjoy peanuts with my beer!

yeah...

how about food?

I can imagine what the food might be like on some european and most American flights... at any rate, what's the food service like on BA, Air France, Alitalia, Qantas, some of the others that have been mentioned here?

Ha. You mean Air Bankrupt.
Is Air Canada in dire straits? I hope it'll be flying for, say, seven more months -- I intend to visit Alberta in November.

Air India > got to love the templates of the Taj Mahel around the windows.
Areoflot> the finger prints dug into the head rest in front of you just inspire confidence.
;)

I don't fly enough to have a favorite (though I want to try out JetBlue), but I have a most hated--Continental. No fare will be low enough for me to fly them ever again.

JetBlue has been fantastic everytime I've flown with them. They're cheap tickets, easy to book, and I haven't ever had a bad experience (and they're normally a last minute flight option for me, yet they make it super easy even when I'm booking a day or two before).

Frontier was an excellent flight to Mexico over the summer, the plane was spacious and the service was great.

Other airlines I've used and had good experiences with: Gulf Air, Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways, Finnair (one of my favourites when flying back home to Poland), and flying home I don't mind PLL LOT or for international flights from Poland.

Yes I've flown a lot.

Jet Blue, I'm a proud shareholder.

Continental...then Aeroflot. ;) I voted for AA though.