Emirates Airlines

Okay so, is this a fair review? Not really — on my recent trip to Sydney via Dubai I travelled Business Class. Obviously this (presumably) results in better service, so this can all be taken with a pinch of salt.
Arriving in Terminal 1, I found the Emirates check-​in quickly and with ease, lining up in the online check in queue. At this point, I was clueless as to the fact I was travelling business, meaning I could have got through this stage of check a billion times faster; there are two desks for the online check in, both of which had people with issues queuing up and an absence of urgency from anyone behind the desk. Despite this, I got there and checked in — onto the lounge!
Now, business class lounges don’t vary too much, but they are an amazing way to spend your time prior to your flight. Snacks, drinks, proper dinner, TV, coffee, alcohol are all at your beck and call. Come and go as you please, and wait for your flight to be called. The experience at Dubai was completely different; a lot of people fly business with Emirates, meaning the lounge is more of an entire floor, making it less of a special experience and slightly more stressful.
In flight, you couldn’t ask for a better set up. A choice of drinks before take off, personal reading lights, the ability to lie down (and have your bed made!), TV and movies on demand, twinkly star lights on the ceiling — even a personal [non-​alcoholic] mini-​bar on some services. Attendants come and introduce themselves to you and always check on you during the flight.
Food is served on proper china, with real cutlery and ‘courses’! Thai style soup, chicken tikka salad, beef with vegetables, lamb & roasties, fish, pasta with avocado — there’s something for everyone and they can do amazing things with the space and tools they have on board.
Best example of the service? Coming home, I was ever so slightly hungover and found it hard to keep any of the delicious food down — the attendant noticed, promptly took my dinner away at my request, and brought me a fruit tray! Very nice indeed.
When you’re travelling for 30+ hours, there’s only one way to do it.
(And, in case they read this, thank you mum & dad!)

I always fly with Emirates when I am going home (India) to visit my family and I can certainly say I don’t have much to complain about!
Punctual, great food, easy check in process, friendly staff and brilliant lounges! The economy class seats are quite comfortable but the business class looks incredible! They have a good inflight entertainment system ICE (extremely important for those boring long distance flights) with a wide selection of movies, TV shows, radio stations etc. Emirates also allow the use of mobile phones with very good network inside the flight! The toilets are nice and clean with a good hand cream and perfume for passengers! They allow 30 kilograms of check in luggage and sometimes even a bit more if the flight is reasonably empty.
My verdict: I love Emirates! :)

Flying with Emirates, like a lot of airlines, can veer between the Good, the Bad and plain Fugly. I exclude BA from that generalisation as they are nailed on ugly, like a lovechild spawned by Gollum & Donatella Versace.
The Good
+ Emirates fly out of Manchester and that means if I wellie it up the motorway I can get from my drive to their check in desk in less the 45 minutes.
+ Their check in is nearly always swift and painless. They also have one of the best lounges and their food is always fresh and plentiful but, best of all, Macadamia nuts and Chambubbly on tap.
+ Using Manchester also means I can avoid the complete cock up that is Heathrow and get straight in to Dubai in one hop.
+ Once you reached Gold member level Emirates provide a free Limousine to and from the airport (within 50 miles)
The Bad
— Their main hub, Dubai airport is a tram smash. Always chaotic and even the Marhaba welcome service is crap. Everything is over priced and the lounges are well past their sell by date. Qatar Airways hub in Doha makes Dubai look positively medieval although Emirates have opened their new A380 lounge last week. I will reserve judgement until next time through.
The Fugly
— I recently took the buy ‘Business Class and get free upgrade to First’ deal from Manchester to Singapore and, to be fair, it was the latest A380 from Manchester to Dubai (7 hours) which puts you in a cabin all to yourself (see pics) with no expenses spared (inc’ Bulgari toilet bag & JimJams) but the catch was the connecting and longer follow on flight from Dubai onwards was a First class cabin agreed but, on one of the oldest planes in their fleet. What a let down. The so called first class seats were crap and did not convert to flat or even close.
The EVEN FUGLIER …
— On boarding the flight in Manchester they offered to hang up my favourite Musto coat (see pic) for me. When I disembarked in Dubai I forgot my coat (it WAS hot!) had been taken by the cabin crew and they failed to remember to hand it back to me !! By the time I realised I was already in the terminal with no route back to the cabin so I went straight to the customer services and informed them and they told me I could collect on my return leg. Problem was that when I came back through a few days later they said that they had been unable to locate it and that they were not willing to replace it. WOT! My € 379.00 Evolution Gore-​Tex Softshell !!
Hold me down please! I went ballistic but to no avail and tried the usual complaints route but got the standard corporate brush off.
Caveat emptor indeed.