Emirates vs. Etihad First Class: Which Is Better?

They even have a similar business class product. What the...?

@ Hong Kong Airline News -- For what it's worth, Etihad has a fantastic business class product throughout their longhaul fleet, while Emirates actually has angled seats on everything except their A380s.

No mention of the Etihad first class lounge in CDG....A bit of paradise in the worst airport in Europe.

Chauffeur service not mentioned!

@ lucky - Didn't point that out, and totally forgot about that, sorry. But 40-50% of major EK routes are A380 anyway.

@ Manikandan -- Whoops, good point. Though for what it's worth I find them to more or less be equal as well.

How does EY 102/103 fit into this on the 9W metal?

@ Michael -- The Jet Airways first class hard product is more spacious than the Emirates seat, though also feels a bit tired. Not my favorite nowadays...

Lucky, isn't a picture of the EK First Class Lounge, not the EK A380 Terminal? Does EK keep their old first class lounge open?

Can a person dine with you on EY via the ottoman? That would be another advantage for it.

Also, issues of caviar and mezze aside (gotta love non-gourmet Arabic food as first class dining!), which airline had better tasting overall food? Or is it pretty much the same?

Which has better limo's though:)?

@ DanielW -- Can't say I've noticed a big difference between the two, to be honest.

@ wwk5d -- That picture is of the Emirates A380 Terminal First Class Lounge. The other lounge continues to remain open as well, though. On Etihad I believe someone can dine on the ottoman, though to be honest with both Emirates and Etihad the center seats are great when traveling with someone, so don't see much value in that (unlike Cathay Pacific, for example).

I find the food quality on Etihad to be slightly better aside from the caviar and arabic mezze, but then again those are my two favorite things to eat on the Gulf carriers, which is why it balances out.

I would count it as a strike against Etihad that they show the censored versions of movies -- I don't know if Emirates does the same?

I believe Emirates also has a better selection in some IFE categories -- I like how they will have multiple episodes of a given TV show, which if I remember correctly Etihad does not.

I really don't like Emirates. I find the crew extremely distracted all wishing they were somewhere else. I have had wine spilled on me twice. On my last F flight from DXB to SFO I fell asleep almost immediately and when I woke up and asked them for my meal selection the FA told me in a stentorian tone "you do realize this will take 25 minutes to get ready don't you?" I hastily ordered a plate of cheese ("much better" said the FA) wondering if I could sneak into economy for a meal on this 16 hour flight. I did complain to Emirates with my FF#, seat number and flight numbers for all these flights as these were all revenue tickets. They replied they would look into it! Classic United response......no more F in Emirates for me...(Happy to share correspondence with Lucky if he wants)

I am no expert in First Class products, as I've never had the opportunity (or luck ;-)) to fly it.

But I must point out that for the most part, the "best airline" awards goes to an airline that has a great economy and a near-excellent business product. After all, the majority of us fly economy and a lesser number fly business, and an even fewer fly first. So when it comes to voting, no surprise that economy passengers get the most number of votes, followed by business, followed by first. One interesting observation on Skytrax, for instance, is that there is a disproportionate number of passengers voting on a business product - and for obvious reasons - they have the time, and probably are ones who care about the product, but aren't as rich as too go "who cares, I'm too good to vote" (compared to First Class pax).

So while I have no input in the first class products part, I really do think that a comparison of their business and economy products would be much more useful and revealing. That is where most people travel, where the most votes are gained, most complaints received, and what fuels growth - (no successful airline so far has launched an all-first product).

As far as economy goes, my personal opinion is that QR has the better seat, EK the better snack, main meal same; either is better than the 'excellent' Asian carriers (SQ, CX, BR, OZ).

For the business product, QR wins the title, won the title, and deservedly so. Clean airy cabins, less bling and tackiness (EK take note!), reasonable privacy without being claustrophobic esp with the 787 cabin/new A320 (EY take note!). Service is excellent. Missing would be chauffeur service, but then again, one could easily arrange a ground transfer, but once you're in the air, you're stuck with them and their seat. Of course, I do expect many to disagree. 😛

And as I said once, and I will say again, the use of A380s on so many EK flights just brings down the quality of each flight. The seats aren't much better, the bar (though present) may not be used, or even if used, won't be used that long a period of time compared to the time in seat, but the absolute number of passengers increases, and hence dilutes the service, and, for J passengers, the exclusiveness and ambiance of the cabin.

"the bar (though present) may not be used, or even if used, won’t be used that long a period of time compared to the time in seat"

You'd be surprised.

Also, does anybody take Skytrax seriously? That thing is more rigged than FIFA.

Agree with @Charlie. First class is eh and no one flies it. Moreover these gulf airlines are gaudy and tasteless. Far from first class, it's revolting class. Somehow these states have marketed their cheap, fake, shiny-metal-obsessed countries into a destination. The only interesting thing to do in the gulf is eat Iranian food. And that's only because it's non-trivial to go to iran. Otherwise literally the most boring destinations on earth.

For not posting the UA F Fare. Unlike a certain competitor, who killed it quick.

Can you talk for a moment about award availability? Who has better availability for family travel this summer?

Great summary. The big three middle eastern airlines have a significant advantage over their major Asian and European rivals in terms of average fleet age.

British Airways 13.1 years
Lufthansa 11.8 years
KLM 10.5 years
Cathay Pacific 8.7 years
Singapore Airlines 6.9 years

Emirates 6 years
Etihad 5.5 years
Qatar 5.4 years

Emirates looks gaudy, tacky very TRUMP!

interesting opinion on skytrax, wwk5d. i, for one, think their reviews skew to the negative unfairly for most airlines. it's a bit like the yelp of air travel.

@wwk5d - I know some people do use the bar, but let's say there were like 10-15 'regulars'... the other 60 odd passengers in J are obviously in their seat.

I also find negative reviews are often more useful than positive reviews. True, there are some uselessly negative ones that are just "horrible service, they didn't recognise me as a platinum member, DYKWIA, NEVER FLYING WITH THEM AGAIN"; but most of the useful negative ones actually do have tips on what to avoid, and how to make the best of the situation. Far more useful than a review just singing of praises. Much better to fly with an airline with no negative reviews and only a few positive ones than an airline with tons of positive ones but equally tons of negative ones. There must have been a reason people started complaining.

@ John -- Great question. Well Etihad generally has better space, though their link with American is down at the moment, and there's no ETA on it being fixed. But generally they do have better availability.

i find most negative reviews amongst online ratings-aggregate sites like tripadvisor, yelp, skytrax et al tend to clearly delineate between the regulars and the inexperienced. complaints will often be trivial: "worn carpeting under the desk area!", Y pax complaining about not enough water refills (just hit the galley, ok!?) etc.

but in a weird way i feel for the airlines when it comes to skytrax because i think civilians like myself have a hard time realizing how hard it is to serve people in the sky. you face a customer base that is inherently stressed, pressed for time, finicky, in an unfamiliar environment. it truly is an uphill battle.

I've flown both in F quite a bit. For me, the IFE isn't close to equal - it's EK by a very comfortable margin. It could be that's just what I like to watch and listen to, but I do believe there is a vastly superior selection (quantity) overall with ICE Digital Widescreen.

I find EY generally to be slightly more consistent in terms of service onboard. There are some really good onboard chefs as well.

On award tickets, I prefer EK to EY (on A380 it's hands-down EK as I love the onboard lounge and shower).

For revenue tickets though, I go EY mainly due to being an AAdvantage addict.

"Moreover these gulf airlines are gaudy and tasteless"

Well, as from the pictures Lucky has posted here and others have posted elsewhere, I think that can only be applied to Emirates. As we can see above, Etihad had a refined classy cabin, and Qatar isn't that over the top either (you either like the purple/burgundy or you don't). Oman's new cabins also look classy without being over the top. Saudia's cabins are blander than bland. Gulf Air I haven't seen, so can't comment. Kuwait Airways is ancient but was never gaudy or over the top. So I guess this is just typical knee-jerk bigotry regarding GCC airlines?

"The only interesting thing to do in the gulf is eat Iranian food."

Spoken like someone who hasn't really explored any of these countries. They aren't the most exciting places in the world, sure, but they're not that boring or lacking in things to do. Only lazy ignorant people make comments like that.

"I know some people do use the bar, but let’s say there were like 10-15 ‘regulars’… the other 60 odd passengers in J are obviously in their seat."

And you are basing this on what, exactly? The bar gets some people who set up shop there for the duration of the flight, others come for a quick drink or snack, others go there just to stretch their legs. Most reports find the bar to be a positive addition to the plane, whether an area to socialize or, as I said, grab a snack/drink or just chill.

Ben, did you hear EY has withdrawn from Skytrax? http://www.ausbt.com.au/etihad-airways-withdraws-from-skytrax

Great comparison! I agree overall Etihad has a classier and sleeker look on the first class product. Emirates one is too fancy and ends up looking cheaper than what it really is. Price wise I think Etihad (on All classes vs Emirates fares) makes it more worth the value too.

@ Charlie - for what it's worth, this is strictly a comparison of F per the title of the post. Usually, posts like this one are prompted by questions from readers (via comments or email). Although, generally, you are correct 🙂

I would be interested in you updating this now that you've flown the EY A380.