emilou

Have read that Singapore airlines is best for the long trip to Europe. Has anyone tried malaysia airlines and what did you think?

cathies

Hi Emilou, last time we flew Qantas on frequent flyers (a gift from my brother in law!!) this time we are trying Emirates. Not really answering your question though....

cathies

Sorry, got distracted and forgot to finish... Qantas was great and Emirates comes highly recommended.

Londonres

I've flown to KL with Malaysia Airlines and it was very good. I would fly with them again.

Heimdall

I have used both Singapore and Malaysia Airlines, and found them equally good.

I don't know if they still do this, but Singapore Airlines offered a free tour of the city for travelers with layovers of five hours or more.

Maudie

Son really enjoyed Emirates earlier this year but we always enjoy Singapore Airlines, not a bad thing to say about them and you can't beat Singapore airport for a layover.

emilou

Thank-you all very much - this is helpful!

JamesA

Singapore and Mayasian fly from all the majors ( SYD / MEL / BNE / ADL / PER ), Emirates and Thai fly from all of those except Adelaide ( ADL ).
A lot can depend on your destination in Europe, Emirates fly to the most followed by Singapore Airlines.
Just one thing with Emirates, on their 777 aircraft they have 10 seats across instead of the usual 9 ! Some flights from Australia are 777 others are A-340's.

I would go for Singapore Airlines and then malaysia Airlines or Thai depending on destination. If for example you were heading to Scandinavia Thai has plenty of flights, more than the others. For Italy Singapore, Emirates and Thai all fly to both Rome and Milan, interesting is Emirates also having a daily to Venice.

I think Malaysia come very close to Singapore Airlines, not much in it, but I would give Singapore's in-flight entertainment a good edge over the others.
If you ask over on the Australia and Asia forums you'll also find plenty.

adeben

I've flown Qantas, Thai, Cathay and Singapore (as well as Lufthansa and Olympic in the old days!)
Of those, Singapore is the best by some margin.

Libretto

Quantas hands down over the others I have tried - BA (yuck, yuck , yuck in every way), Malayasian only just Ok, but would try another given a choice.

Assume you have read posts on the Airlines board?

I have previously posted there about Emirates- I thought it highly overated , and so squashy in economy- seat pitch hideous,staff patronising in the extreme and never sighted after the first few hours, causing long waits for service and more importantly water.Dubai airport was hell on earth: smelly, noisy, inefficient with intimidating and surly guards.

I am now booked on Singapore and I have high hopes as many friends rate this very highly.........love Changi airport,the best I have travelled through in many overseas jaunts.

emilou

Thanks again for all this info. Haven't looked at airlines board so will check it out.

We are wanting to fly to Paris with a stopover and fly home to Australia from Rome with a stopover as I think the long trip will be too hard on my kids without a break.
Given we are a family of four thought hotels in KL would be cheaper than Singapore or Hong Kong. Hence the question about Malaysia airlines.

Any more advice gratefully received. Sounds like Singapore airlines wins hands down with Malaysia and Emirates also getting good reviews.

andrew8

This is the best and most up to date airline reviews and rankings.
http://www.airlinequality.com/

Libretto

emilou, just curious why you have posted the identical question again (see your post on the Europe board)?

You're getting pretty much the same answers............

Libretto

oops meant to say, posted on the Australia board....

emilou

Because it was suggested by James A in his reply

Frances

I like Singapore very much and also Malaysian. One odd thing though was that Malaysian didn't serve a second meal for about 9 hours after the first when flying west. The sheer monotony of the trip is usually broken up by the meal service. It seems they had rolls available in the galley but didn't announce this.
My daughter experienced the same thing when flying with them about 3 months later.

worldinabag

Hi

Singapore Airlines: Fantastic planes, cheerful staff, well developed flight shedules and Chiangi airport is the cherry on the cake. My first choice.
Emirates: excellent as a gateway to Europe via Dubai. Flight schedules are not always the best but they will put you up for free in a decent hotel for delays of more than 7 hours. Fairly new fleet of planes.
Malaysian: Avoid. Returning to Australia from Paris for some inexplicable reason we had to recheck in at Kuala Lumpur. We were waiting in 1 of 3 long lines when one of the counter staff decided to close her counter and gruffly motioned for bleary eyed passengers to join the other two lines. Their protestations were ignored by her supervisor. Fortunately I was not one of the unlucky passengers. This example of insensitive customer service coupled with the confusing layout of KL airport gets them the gong.
Qantas: Old fleet, surly staff and the sheer stupidity of having to fly via Heathrow to get to European destinations. Their impeccable safety record is the only factor that keeps this airline viable.