Emirates Reviews 

Is the best airline to fly to Asia/ middle east by far. Always get great service and food.

Fourth time on this route. Same nightmare every time.

The A380 Economy is rammed to breaking point. Screaming kids running wild, loud snoring from every angle, and multiple passengers trying to take my paid-for seat. Food is average. Sleep is impossible.

Funnily enough, my connecting flight to Manila was fine – quieter, better service. So why is London–Dubai so hellish?

My theory? Emirates is funnelling extra connecting traffic from India and Arab routes onto this leg – possibly due to Iran airspace issues rerouting flights. Whatever the reason, they're cramming in as many bodies as possible and service quality has tanked.

Business class is probably lovely. Economy? Avoid. I've given them 4 chances. Won't be a 5th.

Note: Just to add – I travel to Manila regularly and Emirates is the cheapest option, so I've put up with this leg 4 times now. But after my last flight with zero sleep, I'm done. It's not a one-off bad day – it's a consistent pattern on this route. Crammed in like cargo, crew overwhelmed, and zero chance of rest. The cost savings aren't worth the exhaustion anymore. Emirates, you're losing a regular customer.

Worse airlines in the world

Emirates Airlines’ customer service was shockingly poor. They genuinely didn’t seem to care, and for such a huge global brand, it’s incredibly disappointing🙄!!!!

Recently, We (my daughter and I) traveled in Emirates Business class. On June 20th, 2026, we traveled from Bangladesh to Dubai, Boeing 777, and from Dubai to JFK, Airbus A380. NONE OF THE AIRLINES TURNED ON AIR CONDITION. WE HAD NO AIR CONDITIONING FROM BANGLADESH TO JFK. They turned on the air condition 10 mins right before the plane landed. The worse business class we ever experienced.

I have traveled enough to affirm now that Emirates is in decline. No respect whatsoever for priority boarding, very rude staff in the Dubai airport and the luggage is a real nightmare. I have wait over 1 hour to pick my luggage even though again it had a priority label. Not a single flight is on time. Always delayed.

I am still on the Emirates plane waiting in the Bangkok Airport to depart for Dubai. The actual departure was 01.35 a.m. and now it is 05.30 a.m.
We waited to depart first in the building. Then check in started and now almost for 1.5 hours we have been waiting on the plane to depart. There is fuel/engine problem the pilot says... why we got on the plane then, incredible!

Poor cumminication with cabin crew and customer services.
When I tell the crew I have connected flight and I dont want to miss it and wait for longer hours, she responds to me as she wants to be in Dubai more than I want. What kind of service is this?

Customer clients thanks me for the understanding but cannot provide a plan for my connected flight... what a cliche. There is no understanding from my side! Dealing with clients must not be like this!

This is my first travel with Emirates, not again though!

After arrival and a very long struggle to find my way between the terminals of Dubai, I received an hotel voucher and flight in the coming day. Thanks for that... (It was really hard to find where to go since I was always directed to my gate for the connected flight. As soon as I arrived the gate, I was told that the plane took off :(. Therefore poor comminication)

Our experience with Emirates was incredibly frustrating and expensive, and we feel other international travelers should be aware of what happened to us.

We were traveling home from Johannesburg to Houston with a scheduled layover in Dubai. Prior to our trip, we contacted Emirates regarding travel restrictions and specifically asked about our ability to transit through Dubai. We received conflicting information from different Emirates representatives and were ultimately told that the restrictions affecting our travel would be lifted on July 15. Based on the information provided to us, we proceeded with our travel plans.

However, when we arrived at the airport in Johannesburg to fly home, we were denied boarding and told that we could not transit through Dubai because of restrictions related to recent travel to Uganda and Ebola-related protocols. This was devastating, especially because we had traveled all the way to South Africa and were suddenly stranded with no practical way to get home using the flights we had purchased.

The most frustrating part is that there appeared to be significant inconsistency in how these restrictions were being applied. Two members of our travel party were allowed to board and transit through Dubai just two days later. This only added to our confusion and frustration and made us question why we were denied boarding when we had repeatedly attempted to confirm the requirements beforehand.

We were left scrambling to find alternative transportation home and ultimately had to purchase expensive one-way Delta tickets, costing approximately $4,700 per person, in addition to hotel and meal expenses. Emirates directed us to file a claim with our travel insurance, but Travel Guard later denied the claim.

We understand that international travel restrictions and public health requirements can change. What is unacceptable is the lack of clear, consistent communication and the conflicting information provided to passengers who are actively trying to follow the rules before traveling. We made multiple attempts to confirm the requirements in advance, yet still found ourselves stranded overseas and forced to spend thousands of dollars to get home.

We have traveled internationally and understand that unexpected situations can occur, but we expected far better communication, guidance, and support from Emirates when a situation like this arose. Instead, we were left with conflicting answers, no viable assistance, and a very expensive problem to solve on our own.

Unfortunately, based on this experience, we would be extremely hesitant to fly Emirates again.

Poor refund process for damanged bag. I had booked emirates flight for my parents and their travel date was in June 2026. I booked emirates to avoid any negative circumstances and for my parents smooth travel however it turned out to be nightmare. Emirates staff mishandled one of the baggage and then instead of offering refund for it , there customer service manger only offered $25 refund. I emailed her several times that in which this era I would not even get mini bag for $25 and I have to purchase new suitcase for my parents but she stayed adamant that your dad told suitcase price to be INR 3000 so we cannot refund more. I told her that suitcase was not purchased by dad. It was bought by my sister so he was not aware of actual price. She only kept sending me email to either present receipt or accept $25 as refund. I requested her to review the request as originally we purchased it without any discount and it was around $180-200 CAD but she stick to point that what my dad told about price. My dad is senior and he did not buy that bag himself. He just provided price what he thought it might cost. But emirates least care, they don't care about passengers safety, they don't consider that some items where missing as bag was wide open when it was handled to my parents and they least consider that how an elderly couple was stressed out due to this situation. Never trust Emirates.

Sarah provided truly exceptional service. Changing four separate flights and adding a layover in Dubai was far from a simple request, yet she handled every detail with remarkable patience, efficiency and professionalism. She took the time to work through the entire itinerary carefully, ensuring everything was arranged exactly as I needed.

Throughout the process, Sarah was warm, reassuring and an absolute pleasure to deal with. Her knowledge and attention to detail made what could have been a complicated and stressful experience feel completely effortless. This was customer service at its very best, and she is an outstanding credit to Skywards.

I am travelling on EK008 one 1st of september. This airline in the matter of just few years has become one of the worst ailine experiences. I have been a regular traveller with Emirates over the past 30 years. This airlines cabin crew have become very very stingy. Recent bad experience has been when one of the cabin crew asked me to move from an extra legroom seat (80H) to my original seat(81H) after the flight has taken off. The seats were going to go empty anyways and no one was going to use it and it was in the same class just one seat ahead of me but still the wanted me to pay extra £100 extortionate amount for something that only needs £10 before the flight and that was for a seat that was just 1 seat ahead of me in the same economy class. The ground staff and cabin crew are very unwelcoming and dont say please or sorry. Absolutely ridiculous airline i would rather travel with Qatar Airways where the staff are more understanding and friendly and they don't try to rob you off mid air. Very bad customer service.

In one word ' over rated' qatar airlines are better by far. Never again 💀

Follow-up:
Once Emirates got the ball rolling they took care of us. They got us on in 2 days, provided a hotel on our long layover in Dubai. Still downgrading for the first day and being locked out , I will add most of the phone ticket agents were friendly and helpful. But we did get a couple who were pretty rude . Overall happy with the outcome.

Worst Airline Customer Service Experience of My Life
Our Emirates flight from Nairobi to DFW was cancelled on August 31. Earlier that morning, while still in Tanzania, we called Emirates because we could have changed our plans and departed from there. An Emirates agent assured us our flight was operating on time, so we paid for expensive transportation to Nairobi. About six hours before departure, Emirates cancelled the flight.
What happened afterward was unbelievable. We couldn't reach anyone by phone and were told through the app to go to the airport to speak with an agent, rebook, and arrange a hotel. We went to NBO only to find ourselves locked out with NO Emirates representative available to help us.
We had to find and pay for our own hotel and eventually rebook through a frustrating online chat. Emirates' solution? A flight FOUR DAYS later.
This isn't just an inconvenience. My wife has Type 1 diabetes and brought medication for our planned trip plus a reasonable reserve. Being unexpectedly stranded for four additional days has created a potentially serious medical situation. Emirates knows this, yet we have received virtually no meaningful assistance with lodging, transportation, meals, or getting home sooner.
Meanwhile, friends affected by the disruption who were flying British Airways received a hotel, meals, transportation, and were rebooked and departed the following evening.
I work in the airline industry and understand that cancellations happen. What I cannot understand is an airline essentially disappearing when its passengers need help most.
We paid full fare for Business Class and chose Emirates because of its reputation for exceptional service. Instead, we have been stranded in a foreign country, dealing with my wife's serious medical needs, with almost no support from Emirates.
Cancellations happen. Abandoning your passengers afterward is a choice.
Without question, one of the worst travel experiences of my life.

After more than 25 flights a year with Emirates, I find it increasingly difficult to speak positively about the airline’s service standards. As a frequent flyer, I have never received a complimentary upgrade, a gesture of goodwill, or any meaningful recognition of my loyalty at the boarding desk or elsewhere. Given the premium fares Emirates charges, one reasonably expects a higher level of courtesy, professionalism, and occasional consideration for passengers who fly at least four times a month.

In my view, Emirates does not currently rank among the top-tier carriers. Staff are frequently unfriendly, the onboard meals are consistently disappointing, and meaningful gestures of appreciation are essentially nonexistent. Reaching Silver status requires 25 flights in a year, yet in one year of 29 flights I received complimentary inflight internet on only a single occasion.

By comparison, Qatar Airways consistently demonstrates friendliness and proactively offers upgrades and lounge access to frequent travellers. Their Starlink Wi-Fi, high-quality catering, and overall service levels set a clear benchmark. Similar standards are evident with Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines. Against this backdrop, Emirates belongs more in the mid-tier rather than the premium category.

For travel to Dubai, I would now recommend considering AJet (Turkey) for value, or choosing Etihad when seeking a genuinely higher-quality experience.

Very bad experience and terrible customer service. They cancelled my flight without informing me, and I only found out about it by accident. Their customer support was the worst. You can only contact them via chat, and their agents can leave the conversation whenever they want. Every time a new agent joined, I had to explain the entire situation all over again.

Not to mention that their solution for the cancelled flight was extremely poor. I was given options that required me to pay extra either for one night at a hotel or for one part of the journey, simply because they didn’t have a solution for the entire trip I had originally paid for. That is absolutely unacceptable.

The staff at the airport was no better. Overall, this was one of the worst customer service experiences I’ve ever had. I never want to experience service like this again.

I don't get the hype? On my fourth flight in two weeks with Emirates, staff on the most part are aloof and seem to buy in to the idea of being better but actually offer nothing more to base that on. 2 hours average time to get a drink on these flights, while pointless photos are taken 15 minutes In to the flight? Food average, service average, planes average, all in all had far better experience with British Airways without the Emirates premium attached.

So far every time we have flown with emirates they have been great, and the business class is actually worth the money. If I was you I’d fly emirates rather than British airways who are appalling compared to emirates! No contest

All boarded flight on time, doors closed. Then Pilot announces that "airspace aroubd Dubai is busy and we have not been allocated a landing spot (for a daily service between Mcr and Dubai). We will be sat on the plane for an hour waiting to be allocated a spot. Well 1 1/2 hours later still waiting.
The Fly Better logo Emirates is usung should be replaced with sit on the ground for longer.
Will lick myown a...e befor booking with this bunch of clowns again.
Hopefully dont miss our connecting flight

Still waiting for compensation since April, after flights were cancelled due to the conflict in the Middle East. I was there an extra 4 days, but they are only offering cover for 3 days — and Emirates won't explain why. Compensation has also been offered in EUR instead of GBP, despite me being UK-based, while other family members on the same booking have been paid in full and in the currency they paid. They've also refused to cover a phone bill from having to re-book by phone because of their cancellations. Still waiting on an explanation for all of this.

Responses take over a month, and the last one — a month ago — was just a copy-paste of a previous email. Five months in, still no answers and no resolution. Extremely Poor customer service

Appalling experience - long haul Sydney to London. Flight cancelled last minute and I was left to rebook another flight - left wandering the airport all night with no hotel or even a cup of coffee, baggage delayed by a week - no compensation whatsoever for anything. 6 months later they haven't even given me the money back for seats I bought but never got, despite at least 20 emails, phone calls etc. Disgraceful.