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[FarangBuddha]

I am planning a trip to Munich later this year and want to try one of the middle-eastern airlines. I will be flying business and am considering Emirates, Qatar,  and Etihad. For those who fly back and forth between Swampy and Europe on these airlines, which has the best total flying experience (seats, in-flight service, and lounges). From my research and the general "buzz" regarding these airlines, they are all pretty nice...if that is the case, should I just choose based on price/schedule or are there marked differences between the three?

Edited by FarangBuddha, Today, 07:18 .

[FarangBuddha]

A couple things I noticed perusing their websites is that Qatar promotes their exclusive business/first class terminal in Doha, which looks nice, while Etihad does have their their free hotel-airport limousine transfer service in Bangkok and on the return (embarkation) city.

[beano2274]

An upcoming airline that is getting good reviews for it's Business product is Omanair, I would suggest having a look at them also www.airlinequality.com.

Also chauffeur driven car, 60kms from BKK, 50kms from MUC.
http://www.omanair.c...r-drive-service

Edited by beano2274, Today, 08:20 .

[beano2274]

Lounge information
http://www.omanair.c...man-air-lounges

[FarangBuddha]

beano2274, on Today, 07:52 , said:

An upcoming airline that is getting good reviews for it's Business product is Omanair, I would suggest having a look at them also www.airlinequality.com.

Also chauffeur driven car, 60kms from BKK, 50kms from MUC.
http://www.omanair.c...r-drive-service

Thanks for the heads-up on this...I didn't even know about Oman Air; and that business-class seat does look like first-class on many other airlines!  I note as well that they have their own dedicated lounge at Swampy.

Really promotional on the Biz fares too...cheapest so far to MUC and also, if I'm reading it right, a direct connection from Muscat to Munich (no inter-German transfer like on the others).

Just don't know if I could trust a ride in a car with a dude with that sharp a 'stash

Edited by FarangBuddha, Today, 08:44 .

[beano2274]

FarangBuddha, on Today, 08:35 , said:

beano2274, on Today, 07:52 , said:

An upcoming airline that is getting good reviews for it's Business product is Omanair, I would suggest having a look at them also www.airlinequality.com.

Also chauffeur driven car, 60kms from BKK, 50kms from MUC.
http://www.omanair.c...r-drive-service

Thanks for the heads-up on this...I didn't even know about Oman Air; and that business-class seat does look like first-class on many other airlines!

Just don't know if I could trust a ride in a car with a dude with that sharp a 'stash

Yes I know what you mean, if he turns around too quickly you lose your head.

I think Yermanee on here knows more about them, but am sure if you did a search here as well you would get more information, but they seem to be a great deal, not sure about prices for the times you want to go, but should be under 100,000THB.

I always check on airlinequality.com to see what people write, and the reports there about Business class seats with Oman Air are always very very good.

[beano2274]

there are a few other good places to check

itasoftware is a good checker, you cannot buy from them
another (which yermanee uses) http://flights.idealo.com/ (although I know he uses the German one)

[FarangBuddha]

beano2274, on Today, 08:38 , said:

FarangBuddha, on Today, 08:35 , said:

beano2274, on Today, 07:52 , said:

An upcoming airline that is getting good reviews for it's Business product is Omanair, I would suggest having a look at them also www.airlinequality.com.

Also chauffeur driven car, 60kms from BKK, 50kms from MUC.
http://www.omanair.c...r-drive-service

Thanks for the heads-up on this...I didn't even know about Oman Air; and that business-class seat does look like first-class on many other airlines!

Just don't know if I could trust a ride in a car with a dude with that sharp a 'stash

Yes I know what you mean, if he turns around too quickly you lose your head.

I think Yermanee on here knows more about them, but am sure if you did a search here as well you would get more information, but they seem to be a great deal, not sure about prices for the times you want to go, but should be under 100,000THB.

I always check on airlinequality.com to see what people write, and the reports there about Business class seats with Oman Air are always very very good.

Yes, thanks again for the tip on this airline. The reports on the biz class service, from seats to lounges, on Skytrak are all glowing and the prices are really cheap for the level of service. The MUC flight I'm pricing totals around B 90k.

I love taking advantage of when these rich oil sheikhs subsidize their trophy airlines with these cheap prices for big service!

Edited by FarangBuddha, Today, 09:46 .

[yermanee]

beano2274, on Today, 08:51 , said:

there are a few other good places to check

itasoftware is a good checker, you cannot buy from them
another (which yermanee uses) http://flights.idealo.com/ (although I know he uses the German one)

Thanks,

I'm indeed a fan of Oman Air..
Some info :
- Oman Air lounge in BKK (concourse E) - smallish but stylish with extremely friendly staff.
- Oman Air lounge in Muscat. - New, classy with all the trimmings
- Muscat airport. Small, easy to navigate and bus transfers from and to the aircraft no more than 2-3 minutes (unlike Qatar)
- On board - best business class seats I have ever had the pleasure off. (especially window seat as 1 - 2 - 1 configuration)
- Amenities - Nice silk box with all the usual and pijamas on night flights.
- Seats - Full sleeper bed
- Food - Comparable to Qatar's
- Entertainment : Few newish western movies but more than enough for me.

More info can be found here : http://www.airliners...ad.main/167162/
Note however that this trip report still features the old Muscat lounge.

Good luck !!

Yermanee

[FarangBuddha]

yermanee, on Today, 12:10 , said:

beano2274, on Today, 08:51 , said:

there are a few other good places to check

itasoftware is a good checker, you cannot buy from them
another (which yermanee uses) http://flights.idealo.com/ (although I know he uses the German one)

Thanks,

I'm indeed a fan of Oman Air..
Some info :
- Oman Air lounge in BKK (concourse E) - smallish but stylish with extremely friendly staff.
- Oman Air lounge in Muscat. - New, classy with all the trimmings
- Muscat airport. Small, easy to navigate and bus transfers from and to the aircraft no more than 2-3 minutes (unlike Qatar)
- On board - best business class seats I have ever had the pleasure off. (especially window seat as 1 - 2 - 1 configuration)
- Amenities - Nice silk box with all the usual and pijamas on night flights.
- Seats - Full sleeper bed
- Food - Comparable to Qatar's
- Entertainment : Few newish western movies but more than enough for me.

More info can be found here : http://www.airliners...ad.main/167162/
Note however that this trip report still features the old Muscat lounge.

Good luck !!

Yermanee

That was some trip report!  The report is from 2 years ago so I wonder if the superlative service is still on offer...even the report writer speculated on if Oman would be able to keep up the level of IFS they were offering. As you say, there are also the new lounges in Muscat for biz/first passengers since this report was published.

All in all, it looks like Oman may be the one to go for...they still have the same seats and the price is sure right.

[yermanee]

FarangBuddha, on Today, 13:53 , said:

That was some trip report!  The report is from 2 years ago so I wonder if the superlative service is still on offer...even the report writer speculated on if Oman would be able to keep up the level of IFS they were offering. As you say, there are also the new lounges in Muscat for biz/first passengers since this report was published.

All in all, it looks like Oman may be the one to go for...they still have the same seats and the price is sure right.

My last flight with them was December last year, and did enjoy the new lounges both at BKK and MCT.
If anything the service on board was even better.
Anyway, I'm a light sleeper and the Oman flights were very comfortable indeed, I had the best sleep on an aircraft ever.

But you don't have to take my word for it, here's a more recent trip report : http://www.diecastai...-oman-air.html. Pictures are however not of the same standard as the previous one.

Now if you want to make your experience even more memorable use the meet and greet service for a small fee, this one puts the fast track service of BKK to shame.

Again good luck and like the French say : "Bon voyage"

Yermanee

[smokie36]

Wow! What a wonderful trip report. Now every other airline will be a let down.....the moutabal had me drooling!

[londoedan]

I've flown all 3 (but not for a while) and my opinion was that Qatar's the best and often the cheapest from Thailand.

Certainly the Doha business lounge is way ahead of Dubai and AD IMHO.

[yermanee]

londoedan, on 39 minutes ago, said:

I've flown all 3 (but not for a while) and my opinion was that Qatar's the best and often the cheapest from Thailand.

Certainly the Doha business lounge is way ahead of Dubai and AD IMHO.

From the 3 that OP mentioned Qatar is indeed the best, with in my case the best connections, but for the onboard experience Oman outshines them by the proverbial country mile.

But as said the most important thing for me is the seat (able to sleep) the B777 from Qatar comes close but that's it.

Yermanee