Family Travel :: Emirates vs. Qantas

He's like a bull in a transit lounge. #holdme

It's been a long while since I wrote a blog post /book reviews aside/ so here's a special treat for you!  We are in the fun planning planning planning stage of a family holiday, though the date seems forever to be pushed out of sight :-(  Never mind, I actually L O V E the planning part because RESEARCH!  Yes, Victoria University English Lit. tutors, turns out I love it after all.  Who knew?!  We're all disappointed I didn't find this sooner...

Onwards!  My point!  In all the planning and researching, the thing I get most fixated on is, dun dun nah NAH: Flights.  Surprised?  I have a *sliiiiiiiiight* fear of flying, that as it turns out, doesn't always eventuate into not enjoying the flight.  It's too long-winded to explain - let's just say, anticipation isn't always the best part (unless we're talking about Christmas, in which case - it is).

I've been known to watch long boring youtube clips of flight journeys - my own dorky form of desensitisation // managing anxiety 101.  I also read tons of blog posts reviewing flights, all of which has revealed that, when it comes to flying, the little things truly matter.

Our recent trip to Melbourne we big-time noticed how different a similar flight can be.  And how suckful airline partnerships are.  #booairlinepartnershiiiiiiips.  We booked return Emirates flights, because if there's one thing I know, it's that I like Emirates flights.  I know a whole bunch of other things too, and one of those other things is that I don't like Qantas flights.  Imagine my horror when I found our flight home was with Qantas?!  #boooooooairlinepartnershiiiiiips.  Here's our little compare and contrast, with a couple of blurry phone pics too, #yawelcome

Seating

I have to say, I didn't expect the difference to be as drastic as it was.  Emirates hands down won here.  Not only were our seats comfier and like, bigger?  Maybe?  Felt like it... We were also all seated together in the aisle - with a bassinet for our use.  This is kind of a cheat, because there's only a limited timeframe in which to make use of the bassinet rows (and all bassinet rows aren't necessarily alike), but it was such a big bonus.  Leg room GALORE.  We didn't even use the bassinet, but we def used the leg room.  For stretching out our legs, that's what.

On our Emirates thrones.  Not pictured - sooooo much legroom!

Qantas seating was almost the pure opposite.  We were seated waaaaaaaaay down the back of the plane with all the other families ("we're all in this togeeeeether"), AKA hell on earth... or...air.  We were cramped.  There were babies crying (no, not my perfect child who slept through both flights, #yessmug).  We were separated and I ended up with all three kids while lucky Zan got to sit next to other peoples kids.  I actually don't know who wins the parent-martyr stakes in this kind of sitch... We both... win?  I felt about the complainiest I've ever felt.  Also, anxious.  Dangit.

Snug AS on Qantas.  Not pictured - my sad-emoji face.  

Emirates win.

Food

Is it just me, or is food THE most important part of the flight?  // rhetorical question - it's not just me.  I've put quite a lot of thought in and figured this out.  Flying is boring, and dumb, and sometimes scary.  The things that make up for that are movies, and surprise meals.  But, the surprise needs to be a good one, aiight?

 Kids meal - Emirates.  Eleanor brushed her teeth directly after consuming, because mini-toothpaste // must find and buy

Food-wise, Emirates have always been a reliable win for us.  It's still plane food, but it's the kind of plane food that you're like, yaaaaay, plane-food (also plain food sometimes)!  The kids meals were definite winners, the same as the adult meal but with a bunch of fun extras.  If you don't mind all the packaging (just for this once, because you're stuck on a plane for hours and I think a little pre-packaged food is warranted), you'll be happy.  Our kids were happy.  Eleanor was in heaven.  She also gets reeeally excited by the meals served in hospital - maybe it's the idea of service and free (ish) food that appeals??

Kids meal - Qantas.  Not the same.  That's scrambled eggs btw, and I thiiiiink baked beans?  

And when a girl that gets excited by a hospital tray turns down an inflight meal?  You know you have another loss for Qantas.  I don't blame her.  I didn't want to eat mine either...

Delicious, delicious adult meal 😂

Emirates win.

Service

I promise I'm not making this up!  This is legit!  I know you're like, really?  Everything??  But for real, everything.  In every area, Emirates wins.  Emirates crew are tha. best.  They're all bringing you hot towels and keeping your kids happy, and even keeping it cool when horrible drunk people harass them (seen on a different flight).  I imagine being an air stewart can be a very not fun job at times, but you'd never know it from the demeanour of the Emirates crew.

Qantas.  I just... There was a marked difference, okay?  I'm gonna leave it there because I don't like bagging on people who are just doing their sometimes-not-fun job.

Best flier. Asleep 2 mins later.

Bonus Points

Emirates gets two bonus points for their sweet kids packs.  Eleanor got a little bag filled with activity books and things.  Stoked-as.  Garland received a little penguin softie that concealed a snuggly blanket.  Whaaaaat?!  That's a legit handy travel item!  The baby was given his own pack of freebies: a bib, some moisturiser that smelled like talc #gag and some other things that #haveforgotten.

They also lost one point for the complete confusion we felt about where our screens were (they were hidden down the side of our seats, I think), and thus the slow start to screen time.  This was especially felt by the children who watched other passengers leap straight into watching stuff, before the plane was fully seated.

Totes happy now.

Qantas actually wins a bonus point too, for providing a baby meal!  Never mind that it was some gross fake stuff that we would never feed our precious snowflake 😉  but appreciated nonetheless.  

I think that makes it Emirates 1000 points, Qantas 1??  In other words, Qantas = basically terrible, Emirates = heart eyes.  

As you can see, I'm pretty passionate about Emirates being better than Qantas.  From this experience I figure that my extensive researching is probably worth it, when considering a long-haul flight.  #rationalized.

Managing a five year old in a transit lounge?  We'll, that's a whole separate post...