Emirates versus Air Singapore

[7crag]

Does anyone have any thoughts on these two airlines?

We were all set to book with Emirates (Manchester to Auckland) 34in pitch, 50kg allowance (with ANZ affiliation deal) and loads of Disney films on the ICE entertainment system. (4 children and 3 teens to occupy)

Then someone mentioned Air Singapore. (Heathrow to Auckland) 32in pitch, poss 40kg allowance, not sure about the entertainment (are there enough children's films to keep them occupied!). But £600 cheaper overall and gives us Diamond Club points (we already are members and these flights would earn enough points for one return flight)

I'm not sure which to choose now. Any thoughts?

G

[benhila]

Both are very good and offer great entertainment. For £600 less I would go with Singapore Airlines.

[gorstsmit]

We've flown both - Emirates to Auckland, and SA to Sydney.

Both very good - the entertainment for kids on Emirates is excellent - my DD must have watched 101 Dalmations 6 times there and back! Lots for them to do on the ICE system.
can't comment on the SA system as DD was only 6mnths when we did that trip.

We live nr Manchester, so not having to change at Heathrow is a big bonus in my book, but then Singapore is a much nicer changeover airport than Dubai - particularly if you've got kids with you. I'm not helping am I?

Ok, for £600 I'd go SA and enquire about some extra baggage allowance. Here's a link to SA's entertainment section so you can have a peek to see if you think there's enough going on the entertain the kids - looks pretty good:
http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_U...ment/index.jsp

Good luck!

[fairburnings]

Both airlines fly from Manchester or Heathrow. Singapore is a much nicer transit airport which has a swimming pool and a butterfly garden in the transit area. It also has a transit hotel in each of the 3 teminals where we normally sleep for 6 hours before the onward flight.

Both are very good. SA from Manchester stops in Munich and Singapore. Emirates from Manchester stops in Dubai, then Melbourne or Sidney.

We have flown on both airlines from Manchester and much prefer Singapore Airlines.

[Manks]

Both are excellent airlines. My parents recently flew Emirates from MAN and thought it was great. But they had no kids in tow.

Personally I would go with SA for the cheaper fare and also, as others have mentioned, the airport in Singapore is superb.

[Healings]

We flew with emirates with two boys (aged 11 and 9) Emirates were great with the boys and they kept themselves entertained with the films and games.

Good luck

[mooncalf]

Save the money and fly SIN. I have flow both EK and SIN to AKL and they are about the same in terms of service but I did find SIN came around with more fruit and water then EK.

DXB is a nightmare to transit in with kids as the gates can be quite far apart. transit times short (10 minutes in one case cause the plane was late of BNE). SIN ICE is on par with EK but SIN also has Advanced Gameboy which EK does not.

The final decision should for you be more on which airport is more convenient for you and the family IMHO

[Bunstar]

We've flown both Emirates and Singapore Airlines between Manchester and Auckland.

Singapore Airlines gets my vote every time. The staff are friendlier, the seats were comfier and Singapore airport is a lot nicer IMO.

[Clappy]

I'd pick Singapore Airlines.

As airports go I don't think you can beat Changi.

You might only be there for a short time but comfort and lack of stress getting on to your connecting flight make a lot of difference to your overall travel experience.

I've been in a lot of airports (including Dubai but I wasn't there as a transit passenger), Changi is streets ahead of the others in terms of passenger experience.

[girlwithanewf]

With 7 children I would definitely pick the cheapest flights!
We flew out here initially on Air New Zealand (from Heathrow to Auckland) who were great, we have only 1 child to entertain though.
What I would advise and this is really obvious I know, is to make absolutely certain that you have seats together or at least in 2 groups. Our flights were booked and paid for by the NZ employer and they left it so late (about a month before flying) that we couldn't have guaranteed seats together and had to basically be first in the queue. All worked out fine in the end but unnecessary hassle.