Not upto the mark!. Review on Emirates

I had always heard good things about Emirates airlines but never had a chance to use their services unless the moment of truth arrived last year. I live in Los Angeles and Emirates does'nt have any flights from the west coast of the US and for all obvious reasons, the Atlantic route is not the route of our choice anyways. But when my husband decided that we have to go to India at a week's notice that to be in the peak season i.e. in December and we couldn't get any other airlines of our choice ( Singapore airlines etc.) so we got ourselves booked on an Emirates flight. My husband was already in the east coast for his meetings so I decided to meet him in NY as my flight originated from Los Angeles itself. Emirates has a tie up with United airlines for west coast passengers so my luggage was checked in at LAX itself.

I was allowed two carry-ons, being a woman , my handbag is one of the most important thing for me and another was my laptop bag. Things seemed to be going fine and I reached JFK and met my husband. The sight of the terminal at JFK airport from where India bound flights originate is a whole different story altogether. You would feel you have come to some B grade airport of India ( although its JFK airport ). New Jersey area has a huge Indian population and the chaos at this particular terminal is so evident that you wouldn't miss India even for a minute.

I was not aware of the fact that even if you had already checked in your baggage at the origin point of your journey, you have to make sure that your baggage has reached New York and Emirates will take your baggage in your onward journey as well!

As I was entering the aircraft , they asked me to put in my laptop bag in additional check-in. Since it was my laptop, I refused to do so. They have some pretty rude staff who takes care that passengers are harassed to the max. Thankfully my husband was with me so i accommodated my laptop in his laptop bag ( which they allowed as that was his only carry-on ) and since they were asking to hurry up, I could not take out some of the jewelery I was carrying as gifts for my friends and relatives in India.

Although the flight was comfortable but it takes too long, almost 14-15 hours to reach Dubai. The food etc was ok and they have crew from all over the world and at times they do act snooty. I travel economy class but I am sure they definitely have better attitude towards business class travelers.

Anyways, we reached Dubai and we had a 2 hour stopover which went by quickly in security check etc. After we reached Bombay, I heard that they were announcing my name, when I inquired what the matter was, they told me that my baggage has not come from the US. In India, the great Air-India handles their baggage delivery etc so you can imagine the fun. The guy who was taking the description of my bags was doing it in a way as if he is doing me a big favor. You can imagine my plight as I had started from LA almost 30 hours back and it was 4:00 am when we landed in Bombay. To top it all , Bombay airport staff is so efficient that they stole all the jewelery boxes from my laptop bag which came along with the flight. When I pointed it out , they said they have no clue. Imagine the efficiency, it was just from the aircraft to the conveyor belt and they could do all that in such a short time! Only if the whole of India could work so efficiently ! When I asked them to give me the compensation for my missed baggage, they asked me if I hold the US passport ? When I said no, they said , they cant give me any compensation as i have come to my home country. And my point was even though its my home country , things are not free for me here and I need to buy some clothes to wear the next day. Also,  I had a flight for Calcutta after 30 hours so I asked him when can I check back. He told me the same flight will come tomorrow so I can check at that time. I figured, this would give me just a couple of hours next day before i board my flight to Calcutta as I had a wedding to attend there. Fortunately my sister's house is very close to Bombay airport so I thought I will still be able to make it from checking for my lost baggage at international terminal and boarding my flight from domestic terminal. Next day, as I anticipated, there were no signs of my baggage. I left for Calcutta taking all necessary phone numbers and my case number etc. My brother-in-law who lives in Bombay was calling them almost 4 times a day to figure out the status of my lost baggage. It had costed me additional 20, 000/- to buy new clothes for the wedding. After a week's ordeal, I came to know that my baggage has finally arrived in Bombay and they are making necessary arrangements that it reaches Calcutta. The next day it came to Calcutta and to add to my misery , I was told that I have to pick it up from Calcutta airport. I was fumed but I had no other option. Anyways, I got both of my suitcases home only to found that a lot of things have been stolen from them. My whole ordeal was so taxing that I decided not to fly Emirates anymore even if it has nothing to do with in flight experience per se. But the way things were handled at the airports ( NY & Bombay ) and baggage claim, it adds to the entire experience of flying a particular airlines and Emirates failed to make it as a smooth experience for me!