We are from Australia visiting the US. My husband and I along with our 12-day old baby were booked on last night's EK212 IAH-DXB flight. My baby and I had a revenue ticket but my husband was holding an ID90 ticket which was given to him by his brother who works for Emirates. We took the chance of him travelling on ID90 because the flight was very light with only one third of the seats booked (100 seats empty)
We arrived at the airport 2.5 hours before the flight’s expected time of departure. Everything seemed alright at check-in, I even asked the staff if my husband can already check in since he’s holding an ID90. The staff confidently said that they are already checking in staff as the flight is very light. We were given boarding passes and was told to board at 1800 so we went around George Bush Airport, did some last minute shopping and had a rest and bite first at the restaurant inside the airport because we were very tired having had only 2hours of sleep the night prior as we were busy packing our almost 400lbs of baggages.
At 1810, we approached the lounge to board, they took our boarding passes and gave us the small part passenger copy of the passes. We went through security and when we were already at the passenger boarding bridge near the aircraft door, a staff told us that they have to offload my husband because of “cargo.” The staff holding the radio saw that we had an infant, he told the other person on the radio but they still offloaded us. I kept asking the staff for help, I was almost begging them to let my husband fly with me, I asked them what else can we can do or if we can buy a revenue ticket for him but they still said no and that they have to close the flight. They asked me if I will still go if my husband is left behind, I told them that I cannot because I have a baby and over 50 lbs of hand carry baggages plus my husband wont have anyone to pick him up as our friend where we’re staying at was on duty until 01h00. The boarding staff told us to wait then another staff escorted us to belt 61 and told us our baggages will come out from there. I asked the staff if she can check again if we can still get on the plane, but she said that she cannot check because she does not have a radio and suggested that we go to the ticketing counter which we did but was told there’s no chance anymore because the flight was closed. She told us to just try again the next day.
So we were stranded at George Bush Airport with a 12-day old baby and almost 400lbs of luggage trying to figure out where will we stay for the night and how we’ll get a transportation from the airport who can take that much of luggage and with a car seat.
We completely understand the restriction of the discounted ID ticket, however Emirates should have had a little consideration and thought of the inconvenience they’re causing us. We are visitors in the US with a 12-day old infant and 400lbs of baggage, where did they expect us to stay? If they were going to offload my husband, they should have not checked us in or they should have told us earlier and not right before they close the flight so we still could have opted to by a revenue ticket and avoided the hassle they caused us.
I was suppose to have an important meeting to attend to in Dubai today that I missed because of Emirates’ inefficiency and inconsideration. It also cost us a lot more on cab and re-booking fees.
I remember on my way to Houston from Dubai a month ago, I was still heavily pregnant then, the flight was at 0900ish so I was at the airport very early. Emirates served their first meal only at lunch time which I thought was again a very poor service. They did not think that people would be at the airport early and may not have had breakfast yet.
During the DXB-IAH flight, I fell asleep and when I woke up, I was starving and asked a crew for food, she told me that they already served the snacks an hour ago so she can’t give me food anymore. I had to go to the back and asked another crew for food, she gave me 2 small packets of crackers.
On another occasion, I flew to Mauritius on Emirates, on my way back to DXB, I asked a cabin crew for a pair of socks, she told me “sorry but I am a crew for business class, you can ask an economy crew” I was very tired from my business trip then that I didn’t even bother to argue, I just used a blanket to cover my feet.
For an airline who claims to be award-winning, Emirates’ standards and actual service is appalling. You are good at advertising but sorry to say that you do not have the goods to back it up. Your service is actually atrocious and certainly is inferior to that of your competitors like Etihad, Qantas, Singapore Airlines etc. We only fly Emirates when we absolutely have no other choice.
Is Emirates so desperate to earn profit that you fail to see the service aspect of the business? Of was it because we’re Asians travelling on economy that we were not given consideration and priority?
I hope that this letter finds the desk of someone, if any, who still has the heart and right frame of mind. I will certainly circulate this on social networks and to my family and friends so that they will think twice before flying on Emirates.
As for us, we will go to the airport again tonight and hopefully the Emirates crew and dispatcher know what they’re doing and will do it efficiently and considerately.
I expect a call from your management staff to know what steps do you intend to do to improve your service.
From a very unhappy passenger
Mary Cristaine Monje-Altera
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