Australia with kids - emirates or Singapore airlines?

[permaquandry]

Any experience go above airline to oz with kids and which is better? Thx

Emirates are lovely, comfy seats, nice pillows and blankets, activity kits for kids, nice food. They were very lovely.

Singapore were also fab, but I last flew with them 22 years ago, so probably not relevant anymore lol!

Singapore were fab when we flew. We also planned a stop of over 4hours in Singapore as that gives time to do the free tour of the island and go in the roof top pool . . .looking at butterflies etc!

Singapore

I've flown with both but not with kids. Both were great but the free Singapore sling might swing it for me if the flights cost the same!

Both very similar, with Singapore slightly ahead
But the most important factor is length of wait at Changi / Dubai, and time of day / night
So it hhdepends where you are flying from / to

Always love Emirates - free strollers in Dubai. Have only flown Singapore pre kids but found them disappointing after Emirates. But agree the length and number of stopovers would be the deciding factor

Thx for replies, so both airlines sound good. What IS the best time to fly and what's the best amount of time to stopover? Also, do you just get to stay in airport or do they provide shower services/hotel room? Thx again.

We flew with Emirates over Christmas and I'm not sure I ever will again. Fine if you're paying for Business Class and up but with narrow seats, tatty old planes (strong smells from the loos, seat pockets coming apart), poor entertainment system (faulty touch screen, must use airline headphones) and weird stinginess with water, Economy is no fun whatsoever. I loved the food but it's spicier than your typical airline choices, so bear that in mind.

Emirates provides an incredibly nice lounge for all but Economy. There is a lounge that you can pay for at Dubai airport - Marhaba - but when we used it on Sunday there were more guests than seats and the food was of an exceptionally poor standard.

I've not flown Emirates, but Singapore are my fav airline, brilliant with kids and Sing airport is a fab place to transit.

You can shower, gym, eat, watch a film, sleep etc at Singapore airport. It's very good - I fly to NZ lots and its my preferred route though HK isn't bad either.

We will be going economy, I'm wondering if there's a big difference? Don't want to pay 4k for a sub standard flight service. Also, we are going in late march to Sydney. Thx again, appreciate the advice.

Yup - singapore airport is fab and we purposely made sure we had a decent amount of time there to get a bit of a break between flights and to enjoy all the things on offer there. The best bit being the free tour of Singapore (we visited a temple and had a bus tour of the rest of it) and the swimming pool on the roof. Lots of lovely play areas etc. We liked it so much we'll probably build a stopover in Singapore next time we go to visit rellies.

I can't remember off hand but I think to get the free tour you had to stop for more than 4 hours... and during daylight obviously. The swimming pool wasn't very expensive and meant you see light which is good. There's a hotel in the airport you can check in for a set timeslot and just sleep too, but not sure how much that cost.

Go via Singapore. You can book into a hotel room at the airport, or get the free bus into town or just relax in the swimming pool for an hour.

There is a huge difference between economy & business between UK and Aus ( oh and I once flew Emirates First Class Sky Suite - oh my, oh my) but for a family of 4 I can't justify the difference ( reminds self to find an excuse to fly alone again soon)
Better value to have an overnight stopover at Singapore
Depending on time of flight next day maybe stay at the airport hotel and just take the free tour of the city
How old are the kids?
With little ones I prefer an evening departure from the UK dressed in PJs, they soon crash out during the long segment
Emirates on the other hand has the advantage of the 2 flight segments being about equal, and of lots of departure points ( Manchester, Birmingham , Glasgow , Newcastle , Dublin etc which may shorten your overall journey depending on where you live
Have also heard great things about Etihad and Qatar

Emirates every time. It's the little touches I like. All around the airport, at arrival bridges, at lounges, are stroller parks with singles and doubles in very clean condition that you can use to put sleepy kids/hand luggage in.

Never flown Singapore airlines but have flown Emirates loads of times with the DC and they are great. Dubai airport is excellent with free pushchairs if you have a stopover there and a nice hotel. Kids meals and entertainment are good and they get free activity packs/toys.

never flown Emirates but definitely Singapore. They provide activities for the kids, nappies/wet wipes, good kids food, individual tv (lots of kids stuff). The stopover in Singapore Changi is great (stuff for kids www.changiairport.com/in-transit/fun-for-the-kids;jsessionid=17162FEFDB5BD9F18E656A678B2FB956).

If you are travelling alone and the kids are young (how old are yours? I flew alone with both when no 1 was under 3, and no 2 was 4 months old) and they helped me all the way from the moment we checked in on land side. They walked with me, carried all the stuff and basically escorted me all the way to the plane. It was brilliant. You can request for this service, it's free.

I'd say Singapore, Changi airport is much nicer than Dubai even though the terminal is newer at Dubai, I've flown through Dubai lots of times and there's often no free strollers and it's a huge walk. Much more to do and see at Changi.

oh also the service on Emirates goes downhill rapidly if the flight is full! never experienced that with Singapore

I've done both and whir the flights themselves were similar, Dubai airport is hellish and Singapore airport is the best airport I have ever been to.

Either will be fine. Both are amongst the best in the world. Both run A380's and I recommend if you can get an A380 flight you do so as the passenger experience in all classes is excellent.

Dubai airport is not hellish and the new T3 is superb, but it does get very busy late at night and around 8am in the morning. A new terminal for A380's is opening in Feb which will relieve congestion. But sounds like Changi comes highly recommended too.

I would probably go on schedule and price and be reassured you'll be fine with either airline.

Have a great trip.

Well I think it is. I had to queue in a different security line from my 7 & 4 year old at Dubai. There was no room for discussion.

And I always seem to get a flight that involves going on a crowded transfer bus in the blazing heat after you go through the gate.

that really suprises me savoy, I've travelled through DXB hundreds of times and they've always been really good in security and often put families with young children in a separate shorter queue.

I don't know what to tell you. It definitely happened.

Also, I wasn't allowed to take my dd's allergy medicine (anti-histamine syrup) through Dubai despite having a prescription and letter from her GP.