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#1 Manila, at a Gulf carrier now, and the question I get most from home is which one. Both hold large events in Manila and Cebu, both have big Filipino crew communities, and the choice is real. Here is what I found and what the Filipina crew in both cities told me.
The events
Both run the standard open day structure in Manila and the queues are enormous, 400 plus is normal. Filipinos have a reputation at both airlines for service and English, and the recruiters expect a high standard from us for exactly that reason. The English test is not where Filipinos fail. The group task is where over eager candidates get cut for taking over, and the final interview is where the 'why us and not the other one' question decides.
The communities
Dubai: the Filipino community is one of the largest in the city, the crew community is huge, and the accommodation buildings have Filipino kitchens on every floor. Church, food, Tagalog everywhere. Doha: smaller city, smaller community, still very large, and the Qatar Filipino crew are tight in a way that comes from a smaller place. Both feel like home in a way the European or African crew do not get.
Flying home
Manila is nine hours from both. Both airlines fly there daily. Staff travel makes it cheap; the distance makes it rare. Most Filipina crew go home twice a year. This is the hardest part of the job for us and neither airline makes it easier.
Money and sending home
The pay structure at both is similar; Emirates pays slightly more on some lines, Qatar's allowances vary by route. Every Filipina crew I know sends money home monthly and the amount is a family decision made before you leave. Both airlines have easy remittance from the crew banks. The exchange rate is what it is.
What the crew told me
At Emirates: bigger, more anonymous, more freedom after probation, Dubai as a city has more to do, promotion in two to three years. At Qatar: smaller, you know people, Doha is quieter and cheaper for some things, the QSuite is a great product to work, the accommodation rules are similar, the community is closer.
Neither group said the other was worse. They said different.
How I chose
I chose on the operation, not the city, and I chose the smaller one because I wanted to be known. Two years in I would choose the same. My best friend from the Manila event chose the other and she would choose the same too.
For Filipinos applying
Apply to both. Take whichever comes first if the offers are far apart; if they are close together, decide on big versus small, not on the salary tables, because the difference in money is smaller than the difference in feel.
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#2 Emirates, Manila, five years, and this is fair and kind to both. The 'more anonymous' word for Emirates is right. I like it. Sofia did not. Both of us are still flying and still sending money home every month.
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#3 Filipino at a third carrier, and I will add: whichever you choose, the Manila events expect more from Filipinos because we are known for the service. Do not coast on the reputation. The recruiters have seen a thousand of us.
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#4 Thai at Qatar, and the 'smaller and you are known' description of Doha is the same for the Thai community. Big versus small is the real choice. The salary tables are a distraction.
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#5 @danielmnl exactly, the reputation is a floor not a pass. The girls at my table who assumed it would carry them did not get the afternoon slot.
