EK7 DXB-LHR 27 MAR 19 (FIRST)

Once through the chaos of Dubai security we made our way to the F lounge. This was something else. It was the WHOLE of the upstairs of the terminal and took forever to walk around, with its own Duty Free shops, and everything else we could possibly want. We went and booked massages in the Spa, and we were shown to treatment rooms straight away. The massages were very thorough and lasted quite a bit longer than the 15 minute advertised. Then we went to the table service restaurant. As it was about 00.30 at this point, neither of us wanted a great deal but each had the most beautiful fruit platters and some cheese, together with soft drinks and coffee. Then we found somewhere we wanted to relax and wait. The whole lounge had no more than 15-20 passengers in, as far as we could see, and probably three times as many staff. Each toilet area, and there were a lot if them, had a member of staff - all night - and were spotlessly clean. It was a delight to see such lovely loos!

Eventually, our flight was called and we again boarded from the lounge. We were given another bag full of PJs, slippers and amenity kits and offered the champagne but opted for juice and booked our fourth showers for an hour before landing. Everything was in place, as we had now come to expect - though I don’t think we’ll be travelling in such style very often! As soon as the seat belt signs were off we had our beds made up, closed the doors and went to sleep.

I must have slept about 4 hours or so and woke to go to the bathroom. The crew member brought me some juice, fruit and the best yoghurt, I can’t remember the make but I assumed it was Irish for some reason - maybe not - and it was in a glass jar. Oh it was soooo good. And before long the Spa attendant came to tell me my bathroom was ready for me. Yet another shower - which was so refreshing, I could certainly get used to it - and as I was dressing the Capt was saying seat belt signs would soon be lit. So back to the seat and I watched us fly over the Thames Estuary and London from the cameras.

We landed early and breezed through immigration and our bags were amongst the first dozen off. We found the Emirates Chauffeur Lounge, which was very busy and within 5 minutes our car was waiting to take us to our daughter’s in Islington.

So our first First was a fabulous experience. We had never flown with Emirates at all before and were very impressed with First. We liked the on-board bar, which was much bigger, better stocked than VS with great seating areas with seat belts and it was permanently staffed. The crew were exceptional, the seats, bling, snacks basket great. The PJs and slippers very, very good quality, as were the toilet-bag amenity kits. The food was very good, the wines excellent. The shower/bathrooms were FABULOUS! But the in flight entertainment I felt was disappointing, despite the massive, very clear screens and very good headphones. There were loads of movies, but few blockbusters. The Business cabin however, was huge - over 70 seats - and I feel that would impress me less, so Qatar would probably remain my choice for Business, especially on their 787 with only 22 seats.

Our next flight is with BA in CE. I don’t expect that to be a patch on this fabulous experience, but maybe another day.......


Thanks for reading.

I knew that you would enjoy the Emirates experience!
Missed you by a couple of days, I came through Dubai from Christchurch on Wednesday.
Flying in first almost made the 19 hours a pleasure, only just under two hours before my onward flight to Manchester but managed to squeeze in another breakfast! Boarding directly from the lounge adds another layer of icing to the cake.
Don’t be put off flying in their Business, but only on the A380, the 777 product is ordinary in comparison especially for a single traveller like myself.
Start saving up for the next one.

It was back in March, I just didn’t get around to finishing off my report.

As for doing it again - I’m already looking but don’t tell my husband

Don’t be put off flying in their Business, but only on the A380, the 777 product is ordinary in comparison especially for a single traveller like myself.

In J service and food are good on the 777, and if travelling as a couple and you can get the window pair it's fine (three seats in the centre!)...but as you say if you've just come off a 380 it can feel a bit of a non event. That said, if you do the 777 leg followed bythe 380 leg it can be fun, particularly if both are day time flights.

..and I've signed up for the Emirates Holidays newsletters...

[honey lamb]

Don’t be put off flying in their Business, but only on the A380, the 777 product is ordinary in comparison especially for a single traveller like myself.
Start saving up for the next one.

I agree! I have flown Emirates in both J and Y and in the 777 and by pure accident in the A380. My experience in the 777s in J have been more Premium Economy than Business and only on one leg was it remotely Business simply because there was no-one in the seat beside me and the cabin crew assigned to my area was superlative.

The A380 flight was by pure chance. My flight into DXB from Durban left an hour late because the arriving plane was delayed because of a rain storm in Dubai. In those days there was only one flight per day to Dublin and the connecting time was short. We arrived in DXB slightly after our arrival time but parked at a remote stand and it took 45 minutes to transit from the plane to the terminal (a frequent occurrence in DXB) At the terminal I was met and advised that I had been taken off the flight and that I would be put on the following day's flight. I needed to be back first thing the next morning and I asked to be re-routed via LHR and if at all possible to Cork instead of Dublin. There was an initial hiccup because there are no Business seats from LHR but I said that was OK with me as the flight was about an hour long. They did this. Business was OK but the cabins really are very large on the A380 and the service a tad impersonal. It wasn't my best experience.

My flights in Economy were forced on to me by the fact that I had to book next day travel and also pay for my niece whose mum had suddenly died ten days after she had been with her on a holiday with extended family. At check-in they were exceptionally nice and put us in a middle row of four seats blocking off the other two seats so that we could stretch out and sleep. On board the crew were fantastic as they saw my niece was upset and when they learned the reason they were kindness itself and organised that we would be on the first bus that left for the terminal. However we arrived at a gate and I later learned that the captain had facilitated that so that we could make our connection. They also undertook to let the crew know of our circumstances for our onward flight but that must have fallen on deaf ears as once the meal service had happened, they withdrew and were not seen again until landing.