EK5102 LHR-DXB 21 DEC 13 (BUSINESS)
Posted: 19 Jan 2014, 13:18Last Boxing Day # 1 Son had declared a state of mid twenties crisis and an intent to travel the world, accessing new experiences, new people, and some of wonders of our planet*.The subsequent conversation around the dinner table went something like...
MrsPJH - "Oh. This will make next Christmas the first time we have not been together as a family in 26 years. Where will you be on Christmas Day?"
#1 Son - "Probably in Sydney."
MrsPJH - "Ok, we'll join you there."
MrPJH - (thinks..."now I remember a couple of HWVLover's TRs that I should re-read...")
MrsPJH - "mmm. I can see escape is on your mind again...escape to a faraway land"
And thus began the planning, drawing on various V-Flyer's experiences, and drawing down the children's inheritance, there having been little need for persuasion of MrsPJH that business class was the only way to go. I began to consider hiring a project manager when I realised the constraints and requirements for the plan included;
- fly on an A380,
- fly business,
- fixed start date,
- fixed end date,
- maximum days on the ground in Australia,
- minimum layover hours,
- time for pre-work recovery,
- land in Sydney on our 30th wedding anniversary,
- be in Sydney over Christmas and New Year.
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Given these constraints I reasoned that we would have to bite the bullet and plan and pay now, thinking that waiting for sales and other pricing changes was in all probability a lost cause. Not to say I wasn’t price sensitive, as it quickly became clear that some offerings were far more expensive than others. HWVLover’s evangelising had put Emirates were firmly in the mix at this point, though Etihad and Singapore seemed to be contenders also. VS were out of the picture, due to price.
One fly in the ointment when the exercise started was that #1 Daughter couldn’t take any time of work and therefore would not be able to join us. Until, that is, she and her current employer came to a parting of the ways and she opted to take an internship at another company in Manchester. This pushed Emirates to #1 position, as it meant that we could organise a schedule that would allow us to meet up in Dubai to fly the long leg together. At this point she and I hatched an idea to not tell MrsPJH that she could now join us (albeit for a limited time), thinking what a wizard wheeze it would be to have a surprise at Dubai. As a punishment for thinking up this mother torturing plan I resolved not to tell her that she would be flying business.
For the most part, the booking process was painful, Emirates customer service left a lot to be desired and it was only price (and the Air China alternative) that kept them in the game. At one point I was told that if I booked direct via the web or via the call centre then at the point of turning up at the airport to check in the same credit card would have to be present in both Manchester and London at the same point in time. No one at the call centre seemed able to suggest a way around this except to book via a Travel Agent, so this I did, and thank you Flight Centre - one call, all sorted, included the ETA documents, price matched to the Emirates website.
Then began the next phase of pain. This was at the start of the Emirates / Qantas alliance, and though booking via Emirates our outbound was to be Qantas metal. In order to pre-assign seats for the outbound leg, we then had to go through the process of getting the Qantas reference out of the Emirates system, It took a number of attempts to get ours, and then when I requested #1 Daughter's I was told that she would have to ask for it. Now this presented a bit of a risk that the business cat may get out of the bag, but in the end a couple of sleights of hand and the Qantas reference was obtained, the cat remaining firmly bagged as I managed to put in seat requests for the DXB-SYD leg that would mean we could be seated together.
CDC provision served to be the final phase of pain. At first it looked like this might slip through the cracks of definition in the t&c, on the basis that both Emirates and Qantas seemed to say it would only be offered to those where the metal and the ticket provider were in celestial harmony. Eventually though the planets aligned, the qualification settled at 70 mile radius and we would be getting a car to the airport from our front door. I know many V Flyers do this as standard, but for us it was a real treat, particularly given that we are just within the 70 mile radius of LHR. I did wonder whether we should book one each (well, we were entitled to) but decided that would be a bit much. Nothing comes for free however and the just as the CDC situation got sorted it became clear that, horror of horrors, despite being on an Emirates ticket we would not be allowed past the portals of the Emirates Lounge at Heathrow and would instead have make do with the reputedly sticky floored Galleries Lounge with access to only warm McEwans and a half chewed sausage roll for sustenance. I suppose everything is good for you if it doesn't kill you, and we'd just have to slum it.
Anyhoo, after making the flight arrangements and coming to terms with the loss of my gold teeth to pay for an apartment in Sydney over New Year's Eve, all settled down. #1 Daughter and my plan for her to make her presence on the trip known to MrsPJH only in Dubai could not be sustained however, but the presentation of daughter's itinerary did make for a superb Mother's Day gift.
And so it came to pass that after a year in the planning, daily reads of the relevant fora on Flyertalk and much advice from V-Flyers HWVLover & Jacki the sun eventually rose on Saturday 21st December and three quarters of Family PJH embarked upon their greatest adventure thus far (apart from marriage, children etc). It had become real the moment I got the call from the CDC company on the Friday, but work commitments for both MrsPJH and I had left zero time for preparation in advance, so by the time the CDC arrived (half an hour early) in the afternoon we were both knackered after a frenzy of packing, checking travel documents, cleaning, checking travel documents, getting hair cut, checking travel documents, driving to Tesco to get travel money, checking travel documents, leaving keys and instructions with friends and then throwing up some cursory Christmassy stuff on the walls as the equivalent of "leaving t'big light on". There was also an emergency call to Qantas to establish whether MrsPJH could take knitting needles on board Qantas aircraft as a Yoda was under construction (the answer was yes, for those interested).
Despite the rain, any fears I had about congestion on the M25 proved unfounded, and after an entertaining hour and a quarter of being regaled with an ex TriStar driver's tales of SRB, Alice Cooper and Carrie Fisher (separately, not at once you understand) and a less entertaining quarter of an hour of borderline racism on immigration we were deposited at the downmarket end of T3 for Qantas check in with a cheery admonition not to take the weather with you. We were early, so at least we didn't have to queue for what is possibly the single most dispiriting and disinterested check in experience of my life (which includes somewhere around 100 Easyjet check ins at Stansted, so there was strong competition). This experience was only enlivened by the lady at the next check in clambering onto the luggage belt to get a view of the seat assignment screen, trying to resolve a "family sitting together issue" and saying that they'd arranged it all with Emirates. Mmmm.
Armed with boarding passes for both legs, security was negotiated with ease, duty free ignored (as this has to be delivered sealed to the aircraft steps to meet Australian regulations) and soon we were fully immersed in the "waiting room at a funeral parlour" ambience of the T3 Galleries lounge. It had decent wi-fi, a good range of wines and spirits (including Gentleman Jack) on a help yourself basis, no visible champagne and poor food; "runny" seemed to be the culinary concept of the day. That said, I think had we not had experience of the Clubhouses we would have thought it the mutt's nuts, but as a place to sit and have a few drinks and some nibbles it was fine, just lacking in any kind of anticipation or atmosphere which we both associate with the LHR and LGW Clubhouses.
At this point #1 Daughter had checked in so the business class travel secret was now out and she was now enjoying a celebratory glass in the Emirates Lounge at Manchester. Having in the previous couple of days explained away the CDC as "same price as a cab but more reliable" and done OLCI for her, the penny only dropped when she reached the front of the Economy queue and the check in agent pointed out, with some amusement (reportedly "fell about laughing") that she should have been at the queue free business class desk.
A few of the Galleries’ wines were sampled, various folk came and went for easterly bound flights and it was revealed that the lady at the check in had been anxious because she'd been working her own plan for her children as dad's appearance in the lounge for their trip to Australia was clearly a bonus (in a good way).
Boarding was called on time, and we then had to make our way past the Emirates lounge (boo! hiss!) to the gate and swiftly down the airbridge to be warmly greeted (by name, which continued throughout the flight) and directed to our starboard side seat pair 19H K. Not the world's most innovative seat design nor cabin layout (six virtually straight across) but plenty of space for our meagre carry on items (1 * man bag, 1 * hand bag). The layout felt busy but not too crowded, and the face forward nature of the seat and bed meant that you didn't get clipped by people passing by as sometimes happens with the herringbone layout. In the Qantas layout, upstairs on the A380 is business at the front and a PE section at the rear. First is downstairs.
Champagne offered and accepted, IFE offering investigated (good, but not astonishing) and PJ's and gents' and ladies' amenity kits handed out. PJs 100% cotton, with an HWLover inspired Big Roo design and the amenity kit holds a little more than the VS offering.
During the planning phase of this operation, I had opted for assigning us the same row 19 HK window pair and added in the seat across the aisle in 19F for the next leg so that when #1 Daughter joined us in DXB she could sit with MrsPJH and I would be just across the aisle. Thus to hear the "Bonus Dad" of the lounge who was in 19F reassuring his brood that he'd make sure they had the same seats for their next flight was a bit worrying, particularly as that specific seat was under a different single person booking for #1 Daughter.
Evidently anticipating that most people want to get their heads down for some sleep, drinks and food were offered up quickly. The crew proved to be chatty, actively engaging in conversation with their charges about where we were headed and why. Unfortunately the food itself was less than stellar and made me wish I'd perhaps opted for the runny stuff in the lounge, as I basically ended up with a toasted sandwich. Apparently the Reuben is a Neil Perry "signature dish". Really? Clearly needs to do more handwriting practice. I think I may have sought solace my disappointment through self medicating with alcohol.
Post "dinner" the seat mattresses were handed out, so I slid the bed down and slipped slinkily into my Big Roo fronted PJs - well, as slinkily as you can in an aircraft toilet.
Three episodes of "Modern Family" and the opening few minutes of "The World's End" later I was happily in the land of nod for a few hours. This I put down to being able to turn over in the bed. I had wanted to have a bit of a wander round the aircraft, but reasoned that pretty soon I'd have 14 hours into which to fit that activity.
When I awoke we were on point of descent into DXB, which provoked a mass rush for the facilities to change out of Big Roo PJs and do whatever else people do. This was confused by the fact that either the locks were either not working properly or people were not locking the doors properly, so people were heading to a green signed facility only to find it occupied and then pinballing around the aircraft looking for a free space. But there little feeling of a lock down in the descent until very late, the crew seemingly very relaxed about people moving around, and everyone managed to get properly attired.
An announcement was made to the effect that we could now switch our phones on, and up popped the message from #1 Daughter saying she was in the lounge, so The Plan had worked. Lots of room to disembark, no conflicts save for bleeding together the forward and rear business cabins and then to a joyful reunion with #1 Daughter.
* aka "partying"
what's looks like the start to another great multi part trip report ( no pressure there then Paul 
