Greetings from Dubai. After a 16-hour flight on Emirates from Los Angeles to Dubai, it is good to be on the ground again.
My expectations were guarded for this flight and I think they were just about perfect for what I experienced. The A380 business class flight from Los Angeles to Dubai was comfortable, tasty, but lacked the personal touch that characterizes some business class products.
First, the A380 was only about 2/3 full in business class, so there was plenty of room to spread out. I appreciated the enormous and rather private cabin. Private not so much in that the seats are private but that both economy class and first class are well segregated.
I ended up with a bulkhead window seat in row seven. It provided plenty of privacy, though there was of foot traffic from passengers using the forward lavatory and from flight attendants accessing the cabinet integrated into the suite.
Menus were distributed before takeoff and orders taken shortly after. Emirates offers a choice of three appetizers and you are asked to choose one, though my request for both soup and mezze was obliged.
For the main course, I chose lamb which was served medium well but still very delicious.
I concluded the meal with cheese and chocolate cake, followed by a cappuccino.
Then came sleep. 10 hours of it. And thus I can say, mission accomplished. The goal of this flight was to sleep and I certainly slept.
I woke up with a few hours before landing and requested something from the a la carte menu but was told it was too late and that everything had been thrown out in preparation for breakfast…
Breakfast was indeed served about 2.5 hours before landing. My omelet was tremendous.
I’d give service a mixed review on the flight. One FA smiled, the others did not. No one addressed passengers by name (or at least me) and FAs were not very proactive. Perhaps Emirates has a reason for its service flow, but I found it so odd that the breakfast tray was served prior to drinks. By the time my coffee and orange juice arrived, I had already finished my breakfast.
Kudos to a very practical amenity kit (decent razor with shaving cream, deodorant, nice toothbrush, large[r] toothpaste) and real towels in the lavatory.
I spent a bit of time at the bar…just to stretch my legs…and had it to myself. Again, the flight wasn’t all that crowded.
CONCLUSION
I got what I expected on Emirates. A comfortable seat, good rest, good foot, and just “ok” service. As expected, internet also did not function. I certainly recommend Emirates, though it is by no means “industry leading” as far as I am concerned.
Stay tuned for a detailed trip report next week.
“everything had been thrown out” – why? they can’t throw it out of the window, so why discard it?
Friends weep when I tell them I have seen Emirates’ flight attendants pour the contents of opened wine bottles down the toilet! Apparently, regulations require them to discard food and wine.
Matthew, when do we see your Etihad – India – My wife is a star – Maldives trip reports?
Didn’t realize Emirates is playing the pre-plated slop game with main courses
Is it me or is your bleh review mainly based on your expectations (in comparison with emirates first and/or qatar)?
By itself it seems like a pretty nice experience…certainly better than any US experience. Perhaps if you woke up a little earlier?
It was a nice experience. It truly was. But I criticize United for using casserole dishes and must do the same for Emirates. I also didn’t like that I wasn’t welcomed or addressed by name. Purely a subjective thing, but I mention this in every business class review. United generally does this well. United’s bedding was also better. But I enjoyed Emirates overall and would never hesitate to fly EK again.
On a purely hard product perspective, Emirates is certainly in the middle of the field. Their seat design is basically unchanged on the new planes with thank goodness a different color scheme and not the horrid faux gold wood gaudiness on your plane. Emirates business class is akin to Ana with the dreaded and out of place blue seat and bland beige paneling or the faux light wood paneling in Ana first that makes the cabin seem antiquated. The new color scheme and design on the Ana A380 is much more palatable.
So much of Emirates marketing is centered on the first class product in which the new cabin is top 3 in the world after Singapore and ethidad. Service wise Emirates of course is better than the big 3 in the states but compared to the other big middle eastern carriers, Asian or European, it is nothing special that you would expect given Emirates’ reputation.
So how many “reviews” have we all seen on EK’s Biz and First? Since there has not been an appreciable change in their seating and service for all these years I thin enough. And yes I have six trips on EK and have flown both First mostly with one biz trip. In a moderately sold section it’s close to up front, sans the shower and caviar.
None from me in business.
I own company Unique Meetimgs and Incentives and traveled on Emirates Airbus 380 from New York to Dubai. Also several times continue to Singapore, or Hong Kong’s
I booked groups in Emirates but must say service and food is not as used to be
Still Emirates are much better than Swiss International, Lufthansa and Air France. Turkish Airlines are better than all of them.
Emirates is better than those airlines depending on the plane you fly, which determines the seat. The same is true for Turkish as well.
Personally, I find the food on Air France to be better than the food on Emirates, in both First Class and Business Class. Swiss’ food is better in FC, about the same in BC. Emirates is definitely better than Lufthansa with regards to the food.
As for the hard product…again, it depends on the class, plane, and seats.
I expected much better from EK. Last week I flew Alitalia bizclass, and even they had better meal service on a short transcon to JFK.
However this amenity kit looks really awesome.
I did appreciate the amenity kit. I just think Etihad and especially Qatar offer a much better soft product.
It gets old…
I would agree: 10 hours of sleep is hard to fault and the minor transgressions become irrelevant. I still don’t like the insistence of serving breakfast hours before arrival , it seems to me to be for the convenience of the staff rather than the comfort of passengers ( but it’s every airline, not just EK).
I flew ORD-DOH-BKK IN QSuites this week, and this review of EK basically proves QR is the class of the ME3, in J at least.
After landing I remember thinking to myself, is there anything more I possibly could ask of them? There is one thing… That bar. A bar is the only amenity they’re lacking. With that in play, there’d simply be no reason to book away from QR.
Hi! I have a question? From the seat-row 7, are you able to see the engines clearly? or you mostly see the wing…How was your experience looking outside the window?
I would love your recomendation since I´m trying to decide between that row or the 9th
You can see both engines clearly – see my full review below:
https://liveandletsfly.com/emirates-a380-business-class-review/