We arrived at IAH at an uncomfortably tight T-90 since work kept us past our scheduled leave time. Thankfully we did the passport check and got our BPs pretty quickly, though security at Terminal D was pretty slow. I snuck into the KLM Crown Lounge for a quick beer and to change out of my work clothes and repack my only bag, an overnight bag. No sooner than I walked up to the gate I realize that they are already at my boarding group. We wonder into our home for the next 14-16 hours (depending on direction), which according to an article I found, makes it the 6th longest commercial flight in the world. Wow... They have a large selection of national US and UAE newspapers free for the taking in the jetbridge.
My coworker/friend (let’s call him CO for short) and I had booked 31H and 31K with the hope that nobody would take the middle seat. Fate was on our side since it was empty when we pushed back. Load in Y was probably 85-90%. We were greeted by Y amenity kits, headsets, pillow, and blanket. Once seated, the FAs brought around printed menus and hot towels.
Y amenity kit
Legroom shot
The thing I am probably most impressed with on EK is how efficient and frequent the cart passes are. From where I saw, it looked like they deployed 3 pairs of FAs on each aisle staggered through the cabin so nobody had to wait too long. They also came back with the drink cart twice after the main meal. All of the FAs on this flight were terrific – friendly, attentive, attractive (I’m a single guy, I have to mention that!), and willing to accommodate any request we threw at them.
The food was terrific, especially for economy. It beats anything I’ve had in UA domestic F. I went with the more traditional Middle Eastern meals on the flights and wasn’t disappointed. Here is the menu for the outbound, which is the same as what EK has posted on their web site. I had the Lamb Kofka, while CO had the chicken. I was very pleased, as was CO.
Outbound menu
Lamb Kofka
After dinner, I settled into to play with ICE, EK’s IFE system. While I’d never heard of lots of the movies and the ones I did know were old, there is more than enough on here to entertain somebody through a 14 hour flight. Tons of US tv shows, movies, etc. I liked the onboard cameras.
Taxi at IAH
Once everybody went to sleep, CO and I made friends with the 4 FAs that were awake and hadn’t gone on break so we just chatted and kept drinking cocktails. Once we had drank most of the Jack Daniels we could find, we popped some sleep aid and slept for ~6 hrs or so. A point to note is they put out platters of fruit and snack bars at the very rear galley for eating during the middle of the night.
If for some reason you’re awake when you’re supposed to be sleeping, they serve little cheese pizzas. I had one and they were a tasty surprise, though that may or may not be the residual whiskey talking. No clue what time this was, not that it would have mattered had I known the time. Let's be honest here... Still on a 14ish hour flight. I declined to wear a watch on this trip since I felt like I’d spend more time resetting it than anything else.
We woke up slightly before breakfast (which by this point is being served at about 3 pm Dubai time). CO had the cheese omelette, while I had the mixed pepper frittata. Critics said both meals were delicious. I liked that they served the croissants warm, while the bread that accompanied dinner was cold. Once everything was cleared away, we had limited time left onboard. They began to pick up headsets and blankets, and we all settled into final descent, wide awake at 6 pm and ready to hit the city. Little did we know, sleep would be elusive, but worth it.
Mixed pepper frittata
This is where I leave you for today, as I’m quite tired and have to go to back to work tomorrow. I’m also excited to sleep in my first actual bed since Wednesday night.
One of our first views:
Approximate time at end of this post: Friday, 9 pm Dubai time
Cumulative sleep tracker: approx 6 hours since waking Thursday at 6 am CST