Emirates Skywards - First Class Emirates not so good....several times.

Hello All.

So I can now give some honest feedback on a product that has gotten so much press. I flew First class from VCE-Dubai-BKK and stopped there. Then I recently had cause to fly down from BKK to SYD once again in First. These are my two cents. FYI....I find the 50 EURO charge PER KILO over the limits they set criminal....my bag went back to the USA the day after for $60 USD........compared to their 1500 Euros they wanted.......crazy.

The flight out of Venice was an older airbus. First class had several very comfortable seats but no suites however reclining was very comfy. This was fine as I was coming off a cruise and exhausted. The service manager was excellent and I slept for most of the 5 hours. Landed early in Dubai.

Then I had 4 hours in Dubai.....I am not a shopper so this was boring....and tiring as it was almost midnight waiting and waiting for another flight....Lounge was nice...big spacious etc....but its a lounge...like all of them...I was not impressed.

Dubai to Bangkok was on the famous A380......I had a window seat and the flight manager appeared to say how nice it was to have me onboard and then he disappeared for the entire flight? Service was spotty and food was very good out of Dubai...but I was exhausted. When they made the bed in the suite.....it was the MOST uncomfortable bed I had slept in!!! It was not even fully flat....at the bottom the foot rest went down? Then they put a "pad" 1/4 inch thick on the seat....which didn't help at all...I felt every lump and roll of that seat....Slept terrible. Didn't shower onboard however liked the big bathroom in the front with the warm floor.

Yesterday I flew from Bangkok to Sydney on their 777-300ER. I had a nice suite First was 1/2 full and all was well. Great Japanese gentleman pouring champagne and then the inflight service manager did this same hello goodbye thing....barely saw him again. A lady served the meal and it was mediocre out of Bangkok as was her service....she giggled alot and did little....I was tired again and tried to go to bed....hoping and praying my seat would be better than the A380....but ultimately I can now say....These "Emirates Suites" in the "flat" positions are beasts....Cathay in First is 10X's more comfortable and so is Singapore and so is JAL and so is Swiss.....I find for sleeping these suites are really terrible. The bed is just uncomfortable...and NOT FLAT.

My try on three flights of Emirates in First is complete and my conclusion is as follows. Service was nice but spotty.....Food was good/Very good. Seats in First are awful for me....imho... Between this and the exorbitant baggage fees....Emirates will not be a recommended airline by me.

On two of my three flights I did the "anti blood clot walk" through business class every 4 hours.....I have never seen so many men NOT WEARING SHIRTS.....just laying with their blankets and corpulant hairy chests..and no clothes on... Emirates should provide Pajamas in J class....this was not pretty and several of the ladies were talking about this at baggage claim.....It didn't smell good either....

Next time any of the other airlines is worth their weight in gold for a comfortable seat.....This sleeping experience ruined it for me.

Safe travels to all! NYC

The EUR1500 can be avoided by simply not taking 30Kg over the limit and , iirc, is not the 1st time which you have reported coming across it, so , if feeling it exhorbitant, dont go 30Kg over limit

I have yet to come across seats in 1st not being horizontal in fully reclined positioned and what people

Surprised by your comments, since I find EK Suites to be the most comfortable bed in the sky. I can even sleep properly in their J seat, and I can't say the same for most other airlines I've been on. Having said that, I haven't been on CX or SQ F...

I never can understand why people complains about ''excess'' baggage leave alone the comfortless (:confused:) travel in F. Emirates have one of the most flexible of baggage options. Give a break,Emirates carries a shower at 40,000ft, a lounge and they don't charge you extra for it.

But here its '' your '' extra Kilo ( they burn extra fuel too :p ), and its not any hidden clause.

I find for sleeping these suites are really terrible. The bed is just uncomfortable...and NOT FLAT.

On two of my three flights I did the "anti blood clot walk" through business class every 4 hours.....I have never seen so many men NOT WEARING SHIRTS.....just laying with their blankets and corpulant hairy chests..and no clothes on... Emirates should provide Pajamas in J class....this was not pretty and several of the ladies were talking about this at baggage claim.....It didn't smell good either....



Ok, I have to agree with you on the seats in F. They are not 100% flat (I did post about this several times) and the legrest doesn't seem to go fully up. In the past this annoyed me but I got used to it. It's not as bad as you put it though considering the level of privacy you get within that suite.

Side tracking here, by contrast EY's seats are fully flat and much more comfortable to sleep in but EY don't have the network or frequency that's anywhere near EK's (not to mention their lack of F on a lot of their routes).

About your second point, in my short 13 years of flying I have never heard or seen topless passengers aboard any flight. I think this sort of behaviour is not allowed by any airline. Now, am not trying to say that you're making things up but if I were you I would have brought this up with the flight purser (was he asleep?), why didn't you?

I just stepped off a 17-hour flight time trip in F (excluding a 1hr 15min layover in DXB where I managed to squeeze in a shower, a drink and a stroll through the duty free shops) and it was simply fantastic. Landed feeling I barely flew 3 hours. For me that says a lot on how comfortable and flyer-friendly EK really is. I have to say EK's experience (including seats, service, lounges, luggage, etc.) is hard to beat.

You surely can find holes here and there (switching BEY flight to skycruisers instead of suites, food ex-BEY was just eatable, parked across the old terminal in DXB, no priority line for boarding in DXB, one of the air vents in the suite wasn't working) but the overall experience is, and has always been top notch.

Forgot to mention the online booking process and customer service over the phone as part of the travel experience.

I've done 30+ sectors in F this year and I don't understand how people think that the seat isn't flat. Every flight I've been on, the seat reclines fully into a completely horizontal position and with the mattress pad and the duvet, I think its one of the most comfortable beds in the sky.

I've done 30+ sectors in F this year and I don't understand how people think that the seat isn't flat. Every flight I've been on, the seat reclines fully into a completely horizontal position and with the mattress pad and the duvet, I think its one of the most comfortable beds in the sky.

+1, I regularly sleep 10 hours straight in EK F. Its about as flat as I can find a seat to be, and I am comfortable sleeping in the seat. I am also 6' 3" (190cm) tall, so its easy for me to find a seat to be uncomfortable.

The comment on the F lounge is also surprising from the OP. Not impressed with it? Its one of the nicest lounges I have ever been in.

I have also flown quite a bit in EK J, and I have never seen a topless man, hairy or not. For the OP to see many like this, and have the cabin smell from it, just seems bizarre.

I must admit I flew with my shirt off a few times. Covered myself with a blanket to make sure that people do not see me that way. Cabin crew noticed I guess but were absolutely fine with that. The bed in the suites is indeed not fully flat and has a slight angle towards the TV and the desk - never seems to be a problem though.

I do agree the mattress is pointless and sometimes I find sleeping without it better, depending on how lumpy it is. But the bed is flat, and comfortable. My gripe is they need more pillows in F, the ones they provide are not that great and I usually have to stack 2 or 3 to sleep properly. But again, I cant fault them for the way I like to sleep!

I did see the usual shirts off travellers in F a lot, crew never say anything, but I hope they wipe down those seats well!

The lounge again is great, spacious and you can find private areas to sit.

I think the poster has an axe to grind with EK over excess baggage.

Lounge was nice...big spacious etc....but its a lounge...like all of them...I was not impressed.


Nice, spacious... but still not impressed? :confused:

I find the OP pretty demanding but I must agree with him about the F-seat not being completely flat, as they slightly go down toward the TV screen as mentioned before. That said, the seat is very comfortable, and having flown CX, SQ and LX in F as well (airlines he mentions) I don't think their flat beds are more comfortable.
My personal preference goes to CX, but for different reasons : when I appreciate the privacy provided by EK Suites, I do not like all their gold/fake wood and tasteless/gaudy details.
However I still think they are some of the best seats in the sky.

There are only a few things I can fault the EK lounge for - poor bathrooms, a bit too noisy being open to the rest of the terminal, slow internet at times, and a bit too bright. But as far as service, catering and space goes, it is well above average and I do think it is impressive. Qatar's F lounge in DOH probably goes a step further, but this is still a solid product.

Isn't the allowance in F supposed to be 40kg? And with Silver or Gold (which I am sure the OP is now) getting an incremental +12kg, +16kg respectively?

I think we've been here already?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emirates-skywards/1347831-1500-euros-extra-baggage-charges.html

Isn't the allowance in F supposed to be 40kg? And with Silver or Gold (which I am sure the OP is now) getting an incremental +12kg, +16kg respectively?

It is actually 50Kg plus any status allowance.

I think the OP was both surprised and frustrated by the charges quoted by EK for excess luggage. But all talk about it is somehow pointless because the OP found a cheaper way.

Just got a question for the OP, if you found EK this bad then why did you fly again with them to SYD (I am assuming you originally booked VCE-BKK not VCE-SYD)? I mean you had QF and TG as direct options plus a handful of other airlines (SQ, KE, JL, CX, MH etc.) to chose from.

I find EK's baggage allowance quite generous. The most I have ever travelled with was 110 kilos and that wasn't even the full allowance for me and my wife. By contrast if I were with other airlines I would have been forced to pay excess (Think EY, QR, MH and QF/RJ).

Note to the admin, may I suggest to close off this thread as it repeats the old one, doesn't add value to the forum and seems to be more of a rant than anything else.

Agreed, duplicate posts are against the ToS and the thread adds little value to the EK community and is more of a rant than anything else.

Zol
EK Forum Co-moderator