Trip Reports - EK413 - Emirates A380 Inaugural Flight from AKL

The Emirates EK413 A380 Trip Report



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02 - 02 - 09

The day I was looking forward to finally arrived and boy was I excited !


Today I would be on the Inaugural A380 flight out of Auckland, New Zealand with My Favourite Airline - EMIRATES !


I arrived at AKL in my chauffeur driven Caprice at 15:00 , checked in for the EK413 and made my way to the lounge ...


As I was early (or so I thought) I grabbed some lunch and just as I was about to dig in ..... I looked up at the Flight Info Screen and saw this ....


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Promptly asked the passing reception staff what was with the weird flight number , She told me that the A380 is actually parked right now at Gate 15 for a private media tour and Arrival Reception.


Sooo ... Finished my quick snack


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And left the lounge to go have a look at my ride to SYD, at Boarding Gate 15 .


Aha ..... can just make out the huge tail ...


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A little closer ....


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And then finally .... the Beautiful EMIRATES A6 - EDD


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The size of the plane can only really be appreciated , when you're actually looking at it in full view and all I can say is WOW !


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As I was clicking these pictures , the media were making their way to the AKL lounge after the arrival reception and their private tour of the plane.

I joined them back at the lounge and also clicked some pictures of the A380 model presented to AKL lounge.


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The EK lounge was packed and in a few sections there was standing room only ....


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Departure was delayed by nearly an hour because of the Reception and private tour so we started out from the lounge at around 18:50 for our EK413 , which was patiently waiting for us at Gate 15.



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Boarding Gate 15 :


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2 Lanes ... 1 for F & J and the other for Y


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I took the right ...


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Suite 1A



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A more personalised Welcome :D


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A Mini-Tour of EK's A380



F cabin view from Seat 1A


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Water Feature:


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The Shower Girls :


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The Other Water Feature:



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Front Stairs going down to Y Cabin:


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There were some media again around the flight deck so could only manage this shot


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Economy Class Cabin


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Hmmm what's up here ...



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An Eager Bar-Tender !



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Business Class Cabin


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Ahh back home at last :)



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Pre-Departure Drinks:



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Poised for Take- Off



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The take-off was nothing like any other I'd experienced before ...

The run was smooth and very powerful but still far less noisy than all the planes I've been in.



In the air and a beautiful view from the Tail Camera onto the clouds below:


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Our Destination


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Quick Engine Check


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All's good so time to hit the F Cabin Bar



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1 glass of Dom for each hand ... it doesnt get any better than this :D



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I decided to have my meal first, then go for a stroll before my shower.

This allowed me to arrange it so I could get more time in the Spa ;)

Dinner was served on the short hop across the Tasman , I chose the following:


Appetiser:


Cajun spiced Lamb Loin with char-grilled veges & beetroot relish


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Soup:


Moroccan Tomato Soup


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Main Course:


Grilled Beef Tenderloin topped with gratinated Kikorangi blue Cheese


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Dessert:


Gourmet Mini Desserts of Fig & Vanilla Mascarpone , Chocolate Mousse and Pont Royal Cake


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The entire meal was very good , right from the tender lamb loin , the thick hearty tasty soup , the succulent & juicy tenderloin to the creamy mousse ... The meal inspired me to stretch my legs a little so took a walk down to the Pub ... or in this instance ....



The Business Class Bar



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The bar had a great vibe and the ambience was exactly like a real-life bar

Needless to say, I enjoyed my time there until I remembered it was time for my shower ... :D




Shower at 40,000 feet:



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As soon as I was back at my seat , the lovely F FA came and told me that my spa was ready and to take all the time I needed.

So I was all set to have a relaxing 30 mins .... but it ended up being 45 mins :D

Firstly, the pictures dont do the spa room enough justice ..

Although I had clicked pics of the left during my Mini- Tour and had a vague idea of how it might be inside with the doors closed ...

I was still expecting a cramped spa and even more tiny shower cubicle but when I locked the door and turned around .... Boy was I wrong !!!



I was standing approx 1/3 way into the Spa room for these pics below so hope it gives you the sense of space that they've given the F pax ...



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So once inside there's loads of room to move about and if you looked closely above, there's even a flight map to keep you occupied whilst on the John !

The shower cubicle was not huge but it was not tiny either.. There was sufficient space to reach all the needed parts :D

A lot of us were wondering what would happen in case of turbulence ... And for that. there's also a seat inside with a belt that you can use to secure yourself to avoid being thrown about.

The shower was an interesting experience but once I finished .... the novelty wore off straight away as I was towelling myself dry , So not sure it was needed for the short 3 hr flight.

However I can definitely see it being more useful on the longer DXB-SYD leg as I imagine it would be quite refreshing to have the added luxury of taking the quick shower after you've woken up from resting on route.


As mentioned , I took my time in there and so when I came out it was already time for our descent into Sydney.

And that meant my time on this EK A380 flight was drawing to a close ...

My only consolation is my next upcoming F trip where I can experience it long haul on both my in-bound and out-bound legs :D




I hope you enjoyed the AKL inaugural flight experience with Emirates and as for me , I still have my return flight to look forward to .... which is Ek's first Boeing 777-200LR flight into AKL.

Thanks for reading and as always your feedback is appreciated.

There was a lot going on on the EK413 and squeezing it all into a small amount of time means for sure I've missed out on reporting on something in the TR but I will update with new posts so please feel free to ask questions and I'll try my best to answer them.

Cheers,

Really enjoyed this report! Also, congratulations to you!

was waiting with baited breath for a report on one of the first flights - so thank you.

certainly looks like a wonderful aircraft on the inside and EK have done amazing stuff with the fitout.

Thanks

Adam

Coolies, great trip. Will be making that trip some time soon.
Great to see you could test drive the showers on such a short trip.

Cheers

Awesome! :) Great picture of the shower in action.

Slumming in J,

Pat

Excellent trip report. The photos were very useful. Now for questions.

I just told my TA to book 1E and 1F or 2E and 2F if those are not available for a DXB to JFK flight. What is your view concerning the best middle section seats?

Is there a hair dryer in the shower room?

Thanks for the great report EK_Flyer. ^^^

I am gutted to have missed out. BTW it looks to me like the suite itself is little changed from A345, and the menu appears to be the same as last month's one.

Thanks for a great report... looks like it was really good fun. And thanks for answering the shower/turbulence question - scuttling back to your suite with only a towel to protect your modesty would not be a cool look!

Great stuff, thanks for posting. I was amazed to see Penfolds Grange in the shot of the first class bar - surely that's not regular EK F wine? A special for the inaugurual flight perhaps... I know I would have latched onto that like a shot :)

Marvellous! The bar looks a bit busier than on my DXB-LHR flight. Then again, it was a 7:45am flight :)

Cheers,
Rick

Great stuff, thanks for posting. I was amazed to see Penfolds Grange in the shot of the first class bar - surely that's not regular EK F wine? A special for the inaugurual flight perhaps... I know I would have latched onto that like a shot :)

mad_atta QF F has Grange on their wine list. Very hard to actually get it though as only carried on a small proportion of their F flights.

Thanks for the feedback guys , Some more details about the flight ...

Flight Load

The loads in the premium cabins were full !

F was showing half full availability till this weekend when suddenly all but one seat was left .This was still not taken when had checked in. But not sure if it was actually left empty during the flight.

J was pretty much full as well but it had 90% of the media & EK staff etc so not sure how many revenue seats there were.

Y was maybe half to 2/3rds full.

Flight Experience:

Having 14 seats in F makes for quite a busy and non-exclusive feel ... There are 4 FAs so service was top notch but i guess I've been used to much lighter F loads so noticed the difference.

I've got to hand it to the Cabin Crew , they were absolutely wonderful and managed to give us a great service in F whilst interacting with us and answering all the different questions the F pax had. ^

Coolies, great trip. Will be making that trip some time soon.
Great to see you could test drive the showers on such a short trip.

Cheers

Thanks Ed and I'm sure you'll enjoy your flight :)

The FA draws up a list as for the shower times so it's best to get on it early if you're just going across the Tasman. I'm guessing the whole F cabin might've had a run cos people kept disappearing for 10 mins.



Excellent trip report. The photos were very useful. Now for questions.

I just told my TA to book 1E and 1F or 2E and 2F if those are not available for a DXB to JFK flight. What is your view concerning the best middle section seats?

Is there a hair dryer in the shower room?

Go for the Row 2 as there's a lot activity around row1 .... with the showers, F bar etc ... so it would be worse on a longer flight.

Sorry dont know about the hair dryer.


Thanks for the great report EK_Flyer. ^^^

I am gutted to have missed out. BTW it looks to me like the suite itself is little changed from A345, and the menu appears to be the same as last month's one.

Thanks Kiwi Flyer


The suite is the same in design to the B777 suites but has motorised window shades for raising /lowering them. The buttons for these are the 3 blue buttons below the wireless controller in the suite pics. You can control them individually or 2 or 3 at a time.

Was hoping for a more unique menu myself on the Inaugural ... But then EK didnt do jack for it here :td:


Great stuff, thanks for posting. I was amazed to see Penfolds Grange in the shot of the first class bar - surely that's not regular EK F wine? A special for the inaugurual flight perhaps... I know I would have latched onto that like a shot :)

It's only regular on the A380 F cabin ... and anyway EK didnt really do anything for the pax on this flight other than the Lindt chocolates :rolleyes: was really disappointed about this :mad:

Marvellous! The bar looks a bit busier than on my DXB-LHR flight. Then again, it was a 7:45am flight :)

Cheers,
Rick

It was in fact more busy than this which is why i went back for my meal and then came back later when there was a little standing room ;)

Wow!!! What is great trip reports!! ^ ^ ^ This is so unbelievable where you took on EK is inauguration flight from AKL-SYD-DXB. I remember that I realize know the shower onboard of A380. I'm sure if I could try to be on A380 sometimes in the future.

Also, you realizing where I saw F class suite is absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to hear more stories about your entire trip. Also, I saw the winglet is really very tight near the building. I thought they didn't have any damaged the terminal. It could be very extremely dangerous out there but, it will be destroy the building. I think EK crew need to be more carefully what A380 is coming into the gates.

I just flew via AKL on the 2nd of February on LAN 800 from SYD-SCL and saw EK A380... and was wondering why it was there... I didn't know that it was the inauguration flight day for that plane to AKL. :D

SYD was really the mad house for all of the A380s that were flying today... so jealous... why SYD gets all of the nice presents. :D ;)

EK 380, QF 380, SQ 380 ... all at one airport....

Thanks N830MH :)

And well spotted mate , yes I was very interested with this as well ... AKL were cutting it quite fine with the amount of space left.

Great stuff, thanks for posting. I was amazed to see Penfolds Grange in the shot of the first class bar - surely that's not regular EK F wine? A special for the inaugurual flight perhaps... I know I would have latched onto that like a shot :)

I don't know about Penfolds Grange, but the Chateau Margaux 1982 premier grand cru costs in the region of 800 euros a bottle ... that must have been a special for the inaugural flight!

What an awesome report!!

I don't know about Penfolds Grange, but the Chateau Margaux 1982 premier grand cru costs in the region of 800 euros a bottle ... that must have been a special for the inaugural flight!

All the wines displayed were on the Wine List menu so i'm guessing they are standard on the A380 as there wasnt any mention of a Special Wine List for the Inaugural flight .




What an awesome report!!

Thanks ! glad you enjoyed reading it .

Great report EK_Flyer. I am particularly intrigued by the availability of the 1982 Margaux. As noted this retails for $2000+ NZD. The F fares trans-tasman are about $2500. Thus I would be surprised if this were available (apart from on this inaugural). If I am wrong then I will certainly travel this sometime soon (and would certainly not be wasting my time in a SPA or shower!)

Jeff

Note to self - remember to check when I fly the route again next month.

Great report EK_Flyer. I am particularly intrigued by the availability of the 1982 Margaux. As noted this retails for $2000+ NZD. The F fares trans-tasman are about $2500. Thus I would be surprised if this were available (apart from on this inaugural). If I am wrong then I will certainly travel this sometime soon (and would certainly not be wasting my time in a SPA or shower!)

Jeff

Thanks Jeff

Hmm in that case maybe we can get some feedback from other members who will fly and thus come to know for sure :)


Note to self - remember to check when I fly the route again next month.

Heck yeah and will look forward to your TR :)

Excellent work ! ^ Well done. When is the next part of your TR ? I can't wait for it !

thanks for the pics and report. shower and a spa is the only way to go :) one day!

Excellent work ! ^ Well done. When is the next part of your TR ? I can't wait for it !

Thanks jul89 posted my return TR .... hope you enjoy that one :)


thanks for the pics and report. shower and a spa is the only way to go :) one day!


For sure ! And I hope you'll get to enjoy it soon ^

Great report and good pics. Loved the peek in the shower:)

Great report and good pics. Loved the peek in the shower:)


Glad you enjoyed it , Cheers :)

Tremendous trip report and great photos! Thanks.

Tremendous trip report and great photos! Thanks.

Thanks mate hope you enjoy the EK412 return TR as well ... Cheers :)

Hi Guys

Here are the contents of the A380 Goody Bag EK handed out on the Inaugural EK413 along with my BP souvenir :)


Goody Bag Contents


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The model has the reg of the first A380 delivered to EK (A6- EDA) not the A6 - EDD which flew on the AKL-SYD-DXB Inaugural flight.


Cheers :)

Were you able to pay with miles for this flight?

Were you able to pay with miles for this flight?

Yes I think so but I doubt there were any award seats left in F & J as both cabins were full .... esp J with the media ... so possibly you could've done so in Y ...

They were offering upgrades with miles from J to F

Hi Guys

Instead of creating a new thread , I just thought i would update this old thread with a a few pics from my recent EK A380 J trip :)


A light drink before the flight:

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Looked like an Ominous night to be flying:


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Turned out that our new A380 A6 - EDE had some technical issues and we would be having the safety demo being demonstrated manually ...

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This lovely FA made it enjoyable :)


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Dinner would be served tonight from AKL- SYD & here's what I had :

To start some Moet & mixed nuts:

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Appetiser : Char siew Duck

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Main : Moroccan Lamb Salad

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Dessert : Chocolate Mousse

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Got to see the cramped crew rest area on the A380 :This is on the lower deck at the back of the plane behind the " Emirates " logo.

The 1st picture shows the location on the right where you can see the crew rest sign ... I couldn't click a better picture as there were a lot of Y pax queued up for the loos


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In SYD we were informed that a Y pax was taken ill & for some reason the whole upper deck J & F was asked to deplane through the F cabin, down the stairs & out the lower bridge ... All Y pax were asked to fill the Health form regardless of transit or departing at SYD...

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I was quite tired when the flight resumed from SYD to DXB so didnt partake of another dinner .. I opted instead to have a nice good rest & had a brilliant 8 hr sleep which made me feel really refreshed & so I spent some time at the Bar chatting with the FAs & J pax then went back to my seat for another nap & got woken up for breakfast.

I switched the seat into upright mode & enjoyed the warming rays of the Desert sun.

Some pictures as we came into Dubai :


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It was very good landing by the pilot in DXB as we just kissed the ground so only felt a slight shudder and that's it !


Final Thoughts :

The Cabin crew were again brilliant and I have applaud them as the A380 J cabin is quite big ... Our J cabin was full so they had their hands full but was happy & a bit surprised to see them pull it off so well... I noticed a very good sense of camaraderie with each one helping the other all of which added up to a happy lot of 76 J pax !

But I was a bit disappointed with the A380 J cabin layout & seat. The A380 J seat is narrower than the B773 seats & very boxed in ... The entrance to the seat is also quite narrow I managed it fine but it was a bit wider than my stretched out palm from thumb to pinkie finger.

The TV screen seemed smaller too although it's the same as the B773 both being 17" wide-screen.

Also only 4 + 1 toilets for 76 pax made things difficult esp. on the flight back which is during the day! The F toilet was only made available bcos there were so many ppl queuing up at the back ... From past travels in A380 F I know they rarely open this toilet to J pax .

The one really good thing about the A380J is the semi private feeling you get if you take the window seats .... this was what gave me a real good sleep as you're quite removed from the aisle so maybe it's good thing to be boxed in ?!

Would be nice to get other people's view so feel free to post your views on how you would rank EK's current J cabin range :)


Thanks for reading & Hope you enjoyed this mini TR :)

Cheers,

Loved, LOVED your two reports. Brilliant pics also.

Reading about the shower/spa room, I have visions of a soapy, slippery, nude passenger strapped in the seat while the plane jumps around in the sky. I'd like to see that.

That duck looks wonderful BTW. Thanks for sharing.

Diva
http://1stclassdiva.wordpress.com/

Thanks for your +ve comments kimala koala :)


Here's my lunch on the return leg :)



Lunch DXB - SYD

Cold Canapés

Blue Cheese on pumpernickel bread , spicy prawn tart & beef pastrami with cheese roulade

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Appetiser

Arabic Mezze

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Main Course

Iranian style Chicken

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Dessert

Blueberry Crumble Cake

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The Chicken was beautiful .... one of the best I've had in flight ... bursting with flavour & tender ... the crumble cake after that was crunchy & moist inside ... perfect to end the meal :)


Cheers ^

A resounding YUM. That looks wonderful.

Note to self: stop looking at food photo's on an empty stomach :p

Another great report! thanks
The plane model is very nice, do they still sell it on board

Thank you for the great trip report as usual. I eagerly await your new reports.
I have searched for this trip in J as I will be doing it in August and wondering what to expect. Do you think it is worth upgrading my Y SYD-AKL early morning fllight to J or my return trip in J to F.It will cost the same points.

Thank you for the great trip report as usual. I eagerly await your new reports.
I have searched for this trip in J as I will be doing it in August and wondering what to expect. Do you think it is worth upgrading my Y SYD-AKL early morning fllight to J or my return trip in J to F.It will cost the same points.


Thanks for your kind words maggies1 :)

Definitely the trip ex-AKL is better to upgrade I reckon as you'll get a good dinner plus you can indulge in a shower if you upgrade J to F ... Once in F You'll be able to access the J Bar anyway ....

Y to J would be good on a long-haul but if it's just SYD-AKL Y is doable & should suffice ... Also SYD-AKL the flight is usually shorter & only has a brekky/brunch meal which isnt that great ;)


If you've got sometime & havent already then have a read of this brilliant TR by Ronerone on the first EK A380 flight it's in J and very nicely written !

Click for Ronerone's TR (http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/131632/)

Cheers,

Another great report! thanks
The plane model is very nice, do they still sell it on board

Thanks & sorry I'm not sure if they do as I haven't looked through the duty free magazine for a long while !

Emirates High street has the 1:100 model here (http://www.emirateshighstreet.com/family_collectables-c-22_70.html)

A friend said he bought the same model as given for US$25 but it was in the standard Herpa box :)

Flyer talk is becoming an addiction, a very cheap way to fly the world through other peoples travels and the tips are terrific. Its wonderful for the imagination. I was so impressed with your TR on the EK380 in F that I booked a cheap Y one way and J return. A$600 rt.
Thanks for your quick answer, I thought as much about the Syd-AKL trip
Regards
Maggies1

Haha Welcome to the "Addicted to FT" Club :D

FT is a brilliant website & I'm really glad a google for "EK J review" led me here !

Thanks again for your positive feedback , I do appreciate all the comments I get ^ :)

On your F trip be sure to advise the FA about your shower as it's a short flight between NZ & OZ ... You can do this either during the welcome drink ( advised) or later during meal order.

Cheers ^


PS: hope to see a TR from your journey ;)

Flyer talk is becoming an addiction, a very cheap way to fly the world through other peoples travels and the tips are terrific. Its wonderful for the imagination. I was so impressed with your TR on the EK380 in F that I booked a cheap Y one way and J return. A$600 rt.
Thanks for your quick answer, I thought as much about the Syd-AKL trip
Regards
Maggies1

Thanks, I will attempt a trip report. I find Flyer Talk useful in my work, as it gives me an insight into peoples expectations of service.
Can't wait for our trip in August. Just a long week end trip for my wedding anniversary, flying out 29/8 and back on 31/8. EK412/413.

Great trip report. Someday this poor student will be actually be able fulfill his dream of flying in a J/F class. Someday. Soon.

Superb trip report - loved it......couldn't help but notice the dish of chocolate and the football scores! Who could ask for anything else! oh.....and the spa :D
My mum needs to travel this way!
Cheers
2kind

Just the luxurious travelling that most people had hope for in the past, this is the way for it