Indian Adventures 1: BOS-DXB-BLR with EK
Jun 24, 2014, 8:33 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: BOS & SFO
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold
Posts: 675
Indian Adventures 1: BOS-DXB-BLR with EK in Y
Indian Adventures 1: BOS-DXB-BLR with EK in Y
Hello from hot and humid Bangalore, and welcome to my first trip report! This is also the first trip report on the BOS-DXB route that started March 11th, 2014.
This is my trip report on my flight from Boston to Bangalore via Dubai on Emirates. I am on a 1 month vacation to visit my family in Bangalore, returning the 18th of July. I may visit Sri Lanka but that has not been decided yet.
This is the flight map, courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper
I apologize for the quality of the pictures as I shot many of them while walking, and all were taken using my Moto X smartphone.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
EK238
Booked with codeshare as B65018
20 June 2014
BOS-DXB
Boeing 777-21HLR A6-EWE
5th 777 flight
1st 777-200LR flight
1st flight on A6-EWE
Seat 28C - aisle seat behind the wing, rear Y cabin
My longest flight at 12h40m
My first flight that disembarked at a remote stand
A check of Flightradar24 confirmed it would be A6-EWE, a 2008-built Boeing 777-21HLR. No stories to tell, courtesy of Airframes.org
Emirates plans to upgauge the BOS-DXB route to a 777-31HER starting 1 August 2014. Personally, I was happy that we were using the 777-21HLR because I knew that all 12 of said aircraft have the ICE Digital Widescreen.
When we checked in, no window seats were left!
. Now I take back what I said about upgauging to the 77W. There weren’t 4 in a row together either! We ended up booking 27D, 28C-E. I got the aisle seat 28C as it was closest to the window. Something went wrong with my plan later though...
We arrived at Logan International at around 9:15 PM for our 11:15 PM flight to Dubai. I noticed that there was a malfunction with the VS (Virgin Atlantic) check in counter screens which were showing a DOS command prompt:
Here’s a computerized TSA lady:
We checked the FIDS and had to go to gate E4.
I didn’t know Hainan operated out of BOS:
Some late-night spotting at BOS:
HB-JMN, a Swiss A343 to ZRH as LX53:
G-VIIA, a British Airways B772 that just arrived from LHR as BA239 and waiting for the morning to go home as BA238
F-GSPY, an Air France B772 to CDG as AF321
When we got to gate E4, I let out a huge “Nooo!” CS-TKN, a SATA Internacional A310 occupied the gate!
The Emirates gate assistants came on the PA and let us know there would be a delay of 15-20 mins. The flight history for EK238 showed that the flight hadn’t left on time the past MONTH!
I just sat and watched the aircraft go by. I couldn’t take any pictures because it was dark outside but very bright in the terminal, which created crazy reflections. We saw a couple of jetBlue E190’s and a Delta 767 in the SkyTeam livery. I whipped out my phone to take a picture of the beautiful aircraft…and it just taxiied away!. Finally, we saw an American 737-800 in the new livery. I think the post-merger livery is a “fAAil” (pardon the pun) as the tail resembles Cubana and is way too garish.
Eventually, A6-EWE arrived. I heard clapping in the terminal.
Such a beautiful aircraft the 777 is:
We boarded with Zone E which was the second economy division to be called after Zone D. I wonder what kind of boarding process EK uses at BOS?
Legroom shot (for reference, I’m 5’7” with long legs):
ICE on the airshow:
El capitano came on the PA and announced the usual flight specs. I was already following it on the ICE so I tuned out. We would be climbing to 33,000 feet on our way to FL390. One nice touch was that the crew said where they were from. The captain was from Kentucky and the FO is from the UAE but that’s all I remember.
In my opinion, Emirates does a damn good job with the FA’s, even in Y. They all look like they come from the UAE, and have accents that sound Arabic. This is good publicity for the airline.
We taxiied to the runway and let the massive GE90s spool up. The plane rotated, forcing us back in our seats. I tried to listen to some classical music but Emirates World interviews with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum wouldn’t stop. I took the headphones off and went to sleep.
30 minutes later, I woke up to the smell of fish - YUCK! (I’m vegetarian). Dinner was about to be served. I had ordered the AVML. I got a set of crackers and spread for a snack/appetizer, couscous with vegetables for a full appetizer, a paneer (Indian cottage cheese) dish and rice for the main course, and apple blackberry crisp for dessert. I also got a chocolate to finish it off. The couscous was not to my liking but it may just be me. (Is couscous an acquired taste?) Overall, I was extremely satisfied with the meal. The presentation was on the usual tray and the meals were in neat plastic dishes. However, as others have noted, EK packs a lot into the trays and the tray tables in Y are often cluttered.
The person next to me asked why the audio for ICE wasn’t working. She told us that my headphones were plugged into her port and hers was plugged into the next seat’s port. (The person in the window seat dozed until landing and didn’t open the window at all until the crew requested it. This is where my plan went wrong). I got the sound working again and listened to some Beethoven and dozed off.
I woke up 4 or 5 hours later, while we were crossing into German airspace. The loo without a view; why don’t airlines add windows to the lav? Also, it’s as cramped as it looks - this is from the back corner.
What’s this power port doing in the john?
It still confounds me why they have ashtrays in the loo even though smoking 30,000 feet up is by now a global offence.
LED’s in the lav:
Forward Y class section (Rows 17-25):
Cockpit view on airshow:
Watching Top Gear UK. In my opinion, the UK version is more about the cars while the USA version is more about the hosts’ boring lives.
Guess when this pic was taken? Answer: 3:00 PM. The Boeing Sky interior does a damn good job of making it look like nighttime.
Anyone know why this ain’t working? FYI, it’s A6-EWE and my plugged in smartphone is a Moto X model XT1049.
Any geek here know what Debian-based Linux distro ICE Digital Widescreen is based on? I don’t know; it just looks like a Debian pointer.
I watched 2 episodes of Ultimate Airport Dubai, which was about the complexity in Dubai Airport, mainly in Terminal 3. (It is not biased towards Emirates and aired on NatGeo channel).
Pre-landing snack - I had a Chana Masala.
Landing with the front cam on ICE:
Landing Video
Bus under the wing:
Hello A6-EWI, just landed from DFW.
------------------------------------
EK568
21 June 2014
DXB-BLR
Boeing 777-31H A6-EMW
6th 777 flight
1st 777-300 flight
1st flight on A6-EMW
Seat 26B - middle seat over the wing, middle Y cabin; switched to seat 27F, middle seat over the wing, middle Y cabin
I don’t have many pictures for this flight. While boarding, I saw another aviation geek take a photo of the RR Trent 800’s.
A6-EMW, our bird to BLR/Kempegowda International
Legroom shot - the IFE box cuts into my legroom. Furthermore, 2 pairs of legs are crammed into a space for 1.5 seats.
IFE is the old Emirates ICE (not Digital Widescreen). It has most of the content of the Digital Widescreen but the Ultimate Airport Dubai was missing. It can be described in a single word, “clunky,” as my dad said. I really hope that Emirates updates the IFE on the 777-300’s.
Takeoff video:
I dozed off after trying to watch a bit of Top Gear. I woke up after what felt like a minute to eat. In reality, we had already crossed over Pakistan and had only one hour left in the flight.
I didn’t get a picture of the meal but it was also a paneer dish which was excellent.
I tried to watch Top Gear but it would start in the middle and not rewind properly. So for the rest of the flight, I played Pong. My best score was losing 5-10. I guess that’s pretty good for someone from the smartphone age :P.
We landed in BLR Kempegowda International Airport at 2:56 AM IST. We parked next to a Qatar Airways 787-8DZ that I couldn’t get a pic of.
We had a bit of a hassle with border control about our OCI cards, which corresponded to our old, expired passport. We ended up having to buy two temporary visas that cost $80. My mom’s jewelry set off the X-ray alarm at security and had to go through the “Items to Declare” section at customs. This added over an hour to getting out of the airport. In the end, we got in the car at 5:00 AM after meeting with family at the airport, 2 hours after EK568 landed in Bangalore.
Hello from hot and humid Bangalore, and welcome to my first trip report! This is also the first trip report on the BOS-DXB route that started March 11th, 2014.
This is my trip report on my flight from Boston to Bangalore via Dubai on Emirates. I am on a 1 month vacation to visit my family in Bangalore, returning the 18th of July. I may visit Sri Lanka but that has not been decided yet.
This is the flight map, courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper
I apologize for the quality of the pictures as I shot many of them while walking, and all were taken using my Moto X smartphone.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
EK238
Booked with codeshare as B65018
20 June 2014
BOS-DXB
Boeing 777-21HLR A6-EWE
5th 777 flight
1st 777-200LR flight
1st flight on A6-EWE
Seat 28C - aisle seat behind the wing, rear Y cabin
My longest flight at 12h40m
My first flight that disembarked at a remote stand
A check of Flightradar24 confirmed it would be A6-EWE, a 2008-built Boeing 777-21HLR. No stories to tell, courtesy of Airframes.org
Emirates plans to upgauge the BOS-DXB route to a 777-31HER starting 1 August 2014. Personally, I was happy that we were using the 777-21HLR because I knew that all 12 of said aircraft have the ICE Digital Widescreen.
When we checked in, no window seats were left!
. Now I take back what I said about upgauging to the 77W. There weren’t 4 in a row together either! We ended up booking 27D, 28C-E. I got the aisle seat 28C as it was closest to the window. Something went wrong with my plan later though...We arrived at Logan International at around 9:15 PM for our 11:15 PM flight to Dubai. I noticed that there was a malfunction with the VS (Virgin Atlantic) check in counter screens which were showing a DOS command prompt:
Here’s a computerized TSA lady:
We checked the FIDS and had to go to gate E4.
I didn’t know Hainan operated out of BOS:
Some late-night spotting at BOS:
HB-JMN, a Swiss A343 to ZRH as LX53:
G-VIIA, a British Airways B772 that just arrived from LHR as BA239 and waiting for the morning to go home as BA238
F-GSPY, an Air France B772 to CDG as AF321
When we got to gate E4, I let out a huge “Nooo!” CS-TKN, a SATA Internacional A310 occupied the gate!
The Emirates gate assistants came on the PA and let us know there would be a delay of 15-20 mins. The flight history for EK238 showed that the flight hadn’t left on time the past MONTH!
I just sat and watched the aircraft go by. I couldn’t take any pictures because it was dark outside but very bright in the terminal, which created crazy reflections. We saw a couple of jetBlue E190’s and a Delta 767 in the SkyTeam livery. I whipped out my phone to take a picture of the beautiful aircraft…and it just taxiied away!
. Finally, we saw an American 737-800 in the new livery. I think the post-merger livery is a “fAAil” (pardon the pun) as the tail resembles Cubana and is way too garish. Eventually, A6-EWE arrived. I heard clapping in the terminal.
Such a beautiful aircraft the 777 is:
We boarded with Zone E which was the second economy division to be called after Zone D. I wonder what kind of boarding process EK uses at BOS?
Legroom shot (for reference, I’m 5’7” with long legs):
ICE on the airshow:
El capitano came on the PA and announced the usual flight specs. I was already following it on the ICE so I tuned out. We would be climbing to 33,000 feet on our way to FL390. One nice touch was that the crew said where they were from. The captain was from Kentucky and the FO is from the UAE but that’s all I remember.
In my opinion, Emirates does a damn good job with the FA’s, even in Y. They all look like they come from the UAE, and have accents that sound Arabic. This is good publicity for the airline.
We taxiied to the runway and let the massive GE90s spool up. The plane rotated, forcing us back in our seats. I tried to listen to some classical music but Emirates World interviews with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum wouldn’t stop. I took the headphones off and went to sleep.
30 minutes later, I woke up to the smell of fish - YUCK! (I’m vegetarian). Dinner was about to be served. I had ordered the AVML. I got a set of crackers and spread for a snack/appetizer, couscous with vegetables for a full appetizer, a paneer (Indian cottage cheese) dish and rice for the main course, and apple blackberry crisp for dessert. I also got a chocolate to finish it off. The couscous was not to my liking but it may just be me. (Is couscous an acquired taste?) Overall, I was extremely satisfied with the meal. The presentation was on the usual tray and the meals were in neat plastic dishes. However, as others have noted, EK packs a lot into the trays and the tray tables in Y are often cluttered.
The person next to me asked why the audio for ICE wasn’t working. She told us that my headphones were plugged into her port and hers was plugged into the next seat’s port. (The person in the window seat dozed until landing and didn’t open the window at all until the crew requested it. This is where my plan went wrong). I got the sound working again and listened to some Beethoven and dozed off.
I woke up 4 or 5 hours later, while we were crossing into German airspace. The loo without a view; why don’t airlines add windows to the lav? Also, it’s as cramped as it looks - this is from the back corner.
What’s this power port doing in the john?
It still confounds me why they have ashtrays in the loo even though smoking 30,000 feet up is by now a global offence.
LED’s in the lav:
Forward Y class section (Rows 17-25):
Cockpit view on airshow:
Watching Top Gear UK. In my opinion, the UK version is more about the cars while the USA version is more about the hosts’ boring lives.
Guess when this pic was taken? Answer: 3:00 PM. The Boeing Sky interior does a damn good job of making it look like nighttime.
Anyone know why this ain’t working? FYI, it’s A6-EWE and my plugged in smartphone is a Moto X model XT1049.
Any geek here know what Debian-based Linux distro ICE Digital Widescreen is based on? I don’t know; it just looks like a Debian pointer.
I watched 2 episodes of Ultimate Airport Dubai, which was about the complexity in Dubai Airport, mainly in Terminal 3. (It is not biased towards Emirates and aired on NatGeo channel).
Pre-landing snack - I had a Chana Masala.
Landing with the front cam on ICE:
Landing Video
Bus under the wing:
Hello A6-EWI, just landed from DFW.
------------------------------------
EK568
21 June 2014
DXB-BLR
Boeing 777-31H A6-EMW
6th 777 flight
1st 777-300 flight
1st flight on A6-EMW
Seat 26B - middle seat over the wing, middle Y cabin; switched to seat 27F, middle seat over the wing, middle Y cabin
I don’t have many pictures for this flight. While boarding, I saw another aviation geek take a photo of the RR Trent 800’s.
A6-EMW, our bird to BLR/Kempegowda International
Legroom shot - the IFE box cuts into my legroom. Furthermore, 2 pairs of legs are crammed into a space for 1.5 seats.
IFE is the old Emirates ICE (not Digital Widescreen). It has most of the content of the Digital Widescreen but the Ultimate Airport Dubai was missing. It can be described in a single word, “clunky,” as my dad said. I really hope that Emirates updates the IFE on the 777-300’s.
Takeoff video:
I dozed off after trying to watch a bit of Top Gear. I woke up after what felt like a minute to eat. In reality, we had already crossed over Pakistan and had only one hour left in the flight.
I didn’t get a picture of the meal but it was also a paneer dish which was excellent.
I tried to watch Top Gear but it would start in the middle and not rewind properly. So for the rest of the flight, I played Pong. My best score was losing 5-10. I guess that’s pretty good for someone from the smartphone age :P.
We landed in BLR Kempegowda International Airport at 2:56 AM IST. We parked next to a Qatar Airways 787-8DZ that I couldn’t get a pic of.
We had a bit of a hassle with border control about our OCI cards, which corresponded to our old, expired passport. We ended up having to buy two temporary visas that cost $80. My mom’s jewelry set off the X-ray alarm at security and had to go through the “Items to Declare” section at customs. This added over an hour to getting out of the airport. In the end, we got in the car at 5:00 AM after meeting with family at the airport, 2 hours after EK568 landed in Bangalore.
Last edited by JetAirways77W; Jun 24, 2014 at 8:47 pm
Jun 25, 2014, 5:44 am
#3
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 909
Even though the photos are a bit blurry you get a good grasp for the overall experience
I have never flown Emirates but the stars on the roof is something like VA J Class from SYD to LAX
The other thing is the IFE Control looked as if it had another screen on it, Something again I have only ever seen in CA J
I have never flown Emirates but the stars on the roof is something like VA J Class from SYD to LAX
The other thing is the IFE Control looked as if it had another screen on it, Something again I have only ever seen in CA J
Jun 25, 2014, 12:21 pm
#5
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: EK Gold, A3 *G, AB Gold, Jetblue Mosaic
Posts: 1,386
You must have been on a fairly odd flight if most of the FA's were Emirati... Emirates has one of the most if not the most diverse cabin crews around (usually exemplified by the array of languages spoken by the crew after takeoff. Maybe they didn't do this on your flight but it is usually standard practice on all my past EK flights).
Just one of the reasons I love EK!
Just one of the reasons I love EK!
. I´m not the biggest fan of EK but the stars are nice.
Jun 26, 2014, 2:39 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: BOS & SFO
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold
Posts: 675
Sorry if I didn't clarify but the crew was multi national but just had Arabic accents; and the makeup made them look Emirati.
Hi Matt
I remember my first post asked if I could take pics on this trip, and somebody linked me to your blog including getting kicked off of United.
Anyway, I traveled by night and we all know that the Moto X doesn't have the best low light camera. My pics should be better on my next TR.
Hi Matt
I remember my first post asked if I could take pics on this trip, and somebody linked me to your blog including getting kicked off of United.
Anyway, I traveled by night and we all know that the Moto X doesn't have the best low light camera. My pics should be better on my next TR.
Jun 27, 2014, 10:27 pm
#10
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 2,813
Hainan started flying to BOS on June 20th.
I believe ash trays are in the lavs because, even though smoking is not allowed/bad, putting a cigarette in the trash can is far worse. "We don't want you to smoke, but we really don't want you to put it out in the trash"
I believe ash trays are in the lavs because, even though smoking is not allowed/bad, putting a cigarette in the trash can is far worse. "We don't want you to smoke, but we really don't want you to put it out in the trash"
Jul 16, 2014, 3:22 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: BOS & SFO
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold
Posts: 675
Guess I missed the HU482 inaugural out of BOS (HU's new longest flight!). Darn. Wish I had made it, would have been my first 787 shot and I could have stolen a bit of cake or whatever refreshments they had out there
Stay tuned for my next reports, coming soon. They will be titled:
Indian Adventures 2: 6 hours in a Toyota Innova - Hampi, Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole, and Chitradurga fort
Indian Adventures 3: Back to BOS with EK in Y (of course!)
And my next series/report will be in December or January about my trip to Hawaii!
EDIT: Checked in for my return to BOS tomorrow early morning. Looks like I'll have 27K, a window seat, for EK569 BLR-DXB and 24D, an aisle seat, for EK237 DXB-BOS.
Last edited by JetAirways77W; Jul 16, 2014 at 4:08 am
Jul 16, 2014, 3:38 am
#12
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SIN (with a bit of ZRH sprinkled in)
Posts: 9,453
Thanks for the TA, I can answer a few of your comments/questions:
What’s this power port doing in the john?
Answer: Many people use electric shavers, it's for them.
It still confounds me why they have ashtrays in the loo even though smoking 30,000 feet up is by now a global offence.
Answer: This is because IF someone decides to smoke (yes, such idi*ts exist) in the plane, then it's better that they throw their cigarettes in there, rather than in the dustbin (where it might create a fire, probably even not detected immediately).
edit: oops, I see both questions were answered already. Well, considere me as a second opinion then
What’s this power port doing in the john?
Answer: Many people use electric shavers, it's for them.
It still confounds me why they have ashtrays in the loo even though smoking 30,000 feet up is by now a global offence.
Answer: This is because IF someone decides to smoke (yes, such idi*ts exist) in the plane, then it's better that they throw their cigarettes in there, rather than in the dustbin (where it might create a fire, probably even not detected immediately).
edit: oops, I see both questions were answered already. Well, considere me as a second opinion then