EK C A380 brunch | Sydney to Auckland (Emirates business class on A380, morning flight)
Pre-flight
I slept during the drive to the airport and so we got there very quickly. The driver made sure I knew where the Emirates check-in was, parking fairly close to the nearest door.
The check-in area was devoid of passengers so I had a choice of desks. I then found out why there were no passengers - the flight had been delayed "about an hour". Apparently they'd tried calling me last night & left a message at the hotel for me. I was given an express immigration card along with my boarding pass. No lounge invite card this time. I was asked if I knew where the lounge is - yes I do, I walk past it every time I have an international transit at SYD other than on Oneworld.
Immigration was closed, probably because the Emirates flight was late (for it is the first of the day from this pier). So I read some papers while I waited. Half an hour later the doors were opened. I pocketed my express card for another time - being the first person through means no need to waste the card. I was quickly processed, this time stamped on a full page (yay) and through security very quickly. The person doing the random explosives checks wasn't quite ready so I sped through before they had the chance to pick me.
The duty-free store was closed but you can walk around it by turning right for gate 52 (IIRC) immediately in front of the store. On reaching the lounge I was informed it would be empty for a while (apparently I was the only premium passenger originating in Sydney they had not been able to contact, thus the lounge opened when it did just for me
). I felt a bit guilty and so resolved to use at least some of the facilities so that it was worthwhile for the lounge being open.
I had some juice and did some work while I waited. The lounge slowly filled up and became quite full. Evidently today's flight will be almost full.
Onboard
I left the lounge 15 minutes before I expected boarding to commence so I could do some shopping. I hadn't even got 2 steps away when I heard the boarding call. So the shopping was rushed. By the time I reached the gate boarding was almost completed, or so I thought.
It seemed we might only be 30 minutes late, or even less. As I walked along the airbridge the flight from Bangkok pulled into the adjacent gate - that aircraft continues on to Christchurch.
I'd selected a different seat deliberately so I could check out any seating differences. The post (above) on the flight to Sydney explains that yes there is a distinct difference in legroom, storage and privacy between the various seats.
Again the magazine rack had a poor selection and this time there was no offer of a newspaper or a pre-departure drink. Poor form. I did, however, get handed a Sydney express arrivals card. Oh dear.
Meal orders were taken while we were on the ground. I'm not sure if that is normal, or if it was the crew taking the initiative for the unexplained delay in pushing back. We ended up leaving rather later than I thought at the time of boarding for reasons not made clear to the passengers. So I managed to finish off the rest of the movie which I'd half-seen on the flight over, and start on another movie all before we left.
The first drink took an age to arrive, and was soon followed by setting my table for the meal. However the food took even longer. It was about 90 minutes into the flight before starter was served. With an expected flight time of just 2 1/2 hours I was just about ready to push the call button and ask where it had gotten to.
A long time elapsed and the main course didn't turn up. I did end up using the call button to enquire after I saw crew walking past with desserts while I still had the empty starter plate on my tray. The main was inedible - it had obviously been sitting on a bench somewhere and was a cold congealed mass. I also struggled to get any drink, even water. The service was as bad as it gets on USA domestic flights, and certainly the worst I've had on Emirates and a major contrast to the flight to Sydney.
At top of descent I asked for the main and my tray to be cleared away. There was no sign of any afters for me. I also got missed with the post meal hot towel service.
Headphones were taken away and so I watched the nose cam. Unfortunately not much of a view today due to low cloud and showers. We flew over the central city, turned over Hauraki Gulf to land back to the west, but land was sighted only over Manukau City.
Post-flight
We got the gate at end of pier B as expected. It seemed to take a long time for the airbridge to connect, followed by a long wait for all first class passengers to disembark before we were allowed to leave. This means lots of economy passengers have also left, and long queues at immigration.
I was through immigration quickly. I took the right hand lane for customs because everyone seems to use the left one and ignore the other 2 lanes. As the lanes curve around behind a wall it is impossible to see how long each lane is, unless the queues are excessive. That trick saved me 10 minutes waiting. At x-ray I went for the left hand open machine because there was only 2 people in that queue, compared with about 30 at the other machines.
This time the driver was waiting for me and I was out very quickly. Indeed he recognised me as a frequent international flyer. There were huge numbers of pre-booked transfer cars, it seemed all three Emirates flights today were rather full. So we had a long walk to the car.
Post-flight
This flight was very disappointing. Other than having the lounge to myself for a while and the airport transfers, I would have been better off in economy flying Air NZ - better seat comfort, food, drink & especially service.