Just back from a wonderful trip to "Down Under", all the way from MXP. (MXP-DXB-MEL-SIN-DXB-MXP)

Thought I might share some about it with the guys in the EK forum.. not a trip report, but rather some information/notices that I did while travelling.

-Chauffeur service:

This worked all good. They only confirmed by a call (2 days prior to pickup) in MXP (pickup from LUG) and MEL (pickup from house) - both calls I didn't picked up due to roaming fees but rather gave a call back using Skype, which wasn't a problem at all. No confirmation call was given for the pickup from the airports, and the pickup in DXB from our hotel.

A tip was never expected from the drivers (in MXP, MEL, and DXB) and all 6 drives went very smooth. Cars were good, in DXB chose to ride in the Volvo instead of a Merc as they were out of Mercs (about 5min waiting otherwise) - MXP had Mercedes, MEL had Holdens.

All in all, Chauffeur service worked perfectly. Cars arrived 5-10min early when picking us up, and driver waited with our names. In MEL it was pretty impressive, as about 40 drivers were waiting.

If you do the car reservation by phone, it didn't showed up online, but it was working without a problem (needed for LUG-MXP transfer, also done by 3 people on our flights)

-Lounges:

For business class passengers, the lounges in MXP, SIN and MEL are really great. As first class is using the same lounges (as it's usual on EK) the lounges are still good. Boarding in MXP is direct from the lounge, in MEL it's outside but not far. Really good experience.

First class lounge in DXB is great too. As we were waitlisted for the upgrade (only MXP-DXB-MEL was booked in F, return in C only as I had to burn urgently some 140k miles before they expired) on the way back, we had to ask at the airport. For MEL-(SIN)-DXB we could ask for it at the checkin counter, and it cleared within a few minutes, in DXB it was a bit of back-and-fourth by using the Skywards counter inside the C lounge, but then getting the verification back at the entrance, with quite some waiting. The C lounge in DXB was not crazy full (really helped with the new concourse) but their offer also not really great. Still makes a good C lounge compared to pretty much every other (non-gulf/SQ) airline.

Waiting time for the free treatment was really long, couldn't do it on the way back as there was simply no time available in the next 1.5 hours. A la carte restaurant good as always, Eggs Benedict still great (not on the menu, but apparently asked for often)

-Seats:

Always had the suites, with the "older" style suites from MXP-DXB, semi-new on MEL-SIN-DXB, and fully new on DXB-MEL (all on 777-300ER) - differences are mostly with the controllers and a few "buttons" (like the missing privacy button next to the 3 seat controllers on the older ones) - and of course the "prime" product on the A380.. including the best bathrooms on a commercially flown airliner. And the bar helps to pass time too.

-Crews: Had German speaking crew on 3 out of the 5 sectors, on one of them it was even a Swiss lady. Nice to chit chat and learned some nice stuff. Had a "cockpit tour" from a German pilot (including some chit chat with him before in the galley) - of course on the ground. Great ^

Generally all crews motivated and good service. From good to great, basically.

-Food: Always good, with some of the meals being excellent. Had great veal and great Thai Red Curry, nicely spiced. On DXB-MEL the Qantas steak sandwich was great, too (also available in C) - breakfast options, luckily only on SIN-DXB segment, were not really great, but ok-ish. But then I have issues with all breakfast option in the air usually (prefer the SQ book the cook breakie options here). Good cheese board. Caviar tasted like, well Caviar. Of course had to get it on every flight but the breakfast one

-Drinks: Excellent wines, Dom Perignon 2003 Champagne (NOT served on the ground in SIN, only Moet there as pre-flight drink.. they said due to whatever regulation..), very good liquors. Crews were not "specialists" in choosing wine to your food as they "admitted" (I'm neither) but what they've choosen to go with the meals generally made sense.

Only bad thing is, they've NOT any good beers in the air. Only Heineken & similar junk available. Good thing the lounges do have better choices (With MEL having about decent 5 beers) - an ice cold Tiger in Singapore on the 1 hour wait with a nice Caesar salad is just as good as some Dom with Caviar in the air.

-Checkin/Ground service: Always no queue (or maximum 1 person who was at the counter) at the F counter. Fast track everywhere. Minibus pickup in DXB due to remote stand for F pax. Everywhere else regular finger gate. Boarding everywhere but in MEL/SIN from lounge directly. Friendly service everywhere.

-IFE: Really good, updated from December to January with couple new movies. Never any issues with anything "broken".

-PJs: Not excellent quality like the LX one's, but still decently. On day flights on request, otherwise automatically given. Always had our sizes.

-Other amenities: On some flights got a separate amenity kit, on some not. Socks/shoes on request sometimes, sometimes handed out without asking. Only once did not have my size (L) - but I had some spare with me at that time

-Snack basket/minibar: Snack basket has some nice items (Smint, Butter cookies) which "went into my hand luggage by accident" - otherwise the minibar is too warm for the Pepsi, but the water bottles are useful.

Generally said, I was positively surprised, and for only about 5000€ (including 2 night in Park Hyatt DXB) pP, without it being a "special fare", we really got value for money. I'll definitely renew my EK Gold for the time being, and especially for Australia, EK got my business now for sure. Changing "in the desert" is actually really good to fight jetlag on the way back to Europe with a short stopover.

That's it for my quick "notices" about the recent "All F" EK trip.. in just three words: We loved it!