Intro: I had set my sights on my first Emirates F redemption for a while and had accumulated ~101k AS miles, so it was time to cash in. I love Europe in the fall/winter shoulder season, so I decided Milan, Venice, and anything in between would be my 2016 Thanksgiving Eurotrip. My last Thanksgiving Eurotrip was in 2014 and can be found here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...d-combo-y.html
I'm going ex-DFW because F availability on the IAH-DXB flight was non-existent at the time I was booking (I assume in part because IAH had a 777 and DFW an A380). Also, thanks to Alaska's rule of not allowing you to mix partners on 1 award, I had to book a separate positioning flight, which was IAH-DFW on UA. The DFW-DXB flight was downgauged to a 777 this past summer, but I still had my F seat, and my A380 F experience from DXB-MXP. The return flight will be a fall back to reality, as I was flying MXP-FRA-IAH in Y on LH. This became MXP-EWR-IAH in Y+ on UA due to the LH pilots strike occurring around the same time.
Hotels were booked all with cash during the Hilton World Sale a couple months ago (except the DFW hotel) which allowed for some great values, especially vs. using points.
You ready? I'm ready. Let's go eat!
Segments:
Positioning to DFW: Centurion Lounge IAH, UA Y, and Courtyard DFW
EK F DFW-DXB
Dubai and the Hilton Dubai Creek
EK F DXB-MXP
Milan and the Hilton Milan
Travels to Venice on Trenitalia via Verona
Venice and the Hilton Milano Stucky
Starting the trip home via the Frecciarossa
UA Y MXP-EWR-IAH
Departure Day
I worked a full day, that is if you can count a day as full when you work about 4 hours, your boss brings you to a 2 hour long sushi and drinking lunch, and then you do a webex and go home at 4. But I digress.
The Supershuttle picked me up around 5:15 and we thankfully only had to make 1 stop and were at IAH by about 6:30 and I made my way to the Centurion Lounge shortly thereafter.
I made a dinner of the salad, chicken, and some puree that looked unappetizing but was fairly tasty.
The lounge really emptied out around 7:30, so I hung out drinking craft beer and watching the UH-Louisville NCAA football game on TV. Gotta love the local craft beer selection in this lounge, with Southern Star on draft and Buffalo Bayou in cans. The lounge closed at 9, which was fine as my flight began boarding at 9:05 from the C gates.
UA 799
IAH-DFW
There was a flight. I died 13th on the upgrade list and stayed in my aisle Economy + seat. In coach it was a water only service, and then we landed. Such is life on a 45 minute flight. The end.
Courtyard Marriott DFW South
Since I had dropped cash for my hotels in Italy, I decided to do points for this night. As a newly minted Marriott Gold courtesy of the SPG match, I went with this 10K redemption, so only 3,334 SPG points, which is way less than any of the SPG properties that are at DFW and offer a shuttle service.
The shuttle took nearly 30 minutes to arrive, despite the front desk saying it would be 15 minutes, and the hotel is only 7-8 minutes away.
Anyway the driver was nice enough and offered to stop off for fast food or a convenience store if I wanted, which I appreciated but didn’t take him up on.
I wasn’t welcomed as a gold member, nor was I given anything as a welcome amenity. But it was 11:45 pm by this point and I really just wanted sleep.
The shuttle to the airport in the mornings runs twice an hour at :00 and :30, so I caught the 8:00 and was in the Centurion Lounge by 8:45.
What a completely blah stay. Mediocre room, mediocre service. Seems par for the course from what I remember as a former frequent Marriott stayer, back when I was Marriott Platinum in 2012 and in a different job.
Centurion Lounge DFW
This is my 2nd visit to this lounge and the spread was the same as last time. I had a bloody mary, some breakfast, and sorted out some travel details.
Against my better judgment and gut instinct, I decided to check out the lounge Emirates uses at DFW, which was Lounge 5 in the shared lounge complex. I can confirm what basically every other review says and say this lounge sucks. I know much of it is beyond EK’s control but still. I took one for the team and tried the schwarma. It was dry and didn’t taste good at all. I didn’t even want to try the eggs.
The only redeeming factor is it was a lot quieter and less chaotic than the Centurion Lounge (if that’s your goal). I wound up leaving after about 15 minutes and just walking the terminal a bit and to our departure gate at D10. Figured I’m about to sit and drink for 14 hours, better get some walking in.