I'm probably changing my allegiance from BA to Emirates for my twice yearly London(LHR or LGW) to Cape Town flight which I do in business or first class. I've just booked my first first class return on Emirates due to depart in a couple of weeks and seem to have encountered my first negative for EK vs BA.

My problem is that my usual check-in suitcase has total dimensions (length + width + height) of 156cm inc handles and wheels vs the 150cm limit for Emirates. I just called Emirates and got a pretty blunt "no" regarding any flexibility. Even worse, they told me that they wouldn't check in the bag at all and that it would have to be shipped as cargo. In comparison BA will check in baggage up to 90cm x 75cm x 43cm (total 208cm) for each piece and even waive oversize fees for bags up to 190 x 75 x 65 (total 330cm) provided it is within the 32kg weight allowance.

Is Emirates really this inflexible even with travellers in first class?

Actually I'd say that I've encountered my first 2 negatives vs BA, one the checked baggage allowances and the other the helpfulness of the call centre staff. With BA one gets a dedicated number for first class ticket holders and the people on that number really are incredibly helpful, waive certain charges in the blink of an eye, etc.

Maybe I'm getting my bad experience from the Emirates call centre because right now I have never flown with them and am a lowly blue tier member with zero points to his name. By all accounts the in-flight experience will more than make up for the worse ground experience that I have had so far.