Here's a short video / trip report:
[Broken link removed by Mod-see post 76 in the thread]
(first one so be nice!)
Just some additional tidbits:
Edinburgh Airport
Boy do I hate it. It feels out-dated and feels as if its over-capacity. I love GLA due to the natural light which is coming through the top of the check-in counters. GLA feels more open/wide/accommodating.
Checkin
Checkin was open from 3:15pm, this is when I arrived. All 6-8 check-in counters were open
I was over my luggage allowance, 3 pcs checked in (2 suitcases and 1 large box). I got lucky and wasn't told to put the box on the belt for weighing, instead was just told to apply the tag myself and go to the oversize counter. Thanks EK!
I was told at checkin that the new service by EK was a great success; October was really busy and November seen a dip in seats. They are launching a daily from December (according to the agent).
Security
What a mess. Luckily I won't be traveling from EDI again (unless GLA is proving to be difficult in terms of availability).
Lounge
Was actually decent, great selection of food (im a vegetarian so a few things were appealing). Is it as nice as the Emirates own one? No. There's not even any toilets inside, you have to go back in the terminal to use them.
Lounge access - I wasn't told at check-in about being given complimentary access to the 3rd party lounge. It was only when I sat down with my coffee from Costa (across the lounge) and decided to look at my boarding pass and it mentioned the lounge on it.
Boarding
The gate was not too far from the lounge (I would say less distance than the EK lounge in Glasgow to the normal gates at the end). 5 minute walk at max. Having gone through the boarding process, there were 2 sets of Police Scotland agents standing in the air bridge which was weird. Never experienced this at Glasgow - why not pull up folk just after security if you need to where you have a dedicated desk!
Will I be using this route again? No. Doesn't make sense especially from a Gold card holders POV - dedicated EK lounge in Glasgow and chauffeur service when flying business.