Saltire74

Saltire74

Both have their pluses and minuses and couldn’t really say myself what would be the better choice. I enjoyed F on both airframes. The A380 has more novelty about it with the shower and bar but apart from that, I thoroughly enjoyed both. Possibly a little more on the 77W because they were day flights.

S

Coffee drinker

A380 by a mile.

Not even considering the shower, the large bathroom on A380 is worth the F ticket already. Larger than many hotel bathrooms. Very comfortable to change clothes, can read newspaper while having a dump. Just like home.

F on 777 has only normal airplane sized bathrooms not much different than J or even Y.

DatBoi

+1 respect

m3red

BadoRas

I like that. But at my age, I don't want to make anyone ill by doing it!

Annalisa12

And laugh at the people squashed in down the back.

ioto1902

Well, on today's flight I almost got my bare feet burnt because somebody left the floor heating at 9 (I just went there to change, not shower).
Do you have one of these in those newer B777, m3red ?

sydneyflyer1

skywardhunter

There's no bar and no shower, but the suites are perceived to be more spacious by some and service more attentive due to the smaller cabin (8 Vs 14).

You could check if other flights to SYD still have A380 later the same day or next day and try get a free change out of your agent

QRC3288

Mate, this is an upgrade not a downgrade! First off, the hard product is the same, less the (favorable, towards 777) differences below.

The advantages of A380: bar and shower. Personally I could care less about the former, while the shower is a bit more useful it's not a must have especially given the 2+ hour connections typical in DXB, aka you can usually catch a shower there or on arrival. Since everyone is different, and it seems like some folks swear by the bar experience, I suppose if you do like chatting at the bar the A380 will have a lot more allure. To me, it doesn't.

The advantages to B77W F are more substantial IMO:
*Wider suite on B77W (due to suite on A380 being upstairs and forward). This is a small but ultimately noticeable and significant improvement, IMO.
*Higher suite walls
*More attentive service
*Higher ceilings make for more spacious feel (EK removed the pilots rest area, a highly uncommon move in fact I don't know any other carriers who did this, which gives super high ceilings in F class).
*Lack of "inferior" seats. On the A380, row 1 has noticeably more-narrow suites than the rest of the (already slightly narrower vs 777) suites due to curvature of plane. I sat in 1A last month. Got great sleep but had storage issues. And row 4 on the A380 looks like it can get pretty bad noise from the galley if the crew isn't paying attention, although I don't have personal experience.

I only started flying EK regularly last year, having partially defected from CX, and have taken 12 F segments in the last 8 months split evenly between 77W and A380. While both products are obviously very nice and this could seen to be splitting hairs, I feel like there is enough difference for me to say I definitively prefer 777. I'm primarily based out of HKG, we get 1x daily 77W nonstop, 2x A380 nonstop with F, and 1x A380 without F that goes via BKK. The last one is a nonstarter for me, but of the other 3 flights I've been going out of my way to book ex-HKG on the 77W, which leaves early morning.

One thing I'm not certain about, but it seems like wifi goes a lot faster on the 777 in my recent, limited expriences. This could be that 4 out of my 6 EK 777 experiences recently is ex-HKG, and I think the flights haven't been busy, aka empty. But fwiw, the WiFi on the A380 each time has been utterly dreadful. I'm not sure if this is plane specific or loading specific though.

Before I was a regular EK flyer, my main "touch point" with EK (except for the one off odd flights each year) was reading that OMAAT blog for entertainment. That guy seemed to only fly the A380 and I assumed it was the flagship product, and he raves about it, especially given the presence of the shower. But now that I'm flying a lot of EK, I feel like that impression he gave about the EK A380 was slightly misleading. Unintentional no doubt but still not really providing the utility I would've expected. I prefer 777 and if given the choice between the two at identical times, would take the 777 over A380. Just my 2 cents.

I'll also add, this is just referring to F....the 777 J class hard product product looks like a serious step down from the A380.
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m3red

DYKWIA

And yes, WiFi on the A380 is generally dreadful. Much better on the B777.

skywardhunter

The 777s have much faster WiFi system, it's very noticeable

QRC3288

Thanks for the clarification. Definitely backs up my own observations.

I was quite confused on my first 777 ride last year, I almost didn't bother logging in. Very glad I did. But because I'd taken the A380 a few times before, that experience combined with every OMAAT blog post I read said EK WiFi was terrible on Emirates overall. In reality, this is really misleading! That first trip, and every other 777 flight has had what I would call "average" in-flight WiFi (compared to absolutely awful for every A380 ride I've had). And if you need to work, I'd add this as another incentive to take 777 over A380, at least in F.

Just goes to show how even very frequent travelers like the bloggers can have the wrong impression (airlines and there networks are huge, and there's just no way one or two people flying around every now and then can get a factual picture of the overall reality), and why FT is still where the best info is hands down....