Yes, the flight via Bangkok that day is an A380. If you are looking for the ‘best experience’, the difference between A380 and 77W in Business is massive (much more than in Economy or in First in my opinion and I have experienced all of them).
So if the timings work and the change fee for 4 pax is manageable it might be worth doing. But that’s of course just my 2c worth.

And those 2c are very valuable to me in this scenario based on your experience, so thank you - I shall actively investigate changing to the Bangkok/A380 this weekend.

Thanks again

Hi again, and apologies if this is wrong thread, but does anyone have experience of upgrading from business to first at the last minute (cash, not points, no status)?

Specifically, how likely is it that a 'deal' would be available leading up to departure/is it possible to ask at the gate? The flight is 9th July, Hong Kong to Dubai, 7pm departure on a 777. I appreciate the answer is 'it depends', but it was to judge how feasible or not it may be based on your collective experiences. I did once get an upgrade offer (econ to business) via the app flying from Dubai to HK, but have never seen once since.

It would be for 4 people for clarity, so I feel like its a complete non-starter.

I would say a discounted offer is possible, but not probable. You may get an email / app offer in the run-up to the flight, but they seem relatively rare and some of them aren’t really good offers to begin with. Never been offered anything at check-in or the gate, but have also never asked.

That's what I figured - plus for 4 people it is even more unlikely. Appreciate the input

I have had email upgrade offers from J to F a few times, but they were never very attractive and therefore I have never taken them. You can ask at check in (there is some anecdotal evidence somewhere on this forum which shows that it is possible).

Your problem is that you are looking for 4 seats out of 8 in that cabin. Now July is a long time away so there is no point in looking at availability to get any idea at all (it’s actually wide open at the moment , not a single seat in F allocated - I guess you are in row 9/10, seats A/B?). But on tomorrow’s flight there are no seats that are not either allocated or blocked (although strangely it shows F4A3), on the 14th there are two, whilst on the 16th nothing is allocated (at this stage). But that may well be completely different tomorrow.

I fear the ‘pigs might fly’ statement is pretty appropriate here for 4 seats at a ‘special price’…..

I think that phrase is entirely appropriate here :). And we are in 9/10 seat A/B indeed.

My wife isn't keen to change the timings, so I will probably just have to stick with it. Just got to hope for a switch back to an A380 or getting a refurbed plane, but neither seem likely. The worst bit is that this was going to be the flight I could actually properly enjoy the A380 bar on for the first time ever...! Ah well.

I noticed that these aircraft have 5A, 5D, 5F, and 5J blocked off as bassinet seats, which makes no sense unless they took out a row in between doors 1 and 2 and massively increased pitch, in which case row 5 would now be behind door 2. Is that the case, or is this just a glitch?

From another thread :-

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6341de4817.png

Do you mind linking the thread and/or post? I can’t seem to find it in search. Curious what the increased pitch looks like, or what else they did in the cabin with one row of J removed between doors 1 and 2.

Yeah - no reports of what this actually looks like yet.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36814982-post25.html

Maybe a little "social area" like on some of the newer layouts?

This accurately reflect the new configuration of 35J seats versus the previous 42J seats.

Row 5 (7 seats) was removed from the first J cabin and Row 6 in the second J cabin was renumbered to row 5.

This was done to significantly increase the pitch in rows 1-4 to enable passengers to pass their seat mate instead of having to step over them (when the seat is in the flat position).

Thanks for this. So if I understand correctly, a row has been removed, and then rest of the cabin re-spaced (?) so that all rows have more space? Interesting. Suppose the downside is that now there’s nothing to catch all the people who are falling off the dangerous angled lie flats 😂 (this last sentence is a joke).

A logical conclusion then is that these aircraft will not be part of the retrofit?

Noticed the EK11/12 DXB to LGW rotation switched from an A380 to 77W earlier this week. Any idea why this is? Lack of demand or available A380's? I'd be surprised if it is indeed the latter, all the two class A380's are back in service!

Also, does anyone know what's going on with some of the A380's recently returned from DWC storage? EDF for example has been back at DXB since December 2023 but still hasn't returned to service. EDN and EDX have also been parked at DXB with no movement for a while.

Yes, I have also noticed that downgrade of EK11/12. Annoying as EK11 is my 'go to' flight. Get on board and go to sleep in 20A as soon as the seat belt light goes off and get woken up for breakfast.

Nest time is end of March and I'll probably opt for a later connection to EK15

The next older A380 with PE is ready, A6-EEX.
Is there anyone who has flown with the older ones for now and could tell what has been refurbished?
Will A6-EON or A6-EED the next?

I saw a recent Youtube Video of Trek Trendy "24 Hrs in Emirates First Class" and his LHR-DXB flight was operated by a refurbished A380 however the IFE was still the same one from the 2nd Generation ICE, hence it was one of the older planes, such as EEX. A bit suprised as assuming the planes will fly for longer they would upgrade the IFE system at least to the 3rd generation ICE same as the newer A380's.

Emirates have never been known to upgrade their IFE systems. You would've thought when the 777-200LR's got done a few years ago they would've gained new seats with new ICE system but they still have the first generation ICE digital widescreen system. I feel this is an area where they lag a bit behind in. With technology moving on as much as it has done, even the first generation ICE system now feels very much outdated, and more so if you are flying on an A6-EBx 77W so if Emirates plan on keeping the A380's and 777's which have them for longer, they should refurbish those completely.

I had my first flight on an aircraft which has the 4th Generation ICE system in A6-EVP on Sunday, and I have to say whilst I missed having multiple screens on the handset, the new seat was miles better! There was so much more legroom thanks to the new tray table design, and the screen was very good. It's just a shame only 6 A380's have it, and Emirates could have really done with refitting all the retrofitted airframes with the latest generation ICE in Economy, not just in Premium Economy.

A6-EXD was finally delivered to Emirates last night. Seems like there was some delay as I believe it was accepted by Emirates on January 14th

It looks like some A350 routes are delayed. I am flying from BLQ in April and got an aircraft notification change on Flighty to 777. Google flights is showing as a lie flat in business so it looks to be a retrofitted 777. It's also showing the A350 won't start until 1 July from BLQ and 1 June for LYS.

I really do not understand that point. especially in light of also the older aircraft that were / will get upgraded will fly at least for another 5-10 years. The first generation ICE already now has often technical issues.

I'm looking at flying on EK 354 (DXB-SIN) and I think its going to to be operated by one of the following A380s with the PE retrofit per the fleet tracking spread sheet (A6-EEW, A6-EEX, A6-EOI, A6-EUM). Does the first/business class cabins on these planes as well as the bar have the updated look (new color scheme with less gold/bling)?

The spreadsheet mentions these aircraft have "include the same 14 First Class suites and 76 business class seats as the existing A380 fleet." whereas the 388L variant specifically mentions "The first class suites are wider and now feature taller doors. The business class seats have been upgraded with a new colur scheme, similar to that seen on the Game Changer 777 cabin."

Was premium economy just added to the planes that I think operate EK 354 but otherwise the look of the premium cabins/bar remain in the older style? Thanks for the help!

A6-EQC has been out of service since returning from Dar Es Salaam on Sunday, perhaps this is now in for a PE retrofit?

Yes, the tracker linked at the start of this thread indicates EQC is in for PE retrofit since the 26th.

Thanks, hadn’t seen that listed on the tracker!

Does the new row 5 (former row 6) behind the 2nd set of doors also get additional space so that window passengers don’t need to climb over their neighbor, or do only rows 1-4 get the additional space?

Peeps correct me if i recalled wrgly. From my recent experiences coming out of SIN, non of those A6-EEW, A6-EOI, A6-EUM (& A6-EOF) has that new style onboard lounge, only A6-EUX til the last a380 A6-EVS has that. These are all old style lounges with refurbished leathers and new wood trims

Have any more aircraft received the new livery yet? I think Emirates's target of having 24 aircraft getting the new livery by 2023 was slightly overambitious....!;)

A6-EDN looks as though it’s about to re-enter service having completed a test flight yesterday

Will a German destination be included in the Premium Econony retro fit at some point?

Geneva, Vienna and Brussels have only recently joined, but nothing in Germany yet.

Personally, I wouldn't even care whether it's FRA or MUC, I live in between anyway...

A tiny thing I’ve noticed, but a lot of the older A6-EDx A380’s are now carrying the small radome on top of the aircraft, which they never used to have before. I’m sure they always had WiFi fitted though, so does this mean these aircraft have live TV capability now?

Yes, had that on A6-EDQ

Here's what that single row looks like in the back. I didn't sit there so I can't comment if it has more of a "private cabin" or "sitting in the galley" feel.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5634d988d4.jpg

Does anyone know the expected completion date for the A380 refurbs and the 777 refurbs (to the 1-2-1 business)?

It's already passed for the A380s and just about to for the B777s.

So if there‘s a route currently served with the A380 without refurbishment, that means it will stay like that for good?

No - they are still refurbishing, just that the initial expected completion date has already passed. There have been periods when the refurbishments seem to have been put on hold.

I can't access the Google sheet anymore, it says it's violating google terms of service??

Thank you so much!! I cannot believe someone reported the sheet! Thank you for for your time and efforts!