In my 2 F A380 legs in April as a Plat I was given preference for showers both times (and in fact, in one, I did not get my desired slot as another Plat and his "Gold partner" had been asked beforehand, so I was 3 on the list of 14). Food is dine on demand, so does not really make a difference, at least in my experience.

With regard to food being dine on demand not affecting availability of your preferred choice I submit that in my experience it does not stop your choice or choices (or in my case on ultra long hauls any food or soup at all - must have been some very hungry people in F that day as their were only the ghastly rolls left) still being available when you want to eat. I have routinely asked them to set aside my preferred choices as soon as possible for a long time now. Have not been proactively asked though as a Plat.

I must admit that in 6 yrs flying EK I cant recall a single instance where my preferred choice was not available in F - when they come asking whether I know how the dine on demand service works, I nicely dismiss them and only place my order hours later. Will keep an eye out on my upcoming flight next week to see if there is a pattern (but I guess part of the issue is that the delivery of the menus with the offer to explain the service is not really an order taking offer, as CC expect that you will order when ready, and as such, Plats are not given priority in "menu delivery" - in the event that many passengers do order at that point, there is a chance that later on some items may have run out).

However, in J, it is a much different experience, and were not for the CC always being very meticulous about the order in which the food orders are taken, I may have experienced the same bad luck as you in F. I typically will place one or both orders right away in J to ensure this does not happen (if applicable, for example, dinner and breakfast at the same time, so I can maximize sleeping time on an overnight and not miss my breakfast option by waking up late).

It was 6 out of 8 full when I checked in, 2 more were op-upped, so the cabin was full. It was my first time SFO-DXB where the cabin was full, or anywhere near full.

Thanks for the prompt reply. I wonder if people had an impression of the average loads USA-DXB in F. The most I have had is 5/8.

My average has been around 2/8 of paid passengers in F that end up 4/8 when the op-ups occur.

I've always found F to have 100% occupancy whenever I've done 201/202 ex JFK.

Interesting. Got op-upped from J to P (something in the realm of the slightly probabls). What was interesting/amazing was that my wife was also op-upped, although her ticket was an award ticket and she was not on the same PNR. She has a gifted Gold card.

EK tends to treat golds very well even on reward tickets.

I flew SYD-BKK-SYD this week and am then doing SYD-BKK next week and the onboard experience has been very good. I thought it strange on last weeks SYD-BKK leg that I was the only Plat in J. Very few status pax - and I saw the entire J manifest as the crew had taped it to the galley wall. As far as I could tell, no op-ups on that leg

One thing I am enjoying about the new tier is access to the QF F lounges. Excellent compared to the standard EK offering. Not that I think the EK offering is that bad - but maybe I'm just a bit over them. I will say that I thought the BKK lounge this week was very average.

When I boarded the BKK-SYD flight last night, one of the J cabin FA's came to welcome me and asked if I had flown EK before and did I need any help with understanding the seat controls or perhaps some assistance with the IFE...

I politely declined saying that I thought I could work it out.

Moments later, someone more senior came over and started to wave their arms, offering their apologies. Service was excellent from that point on and interestingly, the J cabin was perhaps only 60% full.

Does anyone know the answer to this?

I have searched both EK and QF sites but cannot find an answer.

I am planning EK from the ME to UK at xmas in J and am QF Platinum, Will I be able to use the EK F lounge?

See here

Short answer, YES, you can as WP.

Thanks.

I'm patently crap at searching the site...

In 2 weeks I will try for the firs time the Platinum experience...I will let you know if I realized the change from gold!

Prepare to be blown away! ^