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How early can I check into my Dubai flight and use first class lounge?

How early can I check into my Dubai flight and use first class lounge?

Old Jan 4, 2015, 1:29 am
  #1  
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How early can I check into my Dubai flight and use first class lounge?

I have a flight from Dubai to use in February . I am flying first class. My flight leaves around 9am, but I was thinking of checking in to my flight the night before around 11pm, and enjoying the first class lounge for a long time.

Will this work? Will there be a check in Desk open at 11pm? Will lounge let me in the early before flight?

Also could the chauffeur pick me up from my hotel that early before a flight?

Thanks!
globaltrotter is offline  
Old Jan 4, 2015, 2:30 am
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Originally Posted by globaltrotter
I have a flight from Dubai to use in February . I am flying first class. My flight leaves around 9am, but I was thinking of checking in to my flight the night before around 11pm, and enjoying the first class lounge for a long time.

Will this work? Will there be a check in Desk open at 11pm? Will lounge let me in the early before flight?

Also could the chauffeur pick me up from my hotel that early before a flight?

Thanks!
You can certainly check in - I'm not sure whether the car can pick you up that early unless you called the office.

I'd recommend going to the airport at t-3 earliest!
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Old Jan 4, 2015, 2:59 am
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I'm firmly with m3red on this.

T-3 or even T-2 good enough for me when travelling F and then a spell in the lounge.

The lounge is undoubtedly a pleasant place to wait for a flight ; but I'm amazed that anyone would voluntarily choose to spend a whole night there in preference to a comfy hotel bed
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Old Jan 4, 2015, 10:36 am
  #4  
Zol
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Yes you can, at DXB you can check-in at T-24
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Old Jan 7, 2015, 4:23 am
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... and they will let you enter the lounge as long as your flight is on the same day (and sometimes even if you arrive the evening before)

Cases in point (don't ask me why this happened ...):
1) I arrived at lounge entrance at 00.30am for a 1430pm flight
2) I arrived at lounge entrance at 20.00pm for a flight at 3 am.

In both cases I was admitted to the lounge without any problems.
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Old Jan 7, 2015, 5:47 am
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Originally Posted by CalFlyer
... and they will let you enter the lounge as long as your flight is on the same day (and sometimes even if you arrive the evening before)

Cases in point (don't ask me why this happened ...):
1) I arrived at lounge entrance at 00.30am for a 1430pm flight
2) I arrived at lounge entrance at 20.00pm for a flight at 3 am.

In both cases I was admitted to the lounge without any problems.
I'm might be wrong, but I'm under the impression you can get into the DXB lounges up to 24hrs before your flight, i.e. as soon as you have checked in (or have landed from a connecting flight within 24hrs of your outgoing flight)

Ofcourse, whether you would want to spend up to 24hrs in the lounges is another thing.....
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Old Feb 10, 2015, 11:11 am
  #7  
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We have a morning flight out to SFO. Looking at coming to the airport the night before to a) save the cost of a hotel night and b) enjoy some of the amenities of the lounge (dinner, etc.) that we wouldn't with an early arrival for our morning flight.

Downsides of this? Are there areas to get good rest in? Or is it pretty much just couches that you're not supposed to lay down and sleep on? And is the complimentary food good enough to make this even worth considering, or will we be wishing for a real dinner somewhere?

Last edited by jackal; Feb 10, 2015 at 11:16 am
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Old Feb 10, 2015, 11:48 am
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Originally Posted by jackal
We have a morning flight out to SFO. Looking at coming to the airport the night before to a) save the cost of a hotel night and b) enjoy some of the amenities of the lounge (dinner, etc.) that we wouldn't with an early arrival for our morning flight.

Downsides of this? Are there areas to get good rest in? Or is it pretty much just couches that you're not supposed to lay down and sleep on? And is the complimentary food good enough to make this even worth considering, or will we be wishing for a real dinner somewhere?
In F or J?

The food in the F lounges is a full a la carte service, and is pretty good in my limited experience. J lounge is a buffet - which would be OK.

The F lounges are generally pretty quite, but I don't recall seeing anywhere to lie down. Note that the J lounges can get very busy.

There used to be some sleeping rooms (with bed & shower) in the F lounge at Concourse C. I think this has now gone however (hopefully somebody will confirm).

One option would be to arrive the night before and use the airside hotel.
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Old Feb 10, 2015, 3:51 pm
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I arrived at 6am and had a connection to on at 2.30 PM - I'm silver so went to far end of the A business lounge , found a sleeper, put on my headphones, an eye make and a blanket and slept for over 3 hours. You need to go to the farthest end if the lounge.
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Old Feb 10, 2015, 4:14 pm
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Originally Posted by jackal
We have a morning flight out to SFO. Looking at coming to the airport the night before to a) save the cost of a hotel night and b) enjoy some of the amenities of the lounge (dinner, etc.) that we wouldn't with an early arrival for our morning flight.
Please tell us you are Silver flying Y.
Don't tell us you are F or J trying to save on hotel cost ...
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Old Feb 10, 2015, 4:27 pm
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Originally Posted by DYKWIA
In F or J?

The food in the F lounges is a full a la carte service, and is pretty good in my limited experience. J lounge is a buffet - which would be OK.

The F lounges are generally pretty quite, but I don't recall seeing anywhere to lie down. Note that the J lounges can get very busy.

There used to be some sleeping rooms (with bed & shower) in the F lounge at Concourse C. I think this has now gone however (hopefully somebody will confirm).

One option would be to arrive the night before and use the airside hotel.
F, sorry. Is there any other way to fly?

Hotels in DXB are cheap enough that it's not really about saving money but rather maximizing the experience and enjoyment of the EK product, and part of that is the a la carte food service in the lounge (which is IMO better experienced at dinner rather than breakfast). It would just be nice to get a real night's sleep rather than a fitful sleep on a couch after that. Saving a few bucks on the hotel is just a bonus, but I suppose the airside hotel would work, too, if the accommodations in the lounge aren't going to make for a restful night. (I didn't know there was one, as I was not looking for it on my last trip through.)

Originally Posted by ioto1902
Please tell us you are Silver flying Y.
Don't tell us you are F or J trying to save on hotel cost ...
I don't normally at people on FT. You might try offering the same courtesy.
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Old Feb 10, 2015, 4:58 pm
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Originally Posted by jackal
I don't normally at people on FT. You might try offering the same courtesy.
Absolutely no offense intended.
Apologies if misunderstood.
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Old Feb 10, 2015, 5:06 pm
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Originally Posted by ioto1902
Absolutely no offense intended.
Apologies if misunderstood.
All right, all's well.
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Old Feb 10, 2015, 5:11 pm
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jackal - you will almost certainly enjoy the food offerings in the F lounge, and (unless the benchmark is a 3 star Michelin restaurant ...) your dinner there should be as good as at most quality venues in town.

However, as pleasant as the DXB F lounge is, I always regard it as a good place to relax for a couple of hours maximum - barring unforeseen circumstances of course - ahead of my flight, and I just know that I would never want to spend a whole night there by choice. I honestly feel you would be far better off at the airside hotel as suggested by DYKWIA.

That said, I am very conscious that ultimately it is a matter of personal preference.
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Old Feb 10, 2015, 7:37 pm
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We had a 16 hour layover once at DXB with 2AM departure. If I remember correctly, we arrived back at the airport around 8PM and easily killed 5-6 hours in the First Class Terminal.

We were literally the only people in the quiet nap room, and commandeered the section at the back with just two chairs. We easily could have spent the night there and actually gotten a decent night's sleep.
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