Making the most of First Class
 

I'm about to take my first ever Emirates flights in First Class, flying DUB-DXB-MEL-AKL and return (via BNE) courtesy of some cheap-ish ex-DUB fares and the strength of the GBP against the Euro.

I'm travelling with my brother as a treat for him since he's had some bad news of a medical nature, so I really want the flights to feel special. Other than the showers on the A380 segments, does the panel have any other suggestions as to maximising the experience? We have a 9 hour stopover in DXB to sample the F lounge properly, by the way. All suggestions appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

BC

For the A380 :-

1. Have a big breakfast in the F lounge
2. Board and have some DP
3. Watch a film with more DP
4. Order another DP
5. After a couple of hours, have your meal, washed down with DP
6. Wander down to the bar (preferably with a bottle of DP from F)
7. After a couple of hours, stagger back to your seat
8. Have a glass of DP for a nightcap.
9. Sleep for a few hours
10. Breakfast (Maybe with another glass of DP?)
11. Land

14 hours passes very quickly :)

Note, when I did this trip, I forgot about point 9, so point 6 lasted about 9 hours!

If you get bored of Dom, don't forget the Hennessy Paradis...!

DYKWIA presumably at this point is in a Dom-induced haze and has forgotten to mention the delights of the DXB F lounges, which I can give you some highlights to:

0 - pick up an A380-only cloth bag to keep all your on-board amenities in (and additional things in the lounge)
1 - book a spa treatment. You get 15 minutes free, but can add on an additional 25 minutes at a reasonable price.
2 - Shoe shine
3 - 3/4/5 course meal in the lounge. The quality from the a la carte menu is excellent. If you land at breakfast, you can have the main evening menu (and vice versa). Balik salmon on the buffet should be acquired in good quantities. If you are in Concourse B, there is a sushi chef.
4 - The champagne in the lounge is relatively average, but right now there is a Chateau Pontet-Canet 1998 floating about so switch to the red.

Alternatively, do all of this but first, with a 9 hour layover - have you considered leaving the airport and wandering around Dubai? (assuming you are from a visa-free country/have a visa). Have a brunch/lunch/dinner somewhere in Dubai, see some sights, go to a bar, pop back to the airport. Taxis are cheap - and on an F fare, you will have complimentary chauffeur drive most likely - and most locations are about 30 minutes max from the airport. Immigration and security are painless at DXB - you will have plenty of time to be back in time for the lounge.

Thanks both. I'm expecting a DP-fueled haze! Good point about leaving the airport, although we might need some zzzs since we'll be driving for 4 hours and then flying ZQN-AKL-BNE-DXB straight through.

We'll make use of the bar, get showers on all the A380 sectors and have a decent meal (or two) in the lounge as well as a spa treatment.

I've booked 1E/F all the way but might change them on the return sectors. It looks like the flights are not too busy in any case.

Just to clarify, the A380s will be Concourse A, right? Are the DUB flights likely then to be Concourse B? And is it worth it/possible to use the A lounge when departing from B? And is there much difference between lounges?

Thanks again,

BC

I fly down the back of the plane and only have access to the J lounge, but:
Not necessarily; while A has been touted as "the 380 concourse", A380s can arrive at/ depart from A, B or (less frequently?) C and aircraft other than 380s use concourse A. But it's not hard to move between concourses.
Not necessarily; see above.
As long as there's enough time to get from the lounge to your gate, you can use the lounge in either concourse.

One big difference between the lounges in A and B is that you can board directly from the lounge in A - if your flight leaves from A, of course. I like the shower suites in the A concourse J lounge better than those in B. But if my onward flight is leaving from B, I use the B lounge. Can't comment on F lounge differences.

Out of interest BlackCat when you say cheapish ex-DUB? How much did you pay? Im looking at doing a similiar routing but it certainly isnt cheap

Each ticket was just over 5K euros (fare basis AX1YPIE1). First Saver fare with a minimum 5 day advance purchase. Ex-LON was 5K gbp so a big difference.

BC

Thanks. We have a 9 hour layover on the way back so we'll do a bit of lounge hopping.

BC

You'd miss out on some great wines if you just drink dp!

On my flight to Zrh Last week I came back from the bar to find my bed made! Clearly thought I'd had too much Dom. :D

As a fairly regular on the DUB/DXB there is no rhyme nor reason (from my point of view) to which concourse you arrive into - last 4 times, 3 different concourses and 1 remote gate. However, with your stopover time it won't really matter, at least you get a good view of the airport.

With such a long layover I'd recommend lounge hopping - the experience in the F lounge in A is very different to the F lounge in B - my preference is A but could see how others would prefer B or C.

After an F flight I always regret not properly spacing out the food to properly sample the food and drinks menu - I eat too much then am full! I'd say just to think it through and have a look at the menus online before.

The lounge in Dublin is awful, but the rest are amazing.

Enjoy the benefit of the euro rate! Coming from NI I often take advantage of the cheaper ex-DUB fares plus the euro conversion.

Have fun!

Yeah. I don't particularly like champagne after the first couple of glasses. I do normally stick to red wine.

Had a beautiful red on my AKL to DXB last week.

Highlights though were the unopened bottled of Dom sitting there and I didn't want to open it and the cabin crew were like 'its for you so just go for it' kind of mentality.

Don't feel bad, the average F crew member on EK pours about 24 bottles of Dom down the toilet every month :D

I have made a note to myself that the particular vintage of DP that they serve nowadays has to be the 'absolute' worst. I find that the Veuve from J taste better.

I did notice it says 'specially selected for Emirates' on the back actually!!

Never been much of an aficionado of any champers myself (most overrated drink in the world IMHO :rolleyes:) so I wouldn't be the best to judge - but I do know that many others share your view re the current DP offering

My own key drivers for travelling F are the additional space, comfort & privacy (plus, I guess, there's the benefit of having someone at your beck & call for several hours at a stretch - a facility not normally available to most of us in daily life .......). I don't even eat much during the flight itself, preferring to eat in the lounge beforehand.

I often feel that if one's objective is to quaff as much Dom as possible and spend the flight in some sort of hazy detached existence, it might be far more cost-effective to get a Y or J ticket and buy a good few bottles of the stuff for home consumption ; and still have oodles of cash to spare .....

Yea I don't get the craze about the DOM. The EK F attendants love pouring some johnny blue in "liberal portions". Or how about some of that paradis.

The wine selection is also top notch. Most carriers have the DOM then some mediocre wine. Really, when flying EK F, DOM is the last thing you should sample. So much selection of quality alcohol.

Soft service in EK F is top notch on long haul flights.

Perfect timing - I was going to create a post to seek advices to maximize my first (hopefully not last if AS/EK dont do anything about award booking issues) trip few day later. Anyways - anyone know if I have to pay for cigars in F lounge? I'll take LAX-DXB-BKK (3.5 hour in DXB and thought i would get cigar after free 15 min massage).

Prayyyy that I'll drink some henessey paradis!

also, load so far - 2 out of 12 or 14 seats.. would EK grant me permission to shower twice? If no, then shower before or after prearrival meal? Sorry about noob questions, i'm so excited!

I had prive on my flight yesterday the hp is being discontinued.

Serious question - was there a noticeable difference between the prive and the paradis?

Would agree that worth exploring wines other than DP. I find the DP loses a lot in flight compared to the taste on the ground. Some of the red wines in paricular are very special. Yesterday I enjoyed a 2012 Russian River Pinot Noir and a 1995 Ch Palmer - both excellent :)

I haven't been in the cigar lounge for a long time (only in Concourse A) but iirc they are complimentary. My information may be out of date though. Will report back if I am in there in the next few days.

Showers - as the F meal service is dine on demand, then this all depends on when you want to eat your pre-arrival meal. Shower times are pre-booked in 30 minute slots, first come first served, so you can choose when you want it. If there's 2/14, they may reduce the water load though, so you should check if it's possible, but I don't forsee many problems, except that the cabin may end up going full in case there are last minute bookings and op-ups.

However, I have yet to see a 14/14 cabin where everyone used the shower :D

Had the palmer on last months F flights to MAN. Very nice.

Agree totally on the DP - much better on the ground.

HP vs HP - not really then I am much more a wine/champagne kind of guy than the hard stuff.

Probably best not to have too much DP and fall to sleep in the toilets with your pants around your ankles like my colleague did last time I flew first :-P

LOL, hope that it's a long-haul flight so he can go back to his seat and sleep like a baby :D

..... by which you mean he will wake every two or three hours, wet himself, and then cry uncontrollably for food ...... :eek: :confused:

So how best does one arrange this? :D

take your bigger flute from F suite, tell purser/SFS you are going to the bar and to bring some DP.

You may have to remind the bar that you are F or walk down in your PJ's and slippers with wet hair :D:D:D (never done or never will do this BTW)

Walk down in your PJs? What is this, BA? :D

I prefer the PJ walk. Where else can you sip some fine alcohol, chit chat with random strangers, in your PJs. :D:D The slick hair though would be a new one.

No evil eyes either from anyone. If your on ultra long haul changing just to go to the bar doesn't seem very efficient.

I never put my pyjamas on :(

Is this before or after changing your clothes, and with the suite doors open or closed...

:eek:

Reporting in from the Concourse A F lounge - unfortunately the cigars are not complimentary and range from 30-60 AED. A selection of 4-5 but I am not an aficionado so I can't comment as to their quality. Montecristo Eagles I was pointed to but I don't smoke, so I have no idea if that is any good!

What other things from the F lounge are complimentary that aren't widely advertised?

But I'm assuming/hoping you do actually leave some normal clothing on ......:confused:

Sometimes I make use of the PJ's, sometimes not. Depends on flight duration.

Speaking of PJ's generally .....I was truly amazed to read a little while back of a poster who was recommending (IIRC) Etihad's J class over EK's - purely on the basis that Etihad provide PJ's in business and EK do not. How the Etihad execs must have loved seeing that ! (we spend less than $10 on some freebies, and that's enough to get us extra punters ..... :D)

I snuck a bra change in my suite after changing out of my jarmies!!! I was super quick.

Free stuff in the F lounge: err, in Concourse A, there are slippers in the shower room, usually you can only get one pair from on board. Also the usual assortment of F specific dental kits, shaving kits, shower caps, combs. The F dental kit, in case anyone is wondering, has Colgate Total toothpaste instead of regular Colgate :D

Most people also do not take advantage of the 30 minute haircut or blow-dry at the spa. Shoe shine is also complimentary. There are charging stations now available, but I don't know if that is in the J lounge as well.

--

I was once on a ULH with a QF CL member, whom I only assume thought the suite doors were a novelty and reached the ceilings like an actual suite, as he was totally naked throughout most of the flight (thankfully "indoors"). What he didn't realise is that walking up and down the aisle were some tall FAs who couldn't help but notice as they walked past! That and the habit of calling for service wearing a blanket made the galley gossip rather memorable!

Note to everyone: the suite doors are only about 4' high! :D

Just finished my F flight few days ago, and apologize for not report back earlier. The flight was epic and crew was fun/pleasant.. i love how crew like to chat in J/F section, compare to Y for obvious reasons (400 pax to feed, etc). However, I am gonna cut back on Dom when I fly again, because i don't remember end of my flight but at least, assistant was there in DXB to make sure i'm all good and able to catch next flight (he said stay away from booze for little bit :D). No regrets, because i did live like a king for 16 hours LAX-DXB flight, but took it easy on DXB-BKK because i am trying to sober up/headaches start to kick in.

LAX lounge was awesome, and it looks like some EK executives were there on same day for grand opening but didnt see any bigwigs (they put a large A380 banner near food area, but not sure if it's a permament display, or temp for photo ops)

oh two more thing, I was able to drink paradis, but not really a cognac drinker, so i dont know any difference. In addition, didnt have time for cigars, because it was short connection, thanks to LAX runway construction delay but yeah, gotta pay for it. Next time!

Yes, but they are tall enough that most people can change into their PJ's without any problems. I recall them being a bit taller than 4', closer to 5'.

I think the issue is clearance to the ceiling - on the 777 the floor is slightly raised so it feels taller.

Yes, it is usually no problem to change in suite - I don't want to give people the impression everyone is just naked in the F cabin :eek: