Choosing F or J -value and differences?
 

Dh and I are considering returning to YYZ from JNB on emirates with a stopover in Dubai. Routing would be JNB-DXB-YYZ. 777 on 1st leg and 380 on 2nd leg. (Using points on outbound with other carrier)

Price difference isnt bad between the 2(about $1200 Cdn ea.).

Sleeping is a big factor but I understand both J and F are full lie flat. Ive looked at menus and although there are some differences not a biggie for us. Both have chauffeur service. The suites sound interesting given that we havent done F in a very long time(like 20 yrs ago...lol), although we are not strangers to J. Although Im not sure that "sounds interesting" is worth the extra $1000 ea.

Having read some horror stories I also dont like the idea of paying for F and then dealing with fighting with Emirates if they downgrade which seems to happen frequently ?

Is there anything else we should be considering ? Opinions ?

You will get lots of opinions I guess!
Firstly I'm not sure that EK downgrades often - you are more likely to hear about it though than about a flight that goes to plan (for what it is worth I have flown around 25 sectors with EK in F and never had it happen to me or my wife).

Pluses for me include:
More personal space and a larger bed.
Use of the F lounge in DXB (I think this is much better than the J lounge - space, quiet and food)
Generally good service on board and dine on demand.
Some rare and interesting wines on occasion.
The shower is a novelty.

I'm also happy enough in J and you have identified that it ticks all of the important boxes for you. Quite a nice choice to have to make :)

For that difference I'd pay it for sure for that distance. Break it down by segment 300 Canadian each leg - I'd drink that in Dom Perignon before I'd arrived in Zimbabwe airspace. The wines are also good (some stand it ones from j) I think the chateaux pavie is on the South African routes at the moment too - very nice!

It's all relative to what you can afford but the space and more personal service plus the showers that would be a no brainer for me. The 76 seats in biz feels a bit too big for my liking.

I've paid a lot more for upgrades to first for my wife and I to Tokyo and South Africa ex UK this year (over double what you have to) to give it context value wise.

What ever you chose enjoy ek.

Its actually $600 Cdn per leg ea. We're talking about 1 way only (on the return) since we'll be using points on the way down (presuming we can work out all the logistics...and because of timing if we cant we'll have to likely wait 2 years to do this trip otherwise which Im not real fond of doing :( )

Keep the advice coming...it's very helpful.

If anyone can comment...Is there much difference in comfort between the 2 types of lie flats for sleeping ?

Again for me yes suites no problems sleeping and my wife likes the duvet rather than the "scratchy" blanket in j!

I find the j seats a big narrow. I'm 6ft 2 and about 14.5 stone

Personally, I find the J seats on the A380 pretty good (I am 5'10), though the F seats are a bit wider and you can get more legroom - for someone who is tall (> 6'2"), they may find that they have to bend their legs a bit while sleeping in J on the A380. Another thing that I find good about J on the A380, is that you can be siting really close to your better half, especially in the EF seats - you can't be that close in the suites.

If you've never flown EK F on the A380, I would say try it one way just for experiencing the suites and the showers. I don't find the food (except for caviar) and wine on board in F all that great and any better than J (in fact, it includes the J menu as well so you know that EK doesn't differentiate between J and F food anyway) and prefer to eat in the lounges, but there are several here who simply love the on board catering. YMMV.

The other things that I would recommend is to keep your expectations low - EK service can be a hit or miss and you may find some sets of crew fairly disinterested in good service. The hard product is fairly consistent. So long as you don't let the 'occasionally bad service affect you , you should have a good time. Just be open to getting up and going the galley/ bar and helping yourself rather than pushing the button fretting when no one comes to service you for 20 mins.

I would very much echo comments by jackiedada above - in particular as regards managing your level of expectations.

Although a long-time fan of Emirates, I am also very conscious that no airline is perfect. In general, service standards in the F & J cabins are good ; but more than once I have come off an EK flight with a feeling that it was all quite 'ordinary' (yes, even F) rather than anything special. In essence I'm talking about the sort of flights which don't give cause for any specific complaint as such, but just leave you feeling somewhat flat in terms of what you've spent in getting yourself from A to B .....!

On any given day, the crew play a big part of course (and, to a certain extent, your fellow pax too !).

If you feel the additional space in F v J is particularly important to you, and the additional cost is not something you will 'miss' or resent once the journey is done with - then, yes, give F class a go. When all said & done, it's really the only sure way to determine whether it's worth the extra money to you - ie in the context of any other personal priorities you may have ....;)

Our last flight in F was in 1994 for work purposes on Singapore Air. Since then we've flown frequently in J mainly on AC and Delta.

Im kinda getting the impression that you're telling me that our Emirates F experience wont be at the level of Singapore ;)

Seriously though I appreciate all the input. Im going to wait to decide until we price out the entire trip. We're planning on travelling for almost a month and Im looking at lodges in SA and the hotel we want in Dubai (Madinat)coming in in the upper stratosphere of costs.

I knew we should have done this trip when the Cdn dollar wasn't taking such a beating...lol.

SIA F walks all over EK F. I've had amazing service on some EK flights occasionally, but you can't really compare. EK is a quality hard product, solid choice, probably the quintessential ME carrier but service is nowhere near SIA standards and frankly can't be if you're looking at their operations. Naturally more crew dependent and you could get more sincere and heartfelt service occasionally opposed to the more 'robotic' SIA service, but it's just not consistent.

Like others have said, it really boils down to the inflight experience you want. F is a small cabin with a maximum of 14 passengers with a nice attendant:passenger ratio, such that you won't have to wait for much of anything. The suites themselves are spacious (I am 6'3" and 190 lbs) and private. My experience - I fly fairly often between LAX and the Middle East - has been good inflight service, with the dining experience really quite good (the mezza in F is outstanding, although I avoid the muhammara, as it inevitably causes me heartburn) and the drinks are top-notch, if that matters to you. Hennessy Paradis is an exquisite after dinner drink, and the Dom is really nice after take-off. While some consider the F class shower/spa, I certainly do not! Nothing is better than a shower, shave and a change into fresh clothes after a 16 hour flight - even if one has changed into EK pajamas immediately upon boarding (I do that because I don't like lounging in street clothes when I can do so comfortably). The F class lounge at DXB has been written about extensively at this site - I frankly find it a bit empty but I've been told that 'privacy is what we want our F class passengers to experience'.

Frankly, I haven't done EK in business class. What I will tell you is that when the attendant opens the curtain for me to go back to the "bar" in J, I walk through a sea of 70 or so passengers with reflections of their video screens in their faces (or asleep). The space isn't bad in any way, but there are just so many people. Again, I don't know if you have any interest in world-class level drinks, but I always have an attendant in tow, with a bottle of the F class drink I really like on EK -- it is Hennessy Paradis, of course. It is pretty exclusive, so the bartender is instructed to put it below the bar, only available to me or other F class passengers.

So, all-in-all, if you are looking for seat pitch and an OK onboard experience, I'd say business class looks OK. If you really want to have an experience flying above the clouds in luxury, I'd to EK F.