First Experience Emirates
 

As the title suggests, I had my first experience of Emirates yesterday. Not sure how I managed to avoid them this long (just clocked my 969th flight) but the impression was pretty outstanding.

I've flown with a lot of airlines, mostly European and American, but this is my first time with one of the ME3. The route was DUS-DXB, class Economy, aircraft A380. At DUS I feared boarding would be the uncomfortable mess it is with most other airlines, but they boarded a totally full A380 with record speed and efficiency (why can't Lufthansa do that?). Plus, everybody was friendly and welcoming all the way from check in to reaching my seat (69H). (Why can't Lufthansa do that?).

I must say, this was one of my best Y-class flights ever and although full the cabin never felt crammed the way US carriers do. The seat wasn't too bad for a Y seat (none of that Recaro rubbish, thank heavens) and legroom was sufficient for somebody of my size.

The catering was excellent, for Y-class, with adequate portions and decently prepared meals (I had Arabian lamb stew with Pilau rice). There was a good choice of drinks, decent enough wine selection, even a choice of beers as well as liquors and spirits (I had a Henessy cognac). Later, on this 6-hour route, there was an ice cream service, as well as regular drinks runs.

But the winner hands down is the ice entertainment system, which if anything has a bit too much choice. I practically needed the duration of the flight to choose what I wanted to hear and see :). There is a huge choice of films and TV series (including a complete Doctor Who season!). The music choice is endless and I tip my hat to an airline that puts the complete works (more or less) of Schoenberg and Webern on their IFE system. The classical Arabian and Arabian fusion sections were fascinating as well.

So, finally I can see that the European airlines truly have something to be afraid of. They can be jealous of such a product, even at the basic level where I was sitting.

I thought that this thread might be useful for other first timers out there, or those scrolling through this site looking for information.

Great to hear that your first experience of Emirates was such a positive one, in so many respects - not least given that you have travelled with a lot of other carriers against which you can measure. Here's hoping it remains that way for you ! ^

I think it only fair to say that Emirates have been around long enough for other carriers to have decided many years ago whether or not they are truly 'jealous' or 'afraid', in the way you suggest they are. I hardly need tell you that no airline is 100% perfect 100% of the time - as borne out by the fact that we see many posters coming on to report very unhappy experiences and a litany of complaints about service, whether in the air or on the ground (the latter being more of an issue with EK in general.....). Although I'm a big fan myself, even I had a messy boarding process on a flight earlier this year, in dramatic contrast to your own. Sure, it was, in fairness, an exception amongst many trouble-free trips. However..... worth noting, this was not only in their home base of DXB (where I firmly believe they really have little excuse for not getting it right) but with a 777 rather than the much larger A380 ; and in business class too.

Of course you can only speak as you find, and I repeat that it's good you came away with such a positive impression of Emirates after your first flight with them. And specifically as regards the ICE ......well that's certainly one aspect where I personally can't recall ever reading ANY criticism ...!!

Thanks for your thoughts, OP - it's refreshing to have a first impressions post about economy class on EK, rather than all the firstworldproblems of J and F reports ;)

Too true...

If you judge EK based on Y expectations, my guess is it's really up there. Don't get me wrong, there ARE other Y products better then EK. But if you measure based on price vs comfort, it really is a good product.

If you choose to fly EK more often, you will notice that FAs may not always be as nice as your first flight. Also the food is dependent on outbound flight location (I've had some really nasty ones), but the drink choices are very good. As for the ICE... hands down the best I've ever seen (or heard about).

Hope you enjoy your next flight.

You forgot to add the complimentary Wi-Fi you get onboard EK, as this is also a huge bonus for flying EK. Both Kuwait and Etihad Airways charge outrageous fees for using the onboard Wi-Fi.

Back on the EK Bandwagon again Aceboy?

😁

I guess you missed my recent aviation experience which can be found here:

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...d.main/269078/

After being treated as a kinder-garden in business class on Kuwait Airways I decided to stick with Emirates, but will keep my expectations low on mileage upgrade to avoid any further negative experiences :rolleyes:

It is true that no airline can be 100% perfect 100% of the time and an entity as large as Emirates must end up having issues from time to time. I seem to be lucky in that the vast majority of my flights tend to be positive experiences, although I try always to board with low expectations. Surly cabin crew are rare in my experience, you probably have to do something to end up provoking their ire although exceptions can always happen. I read in other forums that unruly passenger incidents are becoming more and more frequent these days. So far I have been mostly lucky with my fellow passengers and have interacted with some really great people in economy class. In business and first you tend to interact less with people, if at all.

Retreading what I wrote, I think that I was wrong to write that other carriers are jealous of the Emirates product. But they could possibly envy the enormous success Emirates has enjoyed to a certain extent! :)

The fact that the ice system offers free wifi completely escaped me! I for one am happy to leave the internet behind for a few hours as I spend enough time on it. Not to mention, of course, that there is such a huge choice of stuff to see on the ice system anyway.

To respond to lighthand I indeed agree that food quality is very much dependent on station of origin. Düsseldorf must be a good one. Munich and Frankfurt are not IMO. I wonder what my flight originating in Dubai will be like. In a couple of days I will be flying back to DUS, but this time on the 777 aircraft.

Nice to see they stock the Hennessy Paradis cognac in Economy.

I'd be extremely surprised if that were true !

In fairness, the OP did mention Hennessy cognac - but not the Paradis version generally available in F class only.

The Hennessy collection comprises a pretty wide price range, with XO and Paradis being at the top end (and I'm pretty sure there are a couple of 'very rare' types beyond even those)

In Y, it's Hennessy VS miniatures.

didn't miss it*chuckles*, i just try to keep my aceboy google searches to an absolute minimum, preferably around the zero mark.

Welcome back mate, this forum just aint the same without you, looking forward to your next exclusive trip report for the front of the EK bus.

It's not the ICE system per se but dependant on the aircraft type - all A380s and some 777s (i.e. very old 777s and very new 777s) have it. 10MB free, then 1USD for 500MB - some restrictions apply over various countries and regions (e.g. not much coverage over the North Pole, banned over India, China)

Ex-Dubai has so far not disappointed me. The biggest bug bear for me is Ex-Buenos Aires and Rio, even in J unfortunately. I don't blame EK for this, as other airlines flying from the location (that I've flown with) has the same poor quality of food.

Best advice knowing these issues, is to bring your own fav cup noodles on board. During my last flight out from GIG (Rio) in J, my seat mate was almost drooling as he look at my big bowl cup noodles.:)

On some sectors they even have cup noodles of decent quality on board :D - nobody ever seems to order them, but they are there...and are not too bad...!

Only on some routes. A lot don't have it and it is slow.

Good enough for messaging and email. What more do you need on a plane?:)

I'd say about 90% of the bandwidth is taken up by first time wi-fi users taking a picture of their seat area, or more likely, the J bar on the A380, saying "HEY GUESS WHERE I AM"

Yes, the cognac was Hennessy VS, in a little glass bottle. I was sort of wishing I hadn't taken it, because I had had quite a few little bottles of wine previously, but it was good.

Concerning stations of origin where the food is poor, I had no idea about South America. I had always found Hong Kong to be particularly bad, until I took a flight this year on KLM in J and found the catering to be excellent (but I think KLM have their own catering setup in Hong Kong).

I do that every time when in J on an A380 and am not ashamed :D

Doesn't everyone? ^

Despite all of this, the internet speed onboard Kuwait Airways is the same as Emirates (I couldn't feel any differences)

m3red wins the internet. :D ft101 and stargold get an honorary mention.
Well, then it's consistent with the fact that 90% of bandwidth worldwide is used for selfies, cat videos, movie trailers and p0rn. ;)

I sort of knew that instinctively, somehow! Nothing wrong with taking a shot of the nice seat you are in! Some airlines can be a bit funny about picture taking, but Emirates seems totally cool about it. But I was discreet enough that probably nobody noticed.

One criticism of the ice system, however: in the classical audio sections it did not seem to be possible (or easy) to access performer details (eg orchestra, conductor, soloist). That may be because I didn't play around with it sufficiently to find out (I feared getting cut off in the middle of a lengthy movement if I fiddled around with it. That would be terrible in the middle of a Schoenberg concerto, wouldn't it? :))

I wish some other first timers would post their experiences here.

I'm pleased the OP was happy - I think EK is great in the air as well certainly in J and F although the J seats need a revamp on the 777 as they are too small and not flat enough.

On the ground and the customer service they are quite frankly stoneage. I'm not sure many other airlines are much better but in the UK I think the consumer protection laws assist in fairer outcomes for customers.

They seemed pretty decent at Düsseldorf, welcoming and friendly. I find that can be quite rare at check in these days. The gate agent at DUS who scanned the boarding passes was too. And being greeted by a senior cc member upon boarding the aircraft was a real hark back to the old days. Often, when I board an American carrier, I wonder why I bothered booking a flight with them. It can be frankly terrible.

I will experience ground handling at Dubai airport tomorrow. I will be checking in at the airport without doing it online, but I managed to select seats. That's another thing: I'm amazed that I was able to do that for free. Most airlines charge you for that now.

You should check in online and go to the baggage drop and collect bp's or you may be in a large queue.

Actually EK will even provide the camera (FA inform the Polaroid cam is on all flights) to take a photo for you if you wish.

Ladies and Gents! I present the first criticism of ICE!! :D

Alas... not the flights from GIG.....

I know this is a bit mean of me (apologies), but I do get a slight kick out of watching seat mates look at my cup noodles then asking the FA if they can have the same:p

On one of the last flight I took, the FA told me I created a problem for them when many customers were asking to have the cup noodle...

Fill up your hand luggage with a box of 20, sell them for 20 USD a pop...

:D

I may be a bit spoiled, but my first EK experience was SIN-DXB-JFK in F. Flying SIN-DXB with just my wife and kid in F + DXB lounge + multiple showers, i think i was spoiled.

What is it with Flyertalk and showers?!?!

:D

With all the talk about showers and no one else in F on my first flight, i asked to shower twice :)

Thanks very much for the tip. I have just checked in and stored the boarding passes on the iPad. There was a small part of my mind wondering if holding off with check in until the airport might have yielded an upgrade (I'm on an economy flex fare)!

The check-in method doesn't come into consideration when it comes to complimentary upgrades, your boarding pass in the app will be automatically updated, or if not, will be rejected at the gate and a new one printed if you get one.

Not a bad idea;)

Will try it on my next flight, but maybe not with 20... 4~5 should fit in my carry on nicely.

Might end up with the FAs asking me for one:p

Hate to burst your bubble, but unless you have status (at least gold ex-DXB). It's very unlikely you'll get a free upgrade.

Fare type don't seem to matter much to EK.

Shower twice ?!?!?

OK, the floor is heated, the room is large, relaxing tea and fruits are waiting back at your seat, etc
but, the shower itself looks like a plastic prefab unit ... and it's not even rain shower ...
(again, you can throw rocks at me, but don't crash my hairstyle)


I'd rather spend time at the bar or chatting with FAs ...

Anyway, next time try this : on the door, it says "two persons max".
... Just an idea ... Just an idea .... :D:D:D

While I think a shower is not essential, I think what is essential is a nice and large lavatory in F. A perfect example of this are the lavatories on QR's A380's in F.

The lavatories o nboard the EK 77W in F for example is just unacceptable.