Toilet talk: A380's economy and Dubai airport
 

So I am taking Emirates from JFK to HYD and have a layover in Dubai for 7 hours. The schedule is such that I fear I might have to go at some point (#2, i mean). Yep, I am one of those finicky people who plans his toilet schedule around an international trip, especially to Asia. (except for Japan where the toilets were fine in the airport).

Are the A380 bathrooms any better than the ones in the regular Emirates aircrafts? I took Emirates once a long time ago and while the main cabin was fine, the bathrooms were no better than other airlines and I don't know if it is the demographics, but the cleanliness of it was even worse than my other international flights to asia going via a European layover.

But let's say I can hold it long enough to go at Dubai airport. What I loved about Heathrow airport was you could find bathrooms with fairly spacious stalls and fairly clean. How are the Dubai airport bathrooms when it comes to western style toilets in terms of cleanliness and smell? If I pay for a Mahraba Lounge, I see there is a description paying extra for showers. Are there toilets available in that lounge too? Short of paying for ahotel room, what are my best chances for using a clean toilet in Dubai airport.

Or do I use my 7 hour layover time to go into the city , go to some random good hotel, and use their public restroom?

You will not have an A380 between DXB and HYD, so I assume your question refers specifically to the JFK-DXB sector, in Y, as if you were in J and F you would have access to the lounges in DXB which have higher quality public restrooms than the rest of the terminal.

The lavatories are perfectly adequate on board and standard for a modern aircraft, so barring any accidents by pax or unreasonably high expectations on your part for cleanliness, you should have no problem.

If you really don't want to use the airside toilets at DXB, and if you are a visa-free national, if you exit landside, there are some adequate lavatories at T3 arrivals - then you can pop upstairs and go back airside - immigration won't care you only spent a few minutes in the UAE - or go into the city for sightseeing etc. If it's in the evening, I'd recommend that anyway given 7 hours transit at DXB is going to be extremely boring.

If you've got 7 hours, exit the airport and walk/taxi to the Le Meridien/Al Bustan Rotana hotels across the road. You don't have to have a reservation to use their loos :)

You could also then get a decent meal at the 20 or so restaurants.

Thanks for the tips. I am guessing US citizens do not need visas in Dubai?
And yeah, the A380 is only until Dubai. I couldn't care less about the Dubai to HYD segment as it is only 3 hours. I was just curious if the A380 had any bigger toilets in Y compared to other aircrafts.

As far as Dubai, how much time should i budget for returning to the terminal. Come back 2 hours before departure of my next segment?

You can get away with 75-90 minutes if in Y, no problem.

The best time to go to the bathroom is early in the flight (or even before takeoff) when they are still nice and clean.

I think the A380 bathrooms in Y have better headroom than a 777.

I would say that the toilets at Dubai airport T3 are of a very high standard in terms of cleanliness for a public toilet (better than London) on par with anywhere in the world.

If you are very picky you may want to pick a toilet with a little less traffic away from the central shopping area. There are plenty available so if you do come across a cubicle not to your standard there are plenty of alternatives.

A hotel room is going to be better but of course more expensive. There is also an airside hotel at Dubai airport if you don't want the hassle of leaving the airport and willing to pay the premium.

Hope this helps.

Perhaps an important factor here would also be the transit time of day in DXB. If it's evening (5 - 11pm) or late morning (9:30am - 1pm) the airport is virtually empty (compared to rush hour at least) and you can find some quiet bathrooms. Especially if you leave the main concourse level and go down to the security/transit/immigration levels, such as where the A-B train departs from, there are bathrooms there which are not much used and at the above-mentioned times would be virtually deserted.

I am going to be there from 2pm to 9:50 pm on a Wednesday.

Toilet aside, I am guessing that's a good time to take a cab to the city and return by 8:15pm or so? I will look at the other threads for transit suggestions for that time frame.

Skip the DXB toilets then, take a cab somewhere downtown, have an afternoon in Dubai, early dinner and use the restaurant toilets :)

Maybe skiing at the Mall of the Emirates? One of my favourites :)

Otherwise have lunch/dinner at TGI Fridays at the Dubai Mall with a view of the fountain show

Sounds like a topic for that onboard toilet-unclogging guy from "Ultimate Airport: Dubai"

All that concern for nothing. I got out of the plane, before leaving for passport control so I could check out the city, I just used some random toilet that looked just cleaned(had a wet floor sign). Stalls had full privacy and even two hooks where you could hang as much as you wanted without any of your stuff touching the ground. (except for the carry on suitcase of course). No bad odors. Clean stalls. Had plenty of TP and that washer thing. Best of both worlds.

2:30 in the afternoon , Dubai airport was desolate. Funny thing is the people on my plane were using the super cramped toilet from the very first minute of the flight to pretty much a few min before landing(ignoring any FA messages). Why they couldn't hold it and just use the more spacious and cleaner airport toilets is a mystery to me.

As far as the toilets on the plane, can't really say since I didn't bother using them. I was sitting in the exit row and had a first hand view of the confusion, desperation, idiocy of the various passengers who use the toilets. You had more than one person not giving the prior user the courtesy of letting them leave the restroom in peace. As the door opens, the next person woulld stare straight into the restroom as the prior passenger was opening the door and leaving it.

Of course the stalls have full privacy, this is the rest of the world, not America :D

Jokes aside, I think you hit the nail on the head: people expect airport toilets to not be any good, so they don't use them!

Glad to hear everything went ok! Just a hint for future trips, the L4 accessible lavatory on some 77Ws is noticeably larger than the other lavatories.

Sheesh! Where do you people live, that you expect airport toilets to not be any good?

I've used airport toilets in Dubai, Mumbai, Delhi, Saigon (HCMC), Hanoi, Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Delhi, 4 Canadian airports, at least 6 US airports and many airports in Europe and the UK.

Toilets in all those airports have been clean and private, with paper, hand washing facilities and mirrors. Even in countries where squat toilets are common, there are stalls with western toilets.

I would not hesitate to use an airport toilet and I would definitely prefer to use one than to do anything that creates smell in an aircraft toilet.