First in first
 

Hi all,
My wife and I have booked a very special holiday to South Africa next Feburary and for the first time we have broke the bank and shelled out for a one way first class flight with Emirates to Cape Town via Dubai.

Never flown first and we are looking forward to the experience as much as the holiday.
My questions are,
What can we expect ? and please any tips to help us get the most out of this once in a life time trip.
Thanks,
Mklions..

I hope you booked a return with the outbound being in First and the return in Business or Economy, as opposed to two one-ways? Because that would be very expensive!

If its a A380 in first this is a good video.

Have a look in the trip reports section (search for Emirates to get to older reports). The EK website gives a pretty good idea of what to expect. Not sure where you are flying from but don't forget that the DXB to CPT leg is on a 777 so you won't have the option of a shower on board and there is no bar - you will need to do those on your first flight (if you are on an A380 and assuming you want to). Have fun!

A380 to JNB from Feb. Maybe OP booked that one. But no one wants to go to JNB so..

We are travelling from LHR so on a A380:p for the first leg.

i believe that you get picked up in a S class Mercedes which will be a great start.
Any special treatment in the first class lounge at Heathrow? / Dubai?
I also have read that there are some very expensive drinks on board that we could sample?
Must also try the shower in the sky.
As mentioned this is a one off for us and really want to get the most out of the experience!!
Thanks for all the posts thus far.
Mklions

Hi there mklions ...... yes you must try the shower in the sky, it does have an undeniable novelty factor.

Your pick-up car may not necessarily be a Merc S class (other car brands are available, as the BBC disclaimer goes...!) but it will be something of similar quality. No guarantees on that. Could be a Merc E class or a BMW.

On the matter of lounges : the Heathrow lounge is a joint business /first class facility ..... very pleasant & well-equipped, but nothing overly-special. Dubai will be a whole different experience because there are dedicated F lounges with a LOT more space & luxury, including table service for food with comprehensive a la carte menus

My own favourite beverage onboard is the Hennessy Paradis cognac, but others here will extol the virtues of Dom Perignon champagne (speaking personally, the bubbly stuff never does much for me, but each to his/her own of course).

It's great that you're looking forward to your trip so much and I sincerely hope that it meets your expectations. There's every chance it will, and overall Emirates can be relied on to 'deliver' where First class is concerned. That said, I do always believe in cautioning anyone travelling in F for the first time that a lot can depend on the crew on any given flight. I have had many F flights that were made memorable by the manner & attitude of the cabin crew ; but there have also been occasions where I felt they were merely going though the motions. It tends not to be an issue for me personally because I don't have any particular demands - other than the additional space & privacy that F class provides - but I think some passengers might (understandably) feel a little disappointed if service comes across as routine.

Others here will chime in with their own perspective & thoughts and meantime you might want to gave a read through some of the generic threads included here
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emira...dashboard.html

Have a fantastic trip ^

Another reason to sample the onboard shower is that I find the shower rooms in the EK F lounges very hot and humid. I always come out from the experience feeling as though I need a shower.....
Much better in my opinion to spend the time over a longer breakfast or lunch!

Among other perks , i do love the wine they have: @FC lounge in DXB do try the Stanly Ranch Pinot Noir or even better the chateau giscours margaux 2005 (in case you are wine person - assume so going to ZA!)

While on board (@A380) you have the P2 Dom Perignon 98 which is produced only from best grapes & best years!

Enjoy!

I am working my way through all the supplies of the Chateau Giscours 2005, so it is unlikely to still be there next February :D

The FCL gets unused stock from what's on board when they change things around, but not immediately - so you get various gems that appear every so often (e.g. Vega Sicilia Unico 2000 from earlier this year)

p2 will be long gone as well.

I assume that you many more flights in the next month. ;-)

Nothing in November at the moment...can't decide between Seychelles, Mauritius or the Maldives to get my plat renewed! :D

Poor you...

:D

#thestruggleisreal

See you in just over a week at a champagne brunch after your F class flight to Dubai :D

Poor me :)

I literally will be after a weekend in Dubai...

I am also going my first ever EK flight and its in F.
Can't wait! All the way to Sydney...

My travel agent booked me using QF flight numbers as there was a big difference in fare, will this impact tier points earning?

Yes you won't earn Ek tier miles.

Thanks again for all the replies, on the second leg we are traveling first on a triple 7, but after drinking all that fine wine and eating all the gourmet food on offer I guess we will be sleeping most of way down to Cape Town.

One last thing we only have a one hour fifty minute time frame between landing at Dubai and leaving Dubai for our flight down to Cape Town, if we go straight to the lounge will we have enough time to enjoy the full lounge facilities in Dubai?
Regards,
Mklions

That's not a long time, especially if you need to get from Concourse A to B or C. Or vice versa. By the time you get off the plane, go through security and get to the new gate, you may get 30 minutes if you're lucky.

And according to Qantas I won't earn status miles either. That can't be right?

Put your BAEC number in. If booked as QF flights, you might get some BA TP's and Avios (although not 100% sure). Have a look on the BA forum. If I'm reading correctly on there, you should get enough TP's to get to qualify you for BA Silver (as long as you have the 4 BA flights completed within your tier collection year) and a chunk of Avios.

And most importantly, enjoy your first First on EK.

Safe & Happy Travels

Thanks, have added my Exec Card number. Might get me to Gold...

Another question, what lounge at Heathrow will I have access to?

According to QF website it's BA! Which just seems so odd as I'm flying EK.

At LHR you use the lounge of the operating carrier - as you are flying F on EK, you will have access to the EK lounge.

There is a distinct lack of clarity from both EK and QF with my booking.
I don't earn tier points from either EK or QF, and QF website directs me to the BA Lounge.
I thought that was odd.

Wish I'd stuck to BA and I am not even on the plane.

Hey - good luck with BA - have a wee look at the forum on FT - such a happy bunch!

However, I agree, that there is lack of clarity with TP's and lounge access.

Which FF number have you put in your booking? That could affect what points you're seeing.

To earn EK tier miles, the flight needs an EK code (EK or QF metal)
To earn or BA tier points or QF status points, the flight needs a QF code (EK or QF metal).

Usually at any station covered by the EK/QF agreement (so, e.g. LAX is not included) you can use the EK or QF lounge if you are on either carrier's metal, but at LHR there is an exception where you must use the operating carrier's lounge.

Enjoy the experience, it's awesome the 1st time.

My advice is rather get window seats opposed to the middle adjoining seats. This goes for both the A380 & the 777-300

Also, regardless of which gate you fly from in DXB, use the first class lounge located by the "A Gates" - much nicer than the others. As you enter the lounge past reception, you can turn left or right - they're almost a mirror image, but turn left, better overall.
There's a "quiet lounge" with recliner sleepers if you need a kip.
If you intend showering in the lounge, get the attendant to write your name in their list when you arrive so you're 1st in the queue when you're ready to shower.

Lastly, they serve HAGEN DAZS ice cream in the lounge on request.

All the best

Update!
 

EK have substituted an aircraft on one leg which has no first class. (Really)

Not so much as an offer of a different flight or talk of refund.

Call them up. Clearly this is the Dxb Cpt leg which is really worth having suites over the 777 for 9 plus hours.

There are 3 daily DXB / CPT flights, so maybe you can substitute (assuming the connection works). F on that sector is indeed pretty 'useful', the F suites are a big step up from the 'slopey' J seats.

As m3red says, phone them up, if you are flexible they should hopefully put you on a flight with F. Had it with myself once and got the flight changed with no problems.

S

It's a GLA-DXB leg for my elderly parents. I'm not going to change their itinerary as it's two weeks before departure.

Can they claim tier miles for the ticketed class I booked for them?

Yes they should automatically receive them.
​​​​​​you sure about not changing? Because EK will switch them no problem

Which flight are they on? The 26 or 28?

S

This is going to happen more frequently on 26/28 this year. I had my suspicions a few months ago and after speaking with some crew, and now seeing this, Its all starting to fall into place. My bet it is because EY offer 2 class on their (shoddy, older) 330s out of Edinburgh.

Crew don't know much...if there was F demand they'd put it on.

I would take the reimbursement of 75% of the GLA-DXB leg. if a simple r/t ticket, should be about 15% of total fare paid. I would suspect that to be worth more than the miles difference