xavzz

So since I have moved from London to near Newcastle my new airport will be NCL for EK. I usually travel J and have always loved going to LGW, very fast through check in and fast track and can be in the lounge in about 5 minutes from Check In if its empty. Great Lounge too, never busy at lunch time for the 1.30pm flight. Anyway I was wondering if there is anyone who uses NCL regularly and can let me know of their experience, I know there is no EK lounge, but how is the experience overall? Is there fast track or does it not matter, is the Aspire Plus Lounge fine? Are the 777's newer? I have upcoming flight in Jan and Im thinking I might just change my outward to go from LGW. It works out the same price as LGW is always the cheapest to fly from for some reason and i get the A380 at least. Any thoughts on NCL please let me know good or bad.

Much appreciated

Will08

I have never flown from NCL however, even if the answers are - no fast track, Aspire lounge is rubbish and generally old 777s from previous flight history, would it really be worth the 5 hour plus journey to LGW? I actually really like LGW as well but when I am in the UK I am mainly located 20 minutes away from LHR so I cannot even justify going to LGW from there!

If NCL turn out to be terrible, MAN has fast track, (even in economy for Gold and Plats) has a decent lounge and is obviously much closer than LGW..

xavzz

Thanks for that,

Ye LGW is a stretch, however I can catch up with friends/family so I can make a day before trip. I also was considering MAN but I heard the airport is manic even as a J passenger. I was hoping Premair would be working with EK but not yet as I just checked their website. Might have to check MAN / LGW.

appreciated !

nadeem

Hey xavzz,

As I live in MAN and go through often, MAN can be busy at times, other occasions, guess what, pretty much straight through the fast track area. They have 3 turnstiles where you scan your boarding card and go through to the baggage/personal screen. The lounge is through the duty free and upstairs and clearly posted as 'premium lounge'.

I tend to get through quickly most times.

stuwilky

would agree, fast track through MAN T1 is generally very good and the lounge is Emirates branded, and only one flight at a time so never overly crowded.

(If you ever go through T3 for some reason then thats a completely different matter!!!)

nadeem

Thanks for the correction - Yes, its MAN T1 as stuwilky says. I have been in the lounge earlier this year where they were handling a delayed flight, the EK Lounge wasn't at peak traffic.

xavzz

Thanks for all the replies, I decided to go to LGW. I will still be returning via NCL however but at least I dont feel robbed for APD and miles with an old plane and rubbish lounge lol. Next time I will be be going from MAN and hopefully EK passengers will be able to use the new PremiAir arrivals/departures service which will be lovely for the price.

Thanks all

onlysuites

NCL is a easy airport to fly through. You should be in the lounge within 10 mins of checking in. Not a EK lounge but I find it better and less crowded then the lounges in other airports. I don't know what 777 they send to NCL now days But I assume the flight should be the same as other 777's other then the new ones at STN. I once did Check-in to airplane seat in 8 mins. Its never busy at that time of the day.

FlyingDobber

I wouldn't choose NCL!
The airport is small and you get through check in and security quickly...and thats about it.

The J lounge is dreadful: food and drink choices are poor.
Secondly the AC rotations are the old J 2-3-2 seat. I have sat in the middle of the 3 J seats and that was a shocking experience.

There are better options available and not too far from NCL - others have identified MAN and GLA is another option (MAN has a A380 so much better J experience that the 777 into NCL)

lost_in_translation

Not sure if there are plans to change this, but note that EK is not currently one of the airlines that allows PremiAir.

accrossthemiles

As of beginning of last year I gave up on NCL with EK, I would rather fly from MAN and pay the extra for the car.

In the past years due to either costs or dependant on times, NCL was my go to but then as I started to use other airports (with other airlines) saw how bad
the facilities had become.

The Aspire plus lounge is pretty poor both for food and drinks, some guys the last time had just walked in (I heard them talking about it) as no one was on the desk at all. Then other times the q to get in is ridiculous due to people arguing they should be allowed in free.

The planes are the old style and the crew really could be better (with some exceptions of course). There is a scrum to get in line for pre boarding at lot of times, people will not move to let business passengers pass.

There is a fast track for what its worth.

I have complained to EK/NCL airport a couple of time for various reasons regarding NCL ie no priority baggage coming off first, drivers not allowed to drop passengers off at the door because NCL would not issue them passes, they now have done so, the issue with paying for drinks in the lounge and indeed the filthy state of the toilets, so bad the public ones outside where cleaner.

So now I dont even look at NCL for EK anymore.

bbar2000

Hi, interesting conversation, I have been traipsing thru NCL with EK for too many years now J , I guess I average about 15 – 20 flights per year with EK out of NCL.



However, I can really only echo what has been said already i.e.



1.) Love NCL airport, the person who said 10min from entry to lounge airside is pretty spot on, it’s great.



2.) They did do a big refurb a few years ago so there are more options now in the way of restaurants. bars etc.



3.) EK have no priority in NCL. You can buy it or if you have BA Gold they let you use it. But to be honest you don’t need it, I have never seen a queue there in all my years that took more than 5 mins (then again I avoid travel during Xmass and peak summer).



4.) The lounge is lousy, really not worth your time, and that is if it’s not full, which if there is another flight to Murcia or somewhere. A lot of people will pay and be determined to get their money’s worth… EK Bizz they put in a small separate area but it’s not much better, if you are on a EK Bizz awards ticket then they don’t leave you in that area. (one of the oddities of an awards ticket)



5.) Did you think about train to MAN? Might sound odd but I do this regularly, I normally fly Sat or Sun and get the midday flight out of Man to DXB, so it’s up at 8 is’h down to the train station and then a couple of hours of a really nice train trip over the Pennines, during the snow etc it can be a really awesome trip (train arrives directly in MAN airport).



6.) Oh nearly forgot, my real pet peeve with NCL is on EK arrival, they put electronic passport control in around two years ago and it’s a mess, machines never seem to work properly most passports fail to scan and the ones that do it takes ages to process. Means long queues every time, it’s a right pain and they seem to be oblivious to the numerous complaints.

onlysuites

You are so right. Passport control takes ages now.

amnicoll

I would and do go out of my way to avoid the 2-3-2 seating in the EK 777 - probably the worst long haul business it has been my misfortune to use. On the other hand I like the A380 business on EK. I use Manchester so can not comment on Ncl but whilst the EK lounge is good there I am not otherwise a fan of the airport

xavzz

Thanks to everyone who has answered. Far more answers than I was expecting. I currently am already away. I went to London to catch up with a few people and flew from my favorite lounge which is EK Gatwick (BTW they have changed the gate 558 If i remember correctly). I will be flying back to NCL however so I will see how bad the arrivals will be lol. From the future I will be most likely be going from MAN which isnt too much of a journey from Durham.