Hey,

I am going skiing in December/January and I have 2 choices for airlines.

I can go EK in F, JNB-DXB-LONDON, or I can go AF in J, the pros for EK is I have never been EK before and it is first class and maybe spend a day in Dubai. The cons are the extra time and distance and crappy departure and arrival times.

The AF option I can go LHR-CDG in the morning and spend a day in Paris before catching a 23:00 flight on the 773ER to JNB in J. However it is not F thou.

The prices are very similiar.

Which do I take?

My EK intinerary would be: a 773ER for all the flights.

I have flown AF in J from CDG-HKG with the new business class seats and several times been on EK in F.

Food on Emirates F is far better to AF J in my opinion.

Seat comfort depends on what configuration your EK 773ER flight has. However either way you'll have plenty of room up there in the forward part of the cabin whilst on AF J you'll still be together with a relatively large group of people.

IF flying EK you'll have a car pick you up from your home/hotel in JNB and also on arrival in LON. I do not think AF offers this.

Spending a day in Dubai can be interesting, if it's your first time here it might be worth it.

77W - seat comfort on EK in F beats AF C by miles as does inflight service and the F lounge in DXB. Having flown EK numerous times in F from JNB to Europe I can only recommend going with EK. By the way CDG is a nightmare to transfer (you might consider this as well).

See that you get a seat on the 19.xx hours departure not the 14.xx hrs. which the EK website "loves to sell" to you. I find the evening departure quite convenient timewise and flying into Europe the time loss is negligible (if you fly into destinations like VIE where you would have to transfer somewhere anyway). Doen't count for London, obviously.

Oh, and EK gives you Voyager miles (if that's of interest).

I can't help you with AF since I haven't flown them in ages but here's what I think for EK:

Although not class-leading, I think the 77W product is quite good in F on the EK 777ERs. It is fully flat.

I am not sure which flights you are looking at for connections, but you can a nice connection to JNB

EK 6 LHR 22:00 DXB 08:45 +1 EQV 0
EK 763 DXB 10:15 +1 JNB 16:25 +1 77W 0

However, I would only recommend this if you choose a day when EK6 is operated by a 777-200 or 777-300ER (both have identical F seats) and not if the flight is on a 777-300 (old seats, though there is a chance they will be new by December.)

On the way back, if you pick up the new 4 x weekly flight EK766 you can connect to EK029 (1h 20m connection in Dubai) but again, only do so if EK029is operated by a 77W or 772.

Cheers

I have flown AF in J before, JNB-CDG-LHR, it was very enjoyable, the food was decent, had the devils sister at CDG check in thou. Told me my ticket wasn't valid,told me I have arrived too early to check in, then told my their lounge is full, I got in when I spoke to another person and showed an AF gold card.

My problem with flights is I am 6.5/195 cm so no matter which airline I am just a tad too long for their seats.


The advice is much appreciated, the lift isn't so much of an issue as I am staying with Ms. 747-444 family in the UK and they are keen to pick us up.

EK766 would not be in the OPs interest as it is a Y/C only configuration.

You'll be fine on EKs JNB-DXB flights. Fully flat with a very impressive pitch.