The Not-Quite-RTW-But-It's-Longer-RTW: AS F, EK F, UL Y, EY J, EY F, AA Y
Jan 23, 2015, 12:02 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952
The Not-Quite-RTW-But-It's-Longer-RTW: AS F, EK F, UL Y, EY J, EY F, AA Y
Introduction and Planning
Hi all! I'm very happy to present to you my second trip report ever! Last time, we visited Korea using a DL economy sale fare for 4.5 days... but this time, we're going all out on the opposite end of the luxury spectrum! I'm going to call this the Not-Quite-RTW-RTW since we didn't cross both oceans, but covered more distance by going the long way, both times! The funny thing is that this trip actually started being planned first before the Korea trip ever happened - I did mention that the Korea trip was a bit of an impulsive one, as the sale fare popped up and then I snapped it up.
Just as a time reference, this trip took place in late November and early December - the holiday season has been crazy, and I've been putting off writing this trip report as I was being lazy. But now that the photos have been processed and sorted, and I am caught up (mostly) with work, I figured it was time to put pen to paper - or key to keyboard, at any rate - and give back to the FT community at large. I hope it is useful and entertaining! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
What started this was a desire to fly in F as I've never done that before. When the Etihad First fare out of Colombo popped up, I immediately booked it for travel during my birthday weekend! I couldn't think of a more FT way to celebrate my birthday by doing a trip in First class.
As the fare started in Colombo, I had to figure out a way to get there. Because I was very new to FT at this point in time, I didn't have very many points collected yet - certainly nowhere near enough to fly both the Girlfriend and I in style to the starting point of our trip. Luckily enough, an Alaska mile sale happened and I bought enough to add on to what I got as the application bonus for my Alaska Airlines credit card to fly us there in Cathay Business. I found two Business-class seats available for Cathay, routing in YVR-HKG-SIN. There was not any First availability at this time. I figured that I'd visit family in Singapore and then find a cheap flight to Colombo (or use Avios). A couple of days later, I was using the JAL site to search Cathay First availability on a whim when I spotted that there two First class seats ALL THE WAY TO SINGAPORE! I immediately called the Alaska award desk, while digging out my credit card to buy some more miles for the upgrade to F. You can imagine my relief when the new ticketing info came in... I was going to fly Cathay F ALL THE WAY to Singapore! After that was handled, I started looking at a few hotels for our 1.5 day stopover in HK as the Girlfriend had never been there and I wanted to show her around. I ended up with the HK Intercontinental, as the view of the harbour there was unsurpassed - I'd stayed there back in the late 90's, and the view was amazing.
Alas, as with all the best-laid plans of mice and men, it didn't stay that way. In June, one of my cousins announced her impending nuptials in Singapore - three days before I was scheduled to arrive. Much cursing ensued, and I started researching alternatives. Having started to look into Lifemiles, I used one of the many sales to get enough miles to fly us both there - in Business, instead of First, sadly. This is because there were no Star Alliance flights to the Pacific in First, and Lifemiles wouldn't have let us route through Frankfurt on Lufthansa First. The plan was going to be Air Canada Business to Tokyo Narita, at which point we would switch to Singapore Airlines Business class on board the A380. Even though it was not First, I was very happy to get to try Singapore Airlines in a premium cabin.
However, I wasn't quite happy with that... I wanted First class (or most of the way at any rate) to Singapore! Having gotten the Alaska Airlines miles back, I started thinking about possible alternatives to Cathay First. How about the other Alaska Airlines partner that has a superlative First class? Another Alaska Airlines miles sale gave me the necessary miles to book Emirates First... but there was no space available all the way! Doh! Never mind - I booked it anyways, going from YVR-DFW-DXB-SIN. DXB-SIN would be in Business. However, not two weeks later (having feverishly searched for F availability DXB-SIN every day in the meantime) I found First space! Calling the award desk (while at a conference for work - sorry boss!) didn't bear any fruit, as the relationship between Emirates and Alaska is an interesting one with married segments and disappearing seats. The agent that I first called was very reluctant to change the second leg as the whole trip would have to be cancelled before they could re-book it, and the space was not guaranteed to return after my cancellation. I thanked her politely and then hung up. And the next three agents I tried gave me the same spiel, until my fifth agent - who did some sort of magic and changed the second leg. I was now booked in Emirates First all the way to Singapore! One downside was that I could no longer call this a true RTW as I did not cross both oceans...
Mind you the Girlfriend was not quite amused at our vastly increased travel time, as I'd added quite a bit of extra distance to the original routing.
Hotels were a mixture - I hit up three major chains in Hyatt, Marriot and Starwood, and in Sri Lanka I went with a Small Luxury Hotels-affiliated resort as there were not many chains in Sri Lanka. BRGs ensured that I received pretty good deals, and I would be staying with family in Singapore.
If you're still here, thanks for reading so far, and I'll try to update in a timely manner!
INDEX
Hi all! I'm very happy to present to you my second trip report ever! Last time, we visited Korea using a DL economy sale fare for 4.5 days... but this time, we're going all out on the opposite end of the luxury spectrum! I'm going to call this the Not-Quite-RTW-RTW since we didn't cross both oceans, but covered more distance by going the long way, both times! The funny thing is that this trip actually started being planned first before the Korea trip ever happened - I did mention that the Korea trip was a bit of an impulsive one, as the sale fare popped up and then I snapped it up.
Just as a time reference, this trip took place in late November and early December - the holiday season has been crazy, and I've been putting off writing this trip report as I was being lazy. But now that the photos have been processed and sorted, and I am caught up (mostly) with work, I figured it was time to put pen to paper - or key to keyboard, at any rate - and give back to the FT community at large. I hope it is useful and entertaining! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
What started this was a desire to fly in F as I've never done that before. When the Etihad First fare out of Colombo popped up, I immediately booked it for travel during my birthday weekend! I couldn't think of a more FT way to celebrate my birthday by doing a trip in First class.
As the fare started in Colombo, I had to figure out a way to get there. Because I was very new to FT at this point in time, I didn't have very many points collected yet - certainly nowhere near enough to fly both the Girlfriend and I in style to the starting point of our trip. Luckily enough, an Alaska mile sale happened and I bought enough to add on to what I got as the application bonus for my Alaska Airlines credit card to fly us there in Cathay Business. I found two Business-class seats available for Cathay, routing in YVR-HKG-SIN. There was not any First availability at this time. I figured that I'd visit family in Singapore and then find a cheap flight to Colombo (or use Avios). A couple of days later, I was using the JAL site to search Cathay First availability on a whim when I spotted that there two First class seats ALL THE WAY TO SINGAPORE! I immediately called the Alaska award desk, while digging out my credit card to buy some more miles for the upgrade to F. You can imagine my relief when the new ticketing info came in... I was going to fly Cathay F ALL THE WAY to Singapore! After that was handled, I started looking at a few hotels for our 1.5 day stopover in HK as the Girlfriend had never been there and I wanted to show her around. I ended up with the HK Intercontinental, as the view of the harbour there was unsurpassed - I'd stayed there back in the late 90's, and the view was amazing. Alas, as with all the best-laid plans of mice and men, it didn't stay that way. In June, one of my cousins announced her impending nuptials in Singapore - three days before I was scheduled to arrive. Much cursing ensued, and I started researching alternatives. Having started to look into Lifemiles, I used one of the many sales to get enough miles to fly us both there - in Business, instead of First, sadly. This is because there were no Star Alliance flights to the Pacific in First, and Lifemiles wouldn't have let us route through Frankfurt on Lufthansa First. The plan was going to be Air Canada Business to Tokyo Narita, at which point we would switch to Singapore Airlines Business class on board the A380. Even though it was not First, I was very happy to get to try Singapore Airlines in a premium cabin.
However, I wasn't quite happy with that... I wanted First class (or most of the way at any rate) to Singapore! Having gotten the Alaska Airlines miles back, I started thinking about possible alternatives to Cathay First. How about the other Alaska Airlines partner that has a superlative First class? Another Alaska Airlines miles sale gave me the necessary miles to book Emirates First... but there was no space available all the way! Doh! Never mind - I booked it anyways, going from YVR-DFW-DXB-SIN. DXB-SIN would be in Business. However, not two weeks later (having feverishly searched for F availability DXB-SIN every day in the meantime) I found First space! Calling the award desk (while at a conference for work - sorry boss!) didn't bear any fruit, as the relationship between Emirates and Alaska is an interesting one with married segments and disappearing seats. The agent that I first called was very reluctant to change the second leg as the whole trip would have to be cancelled before they could re-book it, and the space was not guaranteed to return after my cancellation. I thanked her politely and then hung up. And the next three agents I tried gave me the same spiel, until my fifth agent - who did some sort of magic and changed the second leg. I was now booked in Emirates First all the way to Singapore! One downside was that I could no longer call this a true RTW as I did not cross both oceans...
Mind you the Girlfriend was not quite amused at our vastly increased travel time, as I'd added quite a bit of extra distance to the original routing. Hotels were a mixture - I hit up three major chains in Hyatt, Marriot and Starwood, and in Sri Lanka I went with a Small Luxury Hotels-affiliated resort as there were not many chains in Sri Lanka. BRGs ensured that I received pretty good deals, and I would be staying with family in Singapore.
If you're still here, thanks for reading so far, and I'll try to update in a timely manner!
INDEX
Last edited by roastpuff; Jan 28, 2015 at 2:02 am
Jan 23, 2015, 5:30 am
#2
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: BSB
Posts: 260
I can totally relate to your report. It´s fun how one trip can start in a way and end quite differently. We suck up cancelation fees or buy more miles to try better products. And the cost and length of the original trip increases quite a bit.
Jan 24, 2015, 6:55 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952
YVR-SEA-DFW (and a little bit before that)
I live in the northern part of British Columbia, so for every international flight that I take I usually have to position to Vancouver first. This trip was no exception, and I scheduled a flight from Smithers to Vancouver the night before the trip. Leading up to that flight the weather in the area begun to worsen, however, as winter strengthened its grip on northern BC. There being two scheduled flights a day from Smithers, it was worrying when the morning flight was delayed over two hours because of heavy fog in the area. The plane had diverted to Terrace, waited out the fog and then finally flew in. I tried to be optimistic as I drove the 1.5 hours to the airport from where I resided, and when I got to the (very small) airport, it was looking okay even though some fog was rolling in. The boarding time rolled past, but the plane was not yet on the tarmac… not good. Eventually, about an hour after the departure time was scheduled, they announced the flight to be cancelled. Very much not good!
I lined up as fast as I could, and I asked to be re-routed through Prince George instead - a not-so-fun 4.5 hour drive away. The morning flight out of Smithers was not guaranteed to fly either, and I elected to make the midnight drive rather than take my chances.
A quick nap at home (it was in between the two places) and a lonely very-early-morning white knuckle winter drive later, I was at Prince George for the 6AM departure. I got on the Air Canada Q400, fell asleep, and didn't wake up until we hit the tarmac at YVR. I got my luggage, got out, and then met up with the Girlfriend at the Alaska Airlines check-in desk. It was a bit busier than expected, but the First class check-in desk attendant was very nice and issued our boarding passes all the way to DFW. Time was tight, so we skipped our usual stop of the Premium Plaza Transborder Lounge at YVR, and proceeded to our gate immediately.
Wet weather at the start of the trip
The flight between YVR and SEA was another Q400, but this time it was absolutely empty. There was a total of six passengers, and the Q400 was quite a bit older than the Air Canada or Westjet ones that I'm used to flying while hopping around British Columbia and Alberta. Originally, we had been seated in 1A/B but the stewardess asked us to move back a few rows for balancing purposes. She was very nice and apologetic, we didn't mind moving but she came back later and presented us with a form that entitled us to either a discount code or 2000 Alaska miles! We eagerly snapped those up, of course.
Our Q400 chariot
A quick flight later we landed in SEA and proceeded to the Alaska Boardroom for a bit of breakfast and a rest. The Girlfriend was fascinated by the automated pancake machine and could not stop talking about it.
Soup for breakfast.
Plane watching - well, Alaska doesn't give you that much variety.
The weather in Seattle was not great - blustery rain and gusting winds, and the Q400 rocked and rolled while we made the descent. We would be flying one of the newer 737-900's in Alaska's fleet to DFW today, and the new Boeing Sky Interior was a treat. Legroom could've been better in the bulkhead row, but it was definitely more comfortable than sitting in the back. Digiplayers were offered as IFE, but I declined as I had my tablet. Power was available at the seat for charging, and I used this opportunity to top off my phone.
Legroom + new BSI seats. Water as PDB.
Bulkhead tapestry
Water was at the seats for a PDB, and hot towels plus a drink served as soon as we hit 10,000 feet. Food was served - chicken pot pie, which came out quite hot but then got cold really fast due to cabin temperature. Service during this flight was great - that Alaska service that I'm so fond of. Personable, friendly, and efficient - if only more US airlines were like that. Delta comes close, but AA/US and UA could use some work.
Towel service
Alaskan Amber pre-meal beverage. Good beer! ^
Chicken pot pie
The best part of the flight however, was when who the Captain up front was - none other than Captain Mike Swanigan himself! That was definitely the most exciting part. Go Seahawks!
Picture with Captain Swanigan!
We took a taxi to our overnight hotel, the Renaissance Dallas, and then Uber out to dinner at Avila's, a restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The food was okay - certainly not anything amazing, but a good Tex-Mex style dinner.
Triple D Plate at Avila's
Pulled pork tacos
The room at the Renaissance Dallas was a standard King room, and the hotel was a bit tired and dated in décor and amenities. The staff were outstanding, however, and made me rethink more about putting more hotel stays towards Marriott if they were all that caring and welcoming! They showed genuine interest in why we was in town, and where we were headed the next day.
Hallway at the Renaissance Dallas
Room at the Renaissance Dallas
Next time: the start of the most amazing flight I've ever had - Emirates First to SIN!
I live in the northern part of British Columbia, so for every international flight that I take I usually have to position to Vancouver first. This trip was no exception, and I scheduled a flight from Smithers to Vancouver the night before the trip. Leading up to that flight the weather in the area begun to worsen, however, as winter strengthened its grip on northern BC. There being two scheduled flights a day from Smithers, it was worrying when the morning flight was delayed over two hours because of heavy fog in the area. The plane had diverted to Terrace, waited out the fog and then finally flew in. I tried to be optimistic as I drove the 1.5 hours to the airport from where I resided, and when I got to the (very small) airport, it was looking okay even though some fog was rolling in. The boarding time rolled past, but the plane was not yet on the tarmac… not good. Eventually, about an hour after the departure time was scheduled, they announced the flight to be cancelled. Very much not good!
I lined up as fast as I could, and I asked to be re-routed through Prince George instead - a not-so-fun 4.5 hour drive away. The morning flight out of Smithers was not guaranteed to fly either, and I elected to make the midnight drive rather than take my chances. A quick nap at home (it was in between the two places) and a lonely very-early-morning white knuckle winter drive later, I was at Prince George for the 6AM departure. I got on the Air Canada Q400, fell asleep, and didn't wake up until we hit the tarmac at YVR. I got my luggage, got out, and then met up with the Girlfriend at the Alaska Airlines check-in desk. It was a bit busier than expected, but the First class check-in desk attendant was very nice and issued our boarding passes all the way to DFW. Time was tight, so we skipped our usual stop of the Premium Plaza Transborder Lounge at YVR, and proceeded to our gate immediately.
Wet weather at the start of the trip
The flight between YVR and SEA was another Q400, but this time it was absolutely empty. There was a total of six passengers, and the Q400 was quite a bit older than the Air Canada or Westjet ones that I'm used to flying while hopping around British Columbia and Alberta. Originally, we had been seated in 1A/B but the stewardess asked us to move back a few rows for balancing purposes. She was very nice and apologetic, we didn't mind moving but she came back later and presented us with a form that entitled us to either a discount code or 2000 Alaska miles! We eagerly snapped those up, of course.
Our Q400 chariot
A quick flight later we landed in SEA and proceeded to the Alaska Boardroom for a bit of breakfast and a rest. The Girlfriend was fascinated by the automated pancake machine and could not stop talking about it.
Soup for breakfast.
Plane watching - well, Alaska doesn't give you that much variety.
The weather in Seattle was not great - blustery rain and gusting winds, and the Q400 rocked and rolled while we made the descent. We would be flying one of the newer 737-900's in Alaska's fleet to DFW today, and the new Boeing Sky Interior was a treat. Legroom could've been better in the bulkhead row, but it was definitely more comfortable than sitting in the back. Digiplayers were offered as IFE, but I declined as I had my tablet. Power was available at the seat for charging, and I used this opportunity to top off my phone.
Legroom + new BSI seats. Water as PDB.
Bulkhead tapestry
Water was at the seats for a PDB, and hot towels plus a drink served as soon as we hit 10,000 feet. Food was served - chicken pot pie, which came out quite hot but then got cold really fast due to cabin temperature. Service during this flight was great - that Alaska service that I'm so fond of. Personable, friendly, and efficient - if only more US airlines were like that. Delta comes close, but AA/US and UA could use some work.
Towel service
Alaskan Amber pre-meal beverage. Good beer! ^
Chicken pot pie
The best part of the flight however, was when who the Captain up front was - none other than Captain Mike Swanigan himself! That was definitely the most exciting part.
Go Seahawks! Picture with Captain Swanigan!
We took a taxi to our overnight hotel, the Renaissance Dallas, and then Uber out to dinner at Avila's, a restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The food was okay - certainly not anything amazing, but a good Tex-Mex style dinner.
Triple D Plate at Avila's
Pulled pork tacos
The room at the Renaissance Dallas was a standard King room, and the hotel was a bit tired and dated in décor and amenities. The staff were outstanding, however, and made me rethink more about putting more hotel stays towards Marriott if they were all that caring and welcoming! They showed genuine interest in why we was in town, and where we were headed the next day.
Hallway at the Renaissance Dallas
Room at the Renaissance Dallas
Next time: the start of the most amazing flight I've ever had - Emirates First to SIN!
Jan 24, 2015, 7:18 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952
Thanks for commenting!
Last edited by roastpuff; Jan 25, 2015 at 1:50 am
Jan 25, 2015, 12:28 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: New Jersey
Programs: Delta P, SPG G, Marriott S, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,007
Couldn't agree more on Renaissance Dallas. They are top notch and tough to beat the pool on the roof. =) As a Marriott Platinum they are tough to beat for the service, and the girl at the Concierge Lounge is top notch. Very very very awesome.
Looking forward to the rest of your trip report.
Looking forward to the rest of your trip report.
Jan 25, 2015, 11:36 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952
The northern winter flying dilemma has been quite frustrating - this is the 3rd flight this winter that I've had canceled due to weather. Delays are quite common... but what can you do? I'd rather fly than drive 12 hours to Vancouver on snow-covered highways.
Thankfully the rest of the trip went by quite smoothly.
Couldn't agree more on Renaissance Dallas. They are top notch and tough to beat the pool on the roof. =) As a Marriott Platinum they are tough to beat for the service, and the girl at the Concierge Lounge is top notch. Very very very awesome.
Looking forward to the rest of your trip report.
Looking forward to the rest of your trip report.
Jan 28, 2015, 1:44 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952
DFW-DXB-SIN Part 1
DFW-DXB-SIN on Emirates First - Part 1: DFW-DXB
Note: I've decided to split the post into three as it's extremely long, and I've been busy at work. I hope to have part 2 up by the end of the week.
After a good night's sleep, I was extremely excited to start out on my first First Class flight - not even to mention that we would be on Emirates whose first class product has earned many superlatives. I was also looking forward to my first flight on an A380. Our flight to Dubai was scheduled to leave DFW at 11:20AM the next day, but I asked our Emirates First chauffeur to come a bit early as I wanted to explore the DFW Centurion Lounge. At 8:15AM, our chauffeur was waiting for us downstairs and we set off to the airport in a Lincoln Town Car - not quite what I was hoping for but that's what most livery companies use in the United States so I wasn't terribly surprised. There was no Emirates First branding as this was a contracted service, as it normally is with most Emirates outposts. Sadly, Emirates recently announced that award tickets no longer qualify for the chauffeur service, so I was glad to have been able to make use of this service while it was still given to award ticket holders.
DFW is really actually quite large. This was driven home to me when comparing Terminal D to my home airport of YVR - I think the entire terminal there could've fitted into Terminal D with a bit of room to spare! We checked in at the Emirates counters where we were very warmly welcomed and received our boarding passes all the way to SIN. Unfortunately these did not have any sort of red edging on them and were plain boarding passes. I was still happy, however! I overheard the check-in staff being told by the station manager that buy-ups to J were available for $990 each way - had I been flying in Y, that would've been tempting for such a long flight.
First Class Check-In Counter!
We made use of the priority security line (not that it was busy - it was still early!) and made our way into the terminal. After a few missed turns, we eventually found the escalator to make our way up to the Centurion Lounge DFW. It was quite quiet when we got in, but got busy within about 45 minutes as the day before Thanksgiving (I didn't realize that, being Canadian we already had our Thanksgiving a month earlier!) was filled with travelers.
Hmm, no plane yet
Centurion Lounge Entrance
Centurion Lounge hallway
Now, this lounge has been covered by quite a few bloggers and other FT'ers - and let me just say that they were right. For an American airport lounge, this is possibly one of the best. I've not been to the Las Vegas location yet, but the DFW location was absolutely terrific. The living wall behind the counter when you get in was very nice and soothing, and the agents were friendly and welcoming. We were checked in and offered a slot for a manicure and a massage for the girlfriend and I respectively. After finding a seat, we went looking for food because we hadn’t had breakfast yet. The menu, which was created by executive chef Dean Fearing, was Tex-Mex in style and I could find no fault with it. There were breakfast burritos, frittatas, hash browns… let's just say that it was delicious. Here is a link to the current menu: Food
French toast for breakfast? Yes, please!
There was a bar as well, and we got a couple of white mimosas to start the day off on the right foot. They were quite strong but good, and we did a couple of rounds of food to make sure that we weren't inebriated by the time we got on the plane. Here is a link to the drinks menu: Drinks
After a pleasant massage - and manicure for the Girlfriend - we headed out to the gate for our A380. To my surprise, boarding had already started even though there was about 5 minutes left before the official start time. There was nobody in the First Class line so we just went right up to the counter and were swiped in to start our journey! D17 was a proper A380 gate at DFW and so we had an inclined ramp to the upper level - a novel experience as I had never had an upper ramp for a 747 flight.
Upstairs!
As we got to the door we were immediately greeted by cabin crew and directed to turn left - a very novel and delicious experience. Quite exhilarating! Whether it was given away by our excitement or something else, the cabin crew realized we were First Class virgins and gave us a thorough overview of the cabin features and the seat controls. Very exciting! They were absolutely charming and wonderful - I cannot stress enough how incredible the crew on this flight was. Maybe I did it wrong, and should've used Emirates at the tail end of our trip…
Just so you know where you are...
My seat for the next 14 hours
Seat and IFE controls, plus the bar
Soon after we were seated the crew came back with a veritable cornucopia of gifts - amenity kits, pajamas, slippers, and the A380-exclusive Emirates tote bags. There was a parade of crew by our seats with Arabic coffee, dates, newspapers, magazines, menus, drink orders… it was a bit overwhelming, actually. One of the crew, Christopher, was new, and was being trained by the purser, Ahmed, as to proper etiquette for serving First Class customers - we didn't mind at all, and watched on avidly. Dom Perignon was the PDB of choice to start off our trip, and we had it poured at the seats. I gave the Arabic coffee and date a try as well, but I didn't really like the taste of it.
Arabic coffee and date - very much an acquired taste
Yes please!
Christopher, one of the wonderful cabin crew, pouring Dom for the Girlfriend
The quintessential FT First Class PDB Picture!
The take-off was very smooth and powerful - the quietness of the top deck of the A380 made it feel a bit weird as I was not used to the plane being so smooth and quiet! This was my first time in an A380 and I felt suitably impressed by Airbus' flagship plane. The lack of overhead bins also gave the cabin a very spacious feel as there was lots of room above the suites that we sat on. Regarding the suites themselves - much has been spoken of the 'bling' that Emirates has on their hard product, and it is definitely a deserved reputation. The trim and décor was opulent bordering on gaudy. It's not my preferred everyday style, but in-flight in the First Class cabin, it somehow just works. The leather on the seats were quite nice, as was the burl wood trim and the gold-plated bits everywhere. The mirror was a bit silly (though I am male - female readers may feel differently) as was the table lamp, and the pop-up bar was simply extravagant. The snack basket was something that I thought was useless at first, but then I appreciated the fact that I did not have to call the cabin crew to have a simple snack to eat while watching a movie. The pillows were large and comfortable, and the girlfriend gave the blanket a big thumbs-up.
Burl wood trim and seat indicators
Peeking down the aisle
View of what Emirates' F seat looks like
Emirates' ICE IFE was good, as the interface was very responsive, with a wide selection of movies and TV shows. I didn't really find anything I wanted to watch, so I settled in on Tron: Legacy, and a couple of TV show episodes. If I hadn't seen all the episodes already, National Geographic's Ultimate Airport Dubai would've been a great one to watch before landing! The cameras - belly, tail and nose - were very fascinating to watch as we taxied and took off, but once we got above the clouds there was not much to see. One complaint that I do have were about the headphones - if Jet Airways, AA, and other airlines can offer Bose headphones, I feel that Emirates should do the same. The Emirates-branded headphones were not as comfortable, nor did they sound as good or block as much noise. This is one area where Emirates does fall short. During this flight, Emirates was offering wi-fi on-board for $1/600MB, and I bought a session. However, there must've been quite a few people on it as it was very slow to update, and it worked only in spurts. I was able to send some Facebook pictures and Whatsapp posts out, but browsing was not very fast. I did manage to do some FT browsing!
Sharp IFE screen
Come on Emirates, you can do better than this...
Browsing FT at 39,000ft!
Speaking of an area where Emirates is definitely on top of almost every other airline are the amenity kits. The cases were extremely well-made, extremely well-stocked, and very desirable. I love the smell of the leather on them, as well as the feel; the female amenity kit is not quite as nice in terms of the case itself, though the insides were the same. The brush was appreciated by the Girlfriend, and the razor was a Truefitt & Hill disposable with a Schick blade - much better than what they had inside the showers, as a matter of fact. The Bulgari Eau de The Rouge smell was pleasant enough, and the fact that they included a (small) bottle of it was a very nice gesture. The pajamas were soft, and feel nice, though a bit shapeless, and the slippers were very nice as well. The A380-exclusive tote was the icing on the cake - I use it for grocery shopping nowadays as they are very sturdy and comfortable to carry.
Amenity kit, pajamas, slippers - tote not shown
Ladies kit - not quite as nice
The ultimate amenity, however, was the shower. What. A. Feeling. Being able to refresh yourself after a very long flight with an on-board shower is an incredible amenity. Even with only 5 minutes of water, that is enough to feel awake and ready to go exploring. The washroom itself is also massive, very well-appointed and a pleasant place to spend time in, as opposed to the usual cramped cubicle in the sky. In fact, I would've been happy to spend the entire flight in the washroom because of the heated floor, the TV and the bench. It's better than my washroom at home! It was always kept spotlessly clean by the two dedicated spa attendants, and the fact that there were two up front, plus a regular one at the rear of the First Class cabin shared by the Business class passengers meant that there was never a wait. There was a First Class bar at the front of the plane, but no one took any food out of there as far as I knew, and it was very serene at the front.
That's a nicer counter than what I have at home...
A simply unbeatable feeling!
First class bar - no one there. I don't think anyone used it at all
Today's flight was 4/14 in F and only 29(!)/92 in J, but completely full in Y, hence buy-up being offered. From talking with the staff, there were supposed to be 70-odd passengers in Business Class but for some reason their final load was much much lower. That meant that the passengers remaining had their run of the plane and got more attention than usual. The bar at the back only had a few passengers there, and was mostly empty - it was a pretty quiet flight. The business class seats look very comfortable as well, definitely something that I wouldn't mind doing a 15-hour flight on, especially with an on-board bar to occupy my time as well. It was fun chatting with the crew and the other passengers at the back, and we both posed for some pictures. I felt a bit self-conscious in my F pajamas, but soon got over it.
Having fun at the bar
Chatting with the staff
Sorry for the length of the post, but this was such an amazing flight that I could not (still can't!) stop gushing over it. I look forward to my next flight with Emirates... you've captured my heart!
Next up, Part 2! Dining, sleep, stormy weather and landing in Dubai!
Note: I've decided to split the post into three as it's extremely long, and I've been busy at work. I hope to have part 2 up by the end of the week.
After a good night's sleep, I was extremely excited to start out on my first First Class flight - not even to mention that we would be on Emirates whose first class product has earned many superlatives. I was also looking forward to my first flight on an A380. Our flight to Dubai was scheduled to leave DFW at 11:20AM the next day, but I asked our Emirates First chauffeur to come a bit early as I wanted to explore the DFW Centurion Lounge. At 8:15AM, our chauffeur was waiting for us downstairs and we set off to the airport in a Lincoln Town Car - not quite what I was hoping for but that's what most livery companies use in the United States so I wasn't terribly surprised. There was no Emirates First branding as this was a contracted service, as it normally is with most Emirates outposts. Sadly, Emirates recently announced that award tickets no longer qualify for the chauffeur service, so I was glad to have been able to make use of this service while it was still given to award ticket holders.
DFW is really actually quite large. This was driven home to me when comparing Terminal D to my home airport of YVR - I think the entire terminal there could've fitted into Terminal D with a bit of room to spare! We checked in at the Emirates counters where we were very warmly welcomed and received our boarding passes all the way to SIN. Unfortunately these did not have any sort of red edging on them and were plain boarding passes. I was still happy, however! I overheard the check-in staff being told by the station manager that buy-ups to J were available for $990 each way - had I been flying in Y, that would've been tempting for such a long flight.
First Class Check-In Counter!
We made use of the priority security line (not that it was busy - it was still early!) and made our way into the terminal. After a few missed turns, we eventually found the escalator to make our way up to the Centurion Lounge DFW. It was quite quiet when we got in, but got busy within about 45 minutes as the day before Thanksgiving (I didn't realize that, being Canadian we already had our Thanksgiving a month earlier!) was filled with travelers.
Hmm, no plane yet
Centurion Lounge Entrance
Centurion Lounge hallway
Now, this lounge has been covered by quite a few bloggers and other FT'ers - and let me just say that they were right. For an American airport lounge, this is possibly one of the best. I've not been to the Las Vegas location yet, but the DFW location was absolutely terrific. The living wall behind the counter when you get in was very nice and soothing, and the agents were friendly and welcoming. We were checked in and offered a slot for a manicure and a massage for the girlfriend and I respectively. After finding a seat, we went looking for food because we hadn’t had breakfast yet. The menu, which was created by executive chef Dean Fearing, was Tex-Mex in style and I could find no fault with it. There were breakfast burritos, frittatas, hash browns… let's just say that it was delicious. Here is a link to the current menu: Food
French toast for breakfast? Yes, please!
There was a bar as well, and we got a couple of white mimosas to start the day off on the right foot. They were quite strong but good, and we did a couple of rounds of food to make sure that we weren't inebriated by the time we got on the plane. Here is a link to the drinks menu: Drinks
After a pleasant massage - and manicure for the Girlfriend - we headed out to the gate for our A380. To my surprise, boarding had already started even though there was about 5 minutes left before the official start time. There was nobody in the First Class line so we just went right up to the counter and were swiped in to start our journey! D17 was a proper A380 gate at DFW and so we had an inclined ramp to the upper level - a novel experience as I had never had an upper ramp for a 747 flight.
Upstairs!
As we got to the door we were immediately greeted by cabin crew and directed to turn left - a very novel and delicious experience. Quite exhilarating! Whether it was given away by our excitement or something else, the cabin crew realized we were First Class virgins and gave us a thorough overview of the cabin features and the seat controls. Very exciting! They were absolutely charming and wonderful - I cannot stress enough how incredible the crew on this flight was. Maybe I did it wrong, and should've used Emirates at the tail end of our trip…
Just so you know where you are...
My seat for the next 14 hours
Seat and IFE controls, plus the bar
Soon after we were seated the crew came back with a veritable cornucopia of gifts - amenity kits, pajamas, slippers, and the A380-exclusive Emirates tote bags. There was a parade of crew by our seats with Arabic coffee, dates, newspapers, magazines, menus, drink orders… it was a bit overwhelming, actually. One of the crew, Christopher, was new, and was being trained by the purser, Ahmed, as to proper etiquette for serving First Class customers - we didn't mind at all, and watched on avidly. Dom Perignon was the PDB of choice to start off our trip, and we had it poured at the seats. I gave the Arabic coffee and date a try as well, but I didn't really like the taste of it.
Arabic coffee and date - very much an acquired taste
Yes please!
Christopher, one of the wonderful cabin crew, pouring Dom for the Girlfriend
The quintessential FT First Class PDB Picture!
The take-off was very smooth and powerful - the quietness of the top deck of the A380 made it feel a bit weird as I was not used to the plane being so smooth and quiet! This was my first time in an A380 and I felt suitably impressed by Airbus' flagship plane. The lack of overhead bins also gave the cabin a very spacious feel as there was lots of room above the suites that we sat on. Regarding the suites themselves - much has been spoken of the 'bling' that Emirates has on their hard product, and it is definitely a deserved reputation. The trim and décor was opulent bordering on gaudy. It's not my preferred everyday style, but in-flight in the First Class cabin, it somehow just works. The leather on the seats were quite nice, as was the burl wood trim and the gold-plated bits everywhere. The mirror was a bit silly (though I am male - female readers may feel differently) as was the table lamp, and the pop-up bar was simply extravagant. The snack basket was something that I thought was useless at first, but then I appreciated the fact that I did not have to call the cabin crew to have a simple snack to eat while watching a movie. The pillows were large and comfortable, and the girlfriend gave the blanket a big thumbs-up.
Burl wood trim and seat indicators
Peeking down the aisle
View of what Emirates' F seat looks like
Emirates' ICE IFE was good, as the interface was very responsive, with a wide selection of movies and TV shows. I didn't really find anything I wanted to watch, so I settled in on Tron: Legacy, and a couple of TV show episodes. If I hadn't seen all the episodes already, National Geographic's Ultimate Airport Dubai would've been a great one to watch before landing! The cameras - belly, tail and nose - were very fascinating to watch as we taxied and took off, but once we got above the clouds there was not much to see. One complaint that I do have were about the headphones - if Jet Airways, AA, and other airlines can offer Bose headphones, I feel that Emirates should do the same. The Emirates-branded headphones were not as comfortable, nor did they sound as good or block as much noise. This is one area where Emirates does fall short. During this flight, Emirates was offering wi-fi on-board for $1/600MB, and I bought a session. However, there must've been quite a few people on it as it was very slow to update, and it worked only in spurts. I was able to send some Facebook pictures and Whatsapp posts out, but browsing was not very fast. I did manage to do some FT browsing!
Sharp IFE screen
Come on Emirates, you can do better than this...
Browsing FT at 39,000ft!
Speaking of an area where Emirates is definitely on top of almost every other airline are the amenity kits. The cases were extremely well-made, extremely well-stocked, and very desirable. I love the smell of the leather on them, as well as the feel; the female amenity kit is not quite as nice in terms of the case itself, though the insides were the same. The brush was appreciated by the Girlfriend, and the razor was a Truefitt & Hill disposable with a Schick blade - much better than what they had inside the showers, as a matter of fact. The Bulgari Eau de The Rouge smell was pleasant enough, and the fact that they included a (small) bottle of it was a very nice gesture. The pajamas were soft, and feel nice, though a bit shapeless, and the slippers were very nice as well. The A380-exclusive tote was the icing on the cake - I use it for grocery shopping nowadays as they are very sturdy and comfortable to carry.
Amenity kit, pajamas, slippers - tote not shown
Ladies kit - not quite as nice
The ultimate amenity, however, was the shower. What. A. Feeling. Being able to refresh yourself after a very long flight with an on-board shower is an incredible amenity. Even with only 5 minutes of water, that is enough to feel awake and ready to go exploring. The washroom itself is also massive, very well-appointed and a pleasant place to spend time in, as opposed to the usual cramped cubicle in the sky. In fact, I would've been happy to spend the entire flight in the washroom because of the heated floor, the TV and the bench. It's better than my washroom at home! It was always kept spotlessly clean by the two dedicated spa attendants, and the fact that there were two up front, plus a regular one at the rear of the First Class cabin shared by the Business class passengers meant that there was never a wait. There was a First Class bar at the front of the plane, but no one took any food out of there as far as I knew, and it was very serene at the front.
That's a nicer counter than what I have at home...
A simply unbeatable feeling!
First class bar - no one there. I don't think anyone used it at all
Today's flight was 4/14 in F and only 29(!)/92 in J, but completely full in Y, hence buy-up being offered. From talking with the staff, there were supposed to be 70-odd passengers in Business Class but for some reason their final load was much much lower. That meant that the passengers remaining had their run of the plane and got more attention than usual. The bar at the back only had a few passengers there, and was mostly empty - it was a pretty quiet flight. The business class seats look very comfortable as well, definitely something that I wouldn't mind doing a 15-hour flight on, especially with an on-board bar to occupy my time as well. It was fun chatting with the crew and the other passengers at the back, and we both posed for some pictures. I felt a bit self-conscious in my F pajamas, but soon got over it.
Having fun at the bar
Chatting with the staff
Sorry for the length of the post, but this was such an amazing flight that I could not (still can't!) stop gushing over it. I look forward to my next flight with Emirates... you've captured my heart!
Next up, Part 2! Dining, sleep, stormy weather and landing in Dubai!
Last edited by roastpuff; Jan 28, 2015 at 2:01 am
Jan 28, 2015, 3:31 am
#9
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 336
Great report. I enjoyed the section about planning and booking the trip and am looking forward to the rest. I flew the opposite route in December in J and was a great experience with Emirates. I can't wait to fly them in F.
