FlyFreakquently

Really enjoying this TR. The picture of the lamb at Al Diwaan made my mouth water. Question: why were you denied access at the CDG Admirals Club? As a business class passenger on a One World airline, doesn't this make you eligible? While the club is certainly not up to the standards of the Al Safwa or even the Al Mourjan lounge, the food is better than Flagship Lounge fare and it's significantly better than any domestic AC.

HLT1904

Really fun trip report. How did you get access to Al Mourjan lounge? I thought business class only had access to the business class lounge.

offerendum

Al Maha is indeed a beautiful hotel.

injian

Thanks for reading! We were told by the check in agent that the award ticket was the cheapest fare booked and hence did not allow access to the lounge. In retrospect, I should have tried my luck to see if we could get in. Lesson learned.

injian

Assuming you mean the Al Safwa lounge. Intra gult flights on QR are marketed as First Class even though the product is business class - this is how we got access to Al Safwa.

injian

Indeed it is! Thanks for reading.

injian

Booked this hotel after seeing so many of you raving about this place. We pulled up to the entrance and an army of hotel staff swarmed our car to assist us. A staff member personally escorted us to the check in desk while other staff took care of our luggage.













While the check in formalities were being taken care of, another staff member came to offer us a welcome drink.

Fizzy pineapple drink.



I booked the lowest category room and was informed that we were upgraded to a 2 bedroom apartment - wow. We also received complimentary breakfast and access to the club lounge for afternoon tea and cocktail hour.

Room 1313 - double lucky I guess?





A powder room immediately off to the left as you enter and the kitchen on the right side. Forgot to take the pic for the powder room.



Living room.



Laundry plus hallway leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms.



First full bathroom.



Bedroom 1.



Main bedroom.



Ensuite bathroom.





We tried breakfast for one day at Sloane’s. We sat inside as we didnt want to sweat on the outside patio given the summer heat. The selection was decent but could not compare to other hotels like the Westin Mumbai or the Andaman Langkawi.





















Overall, a fantastic hotel with amazing service from the staff. Would definitely stay at this hotel again on future vacations in Dubai.

injian

We did a day tour of Fujairah and Khor Fakkan. We hired a private service to take us around and we started our day at 7am for the 2 hour drive to Fujairah.

Hazy morning.





Driving through the mountains.



Two hours later, we passed through the main town of Fujairah. Definitely not as big as Dubai.



Our first stop was Al Aqqah beach. Definitely not a great beach but good enough for a quick stop to dip your toes.



Le Meridien in the background and the Intercontinental next to it.



Memories.



Next stop was Bidya mosque.









A little path that you can hike to the top of the hill on the right of the picture.



We then made our way to Khor Fakkan. Drove by the amphitheatre and man made waterfall.









A better beach compared to Al Aqqah. The area was modernized for tourist activities and facilities like a tennis courts, running track and playgrounds were built around the beach front. There were even spaces for food trucks and food stalls.





After spending some time at the beach, we drove up the nearby mountain to check out the restaurant and observation area.



Cloud Lounge restaurant.



The view.



We then made our way to the final stop on the tour - Al Rafisah Dam.



You may have noticed that all these stops were devoid of people given the summer-like temperatures. I would assume that these places would be packed during winter months. We were back in the city by 2.30pm where we were dropped off at Bu Qtair for lunch.







Deep fried hammour, shrimp, fish curry and rice. Absolutely delicious.



Other random food pictures during our stay in Dubai.

Trio of kebabs from Dum Phukt.



Mutton biryani from Jaffer Bhai Biryani restaurant - sinfully oily but so good.



Potato chops, fried king fish, beef curry and fried okra from Canara restaurant in Karama.





Lunch at Al Safadi on the Pointe.











Left to right - Rice with vermicelli, Arayees Kafta, beef kafta and chicken kafta.



Finally, could not leave Dubai without getting a Masala Dosa for the Mrs.

brandie

The red dress photos are beautiful!

injian

Thank you! The Mrs was very happy with it for the photo shoot.

injian

The grand finale to an amazing trip. The flight was originally scheduled to leave at 9am but was then pushed back to 11am. This would eventually shorten our time in DC and we would end up not doing any tours. Back to the good stuff.

We checked out at 7am and we were on our way AUH.



We pulled up to the First Class door to find it closed and we had to enter the Business Class entrance.





Business class check in on the right and First class on the left.



There were 2 check in agents staffed to help FC passengers and they were already helping others when we arrived. It was a 5 minute wait before we were helped.



After the formalities were done, we went through immigration and security and then passed into the main hall.



Once we processed the VAT returns, we headed to the FC lounge.



The staff member at the front door scanned our BP’s and directed us to use the elevator.







Dining area.



The bar but too early for a pick me up.



We settled in at a table for breakfast.



Eggs benny for me and an omelette for her.





After breakfast, we settled in the back corner and killed time until an announcement was made that the flight to DC was ‘pre-boarding’.







We headed towards gate 61 and then made a left into the US customs and security area - thank goodness for pre clearance and Global Entry. After that, we continued on to the gate.



Boo - was closed.



Boarding just started as we approached the gate area and we made our way onto the plane.





The cabin crew member at door 2L could not leave his post to escort us to our seats but directed us to turn left.

1A for me and 2A for her.





Mariam came by and welcomed us onboard and asked if we would like anything to drink.

Never too early for bubbly.







Let's go through the menu.















Mariam came by and offered some arabic coffee with dates.



There was a bit of a delay pushing back but we were eventually under way.





Qantas A380 parked wayyyy in the back.



Lining up on runway 31L.



Peace out AUH.



Bubbly round 2.



Served with peppers, olives and warm nuts.



Mariam came back around 12:30pm AUH time and took orders for lunch. While they prepared lunch, I went to change into PJ’s.



Excellent color scheme for the washroom.



Time to stuff our faces. Mariam came by with a bread selection and I asked if they had garlic bread. She said no but came back later with a plate of it. Awesome.



Caviar for me and Mezze for her. Who else only has caviar when travelling in FC? *raises hand*







Next up for me was the Shorbat Deyay - warmed the soul.



Also some smoked salmon.



Lemon sorbet to cleanse the palate.



Main course - Lamb Thareed for her and Chicken Breast for me.





Lunch with a view.



Finally, Date & Fig pudding and ice cream.





Mariam cleared away everything afterwards and converted our seats into beds.



Closed suite.



House of Gucci before falling asleep.



Two hours before landing, I requested another meal.



OJ to start.



Steak sammich (so good), potato gratin and mushroom sauce for dipping.



Saffron milk cake which was absolutely phenomenal.



The captain came on and announced we had begun the descent into DC.



We had to do a go around due to operational reasons but circled quickly and hit terra firma pretty hard on the second go.



Medical crew waiting for our plane as there was an emergency during the flight.



What an amazing flight - 14 hours of absolute bliss. Definitely ranks up there with CX and SQ FC flights.

injian

A very anticlimactic end to an otherwise very amazing trip. We were originally supposed to have a 17 hour layover in DC but after a pushback of the original Etihad departure to a new time, plus a delayed puhsback, longer flight time due to head winds, delayed baggage arrival and ultra delayed airport shuttle, we ended up having 11 hours in total. By the time we arrived at the hotel, we were so exhausted and just went straight to bed. We checked out at 8am the next morning and took the shuttle back to the airport.

The AC check in desks just opened up as we arrived and we were first in the priority line to be assisted. We were through security in no time thanks to Pre Check and then made our way to the Turkish lounge.



Our plane would be departing from the Z gates and we walked over to the B gates where the Turkish lounge was located. Could not check out the Lufthansa lounge as it was closed and did not open until noon.





The TK lounge is also a PP lounge and it was busy this morning.







We made our way back to the Z gates and boarding began 5 minutes later.





I would rather be on that flight.







Pushback was on time and we were on our way.



Lined up.



Before take off, the cabin crew member working J came by and asked if I wanted a meal - not going to turn a “free meal” down.

Smoked salmon and potato salad - tasty.



We flew over Mississauga, turned east towards the downtown core, then turned left over Downsview park and left again to line up for the runway.







Pulling into our gate.



Last shot of the plane before the mad dash towards immigration.



Thank goodness for Nexus as we were through in under 5 minutes and then another 15 minutes for the bags to arrive on the belt.

That's it folks! Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed the TR. Until next time.

nequine

IAD looks very quiet - was that because it was early in the morning or because of Covid?

FlyFreakquently

I call total BS on that. To enter, you have to either have an AC membership, OW Sapphire or higher, or be in Biz/First. Nowhere does it say you need to have a certain fare class. Shocking they came up with that.