Mileage run for EK Gold
Dec 14, 2008, 7:13 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: AKL
Programs: Skywards Gold, Qantas FF
Posts: 479
AKL - MRU - AKL :: A Mileage run for EK Gold
.
This trip was a good way for me to do a mileage run for EK Gold whilst using EK's excellent F offer of 2 nights at "The Atlantis "
I did AKL-MRU in Y and then switched to MRU-AKL in F with a stop over in DXB to use our 2 nights at Atlantis.
I flew EK407 to DXB which was 90% full in Y but the service was excellent.
The AKL-MRU leg in Y was real exhausting and proved to be quite an ordeal (been awhile for me to do long haul in Y) so I dont have any pics in this part except for the one below in AKL:
DXB STP
During the 1 day stop over in DXB we managed to have a tour of the Jumeriah Mosque and Deira City Centre before heading back to the Airport Millennium Hotel.
The Jumeriah Mosque is the only Mosque which allows non-Muslims to enter. The tour is an hour seminar on Islam, Muslim people and their beliefs. It was very educational and provides some key insights into the Arab culture and life style whilst dispelling the usual stereotypes people have of Islam in general.
I recommend doing this for anyone who has those nagging questions you wouldn't ask anyone for fear of offending them. The guide is a very good public speaker and kept everyone interested for the entire duration.
He returned to Dubai after 9/11 to try and bring about a better understanding of Islam so was open to all questions and encouraged them. This led to some real pointed ones being asked which were answered very well .
Mauritius - MRU :-:
A water-garden feature as you exit the passport control area and enter the Duty Free section in MRU.
Arriving into MRU we were faced with a huge delay ... It took us nearly 2 hours to get out of the airport .
There are only 8 immigration desks and all of them are painfully slow .... even the lines for Mauritian citizens moved slowly and they had to fill an additional health form in addition to the Arrival cards.
From what i read online - airlines give pax the arrival card on the flight , this must have changed now - as EK didnt do this and once we de-planed the immi guys were handing it out when we approached the area before counters and were lining up.
So an entire plane of people were filling the forms at the same time and then lining up ... To save some time,my wife stood in line while I filled in the cards.
Once we were out we hopped into a pre-arranged taxi and went for a tour of the Island and managed to fit both the North and South parts of the island in our tour which was great !
We went to:
> Pamplemousse Gardens
The Famous Giant Water Lilies
Saw this monument that reminded me of Star Gate's DHD ( Dial Home Device)
> Chamarel
7 coloured earth created by volcanic rocks that cooled at different temperatures, the "earths" form beautiful patterns of color in the exposed hillsides
> Black River Gorges National Park
> Port Louis
> Moi Choisy beach and caught a nice festival there ( international fete )
The weather turned a little sour as the day passed , but we loved it as it was too hot for us and the scattered showers/impending rain brought a cooler temperature !
On the way back to airport our driver invited us for dinner at his house too ...real nice guy and the same goes for all Mauritian people we met ... real friendly in a good way.
Mauritius is a beautiful place, but except for their white beaches I feel NZ is much more greener
MRU Airport
There is a separate entrance for Premium pax.
The airport is not big so it was quite packed when we were there. Emirates has it's own check-in counters with Separate ones for F & J ... you can see these, if you look to the right of the picture below.
Once inside there is again a separate check-in for Premium pax but this is only for Air Mauritius ...
Immigration in MRU is right next to Check in as you see below and the "Fast- Track" lane for F & J pax is the line for Air Crew .
Once you go through Passport Control , it's off to the lounge and as I whipped out my camera, the security staff cautioned me not to click any pictures .... but I did anyway
Lounge entry was through a door on the left and there are 2 lounges :- one only by invitation and the other was the shared lounge for airlines ...
Beautiful smiling faces welcomed us in true Mauritian spirit
The lounge was spread over the ground and first floor ... Being the only shared lounge it was quite full ...
MRU - DXB EK702
The F load was 5 out of 12 so quite a light load and J was only 30 % full.
There was no priority line for boarding and EK didnt make any announcements to help us poor premium pax ... So there was a big line of J & Y pax in front of the boarding gate .... I saw the other 3 F pax not knowing whether to queue up with the Y pax or wait ....
I hate waiting , so forged ahead with my wife in tow and just walked right up and presented our Boarding passes to the ground staff , much to the bewilderment of the surrounding Y pax and the 3 F pax who once we got through immediately followed suit
As soon as we met by the cabin crew on the plane they immediately greeted us by name and escorted us to our seats and this was the start to an excellent attentive service throughout the whole flight.
Arabic coffee with dates ...
My head set was broken
but was quickly replaced with a new one & an apology by the crew
Breakfast:
Arrival into EK's new T3 was awesome. I like the new Terminal , it's very spacious ... And as I also like walking .... didnt mind the trek hehe
Chauffeur drive to the Atlantis was long as it was quite far but was nice ride and driving up to Atlantis was really something when the huge resort comes into view as you get closer to it.
A few pictures from The Atlantis :-
The Entrance Door
The Throne
The Aquarium
The Lost Chambers
A local Emirati with his hawk in the Atlantis Lobby
One of the many beautiful Roof Frescos
EK's new T3
After 3 glorious nights at the resort... My trip back to AKL started with a smooth check-in at the new T3 and then twas off to the T3 F lounge
EK T3 VIP Section:
This section has it's own separate entrance within the F lounge area and we had to be escorted there by the F lounge reception desk as It has it's own lift and reception desk as well.
It is connected by a door to the main F lounge but opens only from the inside and is roped off on the main lounge side. The inner part is the only quiet part of the entire F lounge
The doors to this part can be closed so it would be quieter as opposed to the main F lounge which I found to be a real disappointment ... it was like being in a road side cafe with all the noise and hustle & bustle happening.
Enjoy
PICS:
VIP SECTION:
Roped off Entrance door:
Corridor to Exterior part:
Exterior part:
Interior part:
F LOUNGE AREA:
EK418 DXB-BKK-SYD-AKL
DXB-BKK
Very light load again on this flight just 6 pax in total to BKK and then just 4 to AKL (another couple with us)
All the Cabin crew were really great on all 3 the legs ... Greetings at the door , pre-departure drinks all were timely and they indulged us with multiple offerings and just the right amount of engaging small talk.
Frankly I was expecting at least one of the 3 crews to be less than spectacular but boy was i proven wrong ! Well done EK :-: ^
Onto DXB - BKK flight:
We got the little basket that EK gives on it's F suites planes .. looks like they are doing it on non-suites planes now
Pre-Departure Drinks
Post Departure Drinks and the basket
A hot meal was served on the first leg DXB-BKK
2A Pan Fried Lobster Cakes
2B Honey Roasted Duck Breast
To finish ... Dessert & freshly brewed Espresso
BKK Lounge
BKK-SYD
Aero bridge .. We took the first left
This was the longest leg being 8.5 hours so was happy to be warmly welcomed by the crew and the captain as well who acknowledged our continued journey from DXB and through to AKL.
Had an interesting conversation with 2 FAs and the purser about their experience with the delays and riots in BKK.
My jacket was hung and crew commenced the Welcome drinks.
There was a Full Dinner Service on this leg which made me very happy
Canapes
Appetisers
We couldnt decide which one to have so they insisted we try all 3
Iranian Caviar
Smoked Prawns
Roast beef
MAINS:
2A - Steamed Red Snapper
2B - Slow Braised Veal Roast
Was too full after the huge meal so no dessert this time but did need an Earl Grey to finish with another glass of Dom of course
SYD - AKL
The last leg of our journey was from SYD to AKL. It was a short flight of just 2.5 hours and was excellent as well with real good service but didnt click many pictures on this leg.
Arabic Coffee & dates again ... YUM
Spotted the SQ A380 in SYD
A cloudy day in AKL
Saw this new Welcome Display when de-planing in AKL before going down to Passport Control
Last but not least ... The Complimentary goodies from our travels : 
A big smile always helps when one wants these souvenirs
The Cream coloured Menu is from the F lounge and the remaining menus were from the flights.
The dark brown all leather are the F kits and the mixed brown are J kits ... I asked if we could have a J set each but they couldn't fit a spare ladies kit so gave us 2 J men kits
Amenity Kit Contents
After all the travelling and new experiences we had , I was a bit sad to get off the plane and get back to reality but oh well it's not too long till my next trip so looking forward to that
This was my first TR so hope you enjoyed reading it and please do leave your feedback !
Cheers ^
This trip was a good way for me to do a mileage run for EK Gold whilst using EK's excellent F offer of 2 nights at "The Atlantis "
I did AKL-MRU in Y and then switched to MRU-AKL in F with a stop over in DXB to use our 2 nights at Atlantis.
I flew EK407 to DXB which was 90% full in Y but the service was excellent.
The AKL-MRU leg in Y was real exhausting and proved to be quite an ordeal (been awhile for me to do long haul in Y) so I dont have any pics in this part except for the one below in AKL:
DXB STP
During the 1 day stop over in DXB we managed to have a tour of the Jumeriah Mosque and Deira City Centre before heading back to the Airport Millennium Hotel.
The Jumeriah Mosque is the only Mosque which allows non-Muslims to enter. The tour is an hour seminar on Islam, Muslim people and their beliefs. It was very educational and provides some key insights into the Arab culture and life style whilst dispelling the usual stereotypes people have of Islam in general.
I recommend doing this for anyone who has those nagging questions you wouldn't ask anyone for fear of offending them. The guide is a very good public speaker and kept everyone interested for the entire duration.
He returned to Dubai after 9/11 to try and bring about a better understanding of Islam so was open to all questions and encouraged them. This led to some real pointed ones being asked which were answered very well .
Mauritius - MRU :-:
A water-garden feature as you exit the passport control area and enter the Duty Free section in MRU.
Arriving into MRU we were faced with a huge delay ... It took us nearly 2 hours to get out of the airport .
There are only 8 immigration desks and all of them are painfully slow .... even the lines for Mauritian citizens moved slowly and they had to fill an additional health form in addition to the Arrival cards.
From what i read online - airlines give pax the arrival card on the flight , this must have changed now - as EK didnt do this and once we de-planed the immi guys were handing it out when we approached the area before counters and were lining up.
So an entire plane of people were filling the forms at the same time and then lining up ... To save some time,my wife stood in line while I filled in the cards.
Once we were out we hopped into a pre-arranged taxi and went for a tour of the Island and managed to fit both the North and South parts of the island in our tour which was great !
We went to:
> Pamplemousse Gardens
The Famous Giant Water Lilies
Saw this monument that reminded me of Star Gate's DHD ( Dial Home Device)
> Chamarel
7 coloured earth created by volcanic rocks that cooled at different temperatures, the "earths" form beautiful patterns of color in the exposed hillsides
> Black River Gorges National Park
> Port Louis
> Moi Choisy beach and caught a nice festival there ( international fete )
The weather turned a little sour as the day passed , but we loved it as it was too hot for us and the scattered showers/impending rain brought a cooler temperature !
On the way back to airport our driver invited us for dinner at his house too ...real nice guy and the same goes for all Mauritian people we met ... real friendly in a good way.
Mauritius is a beautiful place, but except for their white beaches I feel NZ is much more greener
MRU Airport
There is a separate entrance for Premium pax.
The airport is not big so it was quite packed when we were there. Emirates has it's own check-in counters with Separate ones for F & J ... you can see these, if you look to the right of the picture below.
Once inside there is again a separate check-in for Premium pax but this is only for Air Mauritius ...
Immigration in MRU is right next to Check in as you see below and the "Fast- Track" lane for F & J pax is the line for Air Crew .
Once you go through Passport Control , it's off to the lounge and as I whipped out my camera, the security staff cautioned me not to click any pictures .... but I did anyway
Lounge entry was through a door on the left and there are 2 lounges :- one only by invitation and the other was the shared lounge for airlines ...
Beautiful smiling faces welcomed us in true Mauritian spirit
The lounge was spread over the ground and first floor ... Being the only shared lounge it was quite full ...
MRU - DXB EK702
The F load was 5 out of 12 so quite a light load and J was only 30 % full.
There was no priority line for boarding and EK didnt make any announcements to help us poor premium pax ... So there was a big line of J & Y pax in front of the boarding gate .... I saw the other 3 F pax not knowing whether to queue up with the Y pax or wait ....
I hate waiting , so forged ahead with my wife in tow and just walked right up and presented our Boarding passes to the ground staff , much to the bewilderment of the surrounding Y pax and the 3 F pax who once we got through immediately followed suit
As soon as we met by the cabin crew on the plane they immediately greeted us by name and escorted us to our seats and this was the start to an excellent attentive service throughout the whole flight.
Arabic coffee with dates ...
My head set was broken
but was quickly replaced with a new one & an apology by the crew
Breakfast:
Arrival into EK's new T3 was awesome. I like the new Terminal , it's very spacious ... And as I also like walking .... didnt mind the trek hehe
Chauffeur drive to the Atlantis was long as it was quite far but was nice ride and driving up to Atlantis was really something when the huge resort comes into view as you get closer to it.
A few pictures from The Atlantis :-
The Entrance Door
The Throne
The Aquarium
The Lost Chambers
A local Emirati with his hawk in the Atlantis Lobby
One of the many beautiful Roof Frescos
EK's new T3
After 3 glorious nights at the resort... My trip back to AKL started with a smooth check-in at the new T3 and then twas off to the T3 F lounge
EK T3 VIP Section:
This section has it's own separate entrance within the F lounge area and we had to be escorted there by the F lounge reception desk as It has it's own lift and reception desk as well.
It is connected by a door to the main F lounge but opens only from the inside and is roped off on the main lounge side. The inner part is the only quiet part of the entire F lounge
The doors to this part can be closed so it would be quieter as opposed to the main F lounge which I found to be a real disappointment ... it was like being in a road side cafe with all the noise and hustle & bustle happening.
Enjoy
PICS:
VIP SECTION:
Roped off Entrance door:
Corridor to Exterior part:
Exterior part:
Interior part:
F LOUNGE AREA:
EK418 DXB-BKK-SYD-AKL
DXB-BKK
Very light load again on this flight just 6 pax in total to BKK and then just 4 to AKL (another couple with us)
All the Cabin crew were really great on all 3 the legs ... Greetings at the door , pre-departure drinks all were timely and they indulged us with multiple offerings and just the right amount of engaging small talk.
Frankly I was expecting at least one of the 3 crews to be less than spectacular but boy was i proven wrong ! Well done EK :-: ^
Onto DXB - BKK flight:
We got the little basket that EK gives on it's F suites planes .. looks like they are doing it on non-suites planes now
Pre-Departure Drinks
Post Departure Drinks and the basket
A hot meal was served on the first leg DXB-BKK
2A Pan Fried Lobster Cakes
2B Honey Roasted Duck Breast
To finish ... Dessert & freshly brewed Espresso
BKK Lounge
BKK-SYD
Aero bridge .. We took the first left
This was the longest leg being 8.5 hours so was happy to be warmly welcomed by the crew and the captain as well who acknowledged our continued journey from DXB and through to AKL.
Had an interesting conversation with 2 FAs and the purser about their experience with the delays and riots in BKK.
My jacket was hung and crew commenced the Welcome drinks.
There was a Full Dinner Service on this leg which made me very happy
Canapes
Appetisers
We couldnt decide which one to have so they insisted we try all 3
Iranian Caviar
Smoked Prawns
Roast beef
MAINS:
2A - Steamed Red Snapper
2B - Slow Braised Veal Roast
Was too full after the huge meal so no dessert this time but did need an Earl Grey to finish with another glass of Dom of course
SYD - AKL
The last leg of our journey was from SYD to AKL. It was a short flight of just 2.5 hours and was excellent as well with real good service but didnt click many pictures on this leg.
Arabic Coffee & dates again ... YUM
Spotted the SQ A380 in SYD
A cloudy day in AKL
Saw this new Welcome Display when de-planing in AKL before going down to Passport Control
Last but not least ... The Complimentary goodies from our travels :
A big smile always helps when one wants these souvenirs
The Cream coloured Menu is from the F lounge and the remaining menus were from the flights.
The dark brown all leather are the F kits and the mixed brown are J kits ... I asked if we could have a J set each but they couldn't fit a spare ladies kit so gave us 2 J men kits
Amenity Kit Contents
After all the travelling and new experiences we had , I was a bit sad to get off the plane and get back to reality but oh well it's not too long till my next trip so looking forward to that
This was my first TR so hope you enjoyed reading it and please do leave your feedback !
Cheers ^
Last edited by EK_Flyer; Dec 22, 2008 at 10:45 am
Dec 15, 2008, 6:16 am
#4
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Bos
Programs: FB-Gold, SPG-Plat, Priority Club-Plat
Posts: 438
You really made an excellent TR, and I did enjoy reading it. But I especially looking at the photos, you did a very good job of posting your most excellent pics. I for one thank you for your efforts.
Dec 17, 2008, 2:02 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: AKL
Programs: Skywards Gold, Qantas FF
Posts: 479
Thanks for your +ve feedback guys.
I'm actually quite happy as the pics look so much better than I thought ... Was using my old back-up camera on this trip
I'm actually quite happy as the pics look so much better than I thought ... Was using my old back-up camera on this trip
Last edited by EK_Flyer; Dec 17, 2008 at 2:24 am
Dec 28, 2008, 5:35 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: AKL
Programs: Skywards Gold, Qantas FF
Posts: 479
You can find the TR @ http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...6-mel_akl.html
Cheers ^
Jan 2, 2009, 4:45 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: AKL
Programs: Skywards Gold, Qantas FF
Posts: 479
No , There is a slight difference because of the different planes EK has.
The B77W suites are a tiny bit bigger and have a bit of different design I think ... I'll be able to confirm this after my F trip later this month
Also I think the A380 suites are the same in size & design as the B77W
The B77W suites are a tiny bit bigger and have a bit of different design I think ... I'll be able to confirm this after my F trip later this month
Also I think the A380 suites are the same in size & design as the B77W
Jan 3, 2009, 2:46 pm
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: AKL
Programs: Skywards Gold, Qantas FF
Posts: 479
The VIP section is invite only and has it's own lift and reception area separate from the main F lounge reception.
Ordinarily ppl going to the VIP section dont come through the main reception but through it's own lift.
I was invited by the main F lounge reception
Jan 3, 2009, 10:15 pm
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: AA Gold AAdvantage Elite, Rapids Reward
Posts: 38,320
I think this is great trip reports. I didn't see outside shot where I want to see the sky. I want to give me best viewable where I can see the sunset or sunrise is going down. He didn't take best cabin shot inside of F class suite. I think in MRU is absolutely amazing that I am never seen the lobster before. It's look incredible photos where you went to MRU but, there is no photos of outside where I can see the hotel and etc.
Also, I saw the waterfalls looks amazing! I love it, too. So I will expect try go to MRU. What about the restrictions where I am US Citizen that I can have permission go to Mauritius? What about I should not go there due to Israeli stamp, am I correct?
Also, I saw the waterfalls looks amazing! I love it, too. So I will expect try go to MRU. What about the restrictions where I am US Citizen that I can have permission go to Mauritius? What about I should not go there due to Israeli stamp, am I correct?