Emirates Announces Dubai to Chicago 777-200LR Flight

They really have angled flat seats on aircraft designed for ultra long haul routes? How do they expect to compete with QR/EY?

Sorry is this direct or via milan?

Etihad is supposed to fly 777-200LR to LAX but I do not see any seat map for that airline for that particular plane. Surprisingly even Etihad's web site does not show any details for this type of aircraft. Does any one know where will I find Etihad 777-200LR seat plans?

@cavemen

Etihad will probably buy the 777-200LR from Air India and will be fitted with 8 Diamond First Class suites, 40 Pearl Business Class flatbed seats, and 189 Coral Economy Class seats

Lucky, so I guess this answers how much you actually like Emirates' Suite product...not much, if there is no shower involved, apparently lol

Lucky - can you post on the best way to get an emirates award? I only have AA miles and Amex points. thanks!!

@wwk5d I don't think it's that he doesn't like them, I think he realizes that if you have to position to get on the flight you might as well try to position to an A380 route that has even better amenities.

@AdamH Maybe not liking it is strong...but from Lucky's post, I always felt that the main reason he liked the Emirates suite experience was the shower. Take out the shower, and other airlines suite's products are preferable. Certainly, as a seat, Eithad, Singapore, and others offer a better product.

EK is solid in F to/from USA. They do not have the seat like Cathay or SQ but the food is better in my opinion. I still believe nobody beats Cathay in seat and service. That said Lucky is correct that if I was going to burn Alaska miles it would be for the EK A-380. Shower and stand up bar go a long way on a 14+ hour flight.

@ Justin -- Yep, sadly aside from the A380 Emirates has angled flat business class seats. Pretty disappointing, eh?

@ michael -- It's a direct flight.

@ caveman -- As AG notes, they'll be getting these planes from Air India, so don't have any in their fleet yet.

@ wwk5d -- Hah, I mean while it's a blinged out product, to be honest it's not an especially spacious suite and in bed position almost feels a bit claustrophobic. Still love it for all the frills, though.

@ AD -- American Express Membership Rewards partners directly with Emirates, though the redemption rates are rather high. The best option for using Emirates miles is actually for upgrades as opposed to outright awards.

The two best programs for Emirates redemptions are Alaska and Japan Airlines:
https://onemileatatime.com/alaska-airlines-publishes-emirates-award-chart/
https://onemileatatime.com/emirates-award-tickets-using-starwood-points-get-cheaper-on-october-1-2012/

Sadly neither partner with Membership Rewards.

Lucky,

I been on Emirates 777-300 before and first and business both where lie flat with 8 first class suits and standard forward facing business class seats in a 2-3-2 configuration. Does the 777-200lr have there old angled business class seats from the a330 or do they have the same seats and the 777-300?

@ Ted -- Hmm, every report I've seen indicates that the business class seats are angled:
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Emirates_Airlines/Emirates_Airlines_Boeing_777-300ER_3class_private.php
http://www.ausbt.com.au/the-best-seats-in-business-class-on-emirates-boeing-777-300er

Are you positive?

Sorry, the seats looked so nice I thought they where lie flat as I was in First Class i only walked past them during boarding. It is surprising that they only have lie flat on there a380 considering what a great airline Emirates is. Is Emirates planning to update those seats to fully flat though?

@ Ted -- Embarrassingly enough they haven't announced any plans to update their business class on those planes, as far as I know.

Emirates is pretty disappointing in both economy and business on the 777. In coach, its 10 abreast. Ouch. In business its angled flat seats.

If you are going to redeem miles for an Emirates flight its a huge difference in coach/business on the Airbus 380. In coach it just feels roomier. In business the seats are flat and there is an excellent bar area to get drinks/snacks throughout the flight.

So unless you are flying in first, I would try to avoid the 777 and route yourself through either New York or Los Angeles to get the Airbus a380.

The angled flat seats are awful and inferior to the state of the art horizontal now found even on most US long haul flights including DL, UA and AA. Also the food is awful on Emirates unless you like only spicy entrees. Finally the "free" limo fails to show up on 2 of 4 flights. I won't be flying EK again.

Dare we hope for chauffeur service?

As a Chicagoan, I'll take a direct, even without a shower. After all, I can take a shower when I get home.

@ Meegabroad -- They do for all their other US destinations, so I assume they will as well for Chicago.

This is great news for me since I live in Chicago. Always wanted to try Emirates but didn't really want to have to take a positioning flight to do so. I am most intrigued by the personal fridge-does it keep drinks cool?

@ Travel Sister -- Nope, it's totally style over substance. It's room temperature and actually warmer than that, since it has a light which warms it up.