You know that Emirates commercial starring Jennifer Aniston, where she asks the crew member at the A380 bar ”hey, is there someone we can talk to about maybe flying this around a bit longer before we land?” Well, that’s exactly how I felt after flying Emirates’ A380 first class from New York to Milan.
Continue reading: Emirates’ New York To Milan Flight In A380 First Class: So Fun, Too Short
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
The tone of this post is annoyingly prescriptive (and proscriptive). In this sense it is a departure from most of Lucky's writing. I would urge Lucky not to use this tone in future,
I sort of agree with David on this one. The post seems a little "off" from the usual fare. Mostly about having "fun" drinking high end alcoholic beverages across the Atlantic without getting a hangover.
@ Ben- Are you sure this is completely accurate "since Emirates can’t serve Dom Perignon until after the door closes on flights out of the US"
We recently flew ATH-EWR and were told the same thing, "can't serve Dom until after the door closes"
The whole point of airport bars is to talk to other passengers - so that aspect, you did wrong
To the overall point of the article, from NY to Europe, I tend to try to take more basic configurations (on a relative basis) because the goal is to sleep. Good opportunity to take flights on US metal, for example. On the way back from Europe to the east coast, you can stay awake and take advantage of the amenities
I kinda like the more whimsical tone of this piece.
@Ben - Any particular method you use to ask for seconds on the caviar without looking crass?
@ Dc_nomad -- Some countries charge taxes on alcohol served on the ground, and I wasn't meaning to suggest that the United States was the only country. Indeed there are some other countries, including Greece, that have similar rules. Meanwhile out of the UAE you can have Dom Perignon pre-departure.
@ Christian -- In my experience sometimes the crew will offer proactively if it's empty. Otherwise politely asking "is there any chance I could get a double portion?" does the trick. After all, it's a dine on demand menu, so you can have as much as you want when you want.
Just keep in mind that this is dependent on how full the cabin is. Odds are great of getting seconds if the cabin is pretty empty, while it's unlikely to happen if the cabin is full.
Don't understand the hate. I miss content like this from the days of whimsical travel. I loved reading it and want to replicate exactly what you did.
Talking about the caviar - I recently flew both Emirates first class and Lufthansa first class (on a 747-8 to boot!) - I didn't think the
Emirates caviar was all that good; the mid-priced caviar I buy once a year or so is better. The caviar on Lufthansa was noticeably better to me, but unfortunately they don't stock caviar spoons like Emirates does. Anyone else feel the same way?
Definitely would prefer the westbound flight! I had the same conundrum flying CX YVR-JFK. I saved my points and opted for J, since the flight is too short to do anything but sleep. I even ate in the lounge and slept through dinner on the plane, I need to maximize my sleep on those red-eyes!
Sounds like an awesome time! And again here we are with the cliffhangers on why the trip is so special TBD haha. Best wishes!
Great post Ben. In your younger days you’d have been tempted to max out the alcohol but I bet the 3 hours of sleep seemed like a good idea the next morning. Your question of how to get best value from a shortish F flight is a good one. Why some don’t think it belongs on a blog about getting value from points and miles, I’m not sure.
When I was young, it was about the party.
Now that I’m old, and have a full wine cellar with Dommabd Krug whenever I want, it’s about the sleep.
Amusing article, but for the random dates I checked, J is $4k and F is $16k. A shower, etc. isn't worth the price difference to me, YMMV.
I’m flying DXB - MXP -JFK
The plan is to sleep and have a light meal on the first flight .
Then drink and party on the second flight.
My wife and I are taking the reverse flight in July. Right now in business, hoping to upgrade to first of the opportunity presents itself. Totally looking forward to it.
holy crap willy is on the money.
think either lucky was drunk or bored on this flight, either way who cares.
'I would urge Lucky not to use this tone in future'......... who talks like this.....
Get a life Daviiiid
Great review. FWIW, I try to travel westbound in premium classes because it’s a longer flight and usually in daylight hours (except some US-Asia and Australasian flights). Why spend all those bucks and/or miles to sleep?
Ben- for the sake of transparency, can you please explain how you found any award availability for first class on this route? It's zeroed out for months...
Ben, did you book this flight on points or cash? I have had my eye on this route for a while, but have not seen any availability
Booked for LAX-DXB for a honeymoon in October. Should be plenty of time to enjoy everything Emirates has to offer. My wife is currently in First but I am in business (award booking) hoping to get the upgrade. Any tips on getting that before the last-minute last-seat availability tactic?
@ BG -- On May 26 two award seats opened up on the May 31 flight, so I booked them right away. I was monitoring closely, as those same seats weren't available on May 25. I guess that was possible thanks to the light load in first class.
@ Richard_ -- I hear you, but when redeeming miles it's 72,500 miles in business class or 85,000 miles in first class, pending award availability. Slightly different value proposition compared to revenue tickets.
@ Duncan -- Hope you enjoy the trip and are able to get that first seat in advance! All I can recommend is waitlisting for a first class award and keeping a close eye on availability. Hopefully otherwise the upgrade works out at the airport or onboard.
@ Explore -- Agreed, and largely my strategy as well. But for a difference of 12,500 Skywards miles one-way, I figure it's worth it.
It doesn't how anyone tries to do it, but photographing a first class bed in the sky still looks like a bunk bed in a dormer. It's all relative I suppose.
If you saw the average upper-class living room in an Emirati houshold you would think the EK F cabin is a model of restraint! LOL.
Ah, I see Lucky has now significantly edited the text so that it is no longer prescriptive or proscriptive. It reads much better now.
Thanks for taking my advice.
Yes, sort of 🙂 Just before covid, I was asked to delay by a month a vacation to SE Asia that I had booked a year in advance, with flights in F both ways using miles. I agreed under the condition that the guilty party pay for the new F flights - there was of course no award space 30 days out. Turned out Emirates F was the least expensive option - $8k round trip from North America to Southeast Asia, as long as I positioned to Toronto first ($12k if starting from the US).
Come to think of it, $8k for 3 long segments in Emirates F is not a bad deal (the trip was open jaw, one segment was in a FlyDubai 737).
I think emirates caviar is just across the line of being called caviar. Presentation is great but the caviar itself is very very ordinary.
I also find their wines to be great wines on the ground but not amazing when flying. I don’t know if it’s the dry air or the pressure or what, but the main goal is show rather than actual quality. Nothing wrong with show though, as long as you judge it as such
the spoons are relatively new as are the tins.
There is only one Asian compamy that offers a slightly better than lowest quality caviar.
But while most reviewers still race about what they get, why change? It seems reviewers never want to spend the few dollars pn caviar at home. The hot towel is still given but it is no longer Frette and there are NO more towels in F toilets
The EK Mezze is the only thing I eat in the air - the flavours have been well thought out and it is a complete meal for a long haul flight. Bubbles are another thing altogether .........
I really value the sleep, or semblance of sleep (which is sometimes good enough) on overnight flights. So I always try for premium class eastbound US to Europe even knowing I won't necessarily enjoy the dinner and drinks.
I think "show rather than actual quality" sort of sums up my whole experience with Emirates, and with Dubai in a way. The people were great for the most part, but everything else just felt artificial and completely for looking better than everywhere else. The F lounge in Dubai was huge, and the food was pretty good, but beyond looking impressive, it was otherwise pretty unremarkable experience (Ok, boarding gates in the lounge were cool).
No doubt a great way to fly, but my experiences in Cathay, Singapore, Lufthansa, and JAL F just felt like more - Emirates was just "oh wow".
Hibiki 21 served on ANA on some routes is arguably more expensive than Hennessy Paradis. While the retail price is lower, it's almost impossible to find it at retail price, whereas Hennessy is widely available.
1. Position to the U.S West Coast and only fly Transatlantic Eastbound from there, -- OR --
2. Only bother booking Emirates First Class, on awards, MXP-JFK or ATH-EWR, to return to the U.S. *from* Europe.
(Am I doing this right?)
absolutely loved this article!! my dream is to fly EK First, cant wait to try all these fun things in the air one day!
Tail, belly, wing cams available in economy class, also...unlike Dom Perrignon! Good ride, just the same. Sure beats United...
It's definitely not accurate: Emirates certainly CAN serve Dom Perignon on the ground - they just don't want to pay the tax on those bottles. It's their business decision (and not an uncommon one.)
I am taking this flight on June 13. Were masks required to be worn on the trip to Milan?
On that note - most airlines only serve sparkling wine, not even Business class wine, while on the ground. (for those that serve anything).
EK has a very laissez-faire attitude when it comes to masks in FC, as does LH. I don’t know about the other cabins.
It not that Emirates "can't" serve Dom on the ground. It is they don't want to pay the taxes. Many states including New York require that service with the door open be done with taxed product. No use of duty free Dom.
Thanks Ben. I'm taking this flight on Saturday and plan to follow your gameplan (maybe I'll shoot for 4 hours of sleep, cause I'm older than you). Booked with miles following your instructions in other posts. Appreciate you and this site!