As some of you may remember, I flew Emirates first class from Los Angeles to Dubai last November with my dad. The flight was amazing, though the one (minor) downside of the experience was that Emirates used the Korean Air Lounge at LAX, which is my least favorite major lounge in Tom Bradley International Terminal.…
Continue reading: First Look: Emirates’ New Lounge At Los Angeles LAX Airport
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Any sense of whether or not passengers on AS awards will have trouble using the lounge? I know nearly impossible for you to answer since you weren't on a EK flight, but still thought I'd ask. Thanks.
@ Ben -- Is there any truth to the rumor that passengers on AS awards are being denied EK F lounge access at JFK or anywhere else?
@Shanghai9 by reading from the flyertalk thread, there is no issue accessing this lounge if your ticket is AS award. Can't wait to try it ourself when we fly in Nov.
I hope you tried the Bateel dates because they are f-ing awesome. Always get them from Saudi Arabia.
@ Gene -- I don't think so. I think it was just one agent that made something up. But I'm following up to see if I can confirm.
@ Shanghai9 -- I don't think we should. We have one report of someone that was denied access at JFK, but that's the only such report I've heard. My money is on it being a bad agent. I had a friend that flew LAX-DXB last week in first class, and he was able to access the lounge.
Emirates is trying to get fifth freedom so they can operate flights like Tokyo - Los Angeles - Dubai or Sydney -Los Angeles - Dubai . But I don't think this is going to happen. Emirates is like the rich neighbour that doesn't want to share even a penny with its poor friends. AA / DL / UA didn't benefit from Emirates 's US expansion. There is no direct competition between Emirates and Alaska / Southwest. If Emirates continue to expand the U.S. market, it will irate major US airlines.
I wonder why Emirates doesn't have joint venture with any of big three US airlines. Consider US airlines has only little service to India market, it could really benefit them. Right now, if I don't want to sit on the shitty airplane of Air India, I would have no choice but fly with Emirates (Jet Airways is not that good either)
I also heard rumors said that Emirates is trying to neogitiate with Indian government so they can have flights from India to a third country. Emirates is especially interested operated flights from India to west coast of US via East Asia, as it could save lots of time. It wouldn't surprise if they manage to achieve that,mit they invest in some Indian company. Indian airlines used to be one of the group of most selective airlines that can have fifth freedom in China. ( India - Shanghai - San Francisco) along with other top airlines like Delta. Because of India's smart foreign relationships policy, I am sure India can get whatever fifth freedom rights they want.
As for another example: BA has lots of out-station lounge while having only once a day flight: YVR, PHL, IAH, BKK, etc.. many of those lounge are nice and even have separated F and J sections.
In terms of transitions, you might want to work a few others beyond "in terms of" into your repertoire.
Why do they only have 1 flight to LAX per day? It seems strange in such a big, premium market. EK have 3 x daily A380 flights from AKL daily and that is a tiny market!
@Ben - the 3 services a day to AKL are all about using planes that otherwise sit on the tarmac all day in BNE / SYD / MEL. The planes fly in overnight from DXB and arrive in the morning and don't have anything to do until the evening. Emirates figure they may as well put the assets to work rather than just paying to park the plane up.
(Air New Zealand do the same with their planes that arrive in AKL from the States and don't fly back to the States until the evening - send them to Australia for the day).
Good to see that EK are starting to have an updated decor in their outstation lounges.
The catering looks identical to what EK offer in their lounges in SYD and MEL. This brings a level of global consistency in their offering.
The EK flight goes at 4:45pm, so it seems this lounge still won't be open for the Qantas flights which depart in the evening (which is unfortunate as Qantas business class passengers have access to EK lounges if they are open and EK business lounges are always better than Qantas business lounges).
While EK isn't a perfect airline (but then I've yet to find one that is), I do give them kudos for trying to offer almost identical lounge experiences in out stations outside DXB, even for once a day flight services. It's not universal coverage, but I don't think any airline covers as many ports as Emirates does with their own operated lounges. Sure, no exclusive First lounges, but their combined lounges are better than most business lounges by a far margin (it's a Business Plus lounge). Now, if they could only get such consistency with their staff (which range variably from excellent to awful).
Flew a few weeks ago from SFO on an AS award ticket in F on EK. As I was checking in, I asked the ticketing agent about lounge access and she said because I was on an Alaska award ticket, it did not include lounge access. She then said, "but just go to the lounge and ask anyway." I went, and was promptly admitted to the huge SFO lounge (with a very similar set up to the LAX lounge, down to the buffet items and everything). On my return, I was in AMM and EK contracts with Royal Jordanian's lounge - and was not admitted. The lounge agent even called local EK office to confirm. At DXB, in both directions, other than one agent mumbling something about an AS award, I was promptly admitted to the F lounge. I went to the lounge in every terminal; A, B, and C. At least as of a few weeks ago, it seemed to me that if EK operated the lounge, there didn't seem to be any issue getting in eventually.
@EthaninSF - Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll be flying F (on an AS award) with a very long layover in DXB. Any reason to check out the other F lounges in DXB? Unless there's something really special about them, I'm inclined to just stay in the lounge in the A pier.
I wish they would jointly build and operate with Qantas a first cl lounge in DFW.
@ Ben -- I wouldn't be surprised if a second flight is added some point, though keep in mind that ultra longhaul flights are notoriously difficult to turn profits on (if Emirates even cares about that). But they do fly to a lot of destinations in the US, while in Australia they only serve a few cities, and therefore have a lot of connecting passengers.
Great look at the new Emirates lounge at LAX. Your review was great. By the looks of it the lounge looks much more sophisticated then the Qantas first lounge? Yes there is a sit down restaurant but the furniture/design space in the Qantas First looks like the designer just threw in a bunch of chairs without regard to creating individual spaces. Anyway it would be nice to see a comparison and/or a review of the Qantas First that describes the menus and other offerings at LAX. Flying Cathay first this summer and can't find a good review yet!
@ GySpeirs -- I suppose it's a matter of personal preference as well. Some love the Qantas design, while others don't. I do prefer the decor of this lounge, while ultimately I think the food and service is going to be a bit more attentive in a first class lounge.
@Shanghai9 - I would agree with @lucky there is really no other reason to go to the other lounges, the B and C lounges just happened to be closer to the flights I was connecting to and from. The A pier is so massive (the B lounge is also quite large - as I believe it used to be their primary lounge, and the C lounge is tiny. The food/beverage items seemed to be very similar at all the DXB lounges. The spa at A terminal seemed to be much bigger than at B, too.
@David: statements like those really make you look like a xenophobic and racist c*nt.
Just visited the lounge that Emirates shares with Air china and others in Houston, it's really disappointing, no french champagne, not even a $50 bottle of Moet?? Food smells funny and there are no toilets...Way to treat 1st class & business passengers!!
Since the lounge is only open to 4.45 pm, what happens to Emirate passengers leaving on the 9.30 pm flight to Dubai?
Are we expected to use the Star alliance loung or what?
Is there a possibility of getting a massage in this lounge or in connection with the lounge? we are traveling there Sunday and I have many hours to kill
Thanks!
Ha. I flew VA and due to my platinum status got access ( where as VA business class use the Emirates lounge ?? )
The terrace was nice and the champagne free flowing, however my 12 Yr old wasn’t a fan of the food 🙁