While I’ve flown Emirates first class on the A380 a half-dozen times (oof that’s an obnoxious sentence, sorry), my husband hadn’t. Hehad flown Emirates first on the 777 a few years back, andeven had the cabin to himself, so he had a general idea of what to expect, but we were still excited to fly…
Continue reading: Review: Emirates First Class A380 San Francisco To Dubai
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Times have changed and there's an abundance of First Class and Business Class offers available across all airlines.Ten years back travellers were spending as if there was no tomorrow. Today most companies (also mine) is quite conscious on expenses. New rule is Low Cost on regional flights. Economy uo to 6 hours flight unless there's an offer that can't be refused. Then if can find flight at 1500$ or less in J class fine otherwise Premium Economy or Economy. Outbound flights for those like me who live in Dubai are 30% or more expensive than inbound. An example. If this week I wish to fly to Milan Y class the cost of a ticket would be 3500 AED (approx 950$). A friend of mine bought a ticket MXP-DXB-MXP at approx 600$. So basically you get half of Dubai based passengers skipping EK and flying instead via Qatar, or in my case via Amsterdam.
So in conclusion. I'd cut F class since today's J class are awesome, 20 times better first class seats of 15 years back. And I'd take care also more of outbound passengers from any country (as most airlines use similar policies).
Tiffany - I am curious: how did you pay for this? You mention points, but not how many, or with what program.
Same question as above. Curious on how many points you spent and from what program.
Thanks!
Well at least EK is still giving caviar. I flew them to DXB in Suite Class and flew Etihad back from AUH in the Apartment Class and was surprised that they didn't have caviar. I thought the food was much better on EK but service better on Etihad. First Class lounge and ground service better on Etihad. Both flights on points. EK using AS pre deval and Etihad using AA miles. Unless you are a sheik or an oilman on a big budget not many pay for those seats.
@ RTBones @ Erik -- I used Alaska miles. We typically list the costs for all flights and hotels in the intro to a trip report series, if that's helpful: https://onemileatatime.com/jordan-road-trip/
"While I’ve flown Emirates first class on the A380 a half-dozen times (oof that’s an obnoxious sentence, sorry)"
why so? because you paid with points (not full price of ticket) and 99% of the population had not even flown it once?
But this is your job & you work hard, paid your dues/taxes, and not breaking any codes/laws/rules. why do you feel you owed? Ignore whatever social equality rants, you enjoy what you work brings to you & readers, including any credit card referral links that are mutually beneficial.
Great review, Tiffany! It was also good to get the comparison of 2015 versus today.
Sigh, the writing quality of blogs is getting lower and lower / very sad. On another note, there is nothing wrong in criticizing caviar - just because it's fish eggs it doesn't mean it has to be good by default. Also, I found catering on Emirates pretty unforgettable when I flew them back in 2015. Etihad and Qatar offer a better overall experience.
Also, asking whether they served business class champagne before take off.. that made me lol. 🙂
Really appreciate the timely review of this flight as we'll soon be flying SFO-DXB-BOM (and back the same way) in F (except for the BOM-DXB sector on the return flight, which is in J as it has no F award availability).
A couple of question for you Tiffany -
~ Was your husband in 3E which had the IFE problems? So we have 3 seats 3A, 4A and 3E. Can't select 3F at this time as it is a bassinet seat. I'm hoping that 3F will remain empty, so we can use it as well, as needed. If someone (without an infant) does end up in 3F, hopefully switching one of the window seats with them should not be a problem.
~ Which wines did you try on the flight? Any recommendations. I have flown in EK F a couple of times several years ago (same route when they used a B77L) and remember having some '89 French wine (don't remember much other than it had Chateau in its name 🙂 which is the best wine I have ever had. I'm not much of a wine-connoisseur and don't want to try whole bunch of them to find out which ones are good.
~ Which wines
Tiffany, could you please elaborate on this "just next time on a JAL award rather than Alaska"? Is JAL award is cheaper/better?
@ Ryan -- Waaaay cheaper, provided you can plan ahead to transfer the points from SPG, which I didn't have time for in this case: https://onemileatatime.com/great-deals/flight-deals/
We just flew SFO-DXB on the 19th, but there were only 3 of us in First Class, so getting the Mezze wasn't a problem. Flew DXB to SIN a couple nights ago (777 this time), with only 3 people in First again, but they'd only loaded one Mezze. They were apologetic and gave the Business Class version, but it was kind of surprising!
@Ryan - JAL awards on EK not only require much less miles (almost 50% in some cases specially if booking a round trip), but are also much cheaper to change/cancel. JAL awards can be changed/cancelled for only 3100Y (~USD 28) or 3100 JAL miles. Another benefit of JAL Mileage Bank is the ability to pool miles of family members.
The only problem is earning JAL miles without flying JAL or its partners. Only way is to transfer from SPG as Tiffany has mentioned.
@ Tiffany — I see, thanks for the link also, something new to learn about 😀
How's the availability of business or first awards on Emirates using JAL? Is there any way to check it online?
@ KJ — Got it. After seeing the award chart, it is definitely cheaper and like you said even more when booking round trip. I think it's time to open some new SPG accounts then ;D
During 2010-2014 I flew extensively on EK exclusively in F and have continued to experience a minimum of 1 RT flight upto 2 RT flights with EK every year since. I always felt that in spite of being "bling-tastic" in terms of appearance EK was always poor on both catering and in flight service. Sure the attendants were attentive - but often incompetent (Chocolate Mango terrine instead of Beef!!) and the food may have looked good but never tasted exceptional or even just special. Since 2015 I have become a LX/LH loyalist and would NEVER look back (unless LH does away with the F cabin!!)... The cabin is not bling-tastic but the service is informed, attentive, gracious and very competent. And the catering - especially out of the European hubs - is phenomenal. Oh, and by the way, their Caviar is farmed in Italy............way better than the Chinese stuff. Your review confirmed my opinion of the EK First Class product.
Very nice review!
The wine list is ok for business
class but nothing like they tout in this article? Which implies latour's first growths, not their second label, which I don't think is even a fifth growth,.
@Ryan - Supposedly you can use Qantas website to check availability but that didn't work for me well, so I have used expertflyer which works well enough. Though it requires a monthly subscription (only 10$/mo and well worth the price when looking for award availability).
The caviar issue could be due to being stored at an improper temperature. I had a similar issue on LH F in December, while the time I flew LH F before that (March last year), the caviar was lovely and I had two servings!
Boy I'm not sure that I have ever seen a product date itself faster then Emerites First. What just a few years ago was AMAZING is now tacky and borderline embarrassing. To not have a fully catered first class cabin (nearly empty nonetheless) and overall mediocre food is unacceptable at this level in my opinion.
I've enjoyed Emerites in the past but it just feels very stale now. Yikes.
I also wonder whether these regular claims of cabin crew being "embarrassed" by service standards (mezze on one plate - how ghastly!) are just the reviewer projecting onto them.
If it's not then I feel deeply sorry for them. They must have to put up with some intolerable snobbishness and arrogance if merely presenting a perfectly adequately, though not specially, presented business class dish elicited visible embarrassment in them.
"Ben has reviewed Emirates first class on the A380 at least a dozen times, and I’ve reviewed it myself as well,"
Yep.
@Varun - Unfortunately Etihad is also cutting costs. Read this recent review from Lucky -
https://onemileatatime.com/review-etihad-airways-first-class-apartment-a380-abu-dhabi-to-london/
Great review Tiffany. It looks like you and your husband didn't go to the J bar at all, is that true? On a 15 hour flight, that feels like a miss given how much fun it can be. Is that true?
Not an Emirates fan and can't stand caviar ( gross beyond description). One great thing about Emirates F is the cheese: very well selected, always unusual choices from a range of countries, inevitably extremely tasty, terrific presentation. Whoever does their cheese deserves full marks.
Khaliji mezze is over rated.
If they could focus on cooking a steak to order, now that would be worth a review!
I also agree that gold bling on the Emirates flights look over the top with little ascetic value. The people who like all of the gold finishing are probably gaga over concrete lions at their front gate and oversized fountains in their yard too :-p
@Tiffany and Lucky, talking about Emirates have any of you seen Emirates's new updated Onboard Bar?
https://www.youtube.com/user/EMIRATES
@Tiffanny,
I think I posted the wrong link, here's the link of the video:
Em I the only one who thinks that they should better cut the sponsorship of all those sport events etc and keep the standard of their services? I personally wouldn't even noticed that they are not sponsporing some football stuff anymore, but several cuts (in my case in economy, of course) made me thinking about dropping my years - long loyality.
Thanks very much Tiffany for this review.
I enjoy it as it gives us another point of vue about this first trip, in particular on the catering side.
I could feel or even taste the disappointment just by your photos.
That's a good balanced and diverse review about this class of service.
Thanks again for that.
@Tiffany great report as always! Out of curiosity, how do you get 300,000 SPG points? (150,000 x2) for this award?
@ frank -- I booked using Alaska miles. You could transfer those from SPG, but if you're going to do that you'd be better off booking through JAL.
@ frank -- Ah. A combination of flying (my husband is an Alaska MVP 75k), their credit card, and buying miles when they're on sale: https://onemileatatime.com/buy-alaska-miles/
@Roberto — As someone who writes full-time, I just want to point out that Tiffany's writing is actually quite good. It's among the best among the miles and points blogs, and, along with Nick, the best at OMAAT. Meanwhile, your comment was so pretentious that it made me want to cry.
Thanks for this review. I flew Emirates Business from Sydney to Singapore 2 years ago and it was bloody horrible all around. The food was mediocre, at best, and the flight attendants were horrid and basically ignored me the whole flight. Either they were having a bad day or thought I shouldn't be in the cabin. It definitely left a bitter taste in my mouth. While I usually fly biz or first using miles, this was a ticket I actually purchased with my money.
Great review and the additional comments are informative. I have a couple of questions regarding Emirates: a) do you know if the EK SFO to DXB route lands at the A Concourse or is this variable? Follow-up question if anyone knows - what percentage of the EK A380 flights land/depart from A concourse? b) When I booked the F class reward ticket, I found it interesting that the Alaska flight segments could not be booked in anything other than (if I remember correctly) A class. So, I use a great deal of points for the Emirates booking but the AS segments needed to get me to the USA EK departure city can only be booked in a very low coach class. I got to wondering if this is an example of a mismatch in airline fare classification. Does any know what an A fare equates on Emirates? Thanks.
@ AK Traveler -- "A" is the code Alaska uses for saver first award space, and "W" is saver economy award space. There may have just not been first available for the Alaska segments on your dates.
Each airline uses their own designations for award space, so it's not really a mismatch. You can have multiple fare codes on a single ticket.
In terms of the concourse in Dubai, that varies. It's not fixed, but the majority seem to go in and out of A.
Thanks for a great post. Quick question. My wife and I just booked SFO - Dubai later this year with Alaska miles. 85k per ticket each way for business class; which seems like a good deal. Question #1) Is it a pretty good rate? Question #2) First class just opened up but is 150k miles per ticket. We have enough miles but aren't sure if it's worth it. Thoughts?
Thanks!
Hi there! A quick question. Which first class product would you choose, Emirates A380 First class or Etihad A380 Apartments? Please suggest based on overall experience from chauffeur driven cars to lounge experience to flight experience.
Thanks!