Review: Emirates First Class Dallas to Dubai

Isn't it awesome when you can have your parents enjoy themselves? Great report. Tiffany! I must say the thing that suprised me most, was the lack of Mars bars in the US. Never thought some candy would be hard to get over there 😉

Your post is encouraging us to fly Emirates more. Thanks.

On these lightly loaded flights, is it possible to have two showers? I mean do they load just enough water for the amount of booked passengers, or is the tank filled regardless?

Nice post Tiffany, glad to see your mom enjoying herself. Wouldn't think using sharp blades during turbulence would be the best idea, glad you made it through safely :).

Hello Tiffany,

Thanks for the review. I want to do the same thing as you did, taking mom to the first class. But only one question, how do I check Emirates' inventory? Can I use flyerexpert to see how many award seats?

Thanks

I really enjoyed flying Biz EK 777 300 from DXB-DFW last year (before they switched to the a380). I will definitely fly them again soon!

Thanks for sharing Tiffany! As someone who just has a few experiences with elite/business class flying, I still giggle when I take a shower in the lounge before a flight or between two flights. I can't imagine how excited I would be to take a shower at 30,000 feet!

I love these travel with parents trip reports! I had fun showing my mom around London and Paris when I lived in London a few years ago, but this fall I'm taking her on her first points-funded trip. KE F on the A380 out and JL F on the way back. We'll use Hyatt certificates to stay at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo. I suspect that she'll "get" my hobby after that. I cringe thinking what might happen if I took her in EK F or SQ Suites on her first trip!

Very entertaining trip report 🙂

AWESOME!!!

I flew my parents business class to London once and they absolutely loved it. They didn't want me to "waste" my miles on them but they've been talking about their experience ever since, so it was totally worth it!

That is my dream, to fly that route and in first class. I rarely experience that type of class on flight and to have an opportunity for a long haul is a dream. Thank you for sharing! Now to win the lotto 🙂

@ JMR -- Right?! She was really excited about that!

@ Troy -- You'd think so, but it wasn't proactively offered. And as y'all know (or are learning), I hate asking for things.

@ Gaurav -- Thanks!!

@ Makalo -- You can definitely use ExpertFlyer, or just check space on the Alaska website.

@ Mitch -- Sounds awesome! We took my in-laws to Japan last year, and they *loved* the Park Hyatt. The pool at sunset was especially popular 🙂

@ R B -- Thanks!

Memories for life... Way to go Tiffany!

Sorry if I missed it but what miles / points did you use to book this flight?
Thanks

@ Patrick -- No worries! I used 100k Alaska Mileage Plan miles for each of us, and then Singapore KrisFlyer miles for the return.

Great to see how much fun your mom was having and how she appreciated all the little luxuries. Nice touch to share the video of your mum and her reaction. She seems like a wonderful and fun lady. My dream flight would be to bump into you, your mum, Ben and his dad at the bar and toast with you as a thank you for all the great reports and hours of enjoyment and the thousands of dollars I have saved from reading this blog.

@Tiffany. Such "straight from the heart" article . Love it. !! Question- between Etihad and Emirates is the mileage redemption the same using Alaska points?

Andrew

@ BHill -- Aww, that was sweet, thanks!

@ Andrew F -- Thanks! You actually can't redeem Alaska miles on Etihad though, only Emirates.

But did your mom take a shower? And if so I want to hear what she thought! 🙂

Just had my first Emirates First Class experience on this route a little less than two weeks ago, also with a relatively light load in F (3 of 14). I would agree the service isn't as polished or anticipatory as you'd have on Singapore or Cathay, but it was good and didn't detract at all from the experience.

Hey Tiffany, great report here!

I was looking forward to a little section (probably found at the end) that you promised, "...and what I’d do differently the next time", and I believe this could apply to special flights like EK F (especially the EK A380 F).

Is there anything different you would have done to enjoy your EK F flight?

Emirates First Wi-Fi Tip: Don't bother with it if you're flying polar routes, which is what pretty much all of the transatlantic flights are. On the equatorial routes, funnily enough I've been able to carry out VoIP calls. And the web surfing is decent, too.

I absolutely loved reading this. Your mom sounds like a hoot! This also has given me an idea to travel with my dad.

Awesome post Tiffany, I'm loving your style of writing. Looking forward to the rest of your trip report 😀

Thank you for a lovely report with a personal touch!
Now I sense a challenge coming up... can Ben shave his legs, in an Emirates shower suite, up to the same standard as you?

OK the lemon thing cracked me up because I could totally see members of my family saying something similar.

Awwwh Tiffany 🙂

Your mom is lovely (but I guess that is no surprise given how you come across - like mother, like daughter), so glad you had such a great trip.

I have posted here previously that I put Emirates 777 somewhat ahead of it's A380, because service felt more personal on the 777 (and I'm not so wowed with the shower as some, while still loving the First bathroom on the A380 - so much space!). I've changed my mind however, as I've recently had another Emirates A380 flight and noted that their A380 ICE now offers English Closed Captions on some of the English language movies (which, being hard of hearing, I really appreciate) - something the ICE system on the 777 doesn't offer (and the range of movies is extensive on the A380, more limited on the 777).

I've got another ultra long haul Emirates A380 First flight coming up later this year, and much looking forward to it now. Now, if only Etihad would follow suit and offer English closed captions for their English language movies on E-Box...

Great post, Tiffany. This blog would definitely be less without you (and Nick and Travis).

Tiffany
Your way of describing is straight forward and clear. I totally laughed out loud at the lemons comment.
Keep up the great writing. I cannot imagine this blog without your writings and your comments

Hey Tiffany,

Great trip report ! I really like the way you focus on different aspects of the trip than Lucky .Really looking forward to reading more about your trip.

Thanks for sharing,
Andrew

You're a good daughter Tiffany and glad to see your Mom enjoy herself so much. I think we all tend to get a bit jaded and this is a refreshing perspective.

Just one question; occasionally when looking for space on the Alaska website, mixed cabin itineraries show up. What is the deal with that?

One a slightly different, more #firstworldprob note, is that a bottle of Hennessy Paradis I'm seeing in your photo? I recall reading that they were in the process of phasing those out on EK F. Perhaps that had a pretty large stock of them?

@ Tiffany -- that's awesome! Unlike you, I actually had a hard time getting my mom to start flying in premium cabins on miles but now she absolutely loves it (well, except a pretty horrible UA IAH-NRT flight after which she got even more appreciative of the SQ flights she usually takes). She shed a few tears on NRT-LAX flight (SQ R) but it was more because she hated leaving Japan.

BTW, does your mom fly domestic a lot? Mine travels mostly internationally directly out of Houston and she had a rude awakening flying LAX-IAH on a regional jet in "first". It was kind of amusing ("Why is the food cold?"; "Where is the menu?"; "Why is there only one course"; "Where the TV?").

@ Mitch / @ Tiffany -- PH Tokyo is pretty great (awesome views; nice bar), but don't forget to look into GH or Andaz. My mom & I stayed in suites at both PHT and GHT thanks to DSUs. I thought that GHT was slightly better but my mom didn't like PHT at all due to its dark/gloomy design, changing of elevators, hard beds, and she even preferred breakfast at GHT lounge as opposed to PHT restaurant. Can't speak of regular rooms but suites at GHT are also newer so have better technology (automated shades, better bathroom, etc.).

ZOMG I need to be best friends with your mother right now.

The razors on Emirates are amazing! I am on my last one from the 3 or 4 I swiped on my last flight. ;-). I wish I could buy some of these razors. Oh well, will just have to take another Emirates flight soon.

Tiffany, Somehow I'd missed this post. Makes sense as I was moving from Central America..... The video of your mom brought me to tears! FANTASTIC post!

Great Job!

Tiffany, Great review! I have a few questions about emirates as we've never flown. We too are based in Dallas so would be taking emirates from DFw to Dubai to JNB (South Africa). I wish we could pay for first class but are going to have to take economy. You mentioned this flight was pretty empty. is that fairly common for Emirates DFW to DXB route? same for the return? We would love extra room.

Fantastic review!! I fly this route at least 3x a year working in the Middle East as a contractor. I most recently flew this route in December going Business Class from DFW-DXB-BGW. I'm a Skywards Gold member, so the flight crew does a great job making sure you are happy. I've been flying Emirates since 2009, and them picking up both IAH and DFW makes going home a fairly easy trip.