Review: Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai B Concourse

"However, you can use the lounge even when departing from a different concourse."

Something I asked in Matt's post, but don't think I was clear in my questioning. Is the A lounge open to all first class passengers, regardless of plane type, or just A380 first class passengers, regardless of concourse? Ie, if you're flying first on a 777 from concourse B, can you still visit the A lounge?

@ wwk5d -- Plane type doesn't matter. 🙂

You were excited for your flight to Manchester?? No one ever wants to go their willingly - it's probably one of the worst cities in the UK.

From the pics the lounge doesnt look at all bad

I hope you tell us why on earth you went to Manchester???

You've obviously never been through DXB at a busy time... those first and business check-in counters can have two or three people waiting at each at times, with the lounges totally full too.

The B concourse business lounge is undergoing a refurb at the moment and I expect they'll do the same with the first lounge some time soon too.

"For whatever reason award tickets issued by Alaska show as staff tickets, so the computer seems to think they’re not eligible for lounge access."

That didn't happen to me when I was in the A lounge.

Lucky - firstly, as a long time reader i just want to say that your trip reports really stand out as superb, not just on this site but more generally. Reading this I realize why i remember why I've enjoyed reading your blog so much. I know you're very busy with other stuff, but here is at least one vote for more trip reports from you because I think that's the thing that makes this blog special.

This report also is very helpful for me because I'm about to decide whether to pay about $800 extra to fly first class on EK from DXB-BOM or to just do the whole trip (from JFK) in economy. Part of the reason was to experience the A380 experience and also the ground service in Dubai. I'm a bit concerned that the flight is too short to allow me to really enjoy the experience and now after what you say about the lounges I'm not sure they are all that special either. Unfortunately with work and family I rarely have the chance to fly these sort of aspirational products so thought i might try this. It seems Alaska miles cannot be redeemed for EK F from DXB unless it's to the US (or so i was told), so now I'm trying to figure out whether this is worth it.

I already got some helpful feedback on the Ask Lucky forum, but in light of this review would appreciate your thoughts.

Django

Definitely a massive airport lounge as expected from Emirates - Though the lounge does look to be outdated and rather giving the "old school vibe". But I prefer being there than anywhere else (terminal) ;). But I think Emirates should make it a priority to renovate the lounges with more state of the art installations and give it a refresh, which in the near future I could see that coming from them.

The shower rooms in the A First Lounge are better in that they are self-contained (sink, shower and toilet), but they are small and have very poor ventilation, so they end up not being all that nice.

How does Emirates not fly A380s to Miami - I don't think Emirates can be a leading A380 flier until it flies at least hourly service to every A380 handling airport in the world.

So seating for 1000 but usually about 50 in the lounge. Tons of food out. And you were there super early.

The question is how often they refresh the food. Do the breads and muffins stay out so long they get stale? Are they just tossing out tons of food? Were the other food options fresh?

Totally agree about the outdated B lounge. Then again at least its age gives it some character compared to the A lounge which I found overwhelmingly sterile. Had better food in B than A but those were about a year apart so not sure it's a fair comparison.

If you think the B terminal F lounge is out of date, you should see the one in Terminal C. The smoking portion of the Terminal C lounge is above the main lounge, with open air viewing to the floor below. Luckily smoke tends to rise. The food was pretty much the same in all 3 lounges, though, as one note of consistency.

I used this lounge on a recent stopover from YYZ to PER and was also completely underwhelmed! The furniture is tatty and the decor questionable, to say the least.

The only exception were the staff, who were beyond accommodating and helpful, which I've found to be typical of Emirates staff in general.

I wasn't aware that passengers departing from the B Concourse has access to the A Concourse lounge. If only this review was published a few weeks earlier!

Thanks for yet again another fantastic review Ben.

I wonder how much food they have to be throwing away every day....sad.

Lucky: love your reports and photos. Questions re Dubai airport. I'm flying from LAX - DXB on a 380 in first, short layover, then DXB - SEZ (Seychelles) on a 777, both on Emirates.
1. Do I correctly understand that I can use ANY Emirates 1st class lounge in Dubai (concourse A or B) while waiting for the DXB - SEZ flight?
2. You strongly prefer the concourse A Emirates 1st class lounge, correct?
3. Can you book spa treatments in advance of arriving at DXB?
Thanks, Mark

Lucky,

Thank you for your reviews. One polite suggestion! If you intending to continue publishing so many photographs, could you please consider using better equipment? Some of the images are so poor that they detract from your written content.