Emirates is one of the most generous airlines in the world in first class. Of course the airline charges high fares and is trying to make money, but unlike many other airlines, the Dubai-based carrier seems to be more focused on revenue than on costs in premium cabins, which I really appreciate.
Along those lines, Emirates has just made a nice improvement to the champagne it serves in first class before takeoff. This might sound minor to some, but I think it’s more significant than many assume.
Emirates now serves Dom Perignon on the ground
While Emirates serves Dom Perignon in first class across its route network, this has historically only consistently applied in the air.
On the ground, Emirates has often served its business class champagne as the pre-departure alcoholic drink in first class. As I’ve written about in the past, airlines sometimes limit their alcohol selection on the ground, for pre-departure drinks.
In many countries, airlines have to pay taxes for the alcohol served on the ground, while that doesn’t apply in the air. Airlines take different approaches to pre-departure drink service — some don’t serve any alcohol, some airlines serve a watered down selection of alcohol, and some airlines serve their standard alcohol on the ground.
Within the past couple of weeks, Emirates has updated its policy, and has started serving Dom Perignon as part of the first class pre-departure service, so the airline no longer tries to cut costs there.
For context, Emirates has long served Dom Perignon on the ground in Dubai (given that the government owns the airline, so there were presumably no real taxes), but it is now also serving it on the ground at outstations that tax these drinks, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, etc.
Of course in some places, alcohol continues to be banned. For example, Emirates doesn’t serve any alcohol on flights to and from Saudi Arabia, and also doesn’t serve alcohol on the ground in the Maldives (but does inflight).
This is a minor but meaningful change
It might sound silly to even cover this, but I’ve long found this to be one of the only aspects of the first class experience where Emirates is cheap. For many people, a nice pre-departure glass of champagne is part of getting a celebratory flight off to a good start. However, I don’t know about you, but I can only drink so much alcohol, so I try to pace myself and be strategic. 😉
So when flying Emirates first class, I’ve long been conflicted. Do you enjoy a glass of the inferior bubbles while on the ground, or do you have a non-alcoholic drink, and save your “tolerance” for the good stuff? Now you no longer have to choose!
Like I said, Emirates really is in a league of its own when it comes to investing in the onboard first class soft product. Many airlines serve caviar in first class, while Emirates serves unlimited caviar. While many airlines have solid wine in first class, Emirates’ wine program is on a different level, as you’ll frequently find wines that retail for many hundreds of dollars per bottle.
Then there are the small ways that Emirates makes first class special, from the tote bag to take to the A380 shower suite, to a movie snacks menu, which is kind of adorable.
There aren’t many airlines that just keep finding new ways to make the first class soft product better. Emirates deserves credit for that (now if only the airline would actually install the first class product it introduced seven years ago on more than nine jets, but that’s a whole different topic).
Bottom line
Emirates is now consistently pouring Dom Perignon as its pre-departure champagne in first class. Previously the airline only served this before takeoff at airports that don’t tax these kinds of beverages. Minor as it may seem, I’m a fan of this change, as it’ll make it much easier to decide whether or not to have a glass of champagne before takeoff. 😉
What do you make of Emirates upgrading its pre-departure champagne?
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