A Thai influencer flew Emirates’ Airbus A380 first class on the carrier’s most economical route, and somehow received public criticism from… an Emirates flight attendant?! This is an interesting story…
Thai influencer maximizes short Emirates first class flight
A Thai influencer with 1.5 million followers on TikTok recently posted a video about her experience flying Emirates’ famous A380 first class from Bangkok (BKK) to Hong Kong (HKG). The 1,049-mile flight typically takes just over two hours, and is Emirates’ best value first class flight, with tickets often retailing for under $1,000.
The video went viral, and has been viewed nearly nine million times, as of the time this post is published. This influencer really went all-out on this flight, and changed into pajamas, took a shower, enjoyed a full multi-course meal including caviar, and even curled her hair.
The feedback from people was mostly positive, with one exception. Someone who used their real name and was clearly tied to Emirates (as a flight attendant) left multiple comments on the video, which can be described as passive aggressive, at best:
- “All this… 2 hours. 14 Passengers.”
- “She’s good at making clips. It looks like a DXB-SFO (Dubai to San Francisco) flight that takes 15 hours.”
- “Two hours, shower, eat, sleep. When did you sleep? I don’t know. You even had time to curl your hair. Please.”
The flight attendant got a lot of criticism for her comments, as many people came to the influencer’s defense. Below is a video that basically sums up the controversy.
My take on this Emirates first class controversy
Is the flight attendant’s feedback inaccurate? I mean, no, for the most part, it isn’t. Yes, she probably tried to make the flight seem longer than it is. And yes, the extent to which she maximized it probably added a bit of workload for the crew. And yes, social media makes many people act a certain way.
That being said, that’s also the passenger’s right, and it’s completely inappropriate for a flight attendant to call out a passenger in this way:
- At the end of the day, I’m sure Emirates loves the publicity it gets from videos like this
- Emirates’ first class experience is very much designed to be photographed and maximized, and that’s why the airline has so many gimmicks in first class
- All the passenger did is take advantage of the various services that Emirates markets
- She seemed to be enjoying herself, and wasn’t harming anyone
- You mean to tell me that people only post the highlights of their life on social media, and try to make it look perfect? No way! 😉
So while the feedback would’ve been snarky from anyone, it was especially inappropriate (and stupid) for a flight attendant to comment like this, while using her real name and even posting pictures in uniform. Honestly, that has to be one of the dumbest trends we’ve seen in social media — people intentionally connecting themselves to their employer, and then acting unreasonably rude.
Bottom line
A Thai influencer flew Emirates first class on the short flight between Bangkok and Hong Kong, only to be criticized in the comments by an Emirates flight attendant. The flight attendant accused her of creating an unreasonable workload for the crew, and of trying to make the flight seem longer than it is.
Yes, those things are probably true, but that’s also her prerogative. And criticizing a customer while obviously connecting yourself to the same company is a very bad idea if you want to keep your job.
What do you make of this Thai influencer situation?
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