There Flying and There's Emirates First Class
After visiting Brussels and enduring flying the subpar experience that is Lufthansa Business class, I thought it might be good to see what the best of the best came to. Numerous bloggers have ranked it as either the world’s top or 2nd best first class, and I wanted to see how it stood up to the test. Spoiler: Wow.
Flight: EK 184
Departing: Brussels (BRU)
Arriving: Dubai (DXB)
Operated by: 777-300ER
Cabin: First Class (New Gamechanger Suites)
Check in and Ground Experience
Certain airlines have fantastic ground experiences, whether its a chauffeur from Air France to a massive bar from Lufthansa to the jacuzzi in Qatar’s lounge. Emirate’s ground experience was a disappointment, and indeed the weakest part of an overall amazing experience.
There was only a priority security line that included Emirates Skywards members, though this allowed me to quickly secure my golden ticket. I will cut it a bit of slack, as this isn’t the airline’s hub airport, and flights departing from Dubai have access to a fantastic lounge.
First class ticket
Emirates use the contract Diamond Lounge, which I understand is an improvement over the Priority Pass Lounge. All in all I would say this one of the better lounges I have been in, as I was a sucker for the chicken curry they served. Note that at least for the B gates version, it is located past the security checkpoint, besides the Starbucks.
Diamond Lounge
The lounge was tastefully modern and comfortable, incorporating natural vegetation to increase the sense of “home”. There were also more isolated seating for people to do work, and as such I spied several Lenovo Thinkpads. Funnily enough, several consulting firms are based at the airport, notably the blessed KPMG.
The food and drink was the definite highlight of the lounge: being Europe, there was both alcoholic and non-alcoholic items.
Bar
The cold food selection included meat, cheese, an impressive array of salads, and interesting an attempt at pudding.
Cold Option
This being Belgium, there was a selection of baked goods and sweets, although the Belgium waffle was not as good as I expected.
The hot option was rather tasty, which was bad news for someone like myself looking to maximize the onboard Emirates experience.
Food containers
Apologies for the short lounge review, but you didn’t come here to read about a Business Class lounge did you?
Seat and Cabin
Boarding was quick and efficient for business class and first class passengers, although it was a bit disappointing they didn’t stop boarding to walk you through like in Singapore Suites. I understand in Dubai Airport, Emirate’s hub, there is a separate bus for first class passengers.
Boarding
However, the walk did provide some amazing views of the Boeing 777-300ER! Emirates flies both Boeing and Airbus jets, with only the Airbus A380 providing the famous showers.
Boeing 777-300ER
The Emirates service began the second I actually stepped on the plane. Upon entering, I was directed to the First Class suites - what impressed me the most was that the 2 dedicated crew members looking after me didn’t even need to see my ticket to know who I was somehow. What was even more impressive was the sheer size of the suite.
Gamechanger Suite
The best way to describe this was that it was a miniature hotel room that you could totally control. I believe the suite was around 30 sqm, so no worries about not having enough space for your stuff! The suite was indeed fully enclosed, with both a door and a hatch to pass through food. However, my door unfortunately got stuck! The cabin crew graciously suggested I move to another suite, but I loved my 1K seat so much I opted to stay.
Door and Suite
However, it may have been more prudent for me to move, as the other windows seats have…virtual windows! They were unbelievably crisp, perhaps even crisper than the views outside of actual windows.
Seats
The ghaf, which is the UAE’s national tree, was adorned on the side of each of the 6 suites. For reference, please see below for the actual tree, which Bedouin nomads used to navigate the desert. Nowadays I believe they use Range Rovers.
Ghaf
Starting at the front of the seat, we can see the unbelievably clear In Flight Entertainment, along with a desk that contained a BYREDO Wellness Kit with various creams and lotions, along with writing materials.
The front of the seat also contained a massive desk that was used both for meal service and for work. To match this, the seat could be moved forward for ease of use.
Table
There is also a decorative bar, which is rendered pointless by the fact that you can order basically anything on demand. However, I absolutely understand the novelty factor of it! You can take anything from the bar, or ask to have your snack basket taken away or replenished.
Next up is the seat. This is probably the most comfortable seat I have ever had on an airplane, both in terms of sheer size and functionality.
It has several different modes, including takeoff, dining and sleep.
Full Recline
Speaking of additional functionality, Emirates also provided another mini control screen that controlled windows, lighting, even temperature. I had too much fun changing the different shades of the windows, the colors of the room.
Seat Controls
The seat also contained various charging outlets, along with an HDMI cable should you want to project your own entertainment.
Outlets
Note not all seats are created equal to the above: Emirates’s Business Class product is considered by many to be mediocre, although its economy product has been called above average.
Business Class
Economy
Amenities
This is where Emirates shines relative to its competitors. As soon as I got settled, I was given a pair of pajamas and slippers, along with an amenity kit by Bvlgari. The flight attendant was nice enough to give me a medium, although I had to go down to a small.
Amenities
And oh my goodness, were the pajamas and slippers comfortable. Emirates asserts that there is a special hydration fabric that incorporates Shea Buter and Argan Oil. I have no idea if it’s true, but it surely felt like it. You used to be able to buy them on the Emirates store, but unfortunately it is out of stock now.
Pajamas
The actual amenity kit was massive, and contained everything a passenger would (or would not) want in the sky. There were tissues, deodorant, a dental kit, comb, aftershave and razer, cologne and body lotion. This was on top of the stuff provided earlier! I did try the cologne, and loved it.
Cologne
Finally, the slippers. They contained just the right amount of padding, and were so comfortable I kept them for use at home.
Slippers
The fun didn’t stop there! Upon doing to the bathroom to change, I noticed that there were dental kits and luxury soaps and moisturizers. Seriously, one could live off the stuff provided.
I also want to give a shoutout to how clean this toilet is - that being said, having only 6 passengers maximum to take care of probably helps keep it clean.
Bathroom
As I finally got into my seat, the two crew members in charge of me provided me with some tea and dates: I was told dates are an essential part of welcoming people into one’s home in this part of the world, and so it was fitting to get one for my home for the next 6 hours.
Welcome Drinks and Food
Interestingly, did you know that “ties” that the male flight attendants wear are actually clip ons? This is to prevent aggressive passengers from…interfering with the flight attendants as they perform their duties.
Food and Drink
Emirates provides a truly amazing selection of dine on demand food and drink. It took a bit too long for me to choose what to get for dinner, because there is only one right answer.
Wine Menu
The “Ground” champagne was a respectable Veuve Clicquot, which retails for around $80 a bottle. However, the real treat was post takeoff (as Emirates doesn’t want to be taxed for ground champagne), which was the 2012 Dom Perignon, which goes for $300 a bottle. I did a blind taste test, and the Dom Perignon stood out as a well balanced champagne. Or I just lucked out :)
Dom Perignon
I endeavored my best to finish this whilst browsing the menu, as the crew told me that the excess champagne would be thrown away. Which I did whilst perusing the dine on demand menu.
The drink menu was extensive, and of course being Emirates pretty expensive. More on that later.
I started out with…what else but caviar! It came with all the trimmings, and was extremely good. Then again, I was several glasses of Dom in, so I presume everything would have tasted good.
Caviar
I decided to add a bit more Dom, which is how this iconic picture came to be.
Dom and Caviar
I then went with the Prawn Cocktail, which was very flavorful (unlike Air Canada’s starters).
Prawn Cocktail
I next chose the Beef steak. While the dish was good, I couldn’t help but feel that my beef was overdone (I had ordered it medium rare). What a travesty, I know.
Beef Steak
To make up for it, I went with the Prawn Machbous. It packed just the right amount of spice, but had too much rice on the plate for my liking. Funnily enough, when the flight attendants noticed I wasn’t eating too much of they rice, they offered to make a note to the catering crew to put more shrimp in the dish next time. Talk about service!
Prawn Machbous
To top it off, I ha the chocolate silk cake, along with two insane drink selections: Johnnie Walker Blue Label and Hennessy Paradis. Both were good, but not equal to the price tags they commanded on the ground.
Too much excess
All in all, it was a satisfying meal, especially considering I had drunk back my taxes and fees (a small portion of the overall ticket).
The Service
The Asian and Middle Eastern carriers typically battle it out for having the best service, with the US barely trying. I will say that the flight was made easier for the First Class attendants as there were 2 of them, and I would like to think I am not that demanding. Nevertheless, the service was outstanding. Both of the crew happily indulged my requests for random taste tests, endless Instagram pictures and requests to eat too much food. This may be because, as I was informed by the crew, they needed to staff economy for several years, take a requalifying business class course, staff business for several more years, then take another requalifying first class course. One of them curiously inquired to why I was typing on my laptop, and correctly guessed I was a consultant lol. The flight purser came by as well in the middle of the flight to ensure everything was alright, which it most certainly was.
Final Thoughts
I think I should have started with other first class journeys, as it probably goes downhill from here. The hard product was probably the best in the world outside of flying private: I truly felt as if I was the only one in my small section of the plane, with all my needs catered to. The fantastic food and drink menu was further enhanced by a friendly and helpful crew that probably was used to tourists gawking at the suite. If there was one piece for improvement, it would be the ground experience: Emirates ideally has a dedicated attendant at the arrival airport, and a dedicated security line on the ground. Regardless, if you can, I believe you should at least try Emirates First Class, just to have a few magical hours of loving it up in the clouds.
