Emirates Review – Economy Class, GLA-DXB-GLA

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Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

  • TominScotland
    Participant

    This was my first journey with Emirates for about 8 years – I used to have Gold status with them but moved elsewhere for my travel in the intervening years. However, the fare for my short trip to Dubai were so competitive, I could not turn them down. As a (now) lowly Blue member, I was required to pay for my seating assignment in advance, travelling along on the outbound, I took my chance and waited until check-in opened 48 hours before the flight and managed to get a reasonable aisle seat in the middle block of 4 on the 10 abreast 777-300. I was able to print my boarding pass in advance as I intended to travel with hand luggage only. I was e-mailed with an offer to upgrade to business – 57,500 miles or, I think, £450. The miles interested me – at the rate I was earning for my Saver ticket, it would take something like 28 return trips between GLA and DXB to earn one upgrade – generous in the extreme!!

    I arrived at Glasgow Airport in good time for my 13.00 departure – the earlier of the two daily Emirates flights to DXB from GLA. Security was very quick and I went to the Upperdeck Lounge, using my Dragonpass. This lounge is also used by a number of airlines and has been greatly improved recently to offer reasonable F & B and free wifi. It is also possible to pay for entry.

    I went to the gate in plenty of time and was called forward to have my passport checked as I had not checked in downstairs. My wheelie and backpack were noted – “Emirates only permit one bag per passenger in economy” to which I smile and did not reply. No further discussion ensued….

    Boarding was relatively well organised by zone and I was soon in my seat 26G which is an aisle seat in the middle block of 4. The plane appeared full in business and economy. For an economy seat, 10 across, the seat is certainly not bad, given that this was a day flight. Legroom is good but there is a bit of a squeeze width-wise but certainly more comfortable in this respect than, say, QR’s 787. We pushed back on time and were soon airborne.

    Menus were handed out together with freshners, followed by a drinks run. My seat row was the last to be served and this showed when it came to the lunch service – the beef option was finished, leaving just chicken curry (as it happens, my choice) on offer. This, together with salad, cheese and biscuits and a very tasty sweet, actually made for a very palatable meal.

    I was planning to work and do some leisure reading so plugged myself into Emirates fantastic nostalgia kick, chart toppers from as far back as the early 50s. I indulged myself in plenty of late 60s and 70s stuff which had me tapping away as I worked, to the amusement of the lady next to me. Soft drinks were served regularly during the flight and, about an hour out, ice cream filled a gap.

    We landed about 15 minutes early and disembarkation was slowish but orderly. Once off the plane, the walk was quite long. I was able to use the e-gates and was into a taxi reasonably quickly and heading to my hotel in Dubai Marina.

    On the return, I was travelling with a colleague and, since we both were looking for an aisle seat, we were lucky enough to find two alongside each other. We were dropped at t3 at about 5.30 for our 7.20 flight. As we had not printed our boarding passes and planned to check our bags, we joined a short queue and were through very fast. My colleague is an Emirati so we both availed of the GCC desk at Passport Control, avoiding quite a long queue. Security was rapid. We made our (long) was to the Marhaba Lounge (thanks, again to my Dragonpass) which was surprisingly good, not up to Emirates standard but a very good range of hot breakfast items (omelettes, sausages, vegetables, beans, mushrooms etc.), cereal, fruit, cold options and drinks. We remained in the Lounge until the flight showed ‘Boarding’ – there are no announcements – and we had enough time to make our way to the gate, allowing my colleague stop for prayers en route. We were among the last to board.

    I was in 34H, a similar seat to the outbound but, as luck would have it, there were 2 free seats next to me – a bonus for work and relaxation. We were about 15 minutes late pushing back, after waiting for errant passengers who did not turn up (my lost neighbours?) and had to queue a while for take-off.

    Once airborne, a continental breakfast – I ate the fruit and had a coffee. Same diet of work and leisure reading, with a period on my laptop as well – plenty of room for that – plus music again. My colleague was able to sleep undisturbed for about 4.5 hours until her neighbours looked to stretch their legs. Lunch was my first taste of Christmas (see below!!) – turkey, cranberry jus (!!!), mashed potatoes and veg, followed by Christmas pudding. Probably not the best festive meal I will taste this month but full marks for trying…. (edited to add: not sure why the picture is upside down?)

    We landed about 10 minutes late and left the plane reasonably quickly. The EU queue was much longer than the non-EU one so my colleague got through faster than me. No matter, our bags were among the last out!!

    Verdict? Very satisfied at the price I paid. Service was friendly and helpful throughout both flights. Food was decent, especially on the way out. lounge access certainly made the journey better. Dubai T3 is much better and more efficient than T1 – I wonder why??

    Would I use this route again – probably unless I needed oneworld tier points!!!!

    I wondered whether anyone from Emirates would comment on my return (as ex-Gold) after the 8 year gap. Clearly the Emirates information system does not carry this information or they were not so interested!!


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    Nice review.

    Emirates has grown enormously in the past 8 years, so you are probably a long forgotten memory as a GCH!

    It’s all about now, now, now with Emirates.


    SimonS1
    Participant

    The turkey must be this month’s thing as they had it on Friday’s Gatwick too.

    I doubt EK would be interested in the ‘8 years ago I was Gold’ bit. Sounds like history to me.


    JohnHarper
    Participant

    Isn’t being a gold eight years ago faded glory?

    Just think you could have paid more to fly BA, transit T5 and have your status recognised as well as enjoying an ‘ambient’ snack for one of the meal services on your flight. You have missed out!

    Then again, you upgraded to Emirates and I’m glad you enjoyed it.


    canucklad
    Participant

    Good review Tom, With QR and EY now flying from EDI I don’t suppose EK will be on my radar anytime soon, when I head to HK.
    And wish the European carriers would become price competitive, thus avoiding the trek through the desert.
    And sadly, loyalty doesn’t count for much nowadays, never mind past loyalty : )


    TominScotland
    Participant

    Thanks, John and Canucklad. Certainly faded, even tarnished glory – I weep that my sense of irony/ humour obviously does not work on some…. I did not seriously expect recognition!!

    It is VERY unusual for Emirates to be cheaper than other options from Scotland, in my experience. For longer journeys, I find that one of KL, QR or BA will be better value, obviously depending on destination. For my next long haul booking to Oz, a BA/ Cathay combination works out about 30% cheaper than EK.


    1nfrequent
    Participant

    Really interesting review, Tom. That Christmas lunch looks pretty good for economy. 😉

    1F

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