I woke up at 4:00AM in my hotel room to a loud shrieking alarm. The Sydney to Dubai flight was scheduled to leave in two hours, and Emirates required its passengers to be checked in 90 minutes before departure. Exhausted from the night before, I hopped out of bed and quickly threw all my stuff in my carry-on.
I grabbed an Uber and arrived at the airport with a few minutes to spare. The check-in area was chaotic, filled with fellow sleep deprived passengers. After wearily grabbing my ticket, I headed straight to the gate.
An unpleasant long line at 5:30AM
Since this is the first flight out of the Sydney airport, the plane was ready for boarding. Once again, I was let in through a separate gate, and went from a horde of grumpy passengers, to walking alone.
I quickly boarded and sat in my now familiar 2K seat.
I was greeted by the flight purser, the person who is in charge of all the flight attendants on the plane, and was quickly offered a hotel towel, coffee and Arabic dates. I am usually not a big coffee guy, but the Arabic coffee really hit the spot. It tasted a bit like tea and jolted me awake.
Another flight attendant from India came over and offered me an Emirates tote bag that contained all the goodies for a First Class flight. There was a pair of pajamas, a luxury amenity kit in leather, slippers and an eye mask.
As the sun began to rise, we took off from Sydney and began our 13-hour journey to Dubai. I decided to get a quick breakfast before going to sleep. The purser happened to be from Australia, and provided first rate service throughout the flight.
The breakfast selection was surprisingly similar to the one I had for my short first class flight between Melbourne and Auckland.
Feeling like a zombie, I asked for which entrees were the fastest to make, and decided to get yogurt with granola and an egg omelet. In typical Emirates fashion, he listed five different types of yogurt to choose from. I decided to go with strawberry.
This meal was perhaps the first bland Emirates meal I’ve had, but since I was so sleepy and just wanted to fill up my stomach, it did the job.
After breakfast, I asked the purser if I could take an extra shower before sleeping, since in my rush to get the airport I skipped taking a shower at the hotel. I expected them to reject my request, because Emirates loads only enough water for one shower per passenger. After all each shower uses gallons of water, which could be very expensive for Emirates.
But surprisingly, he happily accommodated my request. Now I would be getting two showers on this flight. Score!
I quickly took my first shower. Even though I’m only half awake, I still crack a smile. After all, who can say they skipped their hotel shower to get one on the plane instead. I was done with my shower after twenty minutes, changed into my Emirates pajamas, and headed back to my seat.
Another amazing feature of the Emirates A380 is the automated blinds. To save the 1% from having to manually close the windows, all you have to do is press a button on your touchpad and all the blinds would go down.
Not only that, there are TWO blinds that go down on top of each other, to make sure that no light gets through to ruin your million dollar sleep. Overly excessive? You bet, but it’s a really cool feature nonetheless.
Note: Pictures were taken from another one of my flights, hence the flipped windows 😉
The lights were dimmed as most passengers were probably sleepy at this point.
A hallmark trademark of First Class is what is known as the turn down service. The flight attendant converts your seat into a flat bed complete with a mattress covering and real blankets like the one you would use at home. Of course, in true Emirates fashion, they give you not one but two full-sized pillows. I settled in quickly and closed the door.
As I laid there gazing at the ceiling, I felt like I was in a private room in the sky. Needless to say I quickly fell asleep. It was truly the most comfortable airplane “bed” I’ve ever slept in. After about six hours, I woke up and felt completely refreshed, as if I was waking up in my own apartment.
The seat felt like a real bed
Upon waking up, I was a bit thirsty and headed over to the famous Emirates A380 bar, which serves both First and Business Class passengers.
When I first saw the bar, I was amazed. It looked exactly like the commercials I have seen on TV, and dare I say, even classier than most bars on the ground. The A380 bar was fully stocked with your standard selection of mid-range alcohol.
The attendant manning the bar was a gorgeous blonde; she looked like she was straight out of a model casting. The bar was almost empty because everyone was still sleeping, even if the sun was out in its midday force.
There were benches on each side so that passengers could relax and socialize.
The Australian flight attendant, noticing that I was taking pictures, asked if I wanted to take a photo behind the bar, and I graciously accepted her offer.
Pouring some Hennesy
Since it would be my first time in Dubai, I asked her where the nightlife hotspots are. She quickly started listing them off by heart. It seems like the flight crew here like to party!
She also asked me what I did, and I meekly said I run a small business. She interjected and said it’s not small if I was flying in First Class. I laughed a bit. Little did she know I was pulling off this crazy trip for a mere $300.
After a few drinks, I began to get hungry again and headed back to my seat to grab dinner.
Unlike breakfast, this was a true five course meal. During the time when I was in the bar, the crew’s shift had changed, and a new flight attendant from Kenya took my order. She looked a bit familiar; turns out she’s on a couple of Emirates advertisements. You don’t get that every day.
For my appetizer, I started with caviar.
After I finished my caviar, the flight attendant I was talking to earlier at the bar stopped by with my shrimp appetizer. Then, she handed me a list of all the happening places in Dubai. The list contained ten to fifteen bars and clubs, and she proceeded to tell me which places are best to grab a drink. Now that’s what I call perfect service!
The shrimp appetizer was excellent.
The pumpkin soup was creamy and you could still see the butter used to flavor the soup.
The beef and mashed potatoes were a bit dry, but perfectly fine for a meal onboard a plane. However, it definitely was a bit of letdown, considering how great the appetizers were.
I finally finished with dessert, a bit undercooked and cold, but still was delightful.
At this point, I was truly stuffed, and felt like I gained ten pounds. To help digest I decided to grab a drink. I asked for a glass of Hennessey Paradis, the most expensive bottle of alcohol served by any airline, with an average retail cost of $700.
I decided to sip on my Hennessy while enjoying the gorgeous live view from the A380 tail cam.
A very cool feature of the A380 is the iPad-like controller. This allows you to browse through entertainment, select your seat position, and ask for a refill of champagne.
The entertainment system was extensive. With so many movies to choose from, it was like having your own personal movie theater.
After watching a movie and a couple of TV episodes, coupled with a few more glasses of Hennessy Paradis, I asked the flight attendant to prepare the shower again.
Fully awake and buzzed, this was my best Emirates shower experience ever. It was so good I even decided to dance for the camera 😉
The shower had the perfect temperature. I noticed there was rose placed in middle, another nice touch.
Afterwards, I headed back to my seat and found a fruit platter waiting for me.
I decided to continue my gluttonous binge and ordered even more food along with a refreshing mojito.
The beef was very dry, and was the first real bland piece of meat I had. However, the seafood was delicious. It seems like Emirates really does shine with seafood.
The red wine, however, made the beef much more palatable. Good wine always saves the day :).
We were soon close to arriving in Dubai. I decided to watch part of Interstellar, and ordered one last glass of Hennessy Paradis.
As we were descending, I got a glimpse of the amazing Middle Eastern scenery.
As usual, First Class passengers were let out first, and I bid the awesome crew goodbye. This was by far the best long flight I’ve ever taken. Not to mention I was able to score two showers, and a great insider’s list to all the Dubai hot spots. The entire crew was great from the purser to the flight attendants, who took amazing care of me.
I then headed off to Dubai, where my next adventures awaited.
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