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Emirates First Class is ALWAYS the talk of the town. Their business class was the first ever product I got to experience after discovering award travel. Why? I’m not sure. The marketing, the products, the iconic uniforms, the stories…. It felt like I was SUPPOSED to fly Emirates.
But this is not about business, this is about First Class. Emirates has 3 different experiences throughout their fleet. They have the legendary A380 with the SHOWER, the new GAMECHANGER, and then the “OLD, OUTDATED” product that you have seen for years online.
Emirates has such a big network that you can generally find “something” for “somewhere”. The only problem is, their fees are outrageous. I go into detail about booking Emirates First Class here. You could also just pay cash of course. I found a first class redemption from Dubai to Beijing in the 777 aircraft. It was the “old” product but felt grateful because it aligned with the my plans.
How much does Emirates first class cost?
This cost me 118,000 Emirates Points + $450 in fees. I know, it’s intense. Normally this would be too steep of a redemption for me but i HAD to try it. The cash ticket is currently $5,975 for every date I check.
After a connection in DXB, I headed to the lounge. The lounge actually felt quite outdated compared to some of the other ones I have experienced such as Qatar, Singapore, etc, but they are in the process of remodeling them. I immediately took the hottest, longest shower that anybody has ever taken in the Middle East. An airport shower is so unbelievably crucial.
Due to making myself almost pass out, I hydrated, got some food, and took a nap in the nap room. It was a solid lounge experience as expected. I decided to leave the flagship lounge and head to the other one that was closer to my gate. This one was WAY cozier with nice, giant windows to watch the planes.
Fantastic service as always, and a well stocked buffet of all cuisines. The employees were terrific, I was relaxing and looking at my phone and people just kept checking to see if i needed anything. Opted for a strawberry banana smoothie and it was excellent. What’s great about Emirates is that you will meet staff that is from EVERYWHERE in the world, it’s always a different story. Enough of the lounges, my time has finally come to board Emirates First Class for the first time.
I was escorted to my seat and introduced to the person taking care of me, I forget her name (very bad at names) but she was unbelievable. There was nobody else in First, similar to my ANA review (soon) so I was her responsibility for the 8 hour flight.
The seat had everything you could ever need or imagine. Snacks, drinks, tv, ipad, mirrors, flowers, 6 feet of leg room, pens to steal, but most importantly….peace. It was my own little space. You even put your carry on and other items in front of you inside of your pod. Received some pajamas, a tote bag, and an incredible amenity kit from BVLGARI,
Every 2 minutes this magical person just kept coming out of nowhere and giving me stuff. The arabic coffee was fantastic as always. I love those coffee pots. Dallahs? Not Sure the name. These are the flights you go “hopefully takeoff gets delayed 30 minutes” so you can enjoy more time there.
DOM PERIGNON
Emirates First Class champagne: It was time for the endless Dom P that I have seen in far too many youtube videos. Airlines do anything to be better than their competitor, so they go for the alcohol to get those those bonus points. For a long time I always thought luxury champagnes were “a joke”. But after being fortunate to try a bunch of different high end brands….I can confirm IT’S NOT. The elite/vintages are actually much much better than a random bottle you will find for $17. This was an enjoyable part of the experience.
Although time did not matter, we finally took off. The travel day to get me to Dubai was exhausting, so I told our new Australian friend that I wanted to sleep for a while, and she made the bed for me. Sounds pretty insane to even say that 30k feet in the air. If you have never slept lie flat on a plane before, it will ruin your life. There’s no going back. Especially this one particularly.
THIS WAS THE MOST COMFORTABLE BED I HAVE EVER HAD IN THE SKY. The mattress pad and pillow were incredible, and it was very wide. I’m actually wearing the Emirates pajamas as I write this. Unlike my Oman Air review I MADE SURE I asked her to please wake me up after a few hours (even though I could have slept for 12).
She was amazing because I said “how was your time? did you get to sleep too?” And she was like “yes but I actually went and helped out economy to pass the time after”. Emirates definitely hires the right people for the job.
Who knows what the actual real life time is, but it is now time for a very important event.
CAVIAR. This will be my first time ever having it. Was a little nervous because it would be selfish to waste if I wasn’t a fan.
The presentation was amazing. Little blinis, eggs, onion, cheese, sour cream, chives, more Dom, and a HEALTHY portion of Caviar. I personally have no idea what is costs “in the real world”, let alone this brand Emirates uses. To be completely honest, it’s pretty tasty. No clue what I was expecting going into it, but I would 100% eat again. Couldn’t even finish because the portion was outrageous. Next up was a lamb biryani. I LOVE biryani. It was delicious. The emirates catering passed the test for sure.
When you’re watching Harry Potter, eating caviar, and drinking Dom Perignon, sometimes you forget pictures. I didn’t realize I wanted to blog at the time, my apologies. If you’re reading this you have probably seen endless videos though, so we’ll be ok. You all really need to experience this.
There were times I would tell my attendant “Trust me, I’m perfectly content right now, don’t worry” and she just INSISTED I try a snack or a new drink. It was extremely nice that she wanted to give me the best possible service she could. I still do economy flights so will I never take these experiences for granted, but I never want to seem to needy or greedy with things I ask for….. Nothing worse than a pest/Karen in a luxury experience. As the flight was coming to an end, I became sad. Wasn’t even going to take the pajamas home due to depression, but she made me (thankfully).
We landed, I said my goodbyes, and I was the first one off. (Which was very beneficial to get through Beijing immigration).
Did this “OLD” product compete? 100%. It was amazing. The only downfall of the entire experience were the fees. There’s just no need for that. Yes, showering on a flight is a bucket list item for me, so I would have preferred an a380 flight, but I am so happy I got to do it. There’s no way anybody would have been disappointed with that, good job Emirates.
Once again, I talk about how to book Emirates First Class here.