I had been wanting to fly on Emirates Airlines for years but didn’t aggressively pursue it until recently. I just came back from an awesome trip and experience in Dubai which I’ll discuss in other posts and vlogs. The airline that I chose to fly from Lisbon, Portugal to Dubai was Emirates Airlines.
I booked an economy class round-trip ticket on Emirates which was simple, straightforward and no issues on their website. Of course, as I often discuss, I joined the rewards program immediately upon booking my ticket and downloaded the app. I always want to be rewarded with any upgrades, discounts, and reward tickets as much as possible. Always… I mean always join an airline’s rewards program even if you think that you may never fly on them again. Chances are that you will either fly on them or one of their partnered airlines and alliance affiliation where you may be able to use your rewards or points.
Now, back to my flight on Emirates. Let’s me start with my arrival to the Emirates Ticket Counter in Lisbon’s Humberto Delgato Airport. I arrived three hours ahead of my departure time. I am already not a fan of the layout of Lisbon’s Delgato Airport, but I’ll address that in another article. Anyway, because I’m very familiar with the airport having flown in and out of it frequently since I’m a Portugal resident as an expat, I knew where the boards were to direct you to the check-in counters which is divided into sections A-F. My check-in counters for Emirates were D82-89. When I arrived at the D82-29 check-in counters there was a sea of people everywhere. It was difficult to see exactly which line I was supposed to be in, but luckily, I went directly to the right line, which was for those of us who completed an online check-in. You would think with an online check-in the process would flow quickly. This was not the case. I was in line for over an hour before I reached the counter for them to check my passport, COVID-19 vaccination requirements, weigh and drop my luggage.
The ticket agent who waited on me was nice, professional and it didn’t take her long to get me checked in and on my way. However, at the end of our interaction she tells me that boarding starts in 30 minutes and the doors of the plane closes 20 minutes before the flight. She then stated that it was a 25-minute walk from where I was which I was familiar with, but I still had to go through security and immigration which can sometimes take a long time. Luckily, the security line wasn’t that long, and I was able to quickly zoom through immigration through the “smart gates” which I’ll discuss in other posts. So, I hurried through and continued my long walk to the gate and got there with minutes to spare before they started boarding due to my OJ Simpson dash through the airport (for those of you OG who are familiar with OJ Simpson’s Hertz Rental Car commercial of the yesteryears). Once at the gate, they announced that there was a delay and boarding wouldn’t start for several minutes.
Once they started letting people into the gate area, they divided the areas because there were a lot of passengers and what looked to be a completely full flight on the Emirates 777-ER. The division now seemed to cause more issues as there was another line formed that appeared to be for some additional checking, however it wasn’t. Therefore, many people were in and out of that line once we figured out what the line was for. Emirates and the Lisbon airport didn’t do an effective job on this aspect for the passengers, but I digress.
Finally, I’m on the plane in my window seat. Passengers kept boarding and boarding and boarding. The plane was completely full. There goes hoping that there would be space between passengers.
So, my departure on Emirates was a bit chaotic, hectic, rushed, and unorganized but wait, the return flight was a totally different scenario.
After having an amazing time in Dubai, I was able to upgrade to Business-Class. This experience was far greater than my Economy-Class experience traveling from Liston to Dubai. So let me explain my return trip in Business-Class.
First, I left my hotel 3 ½ hours before my flight to allow plenty of time to the airport and then through all of the processes to get to my gate. I was able to get from my hotel to my gate to await for my flight in one hour. This one hour includes traveling from my hotel in a taxi, checking-in with documents (I checked-in online already so the process was fairly quick), dropped off my luggage, went through security, rode the airport train to the terminal and walked to the gate, all in one hour. I still had 2 ½ hours before my flight departed, so I was able to just relax.
I must point out a few notable mentions. When arriving at DXB there’s a totally separate huge area designated for Business Class and First-Class travelers. It seemed like a terminal just for Business Class and First Class. There were multiple stations for Business Class and First-Class passengers to check-in. This area was immaculate. Well, DXB is a nice airport, so this just added to the overall experience.
When it was time to board, the process was simple, straightforward, efficient and effective. First-Class, Business-Class and High-Level Medallion passengers boarded at the same time through the front door of the 777-ER followed by economy classes entering through the second door. Business and First-Class was practically empty, and to be honest…..I loved it! I believe there may have been 4 or 5 of us in Business-Class and none of us were seated anywhere near one another. The Business-Class Seat was comfortable and of course there was plenty of leg-room. There were only a few passengers in First-Class as well.
To give perspective and context to the seating on the aircraft, Emirates 777-ER Seating Configuration is as follows:
First-Class: 1-2-1 = 4 across
Business-Class: 2-3-2 = 7 across
Economy-Class: 3-4-3 = 10 across
Once onboard and settled, I was offered a drink (orange juice, pineapple juice or mimosa.Next was the hot towel service.After we were in the air we were able to make our selection from the menu provided for a starter (appetizer) to be followed by the main course.I chose the seared salmon, served with fennel salad with red onions and pickled caper berry for my appetizer and jumbo butter prawns in a cream sauce with basmati rice for my main course.It was very tasty and succulent to say the least.I was more than pleased with the appetizer and main course.
Later we were served another light meal followed by a scorching hot towel that concluded the cabin service.
I most certainly enjoyed my Business-Class experience on Emirates and look forward to experiencing this service again. I’m also looking forward to experiencing the First-Class service on Emirates’ A380. I will post about it when I experience their First-Class product aboard their A380. Until then, let’s continue to TROT THIS GLOBE!!!
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