Day 1 – Does it really feel as an upgrade?

Emirates has won the Skytrax World Airlines Award for best airline several times and received Tripadvisor's Traveler's Choice Award last year as the best airline in the world. A few weeks ago the latest generation aircrafts were presented having private suites in first class, some including showers. Absolute luxury.

Nowadays they advertise with a funny commercial in which passengers use all possible tricks to try to get an upgrade with their airline. But would not it be better to choose Emirates, which is already an upgrade in itself?
Since  first class is just a little too expensive for my budget, there is only the economy class left, but the best in the world ... or so they say. Time for a test.

Emirates flies twice a day directly from Brussels to and from Dubai. The outward flight takes about 6 hours, the return flight about 7 hours.

I am getting ready for what I hope will be an extraordinary experience. But the first disappointment follows when it turns out that I can only take 20 kg as hold luggage. With other companies, the standard for long-haul flights is at least 23 kg. In the Emirates you do not really need  a warm outfit in winter, but still. Every woman wants to be prepared for everything: every day a new outfit, a dress for the evening, more conservative clothing for the more conservative places, a sweater for the slightly cooler evenings in the desert ... and rain clothing because there can always be a shower. But in my head that rain translates into a flood of biblical proportions. 20 kg for a week Emirates may be a little too limited for me 😊. Still, I end up around 15 kg. The Emirates app seems catchy and convenient to use, especially to check in online. I get updates about check-in time, opening of the gate and even a notification when the luggage has been boarded. A  reassurance.

On the plane I always try to get an aisle seat. This mainly has to do with the physique of a woman and especially with the smaller bladder. This way I can do my toilet visits without disturbing people and, most importantly, stand up once in a while and take a walk. During long flights it is important to stretch the legs. Speaking of the toilets, these are beautifully decorated. The wall decoration seems to consist of mosaic pebbles, the cupboards seem to be made out of marble and mahogany wood. On closer inspection it is only plastic but it has something luxurious and, more importantly, the toilets remain immaculate throughout the flight. And believe me, it is used regularly. The second disappointment follows when I arrive at my seat. The legroom appears to be as limited as with other airlines.  I had expected that Emirates would make the difference here.

That difference has to be somewhere, so I eagerly look forward to the service. The beautiful uniform of the cabin crew is something that immediately stands out when you board. The headgear goes out during the service, but what remains is equally striking. From ear to ear smiling staff from all over the world. On this flight, the staff speaks no fewer than 8 different languages, including French and Dutch. Nice to be addressed in your own language even if you do not fly with the homecarrier. Before lunch, the staff first comes around for drinks. That can be something refreshing, but also wine or spirits. Or a combination of these. Even whiskey is offered and because only soft drinks, water, juice or wine are served during the meal, you will receive a double portion.

The lunch is standard, as everywhere served on a plastic tray with plastic and folio dishes. Nothing new under the sun, with the exception of the real cutlery. Always nice to cut your meat really well. The bottles of wine are of a good size. The meal itself is not special, but tasty and certainly more than sufficient. While the cabin crew keeps on serving drinks after dinner, including a glass of wine, it's time to try out the award-winning entertainment system. ICE was specially designed for Emirates and has won the prize for best system every year. No less than 3,000 channels are presented with among other things, just released films as well as old classics, new episodes of popular series, live news broadcasts from BBC World and CNN. On top of that, major sporting events such as the Champions League or Grand Slam tennis tournaments are also broadcasted live. This is done by using satellite signals. These are also used for something else : WiFi and roaming. Emirates offers economy-class passengers a free WIFI bundle of 20 MB that is valid for 2 hours. Just enough for a few WhatsApp messages or a status update on Facebook. Afterwards you can take one of the paying packages including the most expensive of 50 MB that costs 15.99 EUR. Roaming is also possible, but is not cheap.

     

But the most spectacular feature of  the system is the flight tracker. It is the most beautiful and advanced system that I have seen sofar. It takes the flight tracker to the next level. You can choose with which outdoor camera you want to follow the flight (with the front camera you have the view as they also have in the cockpit), you can also opt to follow the instrument board of the pilots via a simultaneous simulation and there is also the flightroute that you can follow in 1001 ways. Really a good system and more than worthy of his reward.

   

This is all fun of course, but for me there is only one thing that counts: the training of the staff and how they deal with our safety. As soon as a small medical problem arises on board, where a nose bleed turns into a real massacre, the cabin crew is alert, competent and decisive. I have other experiences, where a medical emergency ended fatally due to the totally incompetent staff. It only suggests the excellent training at Emirates and that is the most important thing. Technical gadgets, fantastic service, lots of leg room, good food, showers and a great experience are what they are. In the end there is only one thing that counts: a safe landing at destination.

One more tip: Dubai is the hub of Emirates. From here you can fly to all continents. Thanks to Emirates, Dubai has become the third largest airport in the world. Emirates offers passengers a free overnight stay with a stopover of more than 6 hours. Even though the airport is big enough, you do not have to stay overnight. Maybe also an opportunity to explore Dubai, even if only a tip of the veil is lifted ...