Hi everyone! Welcome to the final leg of the Winter 2017-18 travel series! After a nice couple of days exploring Dubai, it was time for us to head back to New York flying on Emirates yet again. I have to say, this trip was one of the best trips that I've ever been on as I've been wanting to go to Dubai for years and I'm glad I finally got the chance to do so.
Also, the weather was especially beautiful during that time as it's bearable in the winter months, with pleasant sunny skies all around! Overall, I had an amazing time and I wouldn't mind taking another trip to Dubai in the foreseeable future. Anyways, without further ado, let's get to this report! ;)
Winter 2017-18 Trip Report Index:
1) 24 December 2017: CX845 JFK-HKG, B777-300ER, Business
2) 20 January 2018: CX653 HKG-BKK, A330-300, Business
3) 21 January 2018: EK377 BKK-DXB, A380-800, First
4) 25 January 2018: EK207 DXB-JFK, A380-800, First
Pre-flight
Due to the fact that there were about 4-5 flights that depart for New York from Dubai, it was initially quite difficult to select a flight, especially with the choices are at all times of the day! After a few days, my family and I ultimately came to a mutual decision that we would depart in the afternoon. Hence, we were able to get seats for flight EK207, which departed at 3:00 PM. I would say that this would be a good flight as we would land in New York in the evening, and we would get to experience the afternoon flight as this, along with the return flight EK208, were going to stop operations sometime in March 2018. This would leave EK to operate 3 daily flights to New York, including the one via Milan.
Since we had scheduled the chauffeur to pick us up from the hotel at around 11:30 AM, I ended up waking up at 9:00 AM to enjoy my breakfast on my last day in Dubai before doing the routine of freshening up, doing some last-minute packing, and checking out from our hotel before ultimately heading to the airport.
The only reason why we ended up leaving at 11:30 AM in the first place is because we knew that DXB Terminal 3 is extremely massive, and I wanted to check out the terminal as much as possible before proceeding towards the flight. We ended up making it to the airport with enough time to check-in and go through security and immigration.
Premium departure drop-off at Dubai International Airport, Terminal 3
Emirates First and Business Class check-in
Walking down the red carpet! ;)
Special check-in area for US-bound flights
Before actually checking in, there were questions being asked about our stay as well as our bags, which is a normal procedure for flights departing for the US.
Once that was done, we were able to check-in, where the whole process took less than 10 minutes. Before I knew it, our bags were immediately checked in all the way to New York.
It was quite a long walk in order to get to security, but at least I was able to check out more of the pre-security area as well as the business class check-in counters.
Finally making it to security
Post-security
Since our flight was departing from Concourse A, it meant that we had to take the automated people mover (APM)
Taking an elevator leading to the APM
Even though it was only a short distance, it felt like a long trek from my standpoint
After 5 minutes, we made it to the APM, from then we were on our way to Concourse A, which is dedicated specially for Airbus A380-800s.
An interesting concept
Heading towards Concourse A
Concourse A "lobby" area, where the actual terminal can be accessed through an escalator or elevator
One thing I knew from the start of this trip was that everything was massive at DXB!
Fountain display behind the elevators
We decided to take the escalator towards the concourse
IMO, I would say that Concourse A was like any other airport terminal I've been to, but I must say that it has its own charm. In particular, it has an extensive range of duty-free products, and shops.
More shots of Concourse A
An interesting display!
A Porsche 911 Carrera inside the terminal!
Now, time to head to the lounge!
First Class lounge entrance, which looked really grand!
Lounge lobby
Soon after, my family and I were given a tour of the lounge, which filled up most of the concourse. I have to admit, I was quite impressed with the layout, especially with the space! It was very obvious that this lounge was recently renovated if I'm not mistaken. Also, it has a wide range of amenities including a spa, business centre, cigar bar, quite area, kids' zone, and shower facilities!
I know I've been raving about this lounge just like I did for the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at LHR (Link can be found here), but this lounge in DXB takes things to another level!
Map of the lounge, which is very useful
Business centre
Duty-free options at the lounge, which can be perfect for last-minute purchases!
View of the concourse from the lounge. I believe the business class lounge is a level above from the first class one.
Signs to the lounge facilities
Quiet area, perfect for those with long layovers in DXB
FIDS
After my exploration of the lounge, my family and I went to the dining area and checked out some of the catering options
Dining Area
Just like I expected, Emirates lounges had an amazing selection of food and beverages! Just like any other lounge, there were à la carte options as well as choices from the buffet!
Boarding pass
Lunch and Dinner menu
Drink menu
Since I couldn't decide what to get, I ended up getting food from the buffet and from the menu!
My buffet choice - Stir fried chicken in with black bean sauce and some Korean fried noodles. It was exemplary!
Virgin Mojito
My à la carte dish, wild mushroom risotto, which was surprisingly really delicious!
Seating area
More shots of the lounge
One thing I love about Emirates First and Business Class is that you can board directly from the lounge!
After spending more than an hour in the lounge, we headed towards the gate which was not that far of a walk
Time to fly back home after such an amazing holiday!
Taking the elevator towards the aerobridge
Before boarding, there were secondary security checks along with the inspection of our electronics, which took less than 2 minutes
I'm excited yet again!
Plane to JFK: A6-EEH
Well, time to board!
Some pre-flight information:
Date: 25 January 2018
Airline: Emirates
Flight Number: EK 207
Route: Dubai (DXB) - New York (JFK)
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800
Registration: A6-EEH
Distance: 6844 miles
Scheduled Departure Time: 3:00 PM
Actual Departure Time: 3:47 PM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 8:40 PM
Actual Arrival Time: 8:44 PM
Flight Time: 14 hrs 40 mins
Departure Gate at DXB: A15
Arrival Gate at JFK: A7
Inflight
As soon as I entered the first class cabin, I was lead to my seat by one of the cabin crew members.
Emirates A380 First Class
My suite, 4K
Suite features
The first thing I noticed was that the entertainment screen and the tablet looked much wider and newer compared to my previous flight from Bangkok!
View from my seat
Tablet and mini-bar
Welcome drink - Orange juice
Another peak at the business class cabin
I think Emirates crew members are quite familiar with aviation geeks like me, and I ended up talking with two of them during the beginning of the flight about how excited I was to be onboard an Emirates A380 yet again! I've said it before and I'm going to say it again: I'm loving this flight already!
I was then handed a bag, consisting of the amenity kit, slippers, eyemask, and a set of pyjamas
The inside of the amenity kit
The massive amount of legroom
I'm definitely going to enjoy these next 14 hours onboard!
The pleasant sight of the tail camera
Exploring the inflight info section before takeoff
Menu pages
Flight info
Seat controls
Duvet and mattress
Once boarding was complete, the captain came on with the pre-flight welcome and a welcome by the multinational crew. He advised us that we would be a slight delay in arriving to New York by a few minutes due to heavy departure traffic in Dubai, which was expected.
A few minutes later, the crew came back around the cabin again with dates
Along with some Arabic coffee
Hot towel
Cabin views.
I was quite surprised to see a light load in both first and business class
More shots of my suite
Views from pushback
Right in-front is an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, A6-EGF, which arrived from DUB this morning as EK164
Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, A6-EPS, which arrived from DKR this morning as EK795
Emirates Boeing 777-300, A6-EMR, currently on standby which will serve as EK544 to MAA later on
Taxiing towards Runway 30L
A really cool helicopter that I knew I had to take a photo of
More tail camera views
Runway in sight
Before I knew it, we lifted off from Runway 30L in the blink of an eye!
High above the clouds!
Thanks for everything, Dubai!
Approximately 15 minutes after takeoff, once the seat belt sign was off, I decided to head on to the famous first class bathroom.
Fascinating art of the Dubai skyline
The shower!
Stairs leading to the lower deck
The bar area with a variety of drinks, located in front of the first class cabin
An overall cabin view
Soon after, I went back to my seat, where I was greeted by another crew member who handed me a menu. I was again familiar with the "whatever you want, whenever you want" dining concept from my previous flight
Drink menu
Menu for today's flight
Cruising above Iran
Just as I expected, the tablet was quite quick and responsive. Thus, making it easier to control
I headed to the lounge/bar area located just behind business class a few moments later
Onboard lounge
Seating area
View of the wing
Once again, the bar looked newer and refreshed compared to my previous flight from Bangkok
Checking out the business class seat yet again. I was not surprised when I found the cabin to be mostly empty on this flight too.
Legroom
Business class inflight controls and features
Business class cabin
I then headed back to my seat to enjoy the rest of the flight!
Noise-cancelling headphones along with the case
Power outlet onboard
Controlling the inflight entertainment with the tablet
Adjusting my seat
I decided to explore the inflight entertainment once I got back to my seat.
I've said this previously, but "ICE" has a wide variety of choices ranging from movies, TV shows, music, and more!
Time to continue where I left off!
Orange fizz, with kettle cooked chips
View of the engines
Cabin views
After a couple of episodes, I thought it was time to try out the meals. From then on, the crew delightfully took my dinner order, set up the table, and told me it would take approximately 25 minutes to prepare.
Table setup
Caviar to start things off
Tomato soup
I did end up waiting a few additional minutes for the main course to be ready, but it was worth the wait!
Another orange fizz
I ended up getting prawns with garlic, coriander, along with herb butter sauce, seasoned vegetables, and steamed jasmine rice. I have to admit, it was one of the best meals I've ever had on any flight I've been on! I mean, the the portion was perfect, and the butter sauce truly is a nice complement to the prawns. I mean, it was just perfect!
The next thing I knew was the cabin lights changed, ultimately leading to complete darkness.
A dark cabin. The illuminated stars a nice touch as always!
Once I was done with my main course, I ended up getting some dessert: chocolate cake with apricot compote
Afterwards, I switched to the inflight map to find out our current location
Cruising above Russia, with approximately 10 hours left of flying time.
I ultimately went to the lounge again and got something to drink yet again!
Drink selection
Seating area
Strawberry-infused mojito
Galley area with stairs leading to the lower deck
After approximately 5 minutes, there was some light turbulence. Hence, the seat belt sign came back on. Luckily, the seating area has seat belts, thus giving me the opportunity to chat with some passengers sitting next to me, who were also in the bar area in order to pass the time. I must say, I feel the lounge onboard Emirates is an amazing place to socialise and make connections!
Orange fizz
Lounge with mood lighting
Once everything started to smooth out and the seat belt sign was switched off, I ended up getting yet another drink at the lounge since I was already having the time of my life! This time, I went for a virgin cucumber gimlet. It was very refreshing and I would highly recommend it!
I was there for another 10 minutes. This was when I finished my drink and headed back to First as I had already scheduled my shower.
Business class cabin with mood lighting
First class cabin in complete darkness
Soon after, I was on my way towards the spa and ready to take a shower. The experience was amazing as always! As soon as I was done freshening up, I changed into my pyjamas and decided to head off to bed. Hence, I asked one of the cabin crew for the turndown service.
Fruit assortment handed out post-shower
Suite storage area
Calling it a night above Russia
Photos of the seat as a flat bed
Well, I slept for 9 hours on this flight. I have to admit, it was one of the best I've had on any flight!
I ended up waking up to this. It was hard to believe that we were already preparing for landing
Filling out the US Customs form.
Above Maine, with less than an hour to go for the flight
It wasn't long before the captain came back on with his pre-arrival announcement, saying that we were now starting the descent towards New York and that we had approximately 40 minutes until we landed and that we would arrive a few minutes behind schedule.
Suddenly, the seat belt sign came back on giving the indication that we had to prepare for landing
Thus, I went back to the bathroom and changed back to my regular clothes before preparing to land
Hot towel
Time flies when you have fun!
Approaching New York
Final shots before landing
This is one of the times where I wish the flight was a little bit longer!
We landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport at around 8:44 PM, which was about 5 minutes from the scheduled arrival time. Honestly, it wasn't that bad!
Actual flight route
Taxiing towards Terminal 4
Mood light changes
Docking at gate A7
Post-flight
One last look of the first class cabin
Disembarking/Arrival into JFK
Immigration didn't take so long as we were out within a few minutes, but it took some time to get our bags, which is quite normal.
Anyways, we breezed through customs and were finally on our way to the arrival hall after an hour of waiting for our bags!
Terminal 4 Arrival Hall
From then on, we met our driver from the chauffeur service at the arrival hall itself. Afterwards, we were smooth sailing back home.
I have to admit, I did miss the cold weather of the East coast!
Oh my word ! And I thought I blogged in great detail ! I thoroughly enjoyed the read. Thank you so much for your effort.
Thanks for the comment! Well, I do try my best to not leave out any detail in a flight experience. After all, every minute counts. Happy travels! ;)
Incredible detail. But very well written!
Thanks for the comment and kind words! Happy travels!
Thank you Rbix for all the time and thought that went into this fantastic report. It’s true, everything is bigger in DXB and you do a great job capturing the scale and grandeur of the infrastructure EK have created at their global hub.
“A Porsche 911 Carrera inside the terminal!”
-The nanny needs a car too after all…
That lounge is overwhelming. The food you selected sure looks excellent.
What a great flight. I absolutely share your enthusiasm for this experience and appreciate how freely you share it with us. From the food, to the drinks, to the onboard lounge and showers you made the most of the experience.
Thank you again for taking us along and happy flying.
Thanks for the comment and kind words, socalnow!! I definitely agree with you, there's nothing like a flight on EK F! In this case, I found this flight to be a lot better in regards of service, catering, showers, and overall hard product. It was even better to try it out for an extended amount of time!! Regardless, this has been one of the best flights I've ever been on and I can't wait to fly on Emirates again in the foreseeable future. Happy travels!