Hi everyone, welcome back to another review. This flight was one of those, once in a lifetime experiences, that stay with you forever. It’s time for the game changer, for Emirates First Class in their new 777’s. I can barely put into words the excitement brewing the moment I booked this trip, and every day as it approached.
As of the flying date, this cabin is available only on routes to and from Chicago, Riyadh, Geneva, Kuwait City, Melbourne, Zurich, Tokyo Haneda, and Brussels. EK have plans to expand their fleet, along with refurbished 777’s, but that’s in the future. I believe they began utilizing the GC on some flights between Seoul Incheon, but not as frequent. I haven't stayed too in the loop with route updates, but look out for a 1-1-1 seat map on the Emirates app to ensure you're flying in the GC.
I just arrived on a flight from Beijing, and caught a quick 3 hour nap as I barely slept the night before in anticipation and excitement of our trip today. Unfortunately, I had to wait an hour at Haneda before check-in for EK opened.
Tokyo (not sure but probably all of Japan)’s check-in counters do a very cool gesture where they bow to their customers upon opening. I was told from a Japanese buddy that this is to show apologies for the wait. This is the norm for all desks in Tokyo, and for Japan Airlines abroad (not sure about ANA, but I would assume they probably also do this).
I eagerly made my way over to the first class checkin counter. My entire trip would take me to Dubai, with an overnight 18 hour layover, before flying to Toronto. Since I was flying F, Emirates provides hotel accommodation at the JW Marriott free of charge. I was handed both my boarding passes, the hotel voucher, and to my surprise, a ticket to the Japan Airlines First Class lounge.
I was not expecting the lounge offer. In my experience, flying F on an airline whose home base is not where you depart from rarely gets you access to the home airline’s F lounge. My earlier review of Thai F from Narita only received United Club and Turkish or ANA business access. This lounge was remarkable, check out this entrance!
The lounge had a very small buffet selection, with the main food options coming from a very extensive a-la-carte app. There were also shower suites available, and a special room in the back of the lounge where I believe you could receive shoe shining services and special drinks to taste. I started with the signature JAL curry, which wasn’t too big of a portion which I liked.
Up next was a small Japanese bento box. I really liked how everything wasn’t too large of a portion so you could try multiple options. This was slightly too bland for my taste, but luckily I still had some of the curry to mix it up!
I then took a trip over to the smaller alcohol selection, and poured myself some whisky.
I then went with a small bowl of ramen, two sushi plates, and some more curry. This was probably the most food I’ve ever had within a 24 hours span. Keep in mind… Emirates F is still to come.
I have no idea when of if I will ever return to this lounge, so I was ready to take it all in. The mushroom soup was one of the few buffet options, and it tasted wonderful, I guess high standards to be on the exclusive buffet list.
. Then I went with the porkchop, with a small citrus sauce and side. Again, incredible delicious and elegant. Only around now did I realize the a-la-carte menu expanded to 5-6 more pages with more international options, my bad! I originally thought there were only a few Japanese style dishes on offer, but my goodness was this an extensive selection.
I was very much stuffed at this point but whilst scrolling around the menu, I found some pasta options… I promise this is the last thing I ate at the lounge… At this point I probably ate the equivalent of two days worth of meals, oh how I wish I could empty up my stomach and try everything else:(
No more no more, I couldn’t possibly have anything else. I hopped over for a quick shower then proceeded to try some planespotting. Unfortunately, the glass panes make it very hard to snap pictures at night with the reflections, as you can probably tell with this Turkish jet.
Luckily, our gate was down some escalators and allowed me to step right up to the glass and snap this gorgeous view of our bird tonight. Oh how I felt the adrenaline pumping.
Then came the sense of fear and panic… Deep down a little part of me still feared, maybe they did a last minute swap? I was informed that equipment swaps may occur without notice… Maybe something is going to go wrong with my ticket? None of that, and on we were.
I have never been in this much awe at a plane cabin before. Of course I’ve seen pictures and videos, but stepping aboard was an entirely different world. The gold, glitz and glamor of the nation fully reflected in the cabin. This Emirati tree design was one of the most gorgeous pieces of art I’ve seen, and I was off to my seat for the flight, Suite 1K. Here was the first glance at our seat, still having chills nearly half a year later looking back at these pictures. The seats, designed by Mercedes, were the most comfortable chairs I’ve experienced on or off a plane.
Enter text here…
You can even control the temperature in your own suite via this thermostate/air con controller on your left. This really is essentially a fully functioning room
The IFE screen, what can I say, enormous. The left side of the IFFE featured a small snack storage and magazine rack above it. On the right, another storage area with some still and sparkling water, and a glass. Once the mirror is opened up, its lights come on and reveals a smaller amenity box, along with the signature F notebook and pen. To the left of the mirror was the main amenity kit by Armani, which I’ll unbox later on and show at the end of the review.
On the right side, extremely elegant shades and a rope to keep them stable. I was offered a welcome champagne, of course the Dom which EK now has exclusive rights to.
Beneath, a massive area for storage. You could literally cuddle up and sneak another person there (I may or may have not tried doing that midflight…). EK is known for its starry ceilings, and here the same is reflected on the carpet. What a wonderful touch.
On a previous F experience on the A380’s, which I will also cover in the future, one of the many small bottles of snacks offered some jelly beans, which I was craving. They weren’t available here for me today, but my purser was delighted to share he had yoinked some over for me. Speaking of my purser, as expected on EK’s F, he was absolutely fantastic.
Similar to the starry ceiling and floor, there were also lights against the walls along your seat. These were much larger and its color could be changed at your will. Of course I took some time to play with those. You can also see two lamps that are placed along the back of your suite, elegantly designed as everything Emirates is.
The lights were then dimmed slightly for EK’s “no nonsense security video”. Under this lighting, I really felt I was in a personal movie theatre.
Also… feat my jelly beans!
I also noticed, along the top right side of my suite just above the windows, another signature Emirati tree design resembling that on the exterior of the suite.
After another glass of Dom, we began to push back and took over towards Dubai at 00:07, 2 minutes behind schedule. The menu was extremely extensive and I was also provided the headphones and a game changer exclusive, the binoculars! My purser apologetically informed me that since this was going to be a full night flight, I wouldn’t really have the chance to use them! It is interesting to note that EK have installed virtual windows on the middle suite, I wonder if binoculars would be useful for those … .
I really need to apologize for not taking a full gallery of the menu, this was still back before I really discovered our site, but everything flown since I began writing will have menus guaranteed!
My purser worked quick to ask for my snack of choice, between olives, chips, or nuts. I’m personally not an olive person, so the chips were the go to for me, along with a diet coke. I personally enjoyed the lack of a tablecloth at least for this portion of service, youc an really see the luxurious element with these new wooden finishes of the game changer cabins
The coasters also features the Emirati tree design, lovely.
Now that a tablecloth was provided, I kicked off meal service with a traditional Japanese set menu. The service began with a pot of warm green tea, and then the entire meal was then promptly served.
Alright guys, this was nearly half a year ago, so let me do my best!
The bottom right was a Japanese style vegetable mix with carrots, mushrooms, and other fungi (not sure the English name of it). Along that row were steamed white rice, miso soup, and picked vegetables. From the left side other second row was an edamame cake, with a mussel salad above it, and the main miso salmon on its right, followed by some fruits. This was a classic Japanese touch and love that EK feature cuisine from their departing location. I do believe Japanese dishes are featured on flights to Tokyo too, since Chinese dishes were offered from DXB over to Beijing. It might seem like a lot of food, but each had small portions so it wasn’t overall very filling.
Then I chose something from EK’s extensive cocktail menu. I can’t for the life of my remember what this was, anyone know?
Then I went with a cannoli (maybe) pasta dish, which was honestly on the heavier side. I’m sure it was partly due to me eating the equivalent of a family of four at the lounge, but this was rather below par for EK F. Presentation looked like you threw a bunch of leftovers on a plate, and the soggy/greasy white cream sauce didn't do wonders either.
By now, I was multiple meals in and quite a bit of alcohol down too! Time for bed As the starry night emerged on the cabin roofs, so cued turndown service. I caught a quick snap of the tree, and this exact picture served as my wallpaper for a long time.
The crew then came by with a massive chocolate box, and picked a selection for me to taste. These were also incredibly tasty.
The suite encompassed three windows (not as tough as my CA’s four huh, just kidding), which were all dimmable via your seat controls. You are able to control your IFE system with the touchpad on your right, which by itself could rival the size of many actual IFE screens. YOu can also notice my, rahter lonely, binoculars who sat with me but never used :(
Upon returning from the restroom, my bed had been made. EK surely has the most comfortable bedding in the air, no doubt in my mind. For the first time, my suite was fully shut down and enclosed from the alleyway, no one airline or product(other than the Residence, I guess)can boast this ability in the sky. With the lights dimmed and suite shut, I lay down and snapped another one of my many, many pictures this trip.
It felt so incredible to have so much privacy on a passenger plane, surely to closest to flying private on a commercial airlines (ok again the residence I see you too, but you don’t really count)
Being able to lie fully flat on a plane in itself is beyond a luxury, but looking up and having a view like this was just something else.
Sorry, please don’t judge me now… I crawled up and sat down under the tray table and snapped a look at my throne from below
Honestly there was so much excess space a small child could probably spend an entire day on the carpet just playing with their toy cars and wouldn’t notice this was an airplane.
Here’s a look at the ceiling and its lights or nozzles? I can’t quite remember.
I had a very solid few hours of sleep, and woke up feeling very refreshed and glad to see we still had quite a few hours of flight time left. Luckily, I was hungry again!
I asked for the sushi set, which was extremely extensive and very delicious, making the quality and quantity of a nice restaurant on the ground. The fish stayed fresh, which isn’t very easy to do on a plane 10 hours in.
Then, of course, I had to do the caviar service. I think I may have only had caviar on the ground once in my life, and it just doesn’t hit as hard as on an aircraft. The bread basket always feels like a smart way EK might try to fill you up, not falling for it! Delicious.
I snatched a champagne cocktail and another glass of whisky from the drinks menu to accompany the caviar service.
I then continued my feast with something from the snack menu, the beef sliders. I again appreciated that the portions were not too large, allowing you to make your way through the menu and try more options. These were also very good, the sauce in particular was perfect.
I felt it would be the right move to stick with Asian cuisine, for my Asian stomach. You also gotta trust Japanese catering, and my trust wasn’t without merit. The pork belly and steamed rice really hit the spot. Sometimes dishes like these don’t look as elegant or pretty as finer Western options, but a hearty dish like this always hits the right spot.
Finally, I concluded my 24 hour cuisine adventure with a dessert trio. Again, quality over quantity was appreciated, and this was a perfect way to end things.
It goes without saying EK’s ICE provides some of the best inflight entertainment out there. You are also able to watch live TV, such as Champions League football, on their TV channels. I continued to binge my way through the office, my go to entertainment when indulging!
Although it had been 13 hours, it still felt way too soon when we began descent into DXB. I could probably sit here for another week and not ever want to leave.. but all good things do come to an end. We saw sunlight for the first time this journey, and before long the sand and desert informed me, sadly, the experience was coming to an end.
We parked at a remote gate at DXB, a final bit of fun getting to step on the tarmac and grab some wonderful views of our bird.
DXB offers separate buses for those in F, which are very much appreciated. Even better, we got to see DXB’s incredible tarmac views from down below.
Finally, as promised, the amenity kit which I opened up when arriving back home. The Bvlgari design never misses. Interestingly, I think there are two different kit design, with the other being flatter. They also have different kits for ladies and gentlemen.
Inside we had an extensive amount of amenities. I love the sleek black and gold color scheme, in line with EK's signature palette. I read somewhere the men's perfume itself retails for around 100 USD. The only other addition was a razor, which I'm currently about to shave with!
