Flying with Emirates - Tips?

Dan Collins · #1 22nd April 2010, 02:05 PM

Hi All,

The fiancé and I are heading to Egypt next month and while I thought we were flying with Etihad (flown with them before, no probs there) the travel company have let me know that for a little more money we can go with Emirates instead and cut down our 10+ hr stopover in Abu Dhabi to about 2-3 hrs in Dubai. No problem with any of that, particularly since I'll finally get to fly an A380 somewhere as well!

But I was after some info, reviews etc from people who've flown with Emirates. I always hear good stuff about them (it'll be good to do a comparison against Etihad).

Is there any way to guarantee a window seat for us? Should I join up to Skywards for preferential seating? It doesn't look like we'll be bored on the flight with the range of IFE available etc. I've seen how the seats look, but are they comfortable?

What are the best seats for photo/videography on the A380?

Any other tips and tricks would be great

Cheers,

Dan

Greg McDonald · #2 22nd April 2010, 02:14 PM

I flew Emirates A380 back from Auckland to Sydney last year and they were great. Admittedly it's only a short flight but the service was excellent and we still got served a five course meal in economy in the short time we were with them. We had our IFE system fail in the area we were sitting but they rebooted it fairly quickly.
You don't have to join skywards to manage your seat request...you can do it from the website after you've made the booking. Then again, why wouldn't you join up and pick up the frequent flyer miles? You do however have to fly four legs with emirates before they'll issue you with a card...otherwise they just issue you with a number to use for bookings.

Danny Rizk · #3 22nd April 2010, 03:27 PM

My one tip would be to enjoy the best airline in the world!

Stephen Brown · #4 22nd April 2010, 03:56 PM

One of the Best to fly with, you won't be disappointed.

Rod Sloan · #5 22nd April 2010, 04:53 PM

Yup..ditto to all above comments.
Flew SYD - AKL - SYD in biz a few years back and could not fault them at all.

Enjoy your trip and Emirates experience. Tell us about it when you get back

Anthony T · #6 22nd April 2010, 06:02 PM

Flight tips as above.

Transitting Dubai for two or three hours? Head for the exit as the Emirates terminals aren't that great.

The customs/immigration guys won't hassle you, you get a UAE stamp in your passport and get to stretch your legs in the fresh (?) air, whilst having a smoke (if that is your vice) and witnessing the fun at the taxi rank.

The smoking room in T2 is gross, don't even go there, as a smoker i opened the door and even I was disgusted. Smoking is permitted in the Irish pub, but the beer is expensive at 42 dhm's.

Anthony T