Emirates First Class Overload: KUL-DXB-MEL-MEL-SIN-DXB-KUL

[calvinoeh]

This would be my second mistake fare on Emirates – the first being the CMB-MLE mistake for our "second honeymoon". Emirates had a global sale with first class tickets form Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne going for about 7500 ringgit or ~$2500 USD. The mistake in the fare was that instead of a direct Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne, I was able to route the flight via Dubai for the same price. This routing itself would give me Gold status on Emirates.


The Long Way to Melbourne

The best part was that Kuala Lumpur was scheduled to be operated by the Airbus A380. Being a “partial plane geek”, it was somewhat embarrassing that I have yet to fly on the A380 despite the A380 being operated already for a number of years. This would be an over the top way for my first A380 flight!

The original plan just was to do a “mileage run” and just fly the all the segments over a long weekend. A couple of weeks before the scheduled departure, the A380 was pulled off the Dubai to Kuala Lumpur route due to A380 wing cracks incident. I did however, manage to get my flights changed without any charges to a month later where the A380 was back on the route. Better still, I actually had to fly to Melbourne for a friend’s wedding and made me less guilty for the splurge.

The price of $2500 USD for the flights itself wasn’t cheap and not something I would splurge on usually. I just couldn’t give up the opportunity to lose my A380 virginity with a flight and shower on Emirates first class. Furthermore, the flights itself would give me enough miles for Gold status on Emirates Skywards that might come in handy in the future.

Hope you guys enjoy this trip report but it's going to be pretty much Emirates, Emirates and more Emirates first class, not that is such a a bad thing.

As usual, the full trip report will be on my blog with installments below:

• Introduction
• Losing my A380 Virginity: KUL-DXB
• DXB-KUL
• KUL-MEL
• MEL-DXB via SIN
• Dubai Layover
• Heading home: DXB-KUL

[calvinoeh]

Loosing my A380 Virginity: KUL - DXB

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur straight after our Seychelles trip way early at noon for my evening flight to Dubai. The Emirates counter was opened for the earlier flight to Melbourne. There were no lines in first class counter where I managed to check-in and drop off my luggage for both my Kuala Lumpur to Dubai and subsequent Dubai to Melbourne via Kuala Lumpur flight.

Instead of heading straight airside and to the lounge, I decided to have some lunch landside for some Malaysian food. I was missing Malaysian food after being on the road for the last couple of weeks. Once I did get to the lounge, I tried to get a quick nap on the one available massage chair. I think I did snooze off for a couple of minutes but couldn’t really fall asleep. I eventually gave up, took a shower and caught up on some work.





The lounge stayed relatively empty the entire I was there which was not a surprise considering how large the lounge was. It was furnished similarly to other Emirates lounges.


View form the lounge

There was a wide selection of food with made to order satay. Being a satay fan, I had to sample Emirates’ satay but I’m sad to say that it was severely disappointing. The meat was dry and the peanut sauce resembled peanut butter.

[calvinoeh]

Loosing my A380 Virginity: KUL - DXB (cont..)

After half a day of spending more time than I would want in the lounge, boarding was eventually announced in the lounge. Woohoo - time to lose my A380 virginity! There was a dedicated aerobridge to the upper deck at Kuala Lumpur.


The Big Boy

I was warmly greeted by the Emirates crew at the door which them escorting to my seat. WOW WOW WOW! The first class suits were so much more impressive than my first time on Emirates first class. Sure, it’s kind of a bit over the top with the bling but I love it.









A stewardess came over asking for my choice of pre-departure drink. I obviously went with champagne but was disappointed that they were serving the cheap stuff from business class. I made a comment asking where the good stuff was and was assured that the Dom would be available after take-off. The stewardess came around again offering slippers, Arabic coffee and dates.

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[calvinoeh]

DXB-KUL

Emirates operates three daily flights to Melbourne from Dubai with one non-stop flight, one via Singapore an one via Kuala Lumpur. Although I would normally have gone with the non-stop, I opted for the option via Kuala Lumpur as it would get me into Melbourne just in time for the wedding I needed to attend.

I spent my ~4 hour layover in Dubai with first, a nap on one of the sofas before a shower followed by the complimentary fifteen minute back massage and a light late night supper/snack in the sit down restaurant in the first class lounge.


First Class Lounge Restaurant


Bread Basket


Started off with some foie gras


Selection from the buffet

It was way past bed time when I got to the plane. After another couple of pre-departure Doms, all I wanted after take off was to hit the sack. My seat was promptly made into a bed right after changing into the pajamas. It did take a while to go to sleep as I struggled to find a comfortable position while some of the passengers in first class decided to get a bite.



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[CarbonMan]

Nice! thanks for sharing, Calvinoeh. Indeed it's a crazy route.

[calvinoeh]

KUL to MEL

I was the first off the plane feeling pretty refreshed after a couple of hours of good sleep on the flight. The only thing I needed now was a shower which I promptly got to once I got to the lounge. I tried to keep to myself and not give eye contact with the lounge staff after I got some weird stares and looks figuring they just saw me in the lounge yesterday. Was too lazy to answer a bunch of questions if asked.



I felt slightly peckish and decided to nibble on some of the lounge food while catching up on email and giving the wife a call. Overall, the food didn't taste as good as it looked.

As usual, I was the last to board with the pursuer warmly welcoming me on-board and and showing me to my seat. We made some small talk and she was curious on my flight routing via Dubai to Melbourne which I made up some BS on needing to fly to Dubai for some business meetings. Lol.




Front camera already turned on

There was only another passenger in first on this flight with her seating on the opposite side. With the partitions up from the middle row, the flight was really private as we had both a side of the first class to ourselves.



I delayed the main meal until a a couple of hours before arrival into Melbourne. In the meantime, I continue to load up on the Dom while snacking on some soup, nuts, cheeses and chips from the snack basket. I don't know why but this bottle of Dom 2003 was the best tasting bottle throughout the whole trip. Maybe it was just chilled enough?

[calvinoeh]

KUL to MEL (cont)

It was about two and a half hours before I finished watching all the Pan-Am episodes on this flight and another movie, which I can't remember what by now. Time for more food! I started off with some satays which were pretty good and definitely much better than those served in the lounge. I followed that which the usual caviar and cold seafood starter. As usual, I opted for the asian options which was a beef curry with extra helpings of the vegetables. I skipped the dessert but did try the cheeses while trying a bit of the red and white wine.







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[pogonation]

Great TR! $2500 is one hell of a deal for KUL-MEL direct let alone via DXB!!

[calvinoeh]

On arrival to the first class check-in desk at Melbourne airport, I tried to change my flight to the later non-stop flight to Dubai instead of my current one stop flight via Singapore. It did take the station manager a couple of minutes to check with the ticketing office before I was told that there would be a ~$150USD change fee on my fare. I declined figuring I could use the money on something better.

Thanks to the fast pass access for business and first class passengers, I was at the lounge a quick ten minutes later. Again, the Emirates lounge just looks and feel the same as their other lounges around the world.




The 77W taking us to SIN & DXB


Dining Area

Since I was still full from lunch and wanted to save space for the meal on board, I limited myself to a couple of glasses of champagne and a made-to-order small salmon plate.





I headed to the plane after the boarding announcement was made in the lounge. As usual, most of the other passengers had already boarded and I walked straight into the plane. There were 3 other passengers in first today but I didn't see them in the lounge. Guess they gave the lounge a skip?

[calvinoeh]

I headed to the plane after the boarding announcement was made in the lounge. As usual, most of the other passengers had already boarded and I walked straight into the plane. There were 3 other passengers in first today but I didn't see them in the lounge. Guess they gave the lounge a skip?

I decided the switch it up a bit on this flight and chose seat 1A on the left side instead of the right side of the plane that I had been chosen on the earlier two flights. Yea, people do argue on which are the best seat on the plane but for me, once I'm in first, all the seats are the best. Since the suite next to mine was empty, the pursuer who showed me to my seat insisted I store my hand luggage in that suite to give me more space (not that I need more of it )






I started of with the Dom 2003 but got bored of it after 2-3 glasses and switched to the white wine for the rest of the flight. The Dom just ain't that good. It was dinner time once we were air born. I started off with some caviar followed by the roast beef starter and the seafood medley and some gnocchi. I was stuffed but was persuaded by the stewardess to not miss the chocolate sticky date pudding which turned out to be really good.







The plan was to stay awake for for this leg of the trip and sleep on the SIN to DXB leg. Well, that was the plan. After all the food and drinks, I dozed off while watching a movie which probably wasn't too interesting since I can't remember what it was. I woke up with a horrible slight headache/hangover right as the captain on air to let us know we were about to land.

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[Singapore Sling]

Great TR! $2500 is one hell of a deal for KUL-MEL direct let alone via DXB!!

How come I never find deals like this, some peolpe have all the luck. Next time you find a deal like this let me know, Pay me to fly all the way to KUL to get that price for F class. (UK deals are rubbish)

[9V-JKL]

I started of with the Dom 2003 but got bored of it after 2-3 glasses and switched to the white wine for the rest of the flight. The Dom just ain't that good.

Spoilt brat!

[calvinoeh]

Dubai Layover

Instead of heading straight back to Kuala Lumpur on the earliest available flight a couple of hours after arriving in Dubai, I decided to spend close to 24 hours in Dubai. The main motivation was to go on a desert safari. Despite flying having visited Dubai many times before, we have always gave the desert safari a skip since the wife gets car sick easily. What better chance to do it now since I'm in Dubai all by myself!




Many companies offer the dessert safari tour - just do a google for it. Most packages include pick up from hotels. Pick up usually happens around four in the afternoon and an hour drive later, the take the 4WD into the desert for some fun sand bashing. This is followed up with a pit stop in the middle of desert for drinks, shi-sha, BBQ dinner and a show that's inclusive of the ticket price.

I booked my trip from desertsafaridubai.com and was very pleased with the services. Responses to questions via email were prompt and they manage to re-book me after I realized on the actual day off that I had booked the wrong dates.







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[calvinoeh]

Truth be told, after hopping around the world in the last couple of weeks and having not enough sleep with a slight hangover, I was not that looking forward to this last flight of the trip. Yea, it was the A380 but I just wanted to get home and sleep in my own bed. I had to get up at 1.30am for my super early 4am flight! The complimentary Emirates car to the airport was already waiting for me when I got down to the lobby.

As expected, going through the formalities when traveling in first was painless. I was in the first class lounge a quick ten minutes after arriving at the airport. I wasn't particularly hungry but decided to pig out since I probably wasn't going to fly through Dubai especially on Emirates First Class for a while.


Salmon tartar


Beef Dumpling Soup


Buffet Selection


Cheese Selection from the Buffet


Brulee

The flight departed from a A380 gate right by the lounge with an aerobridge straight to the upper deck. A friendly stewardess welcomed me on board and showed me to my seat. I decided to on seat 4A for this flight just to try seating in different places. I would not recommend this seat as the sound from the galley did end up somewhat bothering me later during the flight. Minutes later, I was served the pre-departure Dom. Amenity kits and pajamas was also promptly distributed and this was the only flight that they gave me a pretty nice Emirates bag to put all the goodies in.



Seat 4A

[calvinoeh]

Once we were airborne, one of the stewardess came by and made my seat into a bed. I finally found the most comfortable way to sleep by stacking up 3 pillows. Even though I only slept for 4+ hours, it was one of the best rest I've gotten on a plane.


My bed in the sky

Internet is available on most Emirates A380 aircraft and was available on my flight. It was not like it was cheap at $5USD for 30MB or I needed to be online but I decided to give it a try just to try it out. 30MB did go pretty far and I was able to send a bunch of emails, surf the web and check on facebook before the 30MB ran out when I fell asleep.



After a hearty American breakfast, it was time to join the mile high shower club All passengers were allocated five minutes of water and it was more than enough. Feeling totally refreshed, some fresh fruit and a cup of cappuccino was waiting for me when I got back to my seat.

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