Avoid this HUGE Emirates Business Class MISTAKE!

so happy we finally got to fly business class have you always wanted to fly business class on emirates so have we we were fortunate enough to check this item off our aviation bucket list recently as a family when we flew round trip to nairobi kenya for our first ever african safari one thing many people don't realize is that emirates business class flights are not all the same even on the same route and if you book the wrong type of flight you'll be paying the same high fare but you'll get a far inferior experience so if you want to avoid this mistake and you want to know lots of other tips on how to make the most of your emirates business class experience keep watching one perk of booking a business class flight on emirates is that it comes with free chauffeur drive service they'll send a black card to pick you up and drive you to the airport as of 2019 unfortunately emirates no longer offers the service to passengers who book their business class using either miles or through an upgrade offer from economy so just keep that in mind for passengers flying out of new york this is not just limited to manhattan we were able to book our show for a drive to pick us up from our home in brooklyn for example we've been fortunate enough to have experienced many a luxury airport transfer over the years and based on that i have to say i was pretty disappointed in the quality of the amorous show for a drive emirates outsources these rides to black lane if you're not familiar with black lane it's basically like uber if uber only allowed you to book uber black rides because it's a platform it's open to basically any chauffeur who owns or leases a premium vehicle that meets black lane specifications and i don't get the impression that there's a lot if any training or quality control and the actual customer service of the drivers themselves since we were a party of four emirates actually sent us two cars sergeant john's driver wasn't bad but the one who drove me and ella was pretty unprofessional even though he'd gotten to our home about 20 minutes early when we approached the car and he got out to grab our bags he was still tucking his shirts into his pants as if he hadn't even finished getting dressed for work the driver assigned to us for the drive home and our return leg was also not exactly on his a-game he opened the trunk of the car and then for an awkwardly long moment he just kind of stood there staring at us making no move whatsoever to pick up our bags and actually put them in the trunk even the average uber driver does better in that regard when we got to jfk we headed to the dedicated check-in area for business class passengers check-in was very efficient last time we flew emirates was for our trip to the maldives the trip itself was amazing but we did the almost 24-hour journey there in economy which was really really rough especially when the passenger in front of me aggressively reclined all the way down as soon as the seat belt sign was turned off and stayed there so after that experience we were especially grateful to be able to fly business class on this trip to nairobi terminal 4 back to our home just [Laughter] terminal 5 just doesn't hit the same terminal 4 is where it's at we headed to the emirates lounge which is located near gate a5 and jfk's terminal 4. it's very spacious with areas for lounging working and eating the lounge staff were all very attentive and courteous but everyone seemed a bit nervous and on edge as if it was their first week on the job or as if there was a particularly tough supervisor on duty that day the lounge serves a great assortment of food and the champagne flowed freely when's the last time jeff dates you're dating [Music] our first flight was from jfk to dubai and this was on the airbus a380 which is the world's largest passenger airliner one cool thing about the a380 is that it's actually a double-decker aircraft on most emirates a380s the top deck of the plane is where all the first and business class seats are while the entire bottom deck of the plane is where you'll find the economy seats when you board for the flight at jfk economy passengers turn left to go down the ramp to the lower jet bridge while first and business class passengers walk straight ahead we put our bags away and settled into our now you won't seats to worry about reaching because that's right before i continue telling you about our flight let me first explain the layout of the cabin on the a380s upper deck at the very front of the plane are the first class seats this is where you'll find those famous first class bathrooms with the onboard showers you know the ones from that casey neistat video that all of us have watched after that come galleys and restrooms followed by the first of two business class cabins in a one two one configuration there's a large one with 14 rows of business class seats then a dividing wall then a mini cabin with just five rows of business class seats and behind that you'll find the onboard bar and lounge plus more galleys and restrooms so which business class cabin is the better choice the large cabin or the smaller mini cabin we actually flew in both on this trip and i can tell you that each one has its pros and cons the mini cabin feels more intimate and exclusive but because the bar is right behind you it can get loud if there are a lot of passengers congregating to drink thankfully this wasn't really an issue on our flight but it can happen in the large cabin you don't have to worry about noise from the bar but you lack the intimacy and privacy of the mini cabin so it's a trade-off the flight attendants came around with a pre-departure drink of verve clicko and we even got some hot towels which felt lovely one thing i appreciate about emirates is how international their cabin crew is it's not unusual to find multiple continents represented on a single flight as you'd expect the service is excellent but more importantly you can tell that the flight attendants truly enjoy their job they enjoy working with each other and they enjoy interacting with the passengers that positive vibe is really what makes a flight pleasant and it's a far cry from the service on delta 1 for example which we flew to brussels a few years ago the flight attendants there were so much on autopilot that they actually offered our daughter a glass of champagne before suddenly snapping out of it and realizing that she just offered alcohol to a 10 year old soon enough it was time for takeoff it's hard to describe how different it feels to take off in an a380 the aircraft is so huge and heavy that it feels incredibly solid you barely feel the takeoff it's that smooth and next thing you know you're in the air [Music] when you're booking a business class ticket on the emirates a380 you need to choose between the larger cabin or the mini cabin but there's another decision you have to make too and that is which seat are you going to pick if you're traveling with a companion you'll want to be in the middle section since the cabin has a 1-2-1 configuration but the configuration is also staggered meaning that the seats are in alternating positions in each row if you prefer to be closer to your companion for easy conversation book the e and f seats in the odd numbered rows since these are right next to each other for that reason they're sometimes referred to as the honeymoon seats if you prefer a bit more space between you and your companion book the d and g seats in the even numbered rows as these have the consoles between the seats one downside of these seats though is that you're closer to the isle on the flight from jfk to dubai the girls took e and f seats while serge and i took d and g seats in the row right in front of them if you're flying alone or you just prefer more privacy during your flight then of course booking a window seat is ideal but these are again in a staggered configuration so you need to choose carefully the a and k seats in the odd numbered rows are clearly the superior choice here since your seat is far from the aisle right up against the window on the flight back to jfk from dubai serge and i both had k seats and they were fantastic by the way if you enjoy videos like this about premium air travel be sure to subscribe we'll be coming out soon with a video about the new jetblue mint route to london as well as a video about what it's like to fly qatar airways q suites with kids turn on those notifications so you don't miss any future flight reviews okay now that we got that out of the way let me take you on a seat tour we had better lighting on our return flight since it was a daytime flight so i'll show you the window seat my favorite thing about the business class seats on the a380 is that there's so much room to put your stuff the console has a spacious surface but when you book a window seat you also have this entire ledge along the window to use the ledge has a storage bin and at takeoff you'll probably find that they've placed your mattress pad in here the console has two shelves the bottom shelf comes pre-stocked with water and soda and you can use the top shelf for storage as it's empty other than the socks and eye shades kit in addition to the overhead light you also have a reading light built into the seat as well as more outlets than you're ever going to need usbs universal adapters even an hdmi port there's a tablet that you can use to control your tv screen as well as a corded remote that does the same thing plus it has controls for your overhead light and a call button for the flight attendant there are buttons that allow you to adjust your seat recline to several preset positions including live flat of course or you can use the arrow buttons to recline the seat manually to your liking and right below that is where you can pull your table out from there was a ton of leg room for reference i'm 5 5 and with my seat in the upright position my feet were barely touching the foot well undoubtedly though one of the most fun features of this plane are the retractable motorized window blinds seriously i could do this all day long the seats do have individual air vents above but how well they work depends on where you sit on our outbound flight from jfk to dubai for some reason the cabin was kept at a swelteringly hot temperature even surge was uncomfortable so it wasn't just me being my usual sweaty betty self since it was so hot we had our air vents going at full blast but we found that when our seats were in the live flat position it created so much distance that we couldn't actually feel the air blowing at all the window seats don't seem to have this issue since the ceiling is a bit lower on the sides of the plane than in the middle also the cabin was thankfully kept at a much more comfortable temperature on our return flight i've since bought this handy usb fan to bring with me on all future trips so that if i ever encounter this again i can provide my own cool breeze thanks to our friends oscar and dan for the recommendation i'll link this fan below in case you want to pick one up too about an hour after takeoff the cabin crew will come around to cover your seat with a mattress pad comfy mattress girl ella looked very relaxed there being that the seat was already so spacious and comfortable i didn't think that a mattress pad would add much of anything but wow it's so thick and luxurious that it made this plain seat feel as close to a bed as you can get okay now let's take a walk and check out the bathroom there are a couple of slightly different bathroom layouts on the a380 and this is one of them the bathrooms all come stocked with bulgari cologne and perfume okay here's something you're not gonna hear from a lot of male flight reviewers and that is it's time to take off my bra [Music] okay now that i took care of that very important task let's talk amenity kids emirates is definitely generous with the swag because you actually get a few different kits as part of your flight as i mentioned earlier your seat will come pre-stocked with socks and eye shades currently they also give you a sanitation kit that includes hand sanitizer and a mask and finally you get the actual amenity kit which is all bulgari branded the women's kit comes in a pretty gold pouch in either this design or this one there are also two variations for the men's kits they come in a gray pouch either this design or this one inside you'll find a variety of bulgari products along with basics like a toothbrush hair brush tissues and deodorant the girls also got a fun kids pack that came in this little duffel bag and had an activity book and coloring pencils inside hi oh you're watching boss baby yeah i'm gonna watch boss baby okay baby too tell me how it goes because me and l are going to watch it too [Music] if there's one thing emirates is known for it's their in-flight entertainment system known as ice which is an acronym for information communication entertainment ice offers over 4 500 channels of entertainment with tv shows and movies in just about every language you can imagine the business class seats on the a380 come with noise cancelling headphones and a generous 23 inch screen which was the perfect way to enjoy one of my all-time favorite movies drop a comment if you know the name of the movie on emirates even the food and economy is good so it was no surprise that the dining and business class was excellent on this route between jfk and dubai they usually serve two main meals breakfast plus either lunch or dinner depending on the time of day you're flying on the way to jfk for dinner i had a smoked salmon carpaccio appetizer achari chicken fermene and chocolate mousse for dessert for breakfast i had the cheese omelet with chicken sausage sauteed mushrooms and asparagus on the way back to jfk for dinner i had a smoked duck appetizer tandoori chicken for maine and another chocolate dessert and for breakfast i had the cheese omelet again if you get hungry in between these main meals emirates also has a variety of light bites available to order like small poke bowls or spinach pastries the wine list on emirates isn't that extensive you essentially have a choice between two different reds and two different whites plus one champagne and one porch but they do have a great selection of cocktails and mocktails my favorite of the bunch was the breakfast martini which has gin with marmalade cointreau orange juice and lemon juice it tasted especially great with the warm nuts they serve i said warm nuts you can order drinks anytime from your seat but if you're flying the a380 of course you have to pay a visit to the onboard bar and lounge this experience is so much fun not that i'm old enough to have seen it myself but to me this area feels like a throwback to the golden era of aviation in the 50s and 60s when it was common for airplanes to be outfitted with cocktail bars and sometimes even pianos now there's no piano on the a380 but if you ask the cabin crew nicely they'll still let you behind the bar so you can get these cheesy but fun pictures we landed in dubai and headed to the emirates lounge to hunker down for our very long layover if you're going to have a seven hour layover this is definitely the place to spend it the emirates lounge is massive at over a hundred thousand square feet it can hold up to eighteen 1800 passengers there are multiple stations to get food and drink though due both to kovid and the late hour we were there only a couple of the food stations were open and many seating areas were roped off too in addition to seating and dining areas there are also rest areas where you can nap on comfortable loungers with blankets there are bathrooms with showers so you can easily freshen up between flights but hands down my favorite feature of the lounge is this the spa since we had such a long wait serge and i took turns treating herself to massages while the others stayed with the girls it felt so luxurious to have a spa treatment in the middle of this long journey the treatment room also had a private shower and sink so i had even more privacy to freshen up than if i'd done this in the lounge bathroom so if you find yourself with a really long layover in dubai i highly recommend that you treat yourself at the spa pretty soon it was time to board our flight to nairobi we flew business class again but this time on the boeing triple seven as you can see the layout of this cabin is very different from the a380 while the a380 has a one two one configuration which means that every passenger has direct aisle access the triple seven business class cabin has this rather awkward 2-3-2 configuration which means that you could be stuck in the middle seat even as a business class passenger the seats are significantly less comfortable than on the a380 as we got ready for takeoff i had a bunch of stuff in my lap and realized that there was nowhere to put it unlike the a380 there were no surfaces to put things on or any stowage areas to speak of other than this small seat pocket which could barely fit anything this was a five hour flight which isn't that long so it wasn't the end of the world but if you're not careful you could be stuck on this inferior triple 7 business class even on the long-haul jfk to dubai flight that's right i'm finally getting to the huge mistake that i allude to in the intro of this video if you're booking a long-haul emirates business class flight like jfk to dubai for example be sure to check the aircraft type you want to be flying the airbus a380 not the boeing triple seven your tickets are gonna cost the same but if you book the triple seven by mistake you're going to get a far inferior business class experience so check the aircraft type when you're booking you can also figure out which flights are on the a380 by looking at the seat map first you want to see a 1-2-1 configuration like this not a 2-3-2 configuration like this so what did our girls think of the flights on a scale of one to five what score would you give to the food on the flights a ten out of ten out of five so at the bar me and ella got a snacky snack and the lady asked if you want to drink anything so we got lemonade with no ice and then the lady gave us seven up with ice which is not what we asked for so the service gets a two two out of five seriously just because of that and the ladies were way nicer to ella oh is that the issue um how would you rate the lounges from one to five so the one at jfk before we got on the plane that was very good because we had big seats and we had a nice view and the food there was really good and then the lounge in dubai was really big like i loved it it was good because you take a shower and have towels did you know that our family is visiting 22 cities in 2022 if you'd like to watch from the beginning of the series just click that video right there to watch city number one if you haven't already please subscribe and turn on notifications and follow us on tech talk and instagram at topflightfamily thanks for watching and we'll see you in the next video

Channel: Top Flight Family

Views: 783,694

Keywords: emirates, emirates business class, emirates business class a380, emirates business class 777, emirates jfk to dubai, emirates dubai to nairobi, emirates dubai to jfk, emirates nairobi to dubai, top flight family, sognonvi family, family travel, luxury family travel, travel with kids, family vacation, jfk, new york, nairobi, dubai, emirates airlines, emirates a380

Id: Se_qnpNopZo

Length: 18min 22sec (1102 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 09 2022