Emirates first class we've all seen the onboard bar the showers and the incredible service but the problem is we've also seen the ticket prices usually in the thousands of dollars sometimes even tens of thousands this product is completely out of reach but what if I told you there's a way to fly this for well under $11,000 actually closer to $500 and yes you will get the full service and no I'm not talking about tricky points redemptions you can fly on any date with cash I've just done exactly this so let's get this journey started and I'll explain on the [Music] way I'm here at Bangkok swum airport and I'm just going to go get checked in and make my way to the lounge that's right there's no way you'd get such a cheap flight starting from emirates' home base of Dubai so let's get checked in here in Bangkok there's a separate queue exclusive exclusively for first class passengers and those with Platinum Status I didn't have to wait at all I was checked in in no time and went on towards the FastTrack security channel oh and in case you were wondering the cheapest first class flight from Dubai is to muskat on a tri 7 for $1,800 with just over 200 Mi of distance you only get 40 minutes in the air and the service is reduced I just go ahead and book that $200 fly to buy flight but we're interested in the big boy so the cheapest A380 first class flight is to Mumbai for $2,000 and with ,200 Mi to cover you get 2 hours 15 in the air and you do get the full service but let's get back to Bangkok because I'm going to show you how to get this for almost a quarter of that I've checked in and made it through security so now I'm going to check out the Emirates lounge and see what they have to offer with four daily departures from Bangkok Emirates operate their own Lounge here in Concor G if you've ever been to an Emirates outstation Lounge you'll feel right at home I made my way straight to the dining area to grab some food from the buffet the selection is pretty extensive with a bunch of hot food options like curries noodles sat and more a cold buffet with salads vegetables of dips fruit platters and baked goods and of course a self-served bar with champagne wines and spirits if you know me you already know I poured myself a glass of the MU Shandon champagne on offer which retails for about $60 a bottle cheers I thought I'd save myself for the meal service on board so I kept it light and only had a smoked duck salad and while I was enjoying this I was also enjoying the views overlooking the airport Gardens the floor to ceiling Windows span the length of the lounge letting in a bunch of natural light which I think is a great feature and the garden views make a nice change to the usual asphalt further down past the dining area there's a bit more seating on either side of the main walkway and the toilets are at the very far end the lounge also has a few shower rooms with a sink toilet provided towels and obviously a shower with rainfall Jet and handle options otherwise at the complete other end of the lounge there's even more seating here you can find a TV area a few computers and more things to drink like coffee a selection of teas from around the world a fridge with soft drinks beers water and another self poor Spirits bar I love to see international power sockets at almost every seat I never understand why airports of all places usually only have local sockets that's pretty much everything to show in the lounge so I decided to grab another glass of champagne and relax for a bit until my flight was ready for [Music] boarding I kept an eye on the Rolex branded clocks and before long it was time to leave now you might be wondering wait a minute flights with Emirates from Bangkok to Dubai In First Class cost around $2,200 what's going on is fly Manan click baiting us well if we make our way to gate E4 we can see we're catching flight 384 to Hong Kong let me explain this is one of emirates' fifth Freedom routes which means the flight starts in Dubai flies to Bangkok and after a short stop continues on to Hong Kong and the same on the way back the fifth freedom is one of the freedoms of the air which allows Airlines to carry passengers between two countries that are different from their home base and the Beautiful Thing with fifth Freedom flights is you don't have to fly the entire route like me today you can simply hop on for the second leg Emirates actually operate quite a few fifth Freedom routes around the world I'll talk a bit more about those and how much this cost but first let's get on board being an A380 there's three separate jet Bridges to get on the plane with first and business class taking up the entire Upper Deck I took the separate Jet Bridge for premium passengers on board the crew greeted me by name and walked me to my suweet for today 4 [Music] a I got settled into my seat and I couldn't help but smile last time I flew Emirates first class on the A380 was my first ever time flying first class so it brings back a lot of good memories unlike last time when I was sitting in 1K today I'm at the complete opposite end and back of the 14c cabin in 4A the crew came by to give me an Emirates tote bag which only had the first class slippers inside since this is such a short flight they will provide the F amenity kit on request but check out my video in the Emirates Game Changer first class suits to see what you get I also had a glass of champagne as part of the predeparture service they only serve muet on the ground for Duty reasons but don't worry something a bit more fancy is coming in the sky the food menu for today's flight was handed to me which comes in this leatherbound cover it's small touches like this that makes Emirates first class feel so special and even though this is a short flight with a block time of 3 hours 5 minutes realistically giving you about 2 hours 15 in the air you still get the full meal service that means you get four courses including the caviar service and a choice of four appetizers four main courses and four desserts Emirates do offer dine on demand in first class which means you can choose to eat at any time but with the limited time on this flight it's straight to dining after takeoff speaking of it was time to put on my seat belt as we had started pushing back there was one last element of the predeparture service which was the scented hot towel just before takeoff and as we approach the runway let's talk a bit more about emirates' other f Freedom routes Emirates currently operate 13 fifth Freedom routes on their Network although this can change season by season these can range from incredibly good value like the flight I'm on today to ridiculously poor value the shortest of these is a tiny 250 Mi between herrar and luaka for around $2,400 for 45 minutes of flight time I wouldn't recommend this but it's not as bad as the next shortest Acura to ABI Jan at 260 miles this will set you back just over $5,000 giving you a minuscule 0.05 m per dollar spend I'm not even sure who in their right mind would be buying these tickets but let's look at the other end of the scale distance-wise the two longest flights are transatlantic Athens to Newark comes in at almost 5,000 Mi for just over $6,000 and Milan to JFK covering almost 4,000 Mi and costing just over $5,000 these both give you in the region of 0.8 m per dollar a lot better than the previous ones but we can do better sorting the list by miles per dollar there's only two flights which provide over 1 mile per dollar of value second place is Sydney to Christ Church covering just over 1,300 Mi for about $1,100 1.18 m per doll of value not bad but number one is of course our flight today Bangkok to Hong Kong giving us by far the best value but let's look at the total cost of this trip after the meal service now that we're in the sky the meal service was in full swing so let's get the dining table pulled out and start things off with a glass of 2013 donino champagne retailing at just over $300 a bottle I just might be able to make my money back on this flight this came with the usual warm to mix nuts and I enjoyed both of these as my food was being prepared the crew came back to set my table and serve the first course the signature caviar service I've got to say the presentation here is 10 out of 10 it really feels like you're in a high-end restaurant apart from the generous serving of caviar on my plate you also get crackers bleenies and a lemon slice with the usual garnishes of finely chopped onions grated egg whites yolks and cremme fresh before I tuck in let me close my automatic sweet doors using the controls on the armrest for a bit of extra privacy Ah that's better cheers the crew recommended I pair my caviar with ice cold vodka so I had a shot of my favorite badier Bottoms Up M good stuff I've since found out you're actually meant to sip this in between each mouthful of caviar but I didn't notice at the time so let me just wash that down with a bit of champagne and some more information from my caviar research is that the reason you use the separate mother of pearl spoon for the caviar is the eggs are very delicate and the metal spoon would damage the texture and taste with that said this course tasted great and I cleaned up the plate before the appetizer was served I've chosen the traditional Arabic MZ today and again the presentation is just topnotch I love how everything is in its own little dish there's a bit of everything here from babagan to mamra taboule humus matul lamb kber olives and stuffed Vine leaves it's great to get a little taste of so many different dishes in one go and they were all delicious now it's time for the main course the sear beef tenderloin this was covered in a shallow and arogant sauce with steamed asparagus and potato grat on the side I have to be honest the beef itself was overcooked to my liking and it was a bit dry the sauce helped a bit but it didn't save it the sides were pretty good though and I still cleaned up my plate finally it was time for the dessert course and with barely enough space left in my stomach I went for the seasonal fresh fruit the crew told me this was catered from Bangkok and it definitely tasted fresh I'll have to stop saying fruit in the sky is hard now I've only had good experiences recently with the meal service complete and I table cleared let me pop open the inseat mini bar to see what's available actually wait what am I doing let me go to the real onboard bar at the back of the upper deck this bar is available for anyone traveling in business and first class and even though it's not the latest design found on newer planes it's still a great place to hang out grab a drink and socialize I'd usually stay here for longer but with the short flight time let's go check out the even more exclusive feature on this A380 at the very front of the upper deck are two shower spars exclusively for first class passengers I think this is probably the best toilet set set up on any airplane out there there's a huge amount of space and of course the shower you get a 30-minute slot in the spa room with 5 minutes of running water in the shower there's all the good stuff you'd expect like these nicely laid out voer branded amenities Bulgari branded fragrances a hand towel pyramid and this beautiful flower on the way out you can use this huge floor to ceiling mirror to make sure you look amazing and just to make a comparison here are the business class toilets back at my seat let's have a quick look around the features straight ahead is a 32-in screen with the ice system probably the best inflight entertainment in the skies more small touches like the real flower on the sweet wool a lamp and a vanity mirror with more amenities within Below on one side is the Emirates writing kit which you can take with you and the other side has an international power socket the if remote is in one of the armrests but there's also a detachable tablet which you can use as a remote or as a separate screen a reading light with an adjustable air nozzle and another air nozle by the tablet the bedding is behind the seat although I doubt you'll make use of this on such a short flight the bows and Wilkins noise cancelling headphones come in this high quality carry case and they specifically tuned to cancel out the ambient engine noise and finally lots of storage from this small side pocket to a larger bin here a wardrobe with hangers outside your Suite under under here which I forgot to film and plenty of space under the screen without obstructing your leg room the flight was coming to an end so it was time to put on the seat belt as we started our descent into Hong Kong International Airport now the big question how much did this all cost like I said before this is the best value fifth Freedom route on the entire Emirates network with 1,049 M to cover the block time is 3 hours and 5 minutes giving you a around 2 hours and 15 minutes of actual flight time the grand total for this experience was only $66 giving a miles per dollar value of 1.73 the highest by far on the list it's definitely a lot to squeeze in with only 2 hours but if you're Keen to experience Emirates first class on the cheap this is the way to do it and if you're interested in seeing what the Emirates first class experience is like on a longer flight departing from Dubai checking out the huge first class lounge and flying on the new game changer first class Suites then check out my other video I'll leave a link in the description I'm going to enjoy a few days in Hong Kong now before my next flight so what do you think is $600 good value for this experience let me know in the comments and I'd really appreciate it if you like the video and subscribe to my channel till next time [Music] w [Music]
