Emirates Economy Review
Welcome to the latest in my series of flight reviews, today brings you Emirates Economy Review. My previous few long-haul flights have been in business/upper-class but this time round it was time to turn right on boarding – with several flights in Economy.
London to Dubai – (A380 Version 2) – 3,399 Miles
Dubai to Colombo (777-300ER Two Class) – 2,056 Miles
Colombo to Dubai (777-300ER Two Class) – 2,056 Miles
Dubai to Delhi (777-300ER Two Class) – 1,368 Miles
Delhi to Dubai (777-300ER Two Class) 1,368 Miles
Dubai to London (A380 Version 1) – 3,399 Miles
Total Miles Flown 13,646 Miles
Booking Procedure
The booking procedure with Emirates was straight forward, despite wanting to book flights with multiple stopovers, in three different countries. It was easy to navigate the website and pick flights and connections that suited my timings. As usual in order to find the best price, I did compare the Emirates website prices against, 3rd party suppliers for the same flights and it was cheaper to book directly through the airline.
Ground Crew/Service
In London and Dubai, Emirates have their own teams on the ground, and from check-in to the team at the gate everyone provided fantastic customer service, as well as recognition of my SPG status. I was given priority boarding, as well as check-in at the business class desks, and an extra baggage allowance. Not that I needed it with my 12kgs of luggage! In both Delhi and Colombo there was an Emirates representative, alongside third party employees – there was a different level in service/efficiency to what I received in London and Dubai. This however is expected, and the norm that I’ve experienced over the years with various airlines throughout the world.
On Board:
Cabin Crew
The cabin crew as expected from Emirates were from over several different nationalities, pretty much covering enough languages to be able to communicate with the wide array of customers an airline such as Emirates attracts. At all times they were happy to help at all times, service was always with a smile and happy to help. The crew were also quite speedy in resolving an incident on my Dubai to London leg where two passengers had an argument that almost turned violent. They handled that swiftly and on landing at Heathrow police came on board and escorted both men off the plane.
The cabin crew were more than happy to have a chat, as I didn’t fall asleep on the flights and provided me with a few good tips for Dubai and Delhi! The interaction with kids from infants to early teens was fantastic to by the cabin crew on board. Emirates are one of the airlines that still do hand out toys to kids on flights.
Entertainment
Emirates inflight entertainment aka ICE (Internet, Communication and Entertainment) is one of the best I’ve encountered over the years.
Let’s start off with the Internet, whilst British carriers like BA and Virgin Atlantic are implementing this over the next 12-18 months. Emirates have been one of the early adopters. It’s available on every flight, you are allowed 10mb free which is enough to be able to send Whatsapp messages to friends and loved ones during a flight. A paid option is just under $1 for 500mb during your flight – I did go for the paid option on every flight, not to keep in touch with social media etc! Simply to ensure work emails were being dealt with in a timely manner and it allowed me to work on my phone or laptop with not much of a lag in connection. Emirates Economy Review
Communication – I didn’t use it to make phone calls etc, due to two reasons a) I don’t need to b) the cost of making a call on board is just not justifiable when you can send an email. Entertainment is where Emirates really bring their ‘A’ game…. The sheer variety of films, TV series’, kids shows, international options and live TV can keep you entertained for the entire flight. I was a big fan of the live TV, as it allowed me to watch several football games during my flights.
Airplane
Regular followers on my social media know that I am a big fan of the A380, the outbound flight from London to Dubai was a fairly new plane with the larger entertainment screens. The seat pitch was comfortable, between 32 and 34 inch depending on which economy seat you were sat in. The A380 on my return flight to London, was an older plane with a similar seat pitch, but you could see signs of wear and tear, the screens were also visibly smaller than the outbound flight. Emirates Economy Review
The Dubai to Colombo/Delhi return flights were all in new/refurbished 777-300ER planes with a seat pitch of approximately 33-34 inch and similar sized screens to the new A380’s. Seats on all planes had a USB socket, and also plug outlets to be able to charge your devices, all the little comforts for us. Emirates Economy Review
Possibly something no one wanted to read, but I must quickly comment on the restrooms on the A380’s in Economy, they are large enough to comfortably change your clothes in. I have a habit of changing into something more comfortable during a flight or dressing for the climate in my destination and it certainly is easy on an A380.
Food & Beverage
Airplane food can be likened to marmite, no mater what class your seat is in there are people who love it and people who hate it. I’m frankly down the middle, at the end of the day it’s a meal and as long as it provides me with enough to survive the flight I’m happy as the real food is at your end destination! Emirates Economy Review
I like the fact that the Emirates menu for each flight is specifically catered to it’s destination. For example my flight from Dubai to Colombo had a menu that was geared towards Sri Lankan cuisine and I was impressed with the Devilled Chicken that I tried. I’ve attached a few pictures of the food below, apologies for some of them as it was quite dark during several of the flights and a camera phone can only do so much. The drinks on board were your standard airline choices of beers, wines and spirits.
Conclusion
First things first, being able to fly to three different countries and back home and covering almost 14,000 miles in the air for under £620 is a fantastic price. All the middle eastern airlines provide such value for money for long-haul travel provided, you are happy to connect in Dubai (Emirates), Doha (Qatar) or Abu Dhabi (Ethiad). The comfortable planes alongside the teams on board and on the ground, make Emirates a great airline to fly on, and I will continue to do so on routes going to Asia, Africa and Oceana.
I did fly in Business and First with them a few years ago and both those products were top notch, especially the bar in A380. I haven’t got enough media of these flights to do a review, but below is a link to Vlogger Casey Neistat’s experience of Emirates in First Class (warning, this may contain some scenes of partial blurred out nudity). Emirates Economy Review
Casey Neistat – Emirates First Class, Dubai Trip Report, Sri Lanka Trip Report Part 1 & Sri Lanka Trip Report Part 2
