I am upstairs on this big beast of a plane, Emirates double-decker A380 with all its shiny bells and whistles.
First and business classes own the upstairs on this plane, unlike Singapore Airlines where economy class and the fancy folks are on both levels. But here on the Emirates albatross of the skies they have pimped it out with a bar at the rear for hobnobbing whenever you feel like it.
Compare Emirates business class A380 v 777.
Snacks are constantly replenished and the booze is flowing. It’s so roomy and quite bizarre to be chatting to strangers at 53,000 ft over a glass of something. Oh and the loo has a window – the loo with a view.
At the front of the upstairs are the First Class sleeper cabins. These guys have leather reclining seats and sliding doors to shut themselves away from the passengers in the aisle. There are also 2 “spa” showers up here and depending on how full it is, you’ll get 5 minutes. Water is heavy to carry so they need to limit it, but happily there is a countdown indicator so you won’t be stuck with shampoo on your head.
But back to me in my lazy-boy in 21D surrounded by my walnut veneer counter, my own personal mini bar with water, juices and soft drinks, noise cancelling headphones to watch the movies on my huge (I’d say A3 size) TV screen. The Bulgari amenities bag is about to become my new makeup bag and my shoes are thrown into the far reaches of a cubby at my feet which would double as the end of my bed if I were that tall.
I flew first from Auckland to Sydney and since we departed at 6.40pm dinner was served, spoiling me for the 2nd dinner served out of Sydney.
First came the tray of drinks, orange juice, water or bubbles. You can guess which one I chose. Well it was after 5pm!
Then the menu. The Auckland to Sydney flight departing at 6.40pm offers a 4 course meal as well as bread, chocolates and drinks.
We started with chilled lime and chilli prawns on ginger and soya noodles with mango salsa. Then I went for the grilled beef fillet with horseradish mashed potato, peppercorn jus, carrots and roasted onions. Other options were marinated chicken skewers or stir-fried prawns.
As luck would have it I had room for dessert and went for the tiramisu. I could have had the blueberry and lemon tart, or a cheese board followed by tea or coffee.
On the next leg I forgo the four-course dinner option because it was time to don my eye mask from my bag of Bulgari tricks, pop my little friend the sleeping tablet and settle in for the 14-hour haul from Sydney to Dubai which passed like a dream in this fancy set up.
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A huge thank you to Emirates who hosted me on this flight to Dubai. Jump here to the Emirates site for up to the minute deals>>>
