Wednesday newsletters always feature a hotel and/or flight review.
Last October, I enjoyed a fabulous holiday in the Seychelles, the legendary island archipelago of exceptional tropical beauty in the Indian Ocean. You can read my trip reports here:
Review: Condor B767-300ER Business Class from Frankfurt to Mahe
Review: Six Senses Zil Pasyon
Review: Maia Luxury Resort
Review: phenomenal North Island (to be published next week)
Review: Constance Ephelia (to be published later)
Review: H Resort Beau Vallon Beach (to be published later)
Review: Qantas A380 First Class from Dubai to London (today)
Today (28 December, 2016): Trip report: Qantas A380 First Class from Dubai to London.
On November 1st 2016, I flew First Class in an Airbus A380 of Qantas from Dubai International Airport (DXB) in the United Arab Emirates to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in the UK. This was the last leg of my Seychelles holiday (the flight from Mahe to Dubai was on an Emirates B777). Qantas – the flag carrier of Australia – is one of the airlines that I admire the most. Although I am not sure where my fascination with the airline comes from, it probably has to do with the fact that it’s the third oldest airline in the world (after KLM and Avianca) and that is has a reputation for being the safest airline in the world. Qantas hasn’t had a fatal crash since during the entire jet area (which began in 1951), a reputation which was glorified in the 1988 blockbuster Rain Man, when Dustin Hoffman’s character refused to get on a flight unless it was Qantas because of the airline’s stellar safety record.
The Australian carrier was one of the first A380 customers, and back in 2008, it placed an order for 20 of the megaplanes. Currently Qantas has 12 A380s in its fleet and mainly deploys them on the London, Dubai, Hong Kong, and USA routes. It doesn’t want its remaining 8 A380s on order anymore, since its current jumbo fleet is enough to meet the existing passenger demand. The particular plane I flew on was an Airbus A380-800 with registration number VH-OQI, nicknamed ‘David Warren’ after the inventor of the flight date recorder and cockpit voice recorder. My experience onboard the Qantas A380 was awesome: the hard product is slightly inferior to the Middle East A380 First Class cabins but the cheerful and courteous cabin crew was the best I ever encountered in all my years of flying.
As usual, I made a Youtube clip of my onboard experience which you can watch here (30,000+ views 4 days after upload).
Qantas features in my top 10 lists of the best Business Class amenity kits in the sky and my most phenomenal travel experiences of 2016.
Trip: DXB-LHR
Airline: Qantas
Aircraft type: Airbus A380
Aircraft registration number: VK-OQI (nicknamed David Warren)
Flight Number: QF9
Date: November 1st, 2016
On time departure: yes (8.20 am)
On time arrival: yes (12.50 pm)
Miles: 3420
Flight time: 7.30 hours
Seat: 4K
Class: First
In this review (more information & photos below my Youtube clip & slideshow):
Price of my ticket
Emirates First Class lounge at Dubai International Airport
Facts & Figures about the Qantas A380
First Class Cabin
First Class Seat (& what seat to choose)
Amenities
Food
Entertainment
Other experiences
My verdict
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
QANTAS A380 (AT DUBAI)
COCKPIT
FIRST CLASS CABIN
FIRST CLASS CABIN
FIRST CLASS SUITE
FIRST CLASS SUITE
FIRST CLASS SUITE
AMENITY KIT
PYAMAS & SLIPPERS
BLANKET & PILLOWS
CANAPES
LUNCH
LUNCH
LUNCH
LUNCH
BUSINESS CLASS
ECONOMY CLASS
FIRST CLASS SEAT (FLATBED POSITION)
INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
PRE-ARRIVAL MEAL
QANTAS A380 (UPON ARRIVAL AT LONDON)
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1. PRICE OF THE TICKET
As previously explained, I almost never pay a full price for a flight, as I mostly use my hard-earned miles for booking a premium class seat or make the booking during an airline’s promotion. I booked this particular journey using 62,500 AAdvantage miles, which is the number of miles needed for a one-way First Class ticket between the Middle East and Europe. In addition, I had to pay $98 USD for taxes and carrier imposed fees. AAdvantage is the frequent flyer program of American Airlines. The US airline devaluated its program this year, and you now need more miles to book award tickets on certain routes (such as the First Class route between Europe and the Middle, which used to be 40,000 miles one-way). But despite the devaluation, I still consider AAdvantage to be the best frequent flyer program in the world and you can read here why.
2. EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE AT DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Qantas does not have its own lounge at Dubai International Airport, but that’s not bad news since its premium passengers have access to the excellent lounges of its partner Emirates at Terminal 3, currently the world’s largest airport terminal, with over 1,713,000 m2 (18,440,000 sq ft) of space. This terminal comprises two concourses: Concourse A (the world’s first A380 purpose-built facility, accommodating 20 air bridge gates) and Concourse B. Both concourses feature Business and First Class lounges. My flight departed from Concourse A, so this is a review of the Concourse A First Class Emirates lounge only. I have previously reported on this fabulous lounge in my Emirates First Class DXB-AMS trip report, so this is mostly a repeat.
The Emirates First Class lounge in Dubai is one of the most spacious, unique and innovative lounges in the world. In fact’s, it’s not a defined space but rather an ultra-luxe concourse floating above the terminal’s ground floor. The lounge is enormous as it spreads the length of the entire terminal, offering direct access to most gates with multi-level boarding. Immediately after you enter the lounge via the hugely impressive reception area, where gigantic pillars seem to reach for the skies, you’ll find yourself in a gallery lined by high-end, duty-free boutique shops, including brands such as Tom Ford and Chanel. From there, two walkways run along both sides of the lounge, offering nice views of the terminal’s groundfloor in between, and with plenty of seating corners along the way, most of them centered around the gates. At the opposite side of the lounge, the two walkways converge into the main seating area, which features a gorgeous chandelier. It’s pretty insane that this ridiculously overwhelming space and the large number of seats accommodate only a few First Class passengers, but I guess that is what Emirates aims to reach: impress their First Class passengers and make them feel very privileged. And boy, did they succeed at that!
Every seating area in the First Class lounge comes with its own food station, with food varying from light snacks, sandwiches and sushi, to desserts, coffee tables and cheese spreads. The main restaurant is located halfway the lounge, and offers both a la carte dining and an extensive buffet. The restaurant ambience does not feel very cozy or upscale (due to the terminal’s incredibly high ceilings), although the open kitchen creates a sense of intimacy. During my visit (early morning time), an impressive breakfast buffet was diplayed. Unfortunately, I did not have time to try out the a la carte breakfast.
The Timeless Spa is located adjacent to the First Class lounge and offers complimentary treatments. The lounge also features a business center, a stylish decorated cigar room, a wine cellar, and two sleeping rooms (each featuring a dozens of day beds).
As already mentioned, the lounge has direct gate access. When it was time to board, a staff member scanned my boarding pass, after which I took the elevator down to the jet bridge which offered some terrific views of the A380, which size never ceases to amaze me. Those four engines are just huge!
QANTAS CHECK-IN AREA AT DUBAI
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
EMIRATES FIRST CLASS LOUNGE
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