Review: Emirates B777 First Class Game Changer, Dubai-Frankfurt

Emirates B777 First Class Game Changer

Cebu & Expo 2020 Flying Emirates First & Business Class
Flight: EK45
Departure time in Dubai (DXB): 8:25
Arrival time in Frankfurt (FRA): 13:15
Aircraft: Boeing 777 (A6-EQM)
Seat: 1E
Duration: 6h 50m
Date of flight: October 5, 2021
*This is a revenue ticket, First Class flight #53

Video from YouTube



Complimentary Chauffeur Drive

I booked Emirates´ free chauffeur drive to the airport from the Al Seef Heritage Hotel Dubai at 4:55am which was about 3 and a half hours before departure.

Our chauffeur was 10 minutes early which was great and by 5am, we were already at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport 👍

Check-in, Desk 3

First Class Biometric Zone

There were only a few check-in desks that were opened when I arrived (there was a special area for US bound flights where all check-in desks were open) although more desks opened up eventually and I was helped by a friendly agent from Desk 1. Minutes later, I was given my boarding pass and then I headed to passport control and security.

Emirates First Class Lounge, Concourse B

The Emirates First Class Lounge in the B Concourse was pretty empty when I came although more and more passengers came after 6am.

Aircraft, Boeing 777-300

Our ride to Frankfurt

Boarding, Gate B24

I left the lounge at 7:20am for the scheduled 7:40am boarding since the gate was a bit far from the lounge.

Boarding started at 7:45am beginning with first and business class passengers as well as those with status.

As usual, there was a separate bridge for premium passengers and those flying in economy.

First Class Cabin

The first class cabin consists of 6 suites in two rows, in a 1-1-1 configuration. On this flight, 4 of the 6 suites were taken.

The beautiful Ghaf tree mosaic adorns the "front side" of my suite 1E.

Suite 2A is a very private suite since the entrance to suite 2F is located on the opposite aisle.

As a result, the passenger in suite 2A can just see this wall on his right side. The same extra privacy applies to suite 1K which only has the wall of suite 1E to see  on his left side (the walls are there for the virtual windows).

Left aisle of the cabin

Suite 1E

Welcome to suite 1E 😍

The seat design is widely influenced by no less than that of Mercedes-Benz. The soft leather recliner was very comfortable, though the armrests could have been wider. You can recline your seat to the zero gravity setting which is NASA inspired. It was a very special experience 😉

Already waiting at my seat was a nice pillow.

Of course, the real reason why I chose suite 1E is because of the virtual windows. Imagine seating in the middle of the cabin and still be able to see what is outside 👍 For those passengers in the window seats, they are offered binoculars to enjoy the views during take off and landing 😉

To the right of my seat is the 13 inch detachable tablet controls, seat controls and air vent. 

From the tablet, you can control the seat, inflight entertainment system and the window blinds among other. A special feature of the tablet is the voice or video call (Room Service) in case you want to order something from the galley and speak with a flight attendant. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to use it on this flight.

Below the tablet is the seat control and underneath it is a small table which can be used when being served some canapes, although I did not use it on this flight. 

IFE remote control

The IFE remote control has a sleek design and was actually pretty heavy 😉

Headphones socket

Light intensity, mood lighting and temperature controls are in the panel to the left of my seat. It also shows if the lavatory is occupied or not.

Flight information panel

Underneath the left armrest is a storage for small devices. The 4-mode seat controls is located beside it.

Wall lamps and air vents are located above the seat.

A storage compartment for pillows and bedding.

There are also curtains by the windows.

A Ghaf tree mosaic design above the middle window.

The seat actually moves to the right (and left) side of the suite, depending on the seat mode, thus these adjustments on the floor.

The advantage of seating in the middle seat is you get 2 "full" minibars located on each side of the TV monitor. The snack basket was also present 😋 In front of the TV monitor is a pop-out vanity mirror.

Under the pop-out vanity mirror is the wellness kit containing Byredo products as well as a notepad and a pen.

The 32-inch touchscreen TV monitor was perfect in watching a film or a TV program. And with Emirates´ ICE, there is a plethora of films and TV programs to choose from 👍

Underneath the large rectangular table is the large tray table used for dining.

And since it is Covid times, already waiting at my seat is a small bottle of hand sanitizer and a face mask. An eye mask was also offered.

On the right-hand lower corner of the large table is the USB and HDMI ports and a universal plug socket.

The service hatch makes it easy for flight attendants to perform small tasks like collect the snacks basket before take off, or they could serve you a glass of Dom Perignon as your pre-departure drink 👍

The service hatch can be closed for complete privacy.

Storage under the large table

The storage is perfect for keeping your small luggage.

To the left of my seat is the wardrobe.

Under the wardrobe (with mirror) is the life vest.

Inside the wardrobe are headphones, air-sickness bag, safety card, hangers and the blanket.

The new headphones, Bowers & Wilkins

The floor to ceiling sliding door was lovely although strangely it was not automatic unlike on other first class suites of Emirates. 

Color me Rainbow

After being oriented with the seat features by the cabin chief, I decided to try different colors for mood lighting and below are some photos:

Red/orange

Red/orange

Violet

Yellow/White

Even the floor is also full of lights 👍

Pre-departure Beverage

Moments after settling in, a very nice lady from Romania came to introduce herself and took my drinks order. I decided to settle for a glass of apple juice as usual.

Around 8am, I was offered some dates and Arabic coffee.

A date and Arabic coffee

Hot towels were offered moments later. A coffee refill was also offered although I declined.

Inflight Safety Video

At 8:19am, the captain came on the PA to give us his welcome message as well as some flight information including our flight time to Frankfurt of 6 hours and 5 minutes. Five minutes later, we started our pushback followed by the safety video being played on the screen.

Inflight safety video

Complimentary Wifi

Wifi was complimentary on this flight but unlike on my flight from Cebu to Dubai, the complimentary wifi here was for the whole duration of the flight 👍

Dining

Menu card and wine list

Menu card

Breakfast, appetizers

Main course, dessert, seasonal fruit

Cheese board, chocolates

Juices, mocktails, hot drinks

Cocktails, aperitifs

The champagne on board was no less than Dom Perignon 👍

White and red wines

Dessert wine and Port

Since I had just eaten a big breakfast in the lounge, I decided to order just a cup of green tea which was served with some biscuits. I informed the flight attendant I would take a nap after my tea. I asked her to wake me up two hours before arrival for the lunch service, which she agreed to do.

Turn Down Service

After enjoying my cup of green tea, the flight attendant offered to make my bed. Let´s try the Zero gravity 😉

Green color, mood lighting

I woke up around 3 hours before landing and decided to take a photo of the TV monitor and minibar together with my Emirates flight attendant bear which I bought from the Emirates Pavilion at the EXPO 2020. 

Airshow

Airshow enroute to Frankfurt

Lunch

About two hours before landing, lunch service began. I decided to try their detox drink which was very refreshing 😉

Let´s start with the caviar 😋

The caviar was perfect to begin the meal service 👍

For my main course, I ordered the poached lobster tails served with green pea pureé and buttered linguine with chives. It was fantastic 😋

For dessert, I had the Dark Chocolate Delice which was heavenly 😋

To end the meal service, I had a cup of green sencha tea. I was expecting some pralines and a hot towel but my flight attendant must have forgotten it 😉

Lavatory

There are two lavatories in the cabin, both of which are located in the left aisle of the cabin, one on each side, the one on the left side being marginally larger than the one on the right side.

Lavatory, left side of the aisle

Male and female perfumes from Bulgari

Offered in the lavatory are dental kits, combs and small tubes of Voya hand cream.

Under this seat cover is the toilet 👍

Toilet

Full length mirror

Lavatory, right side of aisle

Lavatory, right side of aisle

Business Class Cabin

I also had the chance to have a look at the business class cabin and below are some photos:

Business class cabin

Personal screens

Business class seat

Minibar

Business Class Lavatory

Business class lavatory

Dental kits and Bulgari perfumes for men and women

Business class lavatory

Amenity Kit

Since it was a day flight, no amenity kits were available although I was offered some pajamas and slippers which I gladly took.

Landing in Frankfurt Airport

Around 12pm Frankfurt time, the captain was back on the PA to give us some update on the flight. We were informed that we would start our descent in 15 minutes and that we would be landing in 45 minutes, with the current weather in Frankfurt being cloudy and a temperature of 14 degrees.

We landed in Frankfurt at 12:43pm and reached our gate 13 minutes later.

As a first class passenger, I was among those who disembarked first.

As expected, my luggage was also among the first ones to arrive.

Complimentary Airport Pick-up

My chauffeur, a very nice guy from Egypt/Germany was already waiting when I cleared customs.

My ride to my hotel was a Mercedes-Benz 👍

CONCLUSION

Since the Emirates First Class game changer was launched a few years ago, I had always dreamed of being able to fly it myself. So on the day of this flight, I was very excited and hopeful that they would not make any last minute aircraft changes. Fortunately they did not 😉 I have to admit that the new design is much, much better as it is not too overloaded with all the bling bling. Instead, it was simple and yet elegant, thanks to the influence of Mercedes-Benz. The thing I loved most about the suite is the virtual windows as the idea is very genial and I don´t think any other airline has done it. Of course the zero-gravity seat setting and the "color me rainbow" mood lighting are also game changers for me. I loved the floor to ceiling door for total privacy as well as the service hatch. Unfortunately, I was not able to try the video calling but hopefully next time. The size of the suite is also a big plus especially when the doors are closed since I had enough space to move. As for the service, I thought the flight attendants were fantastic although I wished they would be like Asiana flight attendants who would check your seat (and clear the used cups for example) whenever you go to the lavatory. As for the dining experience, the food choices were impressive and the ones I ordered tasted great especially the lobster.

Me enjoying the virtual windows from my suite 1E 

I was really glad I did upgrade my flight to first class using my Emirates mile because it gave me the opportunity to experience one of the best first class in the world. My favorite overall (with just a small margin) is still the A380 first class with the shower spa 👍 To all the crew on this flight, Shukran 😍

Comments

Post a Comment