Lets talk Emirates, connections, the flight, the hub, the service and the luggage handling.
First off this was my first trip on the much publicised Houston-Dubai sector, I was looking forward to the journey on a spanking new plane with state of the art electronic goodies.
It did not disappoint.
Now I flew in from Dallas, on Continental, where an anomaly unearthed in the most awkward and irritating manner. Continental allows 50lbs, Emirates allows 72lbs, so though I could avail 72 in lieu of the fact that I flew CO inward to Houston, the 72 lbs is rendered moot and only 50 lbs is allowed. Unless of course you pay the excess charge, 50$ which I think is ridiculous. Solution, Emirates should oblige and allow inward 72lbs on ALL aircraft if the last 2 sectors are on an Emirates flight.
Next on the boarding pass, got a pair in Dallas for the IAH-DXB flight and another for DXB-MAA, however in Houston they had us change the boarding cards to one issued by Emirates, no problem with that but why? Lufthansa, Air France and the other cross continent airlines always endorse partners’ boarding cards, so whats the issue here?
The boarding process, this is not Emirates fault, the ground crew in IAH were extremely courteous to some very verbose Pakistani and Indian travellers who sometimes seem to think that on repetitive questioning the answers might meander to something they like to hear.
Now onto the actual flight, supposedly Houston Dubai takes a colossal 15 hours, yet we departed a whole 2 hours late and amazingly, yes I say again amazingly we landed 15 mins early! Tail winds et al helped but that is one helofa piloting anyway you look at it.
The 777 for Emirates is an extremely well designed plane, extra legroom plus mid seat vacant meant I could relax and get some ordinary sleep for at least 6 hours, which was very nice.
The entertainment was very filling and well crafted to keep you occupied, if you wished to be for a long time.Good tilt system wherein even the seat moves forward when you recline back thus optimizing the inclination experience. I like that theres a water fountain in the aircraft and you dont have to wait for the stewardess for a glass of water.Kudos to Emirates and Boeing for getting it right.
DXB is undergoing a massive overhaul, when Dubai World Central is completed the airport will be a colossal and with Emirates having upwards of 250+ orders with 15 odd being delivered every month the airline is set to take off into the stratosphere.
I like that I can complete 3/4th of my trip without hitting those oft travelled European hubs FRA, LHR and CDG.
I first travelled through DXB as a 2 year old, things have changed dramatically but somethings havent, without getting creed into this I always get the feeling that as a non Muslim im on notice. I see the arm of Islam everywhere, not that its a problem course not but its quite intimidating, especially in a dictatorship. Make no mistake about it, the UAE is one, softer with a velvet felt but still an authoritarian holds sway.
Lastly the trip to Chennai was so so but for some poor choice of stewards, why they dont staff such sectors with at 75% native speakers is beyond me.
The poor Japanese flight attendant had to decipher the meaning of a harsh’ Idho, thanni konduwaa’.
Emirates fly smart and you’ll fly right. They are flying to another new American city soon, its a secret so far, but im sure Dallas is not the city, most likely Chicago. This will eat more into the European carriers’ cake.Competition is good for the passengers, is good for price as well.
BTW did I tell you the best part of all this, well the whole flight was 300$ cheaper than LH!