I finally found myself with a moment of clarity, where my brain doesn't feel as fogged up as the inside windows of my car on a rainy day. My family is in the same boat; our bodies beaten up by the dramatic shift in our circadian rhythm. Some of us slept our first night, some didn't; we all napped much of today away, unable to fight the inexorable pull of fatigue. So different from when we left Seattle. I need some time to absorb and observe the incredible cultural, geographical and meteorological differences before commenting further on Dubai.
Leaving Seattle in Style: Emirates First and Business Class
Knowing that frequent flyer miles are a quickly depreciating asset (inevitably, airlines increase the number of miles needed to book award tickets), and having been spoiled by traveling first class on our previous trips to South Africa and Bali (those trips with just Leslie and I, on Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines), I booked two first class seats and two business class seats (for the kids, naturally).
For the geeky flying types out there (that means you FT'ers), booking Emirates (EK) using Alaska Airlines (AS) miles has a few restrictions. First off, itineraries are only allowed to be 90 days in length from departure to return (other airlines allow a full year); not really a problem for most travelers from a practical standpoint - most journeys are well short of 90 days. However, from a logistics standpoint, it presents a problem. Before beginning a journey, the full outbound and return needs to be booked. On EK (and most airlines), finding premium cabin space (first and business) is best done a long ways out (we're talking 8 months to a year) or very close in (up to a month before the flight). Given the last minute nature of our trip, we had to go the latter route, waiting for space to open up closer to our departure date. About a month out, we were able to book SEA>DXB with 2 pax in First (award class Z) and two in Business (award class D) for a total of 700,000 AS miles (200K for first, 150K for biz), but the only onward flight to Singapore available at the time (a very important distinction) was business class seats on a direct flight (with a stop in Colombo, Sri Lanka) to Singapore.
Another idiosyncrasy of booking EK awards using AS miles is the 'married segments' requirements. On most other airlines, one can book segments separately. For example, when we went to Bali on Cathay Pacific, we booked our SFO>HKG segment months before finally booking the HKG>DPS segment. Both bookings were independent of the other. If space was available in our award booking class, we got the seats. However, with EK, if two segments are being flown (and even though we are spending five days in Dubai, the ongoing Singapore flight is considered a connecting flight), both flights must have the desired award booking class available in order to book. In this case, there were four business class seats on both flights (which allowed us to book business class on the ongoing Singapore flight). Unfortunately, this rule means that even if a flight to Singapore with first class seats open up (and there are three daily flights of this kind to Singapore), there would have to be two first class seats available on our SEA>DXB flight in order to book those seats. This creates a catch-22. We took the last two first class seats on the SEA>DXB flight, and there are no more available, so even though we have those seats, we wouldn't be able to book first class to Singapore (unless we changed the entire outbound itinerary to a date that had first class available on both flights - this wasn't going to happen based on our schedule).
The final challenge in booking the itinerary is based on the 90 day max rule. As I mentioned earlier, space is easier to find far out in time, or close to departure date. Ninety days out has almost no award space on EK. I had to search and search, and finally found a return itinerary from Singapore connecting through Dubai to Houston, and finally flying to Seattle from there on AS. This is for September 3. We need to go home sometime between July 24 and 27. I therefore have to play a waiting game, watching award availability closely as we approach those dates in order to find a way home. We may flight straight to Seattle (hopefully), or we may be forced into other North American gateway cities (SFO, LAX, IAH, DFW) that AS serves. More on this in later posts.
After hurried last minute errands and packing, we were ready to head to the airport at 2:30pm. A great benefit of flying Emirates in First or Business is chauffeured transportation to and from the airport - for all stops along the journey. Given how much luggage we have (two suitcases each), I opted to book dual town cars for the ride to SeaTac. Liam and I rode in one, while Lily and Leslie departed in the other. The original intent was to convoy to the airport, but as we turned the corner from our street, I panicked and asked the driver to pullover so I could confirm I had our passports in my computer bag. That done, we ended up taking separate routes that resulted with Liam and I arriving about 10 minutes ahead of the others.
Once we checked in - a very pleasant process with a dedicated line for first class (and one for business class as well), we whisked through security, using the priority line. It took us around 10 minutes to complete the security process, while the standard line snaked off in the distance for a good 200ft (who knows how long it took those folks).
The flight left from the south concourse, so we made our way via the tram, and headed to the International Lounge, a contract lounged used by several airlines including Emirates. It was a small lounge, with few amenities, and a poor food selection (just some bagged snacks, cans of soda, some beer, and a bar tended when you ring a bell). Compared to the British Airways Galleries lounge just upstairs, it's pretty poor.
An hour before departure, we headed for the gate. The plane was moored at S16, the seating area of which was surrounded by construction - it took a while to find the area. Unfortunately, in this isolated set of gates (including S15), two international flights (the other on Condor to Frankfurt) were set to depart at the same time. The two different sets of passengers couldn't be more different. Waiting for the Condor flight were a combination of European and American passengers, while the vast majority of those attending on the Emirates flight were likely from the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent. It was noisy (lots of small children), crowded (never enough seats for everyone) and stuffy.
Finally, First and Business class boarding was called, and we walked along the long air bridge, past a cart holding a variety of newspapers - both international and local, and across the threshold of the 777-200LR (a long range version of the 777, with a max range of 10,800 statute miles). Door 2L was being used for boarding so all four of us crossed to the starboard aisle and took a left where the forward cabin of business class (nice and quiet - only two rows) and first class were located. I made sure the kids were squared away, giving them the basics on how to adjust the seat and use the onboard entertainment, then took some time to get to know my first class suite.
A 23 inch monitor, a minibar with various soft drinks, lots of room for carry-on luggage, and three windows across the length of the suite, That's my favorite part - being able to see so much and get so much natural light. After a pre-departure glass of Moet, we pushed back and took off to the north (a rarity in Seattle). Unlike the various American domestic airlines, which keep the fasten seatbelt sign on for a good 20 minutes before allowing passengers to stretch, on our flight, the light was off before even reaching the 'double-ding' altitude, the 10k foot threshold above which electronics can be used.
Though the most direct route to Dubai (following the great circle) would have taken us just under 100 miles south of the North Pole, due to the wind patterns, a route was chosen that took over the north of Greenland, down through Norway, Finland, Russia, the Caucuses and Iran en route.
All first class guests are provided with pajamas, but the purser informed me that she only had a large, not an extra large. I went to the lavatory (which was, surprisingly, of a standard size). The pajama pants bottoms fit, but were high waters; however, the top was way too small (fat guy with a little coat small). So I stuck with my tee shirt.
As with all international first class products, you dine whenever you feel like it. This is an especially great option for the 1am departures from the West Coast to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. Who wants a full meal at 2am? Better to get some sleep and eat later. However, on our flight, our departure made an immediate meal service make sense. Dining was a la carte - there were many options from which to choose (even anytime breakfast options like pancakes). I started with a couple of flutes of Dom Perignon, 2003 vintage accompanied first with a warmed nut mix, then with caviar. Also, at this time, I opted to dine while watching the latest Die Hard thriller, set in Russia this time with John McCain having to save his CIA operative son from trouble (no, he doesn't say yippee cayea in this movie, I don't think).
Next, I had another appetizer, a seafood plate, and another wine - a lovely Grgrich Hills Chardonnay (well, two glasses of it). Moving on to the entrée, I enjoyed a mixed meat plate with beef, lamb and chicken (along with a couple of glasses of a red, vineyard and varietal forgotten).
I finished with yet more wine, a cheese board followed by a chocolate dessert, at which point I was both full and fairly drunk. Almost four hours had flown by, and though the night had fallen in Seattle, we were well enough north not to draw the shadows of the south. I was able to laugh and cry through an episode of Nurse Jackie that I'd not seen yet (No! why did Charlie have to die!), then decided I need to get some sleep.
I asked the flight attendant if she could make the bed next to my wife who was sitting in the center (first was a 1-2-1 configuration). She changed the seat to a bed, added a mattress, duvet and pillow. I stumbled over, put on my eye mask, took an ambien for good measure, and promptly fell asleep to the view of stars sprinkled across the ceiling bulkhead of the cabin - a starry night.
Tap, tap....tap, tap. I stir awake to my wife nudging me awake. She's enjoying breakfast and informs that there was just over an hour left in the flight. Doing a little math, I figured I was out for almost nine hours! Did I feel refreshed? No - just very hung over and dehydrated...why did I drink so much wine! (reminds me of a flight Leslie and I took on Cathay from Hong Kong to Johannesburg in business class. I was drinking lots of wine, but that time, I started flirting big time with the flight attendant - until that ended in disaster. I spilled my wine on the floor and broke the glass. The purser got mad and threatened to cut me off. However, I cut myself off and promptly passed out).
My take on our experience? The service was excellent. The flight attendants (three of them serving a first class load of five passengers) were all sincerely friendly, and quick to please. A great crew. Though the Emirates wine list was superior, I preferred the Cathay Pacific menu selections and food quality over Emirates. Moreover, the Cathay Pacific first class seat is huge; very wide and great for sleeping and lounging. The Emirates seat had no ottoman, making lounging (watching movies, etc.) not as comfortable. Also, the bed wasn't as comfortable. The entertainment system (ICE) is unmatched for content, and in our case screen size. I've flown business class on Emirates three other times for work, and found it superior to other airline products; I just think Emirates fell short in its first class product (yes, I know, first world problems to be sure).
Landing at dusk, all of us still tired in spite of the various amounts of sleep each of us got, we started the long walk, including a short train ride, to the main terminal three (which is completely occupied by Emirates) immigration and baggage claim. Fairly empty at this hour, we had our passports stamped, found our luggage already waiting for us off the belt, loaded up four luggage carts, and headed landside. We finally found our way to the Emirates transport lounge, and loaded up two Mercedes station wagons (business class transfers use Volvos), and headed into the night towards the Atlantis.
Leaving Seattle in Style: Emirates First and Business Class
Knowing that frequent flyer miles are a quickly depreciating asset (inevitably, airlines increase the number of miles needed to book award tickets), and having been spoiled by traveling first class on our previous trips to South Africa and Bali (those trips with just Leslie and I, on Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines), I booked two first class seats and two business class seats (for the kids, naturally).
For the geeky flying types out there (that means you FT'ers), booking Emirates (EK) using Alaska Airlines (AS) miles has a few restrictions. First off, itineraries are only allowed to be 90 days in length from departure to return (other airlines allow a full year); not really a problem for most travelers from a practical standpoint - most journeys are well short of 90 days. However, from a logistics standpoint, it presents a problem. Before beginning a journey, the full outbound and return needs to be booked. On EK (and most airlines), finding premium cabin space (first and business) is best done a long ways out (we're talking 8 months to a year) or very close in (up to a month before the flight). Given the last minute nature of our trip, we had to go the latter route, waiting for space to open up closer to our departure date. About a month out, we were able to book SEA>DXB with 2 pax in First (award class Z) and two in Business (award class D) for a total of 700,000 AS miles (200K for first, 150K for biz), but the only onward flight to Singapore available at the time (a very important distinction) was business class seats on a direct flight (with a stop in Colombo, Sri Lanka) to Singapore.
Another idiosyncrasy of booking EK awards using AS miles is the 'married segments' requirements. On most other airlines, one can book segments separately. For example, when we went to Bali on Cathay Pacific, we booked our SFO>HKG segment months before finally booking the HKG>DPS segment. Both bookings were independent of the other. If space was available in our award booking class, we got the seats. However, with EK, if two segments are being flown (and even though we are spending five days in Dubai, the ongoing Singapore flight is considered a connecting flight), both flights must have the desired award booking class available in order to book. In this case, there were four business class seats on both flights (which allowed us to book business class on the ongoing Singapore flight). Unfortunately, this rule means that even if a flight to Singapore with first class seats open up (and there are three daily flights of this kind to Singapore), there would have to be two first class seats available on our SEA>DXB flight in order to book those seats. This creates a catch-22. We took the last two first class seats on the SEA>DXB flight, and there are no more available, so even though we have those seats, we wouldn't be able to book first class to Singapore (unless we changed the entire outbound itinerary to a date that had first class available on both flights - this wasn't going to happen based on our schedule).
The final challenge in booking the itinerary is based on the 90 day max rule. As I mentioned earlier, space is easier to find far out in time, or close to departure date. Ninety days out has almost no award space on EK. I had to search and search, and finally found a return itinerary from Singapore connecting through Dubai to Houston, and finally flying to Seattle from there on AS. This is for September 3. We need to go home sometime between July 24 and 27. I therefore have to play a waiting game, watching award availability closely as we approach those dates in order to find a way home. We may flight straight to Seattle (hopefully), or we may be forced into other North American gateway cities (SFO, LAX, IAH, DFW) that AS serves. More on this in later posts.
After hurried last minute errands and packing, we were ready to head to the airport at 2:30pm. A great benefit of flying Emirates in First or Business is chauffeured transportation to and from the airport - for all stops along the journey. Given how much luggage we have (two suitcases each), I opted to book dual town cars for the ride to SeaTac. Liam and I rode in one, while Lily and Leslie departed in the other. The original intent was to convoy to the airport, but as we turned the corner from our street, I panicked and asked the driver to pullover so I could confirm I had our passports in my computer bag. That done, we ended up taking separate routes that resulted with Liam and I arriving about 10 minutes ahead of the others.
Once we checked in - a very pleasant process with a dedicated line for first class (and one for business class as well), we whisked through security, using the priority line. It took us around 10 minutes to complete the security process, while the standard line snaked off in the distance for a good 200ft (who knows how long it took those folks).
The flight left from the south concourse, so we made our way via the tram, and headed to the International Lounge, a contract lounged used by several airlines including Emirates. It was a small lounge, with few amenities, and a poor food selection (just some bagged snacks, cans of soda, some beer, and a bar tended when you ring a bell). Compared to the British Airways Galleries lounge just upstairs, it's pretty poor.
 |
| Leslie not happy with the lounge (actually, not happy I'm snapping her pic) |
An hour before departure, we headed for the gate. The plane was moored at S16, the seating area of which was surrounded by construction - it took a while to find the area. Unfortunately, in this isolated set of gates (including S15), two international flights (the other on Condor to Frankfurt) were set to depart at the same time. The two different sets of passengers couldn't be more different. Waiting for the Condor flight were a combination of European and American passengers, while the vast majority of those attending on the Emirates flight were likely from the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent. It was noisy (lots of small children), crowded (never enough seats for everyone) and stuffy.
 |
| Our ride to Dubai |
Finally, First and Business class boarding was called, and we walked along the long air bridge, past a cart holding a variety of newspapers - both international and local, and across the threshold of the 777-200LR (a long range version of the 777, with a max range of 10,800 statute miles). Door 2L was being used for boarding so all four of us crossed to the starboard aisle and took a left where the forward cabin of business class (nice and quiet - only two rows) and first class were located. I made sure the kids were squared away, giving them the basics on how to adjust the seat and use the onboard entertainment, then took some time to get to know my first class suite.
 |
| Lily and Liam settling into their seats |
A 23 inch monitor, a minibar with various soft drinks, lots of room for carry-on luggage, and three windows across the length of the suite, That's my favorite part - being able to see so much and get so much natural light. After a pre-departure glass of Moet, we pushed back and took off to the north (a rarity in Seattle). Unlike the various American domestic airlines, which keep the fasten seatbelt sign on for a good 20 minutes before allowing passengers to stretch, on our flight, the light was off before even reaching the 'double-ding' altitude, the 10k foot threshold above which electronics can be used.
 |
| Large monitor with pre-departure glass of Moet |
Though the most direct route to Dubai (following the great circle) would have taken us just under 100 miles south of the North Pole, due to the wind patterns, a route was chosen that took over the north of Greenland, down through Norway, Finland, Russia, the Caucuses and Iran en route.
 |
| Our routing to Dubai...the dotted line indicated the planned routing (taking advantage of winds across Europe) |
All first class guests are provided with pajamas, but the purser informed me that she only had a large, not an extra large. I went to the lavatory (which was, surprisingly, of a standard size). The pajama pants bottoms fit, but were high waters; however, the top was way too small (fat guy with a little coat small). So I stuck with my tee shirt.
As with all international first class products, you dine whenever you feel like it. This is an especially great option for the 1am departures from the West Coast to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. Who wants a full meal at 2am? Better to get some sleep and eat later. However, on our flight, our departure made an immediate meal service make sense. Dining was a la carte - there were many options from which to choose (even anytime breakfast options like pancakes). I started with a couple of flutes of Dom Perignon, 2003 vintage accompanied first with a warmed nut mix, then with caviar. Also, at this time, I opted to dine while watching the latest Die Hard thriller, set in Russia this time with John McCain having to save his CIA operative son from trouble (no, he doesn't say yippee cayea in this movie, I don't think).
Next, I had another appetizer, a seafood plate, and another wine - a lovely Grgrich Hills Chardonnay (well, two glasses of it). Moving on to the entrée, I enjoyed a mixed meat plate with beef, lamb and chicken (along with a couple of glasses of a red, vineyard and varietal forgotten).
I finished with yet more wine, a cheese board followed by a chocolate dessert, at which point I was both full and fairly drunk. Almost four hours had flown by, and though the night had fallen in Seattle, we were well enough north not to draw the shadows of the south. I was able to laugh and cry through an episode of Nurse Jackie that I'd not seen yet (No! why did Charlie have to die!), then decided I need to get some sleep.
I asked the flight attendant if she could make the bed next to my wife who was sitting in the center (first was a 1-2-1 configuration). She changed the seat to a bed, added a mattress, duvet and pillow. I stumbled over, put on my eye mask, took an ambien for good measure, and promptly fell asleep to the view of stars sprinkled across the ceiling bulkhead of the cabin - a starry night.
Tap, tap....tap, tap. I stir awake to my wife nudging me awake. She's enjoying breakfast and informs that there was just over an hour left in the flight. Doing a little math, I figured I was out for almost nine hours! Did I feel refreshed? No - just very hung over and dehydrated...why did I drink so much wine! (reminds me of a flight Leslie and I took on Cathay from Hong Kong to Johannesburg in business class. I was drinking lots of wine, but that time, I started flirting big time with the flight attendant - until that ended in disaster. I spilled my wine on the floor and broke the glass. The purser got mad and threatened to cut me off. However, I cut myself off and promptly passed out).
My take on our experience? The service was excellent. The flight attendants (three of them serving a first class load of five passengers) were all sincerely friendly, and quick to please. A great crew. Though the Emirates wine list was superior, I preferred the Cathay Pacific menu selections and food quality over Emirates. Moreover, the Cathay Pacific first class seat is huge; very wide and great for sleeping and lounging. The Emirates seat had no ottoman, making lounging (watching movies, etc.) not as comfortable. Also, the bed wasn't as comfortable. The entertainment system (ICE) is unmatched for content, and in our case screen size. I've flown business class on Emirates three other times for work, and found it superior to other airline products; I just think Emirates fell short in its first class product (yes, I know, first world problems to be sure).
Landing at dusk, all of us still tired in spite of the various amounts of sleep each of us got, we started the long walk, including a short train ride, to the main terminal three (which is completely occupied by Emirates) immigration and baggage claim. Fairly empty at this hour, we had our passports stamped, found our luggage already waiting for us off the belt, loaded up four luggage carts, and headed landside. We finally found our way to the Emirates transport lounge, and loaded up two Mercedes station wagons (business class transfers use Volvos), and headed into the night towards the Atlantis.
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