Review of Emirates flight Dubai → Bangkok in Economy

Hey there Flight Reporters ! This is my first ever flight review. Thanks for stopping by !
Call me Flight Guy. I live in Dubai. And, I love planes. In fact I am obsessed with them.
So there you have it- a brief introduction… :)

Introduction to the Flight

We decided upon Bangkok as our destination for a short holiday only a week before the flight, and, for the sake of trying, we booked our holiday through Emirates Holidays, run by the airline. I must say, we enjoyed the tour provided by EK Holidays, and, of course, we were booked on an Emirates flight, which by itself is a plus point. So we were pretty excited for the trip, and for good reason too.

So, although it just comprises of 2 flights, below is my brief flight itinerary-

EK 370 ; DXB-BKK ; Boeing 777-300ER
EK 373 ; BKK-DXB ; Airbus A380-800 (yay…..)

Come the 3rd of May

I woke up at 6, and I hate being woken up at 6, so I was pretty grumpy in the morning. Yes, I agree it is a bit too punctual, but it takes a resident of Dubai to know full well that traffic on Thursday morning is deadly and unexpected. We set off for the airport at about 8 and well, I was wrong and we made good time ( but then again, better safe than sorry right?

In the cab



Views on the way



Seems like a nice day to fly doesn't it?



Oops…………….. I guess??




And when you see this….



You know you have reached the airport : )



I get it, Terminal trois is only for EMIRATES

Inside the airport….

Now usually I fly out of Dubai using airlines apart from Emirates, so that means it has been a long time since I have flown through Terminal 3 which is dedicated to Emirates flight services. So although I distinctly remember the white pillars and the nice décor, it all seemed a bit alien to me. Anyhow, we decided to check in…

There's my flight!



At the counter, I did what most avgeeks may be a bit shy to admit - hope that they get an upgrade. I am certain that the Emirates business class product is more lucrative…. :D
And just like before, I was handed an Economy Class boarding pass. But then again, Emirates economy class is a class above the economy class product in most airlines…..



An enormous FIDS on the ground floor…..



The gates are upstairs,

So we do the unthinkable

We go upstairs ( I hope the sarcasm is evident )

The elevators



And the wonders a bit of dim light can do



The view inside - the fountains are incredible



Gate Bravo 23 today



My smartphone's camera just maxed out



Yet another pro pic





The new EXPO 2020 livery, I just hope I can fly in that once



I mean, I just love the Emirates liveries - they even covered their A380s with max sized pictures of Real Madrid Stars…..

The view from here is, well, dismaying………..



Not that Dubai isn't planespotter friendly ( it is not too friendly either ) but just the fact that EVERYWHERE I look, there is an Emirates aircraft. OK I admit that I did see a Flydubai and a Saudia B738,
those were rare sights

I waited for 10 minutes before clicking another picture, and I can vouch for the fact that I saw at least 20 A380s - one might think the 100 A380s is a bit overdone if you try to spot birds from DXB.

OH LORD I cannot believe my eyes!!!!!
A non-Emirates bird? Something apart from an A380?!!!



I got this after some time……



Almost as if these are reading my mind………………………..



Charging port in the waiting area….



Under that was an iPAD that had details regarding departures. On a completely unrelated note, talking about passenger traffic through Dubai,



Today's flight will be operated by a B777-300 ER. On perusing the list, I realized that TG 518 would be operated by an A350, a plane I am dying to fly on. Sometimes Emirates economy may not be the best option……

Initial Boarding Call

After what seemed like an eternity in waiting, we were asked to "board" the aircraft by one of those fancy computerized announcements that repeat the same message in English, Arabic and Thai - Talk about Monotony

Only to discover that we were merely redirected to a waiting area downstairs. Turns out that this gate-within-a-gate is the actual point where we enter the plane.



Me in the second waiting lounge



And then another boarding call - for Business and First

And then another - for parents travelling with children

And then another - for us to board

Shot of our bird while entering



EK bodies from the AB



Unfortunately I missed by CFS ( Customary First Shot ) when I boarded due to some passengers trying to ditch their aisle seats for the window seats and others who were scheduled to sit there begged to differ.

Inside our 5 years and 4 months ( at the time when I write this ) 777-300

There's my seat



And now for a short tour of Mr. Flight Guy's seat.

When FG sits down, he first sees the "headphone" ( I have used quotation marks fully aware of what I am doing )



Add to that a nice blanket



and a ( not so nice ) pillow.



SAB ( Seat Adjustment Button ). PDTMISSWTA ( Please Don't Tell Me I Should Stop With The Acronyms ) .



CFS of the view from my seat



And the view ahead … towards the Business class that I wished I was upgraded to …



Estimable legroom.



Safety Card



Duty Free



A kind of kit containing an air sickness bag, donation envelope for the Emirates Foundation, and a whole booklet devoted to IFE stuff ( EK calls its IFE "ICE" - Information, Communication, Entertainment )



Cockpit Camera ( I think … ) Don't blame my smartphone camera for this



A cup holder, which is relatively handy.



A coathook.



A touchscreen remote. Fascinating !



You can also bring the remote close to you by pulling at the cord, yet the screen was close enough, such that one could easily navigate by using the screen. Hence, despite the great remote, I preferred the larger screen.



USB port and the "headphone" port…… ( notice the quotation marks )



CFS of the view above from 19G



And another to go to my collection of ARTISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY - credit to dim light, myself, and the kind guys who left 19H,I and J empty.



Now the cabin crew went about distributing the menu cards

We could choose between a lamb dish or a cod yakisoba. I had thought of this dilemma before and decided that while flying to BKK, I would have the Thai dish, and coming back I'll have the other alternative. I regretted it later. Thanks a lot, FGTBL ( FlightGuy's Typical Bad Luck )

More on that later. Let's get back to the flight.

IFE ( or ICE, I don't know what to call it )

Emirates is notoriously good for its In-flight entertainment, and this flight was no exception. The screen in front of me was well stocked with new movies and music releases. Unfortunately, the TV show list lacked Big Bang Theory, the only reason ( apart from the headphones ) that I did not give it a 10. Yes, I love BBT.

Here are a few pictures ….



Add to this games, new music releases and documentaries….. you cannot be bored on an EK flight. Above there was a live news feed, live tv, communications and information section ( and new releases )
I decided to start off with Black Panther.

Pushback and Takeoff

Ok, so I am in 19G, and as the latest professional picture suggests, this flight was relatively empty ( not empty enough to secure me an upgrade though ) and so I thought, why not move myself indiscreetly to some window seat. Again, formality prevailed and I took the time to call an airhostess.

FG: Say, is there any problem if I sit there, in 20K, as, well, there aren't many passengers today ?
( flashes a cheesy smile )
Airhostess: Sir, some passengers are still boarding, and so I cannot let you sit there right now, but later on you could…..
FG: Yeah, but I have a feeling that that seat is going to be empty
AH: We have to see sir….
FG: OK, but I can sit there later, right?
AH: Provided there is no one else there…..
( AH exits )

I waited for about 10 minutes, after which, noting duly that Ms. AH was out of earshot, I occupied 20J.

Wing view from 20K



The entire row was empty …..



The tray table unfolded once - you can use that to keep drinks or some small snacks



And when I unfold it completely…….



If you are curious as to whether Ms. AH came after that, it might relieve you to know that I never saw her again ( which sounds sadistic for me, I wonder why ).
And as for any other passenger, it seemed like FGTBL left me off the hook on that as well, although some people occupied the other seats in the row.
Yet for this flight, 20H,J and K was FG territory

Almost 5 minutes after that, a nice man sitting in front of me, stood up, looked back, and requested for the 2 remaining pillows in FG territory.

Nice man: Um, excuse me?
FG: ( fumbles with the headphone ) Oh, yeah?
NM: Say could you pass me those 2 pillows?
FG: Uh…… sure! ( he was relatively older than me ). But it kinda belongs to FG you know so…
NM: ( not quite hearing my inaudible protest )
FG: Here
NM: Thanks
FG: ( to inner FG ) Why did I just give him that! I could totally use one to kick around during the flight.

And another 5 minutes later, our Captain welcomes us on board, and lets us know that he is expecting us to pushback another 5 minutes later.

Another artistic shot….



View outside while pushing back.



View of the terminal building - in the hot afternoon Dubai soon, it really is beautiful to observe the glass gleam ;)



Beautiful livery, that. H.H. Late Sheikh Zayed was the founder of the UAE and is considered as a father figure by everyone in the UAE……



We taxied till Runway 30 Right, after which a few heavies came in, and then it was our slot to take off ….

Take-off

We began our takeoff roll on 30R at 12:08 PM, and at 12:10, amid the awesome roar of our Rolls Royce engines, we took off.

Views on climbing ( there was a mild dust storm, but that is normal in Dubai )



Engine shot…..



There is a small bay, and so it is not really the sea that you see in the pictures



And over the clouds we go !

Preliminary Meal Service

After climbing for about 15 minutes, the cabin attendants began with the first meal course ….

Tiny biscuits ( not croutons, trust me, I just don't know what to call them ) and pineapple juice.

I apologize for the blurred photo….



Pineapple juice.

Meal Service!

View outside @ 30,000 feet ( we are near the Arabian sea )



It was while Krushchev was reminding Malenkov that he was in Stalin's death lists that a nice airhostess asked me what I'd like to eat….

FG: Cod please !

The meal along with some Apple juice….




Barley and lentil salad, cod yakisoba with stir-fried noodles and vegetables, sago pudding with coconut milk, metal cutlery, butter, cheddar cheese and crackers, and some Mai Dubai water…..

The salad was in my opinion relatively dry and bland, and adding salt did not really help.
The cod dish - sigh, this is going to be long - had several problems. Now I am no Masterchef to comment too much, but I can tell you what I felt, right?
The pieces of cod were cooked in different proportions - some were so soft that they melted in my mouth, others were so stiff that I almost gagged. The sauce was tasteless - too salty and not much spice - it even seemed sweet somehow. The noodles were good though…
The pudding was the highlight. After getting through the cod dish, the dessert was pleasant - the sweet coconut pudding was just right !

All this while I watched Death of Stalin - awesome ! ( by the way, I recommend this movie for anyone who may be interested - the comedy is outstanding !!)

At about this time, I realized that there was a situation unfolding in front. The man whom I generously gave the other pillows ( I am just kidding about the "my" ) seemed to have opened a bottle of wine before the meal itself and was having a good time, until an airhostess came by, and warned that what he was drinking somehow exceeded the limits one can drink on board - something like that. Now I don't know whether such standards exist ( please enlighten me in the comments, if they do ) and again, I really didn't hear much, but it seemed like AH3's intervention led to the gentlemen in front stowing away his bottle and deciding to stay sober.

After that, the attendants passed by, serving passengers tea and coffee from kettles - they poured these into the cups in which those tiny water bottles were kept - and the coffee was powdered :(
Guess EK failed me on that as well…..

34,000 feet above the Indian Ocean



I like the afternoon mood lighting !

Visiting the lav

OK, so the meal was cleared away, and since I had nothing else to do, why not check out the lavatory and conduct the FGCTV ( Flight Guy Customary Toilet Visit )

The washbasin is clean ….



Toiletries in an economy class lavatory !



All clean there as well !



FGUTS ( Flight Guy Usual Toilet Selfie )



I like how this notice is printed in everything but English - ( reading it from the Arabic, it says : To keep the toilet clean, press the button ( for flushing ) )



Over the Indian state of Gujarat



Now we are above another Indian state called Madhya Pradesh



The cabin crew came around with some glasses of juice - I took the pineapple juice.

Meanwhile, I had stopped watching Death of Stalin, and decided to revert to Wakanda.

After the movie was over, I slept. For what I believe was a long time…..

A last shot before flying out of Indian aerial territory …

Willkommen to Thailand

When I woke up, we had just passed into Thai airspace.

View while descending into Suvarnabhumi ( it actually means golden world in Sanskrit )



Mood lighting is a bit intense



I was waiting for this ! The starry sky that Emirates is famous for !



Engine lights fired up!



Landing now



Not the smoothest landing, but not too rough either. Kudos EK, for a flight that had its boons and banes !

In Bangkok

We docked up near a Singapore Airlines A330



So we entered into the terminal. As we are eligible for a visa on arrival ( I am Indian ), we headed to the visa on arrival office



There was a looooooooooong queue. I mean, I never knew there would be so many people turning up for a VoA, the list of countries eligible was so short ! So it was an agonizingly long 30 minutes, and we were glad when we got our passports back.

And now for the fun part - we headed to conveyor belt and guess what ! No bags !
Of course we weren't too early. And worrying things turned up in my imaginative mind…
Did someone take our bags? Or did they never reach here ( I am yet to be cursed by the terrible bad luck of landing and finding out that your bag did not come with you ) ?
Eventually, reason prevailed and we headed to a baggage help counter, who nicely redirected us to the other side of the baggage reclaim area to an Emirates counter.
And guess what ! Nobody there.
Thankfully, we noticed some bags nearby, and on close inspection, they turned out to be ours.
And just when I thought FGTBL had the better of me!

So thank you avgeeks and flight reporters for stopping by and reading my report. As I have made clear in the beginning, this is my first ever flight report, and I really do need your suggestions, so please feel free to comment on my report, criticize it and suggest the things I can improve on. Moreover, I admit that even though I love planes, I may not always get the facts straight, so if you find anything wrong anywhere in my report, again, please comment.

Thanks ! Happy flying !

FLIGHTGUY_2401