Dear Diary: 18 hours in Emirates First Class

Our longest long-haul in Emirates First

I’ve been lucky enough to fly Emirates First Class twice before, but both flights were during the day and on some of the shorter Emirates routes (Manchester to Dubai). Those flights are in the air for a quoted 7 hours, but in reality it can often be shorter. It never felt like enough time in the First cabin to really enjoy it. Then again, no amount of time is ever enough in First. We decided to use Emirates to get back from a trip to the Far East, and that means a lot more time in their premium cabin.

More like 34 hours

We ended up booking Emirates for our return flight from South Korea to Manchester, with a stopover in Dubai. That’s a nearly ten-hour leg followed by a seven-hour leg, or at least that’s what those flights used to be. With the route adjustments in place due to the conflict in the Middle East, both legs took longer. The Manchester leg, for example, is now close to eight hours of flying time.

I was not complaining, as I wanted to spend as long as possible in First. I knew we’d need to sleep on the first leg, but ten hours gave us more than enough time to eat, sleep, shower, and enjoy the suite.

All in, from checking out of our hotel to arriving back in Manchester, 34 hours passed. On paper, that sounds like it’s going to be awful. Through planning some interesting experiences, making smart decisions and bagging our First Class upgrades, it was a fantastic, enjoyable and relaxing end to a trip.

(You can read my previous review on an Emirates First flight from Manchester to Dubai)

Day 1, 11am: checking out of the Westin Seoul Parnas

We had a five-night stay at the Westin, and it exceeded expectations. I wrote a full review of the Westin Seoul Parnas here, but in short, it’s a beautiful hotel with one of the best executive lounges I’ve ever experienced.

Check-out at the Westin is a disgraceful 11am. That meant we had to find something to do for the ten hours before our flight check-in opened. Our first Emirates flight was due to take off at 23:55pm that night, and we planned to check in three hours beforehand.

We needed something big to do during the day, or we’d be bored. Before we did that, we needed to ditch our luggage. We had over-shopped in Tokyo and South Korea, and there was no way we were going to carry those cases around Seoul.

We used a luggage delivery service called LuggAgent, who picked up our cases at the hotel and then delivered them back to us at the airport. There are other providers out there that offer a similar service, but we went with LuggAgent as their website was the easiest to use. Not easy, but easier. We lost our minds trying to work out some of their competitors’ sites to work.

The process is simple. We left the luggage with the concierge and sent a picture of our cases to LuggAgent. Around forty-five minutes later, we had a WhatsApp message confirming that they had been picked up, alongside a photo of our cases. We then went about our day hoping and praying that our cases were ok

1pm: FC Seoul vs Gimcheon

I’d always wanted to see a K-League football game, and it turned out that the league leaders FC Seoul were playing at home today. The timing was perfect: a 2pm kick-off, which meant – including travel time – it would take up four hours of our day.

Getting tickets to the game was not easy, as you need a Korean mobile phone number to secure them. We used a service called Wonderful, which is effectively a concierge service over WhatsApp. You pay them for their time, with an upfront fee levied, then tell them what you want and they’ll organise it. For any third-party costs they’ll send you a PayPal link to cover those. We had already used them to secure cinema tickets (again, you needed a Korean phone number to book them), so it was an easy process getting tickets for the match.

We made our way to their stadium, one of the venues used during the 2002 World Cup, on the excellent but often packed Korean metro.

While the stadium was only half full, the atmosphere was electric. This is not the same as a European football game. Opposing fans mix together, and there is zero edge or animosity. It’s just a jolly sporting experience.

The FC Seoul Ultras were a fascinating group of fans. They spent the whole game banging drums and singing an endless array of football-related songs. At least I assume that’s what they were, as my understanding of Korean is minimal. While the other stands in the stadium were barely half full, the Ultras stand was completely packed.

We paid around £40 each for VIP tickets, which gave us seating on the halfway line with our own table. You could even get food delivered directly to you during the game. It was a great way to spend a few hours.

4:30pm: Shopping at the wrong airport.

We still had some time to use up before our flight, and it turns out there’s a great shopping mall located at the other Seoul airport, Gimpo. This was on the route we’d have to take to get from the football stadium to Incheon, the larger of the two airports and the one that Emirates uses.

It took us around forty minutes to get from FC Seoul to Gimpo on public transport, and then ten minutes of walking to get to the mall. We dumped our hand luggage in a locker at the metro station, wandered around, did some last-minute shopping, and then had a snack. That used up an hour and a half of our time.

It then took us an hour on the metro to get to Incheon. It’s not a complex journey; it’s just quite boring. The gaps between stops on the Seoul metro seem inordinately long, and the metro itself always seems busy.

Google Maps said that we’d have to walk for twenty minutes once we got to the Terminal 1 metro station, but that was just foolishness. It was a five-minute walk from the metro station, to the airport, via a dedictated transit building.

8:30pm: Reclaiming our luggage and checking in.

At Incheon, we had to pick up our luggage from the delivery company before we could check in with Emirates. There is no dedicated space for picking up your luggage. Instead, there is a pillar. LuggAgent provided us with a picture of the pillar, and we stood there waiting for our cases to appear. They did eventually. We’d notified LuggAgent in advance that we were going to be early, and they tried to accommodate that, but we ended up sitting there for twenty minutes waiting for our cases.

Ultimately, LuggAgent did what we needed. They relieved us of two over-stuffed, heavy cases so we could go about our day.

Check-in with Emirates was ultra-fast. There’s a dedicated First Class line, which was completely empty. Our cases were weighed, tagged, and then we were given the boarding passes for this flight and the next. The agent told us about the Asiana Airlines lounge, and we went through security, which was pretty painless. There is no fast track, or at least none that we were aware of.

The security process looked like it was going to be slow, as when we approached there was a long queue. It did, however, move very quickly. Our passport and boarding pass were checked, then our bags being scanned, and then a final biometrics scan. It was very quick and easy, and we were dumped into the terminal next to the gate that we’d need to use for Emirates.

9pm: The Asiana lounge.

It’s been a fun day, but the only thing that’s been first-class so far has been the check-in line. That wasn’t going to change with the Emirates partner lounge, the Asiana. It’s a business-class lounge, not a first-class lounge, and a Jekyll-and-Hyde one at that.

It’s actually an attractive space, with dark woods, dim lighting and lots of dark leather seats. My real issue with it is the food and drink offering was grim. Sad-looking sandwiches, some odd-looking brownies, and four hot options that wouldn’t look out of place in the worst contact lounge. It was strange, given that the lounge did look quite nice.

They didn’t even have Diet Coke, not that it matters, given that the glasses in this lounge are so tiny you’ll be done in three gulps. It always feels cheap when a lounge has abnormally tiny plates and glasses.

I don’t know what Emirates is thinking by using this lounge, especially given that they has previously used the oneworld lounge. The Asiana is not luxurious, and at least in terms of the food and drink, it’s barely at a business-class level. It’s used by several other airlines serving South Korea, including other Star Alliance members.

There are TVs around the lounge that all show golf, which is great for people who like that sport, but not for those who don’t. It does have three showers, and the bathrooms are modern and clean. It’s not the sort of lounge you dread going into, but it is one where you ponder whether it’s better to go somewhere else in the terminal.

11pm: Boarding

Emirates opened the gate around fifty minutes before take-off, and we were the first to board. There was no sensible reason to remain in the Asiana lounge. We wanted to get on first so that we could get comfortable before take-off.

There was a separate queue for First, another for Business and one final queue for Economy. They opened the Business and First queues for boarding at the same time.

When you board in First, you’re shown to your suite by a staff member, and then more staffers will come and greet you. You also get pyjamas, which I changed into before take-off to save some time.

They ask for your preference on using the shower (I always try to get this as close to landing as possible) and breakfast. They do ask if you want to be woken up for your shower or left to sleep.

Day 2 – 12:30am: A quick Dinner

It’s hard to pinpoint the absolute killer feature of Emirates First, but the food is a big part of the experience. The menu in First is ridiculously extensive. It is complete overkill even for the longest flights, and it means you will be fed well from gate to gate and still not have time to get through everything. The First Class menu is not just a minor step up from the business class menu, it feels like a big leap. It is what First Class should be: great food and drink, with everything dine-on-demand.

As this was an overnight flight, Dinner was served first. Breakfast was delivered just before we landed in Dubai, around eight hours later.

For dinner, I kept it simple, so I could eat and then sleep. I went for the Fillet Steak, which I asked for on its own, and it came with a side of bread rolls. I was able to finish it in five minutes, call for my tray to get taken away, and then, after a short bathroom trip, the Emirates crew member had made my bed up.

1am: sleeping

I’ve flown Emirates First a few times now, but this was my maiden overnight flight. The bed in the first class suite, whilst not the widest, is extremely comfortable. I was fast asleep within minutes and managed to get four hours of solid sleep, then a couple more hours of broken sleep before breakfast was served.

The First suites feel very private. There’s a door, and reasonably high walls. The foot traffic in the First cabin is low. Even the giant A380 has only fourteen suites in that cabin. It’s also rarely full, meaning that you don’t have the constant movement outside your suite that you might have in a bigger, busier Business cabin

4am: a disconnected breakfast, shower

The internet on this plane was barely functional. I know that Emirates is in the very early stages of rolling out Starlink, but on our flight, connectivity barely worked. There was no point in trying to load a webpage. Its only purpose is to get the occasional notification from WhatsApp, which you can’t read when you open the app.

What’s strange is that on other Emirates flights the internet has been slow, but just about usable. This flight did not have live TV, which makes me think it has an even older/slower type of connectivity.

Breakfast was served. I opted for a selection of pasties, coffee (excellent) and cornflakes. Nothing fancy, but still a delicious breakfast.

After breakfast I took a quick shower. Emirates operate one of the few plane types that has showers on board (you can see the other airline in my article about on-board showers). What makes Emirates different is that the shower rooms are huge. There’s enough space to comfortably get changed without banging your elbows on a wall.

4:30am: Emirates First lounge

It was touch-and-go whether we’d even have enough time to use the First lounge at Dubai. Our connecting flight to Manchester had just switched from a 7am take-off to 6am. We were also expecting our inbound flight from Seoul to be delayed, which would squeeze our connection time.

We also had no idea which concourse we would land in, or which one our Manchester flight would take off from. Last time we flew into Dubai, we ended up in Concourse C, which meant the closest First lounge was the worst. It wasn’t a bad lounge, but it wasn’t the flagship First in Concourse A.

As it turned out, we landed right on time from Seoul, and an Emirates staff member was waiting at the gate to walk us through security and then to the lounge. Our Manchester flight was taking off from Concourse A, which meant we could board the plane from the First lounge itself.

The stars aligned, and we had around forty minutes in the First lounge. I knew it was big, but I had no idea how big. It has not one, but two duty-free shops within the lounge itself. Getting from one end to the other is a mammoth walk. And at 5am, the lounge was almost completely deserted.

We spent some time in the bar at the far end of the lounge. There was a small buffet, which had some simple breakfast items, and a menu that we could order from. I opted for a soft drink and a muffin to tide me over until our flight.

Boarding from the lounge was novel. The last time I did this was for a BA flight from Boston to London, and that had a single gate in the lounge. The Emirates First lounge has around twenty-four gates, with the lounge in the centre, and the gates dotted around the outside.

Getting out of the lounge and onto the plane was easy. A simple biometrics scan, followed by an elevator down two floors, and you’re at the jetbridge. That will take you to the upper deck, and at that point, business-class passengers will merge with you.

It is a calmer way to board a plane. Not all Emirates flights depart from concourse A, but for those that do, you’ll have a much more enjoyable transfer from the lounge to the First suite.

6am: The final leg to Manchester

We boarded the A380 that would take us home, and went through the same process as our first flight. A staff member showed us to our seats, we ordered a welcome drink, and then ordered pyjamas and got changed before we pushed back.

What we had on this flight that we didn’t have on our earlier flight was daylight. We boarded at 5:20am, so by the time we pushed back at 6:10am, which was slightly delayed as some luggage needed to be offloaded, it was daylight. That gave us much better views from the tail camera on take-off, as well as stunning views of Dubai as we climbed out of the city.

Before take-off, I booked my shower slot to be just before we landed in Manchester. The pilot confirmed that this would be closer to an eight-hour flight than a seven, which I put down to the longer route over Saudi Arabia due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The crew member who spent the most time with us on this flight was from Liverpool and was a real credit to the airline. I have a feeling she’s been on a flight we’ve taken before. She was there when we needed her, and left us alone when we didn’t. When we flew Etihad, in their Residence, it was a great experience, but it felt like the door to the suite was barely closed – our crew member was always coming in and out.

7am: Breakfast number three

I had my first breakfast on the last flight, and the second in the lounge. I believe, deeply, that you can never have too many breakfasts.

The only disappointment on this trip came from a menu change, which meant that the menu we had was out of date, and pancakes were no longer an option. I opted for cereal and baked goods, the same breakfast I had on the previous flight. I was surprised that the menus we were looking at on the 2nd May had become irrelevant two days earlier.

8am: a quick sleep

Tiredness was catching up with me, and even though I had a good sleep on my previous flight, I ended up dozing off on this flight. I had about an hour of good sleep. This

14 hours in: snacks then my second, and final, shower

The internet connectivity on this second flight was much better than the first. This plane also had live TV activated. I was able to catch-up on some work, although this is still a slow, legacy connection and not the hyperfast Starlink that eventually all Emirates flights will get.

1pm: Landing in Manchester

Thirty-four hours after we checked out of our hotel, we landed in Manchester’s Terminal 2. We were the first to get off, and then after a reasonable walk to passport control we were through that in minutes. By the time we got to the baggage carousel, our cases were some of the first off. After a short taxi ride, we were back home.

How we booked these flights

You cannot book Emirates First using Skywards miles unless you have a higher status. However, you can still book into Business Class using points, then upgrade to First when there is availability. I wrote an article about how to do this.

We booked our Seoul to Dubai to Manchester flight on one ticket, and we were able to upgrade the Manchester leg to First immediately. That was the most important leg for us, as it meant we could use the First lounge. If you’re flying into Dubai in First and connecting to a Business flight, you cannot access the First facilities. You can, however, pay to upgrade to the First lounge.

We transferred the points we needed to upgrade the Seoul leg and turned on auto-upgrade. This meant that as soon as availability opened up, the system would automatically grab us those seats. Seventeen days before our flight I got the email alert I was hoping for: First seats had been released for an upgrade and the auto-upgrade function worked perfectly.

• Upgrading the Seoul to Dubai leg to First cost us 50,700 Skywards miles each.
• Upgrading the Manchester leg cost us 78,000 miles each.

The total cost of the flights was 497,400 Skywards points for two people. The original Business flights, which we upgraded, were 240,000 points. The cash element was 2,345,800 South Korean Won. That is a scarily high number, but it translates to £1,148.

Final thoughts: Emirates First

I’ve been lucky enough to fly First with a few different airlines: British Airways, American Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Etihad and Emirates. The best, by far, have been Singapore, Etihad and Emirates.

If I had to pick my favourite, it would be difficult. On Etihad, we had a three-room apartment, which was a really interesting experience. Singapore has a stunning First suite, and it was incredibly comfortable, although it did feel slightly dated and there are no showers. Emirates feels fundamentally different to both of those airlines.

The experience before the flight, during, and after, alongside the showers and the bar on the A380, elevated it above any other airline. If I had to choose just one plane and operator to fly on for the rest of my life, it would be the A380 from Emirates.

Rating two Emirates First flights

Boarding

Seat

Food & drink (Served Dinner and breakfast)

Service

Timing

Overall Rating