9 takeaways from my first-ever Emirates First Class experience

As part of my latest trip report, I’ve just completed two First Class flights on Emirates- not a bad way to be introduced to the airline! 

I’ll be working on the full reports in the weeks to come, but as a teaser, here’s some takeaways from the experience.

(1) Skip the Emirates Lounge in Singapore

Emirates has its own lounge at Changi Airport, a combined facility for First and Business Class passengers. It’s not a bad lounge by any means. In fact, it’s a perfectly adequate Business Class facility, offering Moet champagne, plenty of seating, friendly staff, and a decent buffet spread.

However, it’s a very underwhelming First Class lounge, since it lacks typical First Class amenities like a la carte dining, a tended bar, nap rooms, or private shower suites. 

Likewise, the wine selections might pass muster in a Business Class lounge, but are woefully inadequate for First Class, doing no justice to the US$1 billion (yes, billion) that Emirates has invested in its wine programme. 

If you’re an Emirates First Class passenger, you’d be crazy not to visit the Qantas First Lounge instead, with its Neil Perry designed menu, fully-tended bar, and private shower rooms. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: no lounge at Changi has better food than Qantas. It’s restaurant quality, the stuff I’d gladly pay money for outside.

And even if you’re an Emirates Business Class passenger, I’d wager you’d be better off at the Qantas Business Lounge, where there’s private shower rooms, a fully-tended bar, and much faster Wi-Fi (the Emirates Lounge network clocks single-digit scores on Speedtest, versus triple digits for Qantas). The main drawback is the Qantas Business Lounge tends to be more crowded, and lacks champagne.

(2) Wi-Fi is free, but…

Emirates offers free Wi-Fi, but not the way you might expect.

Whether or not you get free Wi-Fi depends on both your cabin class and whether or not you’re a member of Emirates Skywards. For example, an Emirates First Class passenger would not enjoy free Wi-Fi, unless they also happen to be a member of Skywards.

There’s no cost to join Skywards, but in order to get free Wi-Fi your membership number must be linked to your booking at least 24 hours before departure. Moreover, this means that if you wish to credit your Emirates flight to a different FFP, you won’t get free Wi-Fi.

If you forget to add your Skywards number in time, you’ll have to pay for access:

• US$9.99 for 30 minutes 
• US$9.99-19.99 for full-flight Wi-Fi, depending on length of flight
• US$2.99-5.99 for chat-only plan, depending on length of flight

This is notably different from Singapore Airlines in two ways:

• Singapore Airlines First and Business Class passengers enjoy complimentary Wi-Fi, period
• For complimentary access by virtue of KrisFlyer status, your membership number can be appended right up to the point of check-in

(3) First Class service is uneven

Emirates talks a big game about luxury, and to be fair, they do get a lot of things right. In terms of the hard product, catering and amenities, it’s right up there with the best of them.

But when it comes to service, Emirates hasn’t quite figured out consistency. There was a gaping difference in quality between the crew on the first leg from Singapore to Dubai, and the second leg from Dubai to Geneva.

On the first leg, the crew were decidedly indifferent: no pre-flight introductions, slow service, requests frequently forgotten, glasses sat empty, and I thought they handled an incident with an inconsiderate passenger rather poorly.

On the second, the crew were outstanding. From start to finish, they were warm, friendly, and hospitable. I got a full tour of the seat and all its features, meal service was conducted efficiently (and yet entirely at the pace the passenger wanted), drinks were kept topped up, and I just got the sense that they were so proud of their product. 

I’ve laid this out in more detail in the post below, so check that out if you want the full story.

Hit and miss: Emirates’ uneven First Class service

(4) You can never have too much caviar

In August 2022, Emirates unveiled its latest party trick: unlimited caviar for First Class customers (or at least as unlimited as onboard supplies permit).

Customers can now savour unlimited portions of Persian caviar as part of the ‘dine on demand’ service, with an exquisite pairing of the world-renowned Dom Perignon vintage champagne

One Mile at a Time claims that Emirates loads three tins of caviar per First Class passenger, and looking at the portion served, I can believe that. In fact, I didn’t even need to ask for extra; the crew came up with a plate and said “a double portion of caviar for you”.

It got to the point where I had to sit back and ask myself “is this too much caviar?”, which is probably as absurd a thing as will ever be said in life. 

(5) The onboard drinks list is spectacular 

First Class passengers have an extensive wine list at their disposal, the fruits of Emirates’ long-term investment in its wine programme. The airline has a cellar in France with 6.5 million bottles of fine wines, some of which won’t be ready for tasting until 2035!

We all know about the Dom, which has now become an Emirates exclusive (hence the removal from Singapore Airlines’ First Class cabin). Unfortunately, I didn’t get to try the 2003 Dom Pérignon Plénitude 2, which was served in a limited run that ended before my flight. However, Dom 2012 isn’t a bad consolation prize either.

But it’s not just the wines. Hidden away on the spirits list is something any cognac fan will recognise instantly: Hennessy Paradis. This retails for more than S$1,400 a bottle in Singapore, which means your average 50 ml serving costs about S$100. 

I will freely admit to knowing absolutely nothing about cognac, but having tried this, I can see where the money goes…

(6) Showering at 40,000 feet is transformative 

While Emirates wasn’t the first airline to fly the A380, it certainly managed to wrestle the headlines away from Singapore Airlines by becoming the first to introduce onboard showers, an unprecedented perk in commercial aviation. 

The 14 First Class passengers have access to two shower-equipped lavatories, with five minutes of hot water, heated floors, and spa-like amenities. You can scoff at this as a gimmick or lament the environmental impact, but one thing’s for sure: you’d have to be dead inside not to find this fun. 

Even though you can pause the five-minute water flow, my first-ever airborne shower was over all too soon. It was incredible while it lasted though, and as I stepped out onto the heated floor with a fluffy towel in hand, I couldn’t believe I was naked at 40,000 ft with no one calling the cops.

I’ll walk you through the logistics of bathing on board in my full review, so stay tuned for that. 

(7) Gifts, gifts, gifts

Emirates First Class passengers won’t walk away empty-handed, since the airline positively plies you with goodies. It’s a good thing they give you a complimentary tote bag to store everything!

Here’s what you can expect:

• A fully-stocked minibar, inclusive of soft drinks, mineral water, chocolate, crisps, snack mix, gummy bears and breath mints

• Bvlgari amenities kit (on overnight flights or daytime long-haul flights)

• Pyjamas, slippers, eyemask

• Byredo kit with sample-sized eye cream, facial toner, pillow mist

• Writing kit with notebook and pen

(8) Dubai Connect works seamlessly

One of the neat features about flying on Emirates is Dubai Connect, which offers a complimentary hotel room and meals to passengers (in any cabin) with a connecting time in Dubai of 8-26 hours. 

My 13 hour 40 minute layover presented an opportunity to try it out, and I’m very impressed by how seamless the process is. You’ll collect your Dubai Connect vouchers during check-in at the first port of departure, and once you reach Dubai, simply clear immigration and head straight to the chauffer-drive services lounge (or bus pickup area, if you’re in Economy/Premium Economy).

You’ll be assigned a vehicle by the staff and head outside for pickup. There’s virtually zero wait for the car since the whole fleet is lined up raring to go. Never before have I seen so many BMWs and Mercedes in the same place…

You’ll get whisked away to the hotel (JW Marriott Marquis Dubai for First Class passengers), where Emirates has a dedicated check-in desk (which suggests the volume of Dubai Connect passengers they must handle). 

My room was more than adequate, and I also received complimentary buffet breakfast the following morning. Since it was late when I arrived, all I did was sleep, but had this been a daytime layover I could see passengers taking the opportunity to explore nearby attractions like The Dubai Mall or Burj Khalifa.

When the time comes to fly, a car will pick you up from the hotel and bring you back to the airport. No mess, no drama.

(9) Make time for The Great Emirates Wine Hunt

Finally, if you’re visiting the Emirates First Class lounge in Dubai and consider yourself any sort of oenophile, you need to take part in The Great Emirates Wine Hunt. Emirates has some incredibly expensive bottles of wine just lying around its lounge, and doesn’t make a big deal about it (which, if you think about it, is the ultimate kind of flex).

It’s almost laughable how casual they are about this; you can be walking past a random self-serve food and beverage station and encounter a bottle that would cost you silly money at a restaurant. If this is their idea of surprise and delight, well, I’m surprised and delighted. 

Wandering through the First Class Lounge in Concourse A, I found the following:

Yes, there’s cheap stuff too, but take the time to look and you’ll find some absolute gems. I was running around Vivino-ing every bottle I could find. 

Later in the Concourse C lounge, I found everything together in one fridge!

Conclusion

I’m still deciding where Emirates First Class ranks in my overall pantheon, but one thing I can tell you for sure is that there’s never a dull moment. This is an airline that takes a shock and awe approach towards luxury, and in some ways it can be overwhelming. OK, I’ve just had all-you-can eat caviar and Dom…now it’s time to take my Bvlgari amenities kit to the onboard spa shower……and back to my seat where there’s a Hennessey Paradis nightcap…and what’s this, lobster rolls and wagyu sliders as movie snacks?

If Singapore Airlines is quiet elegance, Emirates is its blinged-out cousin who doesn’t let you forget it’s there. They’re two radically different approaches, but hey, different strokes and all that right?

Stay tuned for the full reviews!

Flown Emirates First Class before? What were the highlights for you?