I just completed a combined Middle East and UK/Europe trip which was a study in contrasts. These days, air travel comes in so many shapes and sizes. Some experiences are wonderful, while others are notable for the wrong reasons: usually when the size cannot comfortably fit the shape…
These days, I seldom fly direct to Europe or the UK. I usually have a good reason to make a stop in the Middle East enroute. Price-wise, with the ME3, this option is usually cheaper as well.
This trip involved flying Qantas A380 Business Class on the DXB-LHR-DXB sector, and several other flights on Emirates operated by their 777-300ER in Economy. There were a couple of other sectors of interest, including Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling from Brussels to Rome, British Airways from Rome to London, as well as the Eurostar train service from London to Brussels.
Regulars on this forum must be wondering: “What’s up with yflyer? He keeps saying that he has sworn off EK’s 10-abreast 777’s. Never again he said. And yet there he goes boarding another one…”
Well, I have had to eat my words. I have had to amend my travel manifesto, "No more 10-abreast 777s!" to add the qualifier "...unless there is no alternative."
The problem is: way too often, there really are no alternatives. On several sectors on this trip, the EK 777 was, infuriatingly, the only option that fit my schedule. No other choice, unless I was willing to fly an LCC, or an airline on which I had no FF status. Thankfully, I have also developed several mitigation strategies to reduce the unpleasantness of cramming so many people into a 777…
Several sectors on this trip really wore me down: A BA codeshare operated by Vueling introduced me to an LCC A320 cabin with galley-slave seat pitch, which would have driven me to air-rage had I been any taller. A departure from Rome Fiumicino Airport, still reeling from a fire that shut down part of a terminal in early May, which was a bewildering trek through a terminal still smelling faintly of smoke, where signs, if there were any at all, were all wrong since the passenger flow had to be redirected throughout the terminal to avoid areas affected by fire damage.
But let us start with the sweet before the bitter, with the Qantas A380 Business Class product from Dubai to London, on QF9…
These days, I seldom fly direct to Europe or the UK. I usually have a good reason to make a stop in the Middle East enroute. Price-wise, with the ME3, this option is usually cheaper as well.
This trip involved flying Qantas A380 Business Class on the DXB-LHR-DXB sector, and several other flights on Emirates operated by their 777-300ER in Economy. There were a couple of other sectors of interest, including Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling from Brussels to Rome, British Airways from Rome to London, as well as the Eurostar train service from London to Brussels.
Regulars on this forum must be wondering: “What’s up with yflyer? He keeps saying that he has sworn off EK’s 10-abreast 777’s. Never again he said. And yet there he goes boarding another one…”
Well, I have had to eat my words. I have had to amend my travel manifesto, "No more 10-abreast 777s!" to add the qualifier "...unless there is no alternative."
The problem is: way too often, there really are no alternatives. On several sectors on this trip, the EK 777 was, infuriatingly, the only option that fit my schedule. No other choice, unless I was willing to fly an LCC, or an airline on which I had no FF status. Thankfully, I have also developed several mitigation strategies to reduce the unpleasantness of cramming so many people into a 777…
Several sectors on this trip really wore me down: A BA codeshare operated by Vueling introduced me to an LCC A320 cabin with galley-slave seat pitch, which would have driven me to air-rage had I been any taller. A departure from Rome Fiumicino Airport, still reeling from a fire that shut down part of a terminal in early May, which was a bewildering trek through a terminal still smelling faintly of smoke, where signs, if there were any at all, were all wrong since the passenger flow had to be redirected throughout the terminal to avoid areas affected by fire damage.
But let us start with the sweet before the bitter, with the Qantas A380 Business Class product from Dubai to London, on QF9…
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