Pilgrimage trip to Varanasi, India (Emirates A380, Boeing 777-300ER)

[SQfanatic]

Some plane spotting after 2AM. Air India's 77W (VT-AEM) headed for New York.



Lufthansa Airbus A380 heading to Munich (D-AIMC)



Our Emirates plane arrived and was supposed to initially park at the Lufthansa spot but then they changed the gate to gate 1.



A6-ENE parking at gate 1.











Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350-1000 heading to LHR later at night. (G-VLIB)







Now here's where it's interesting. Gate 1 was where everyone headed to, but unlike other Indian international airports, there was another boarding pass check before entering the hold room. This hold room is similar to Singapore Changi, but security itself is already done and that you could still leave at any time if you needed to use the restroom.



Boarding group was called by zones at 3:40AM.

[SQfanatic]

Emirates 2-3-2 business class



Economy in 3-4-3 layout





Seat 34A wing view:



The screens are a generation older, which means also no interactive maps. All A6-EN* birds have it and also A6-EGJ through EGZ have this. I was a little disappointed we did not get an EP* bird, but not bad. This was the same seat I had last trip to Bangalore and from Chennai.








The captain came with an announcement that the flight time would be a little over 3 hours. Shortly the safety video played and we pushed back.









Unlike the South Indian airports where it's a quick taxi to the runway, Delhi takes a little longer for take off



Taking off around 4:30AM with views of the capital.





Right away, they started meal service. Masala dosa and vada along with sambar. I am not a fan of masala dosa first off, but the dosa itself was one of the worst. Vadai was good.

The other items like yogurt and mousse and breakfast cake (fruit rusk) were very good.



Cabin during meal service:

[SQfanatic]

Decided to explore the non-interactive maps:

[SQfanatic]

Sunrise slowly started coming up.



Dubai connections map info:

[SQfanatic]

Around 5:45AM, the captain came with an announcement that we'd make our decent into Dubai Airport and there was a little go-around but no impact to the arrival time at all.













Flaps retracting. Beautiful view of Dubai & Burj Khalifa

















Deplaning the 777-300ER:















Our layover time would be over 2.5 hours before our flight to San Francisco.

[SQfanatic]

Thoughts on this sector?

Except for the mishaps in Delhi Airport, it's a nice airport otherwise. Crew were extremely friendly despite a short flight and did their duties with full diligence. The food wasn't the best quality.

Seat was actually if anything surprisingly more comfortable than the EP* birds which had slightly narrower seats. My dad is taking EK515, which is known to deploy these similar birds too so we'll see what he'll get Monday night.

[SQfanatic]

Flight: Emirates flight EK225
Route: Dubai - San Francisco
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800 (A6-EVC), 6 years at the time of departure
Livery: Normal
Date of Departure: April 6 (9:10AM), Arrival April 6 (2:00PM)
Seat: 76A (Economy Class)
Configuration: 4-class (Suites, Business, Premium Economy, Economy)

We got into Concourse B around 6:30AM, which still gave us a little over 2.5 hours of transit time. As expected, going through security from one concourse to another is a no-brainer. No more than 5 minutes.





This was a similar setup to what we did when arriving from San Francisco. You'd need to take a train from Concourse B to Concourse A.







Eventually a little after 8AM, we went to our gate for our flight to San Francisco, gate A13



A6-EVC, the same bird that took my mom & I to Dubai from San Francisco a week ago, would indeed take us back to San Francisco.



Even despite the on time turn up, the line was still chaotic for a while.





Boarding A6-EVC



Passing through the Premium Economy cabin



Got to seat 76A





Today's journey would take us over the North Pole, which meant that it would be fully daylight throughout the way.











We began our pushback around 9:15AM and started our engines (very quiet Rolls Royce engines)

Got to the runway after 9:30AM with a short wait

A6-ENF taking off for Venice as EK135



We began our take off around 9:39AM.











Just after take off, I slept the first 2-3 hours of the flight before they commenced lunch service.



First meal was utthappam & sambar, followed by kanchipuram button idlis. The Kanchipuram idlis Emirates gave were a little spicy but very high quality.

To finish off, some fruit, blueberry yogurt, crackers and cheese and bread with butter. The meal was overall very enjoyable.





Even despite the sleep I still wanted to use the inflight Wifi on the flight.

[SQfanatic]

I dosed off for a few hours more & eventually walked around the cabin getting some snacks and sleeping again before they turned on the lights & the second meal service (Dinner) commenced



Mood lighting was nice



Flying over Northern most Greenland/North Pole. In the Winter, you get a sunset and it gets completely dark. As you head into Spring (& soon Summer), there is only daylight.





My entertainment system at some point froze and reset on its own.



Second meal was vegetable kofta & rice with creamy tomato sauce. Followed by crackers & cheese, Asian slaw (vegetables) and chocolate mousse. The kofta tasted a lot like a falafel. Overall, a very delicious and filling meal. Well done Emirates.





The chocolate mousse was out of the world.

[SQfanatic]

After the meal service commenced, I dosed off for at least another 4 hours until they gave a snack (margharita pizza). Decided to show the 3D maps also on this route







































At some point on the flight, in the North Pole, you wouldn't have Wifi coverage

[SQfanatic]

The last meal on the flight was a snack. For vegetarians like myself and my family, we had the margherita pizza





Decided to view the handset version of the maps on this leg back to San Francisco (on the larger screen):







































In general, I was very amazed at how fast time flew despite how long of a journey it was from Varanasi itself and a lack of a proper sleep.

[SQfanatic]

Around 1PM, the captain came with his announcement about our descent into San Francisco that it would be a cool and partly cloudy day in the Bay Area. We would touch down around 1:50PM, just 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

A few pictures of our descent into the United States after a long flight





The Bay Bridge in the distance:



Downtown San Francisco on one side, Oakland/Berkeley on the other.



Flaps eventually retracting as we head towards the San Mateo Bridge and make a U-turn to land.





Flying over San Mateo County.















Turkish Airlines A350, that would push back minutes after we parked at our gate A6 (same as we previously departed? Or it's a fixed A380 gate for this carrier at SFO?)





Disembarking after a restful but long journey back. I was ready to go back home.

[SQfanatic]

Thoughts on this sector home?

Of course with my mom & I being tired, we both had a reasonably good and restful flight back home. The crew were very friendly throughout the flight. In fact this sector had more Asian crew than any of my other Emirates flights, where it's usually been Caucasian crew, Indian and Middle Eastern crew members. Irrespective, we have had friendly interactions and the crew are generally very friendly.

Food was very good on the last leg, but not so on the first leg back to Dubai.

While many argue that Air India would have been the quickest way to get back (around 6 or 7AM), of course, with the experience my mom had & several others had, we decided not to pick it. Not only that, but also we had Skywards miles that we could spend on this ticket, hence paying lesser. The entertainment system is of course also good and you got Wifi too which passed the time very quickly.

For me, just like the last time, who would have thought the same registration that picked my mom & I up, would drop us back to San Francisco (A6-EVC) - That's usually just a rare coincidence. I had this happen in 2023 with A6-EVH despite me coming back alone.

The baggage came, but it took almost an hour even after brushing our teeth and clearing customs. Instead of getting it in 15-20 minutes, it took nearly an hour and Emirates did not fail on this part. By the time we got out of the airport and to go back home, it was past 3:30PM. Normally our ride home would take 40-45 minutes on Uber. Not only did it cost $85 (the average from SFO to Hayward is around $40 to at most $60), but there was a crash on the San Mateo Bridge, which diverted our route to go via the Dumbarton Bridge and back on I-880N. Did not complain much despite me wanting to badly get back home, but the nice thing about coming back on a Saturday as opposed to Sunday (my mom and dad came last month on a Monday from their trip on EK) is that you have 1 more day to rest and recover before going back to work the next day.

[SQfanatic]

Final thoughts on the India trip?

Indian airports and navigating for a lounge can be very overwhelming and at times, you aren't given helpful information from anywhere, especially if you have a long connection from international to domestic and vice versa.

As far as Varanasi, if we had the choice, we would have gone in the Winter month (anytime between November and February would do). I went in November 2018 last to Varanasi and the weather was generally pleasant and warm. Not hot like this.

The culture is rich and amazing and the Ganges River with multiple ghats are really nice. Lots of tourists will come to not only admire that, but also partake in the religion & do a lot of different activities. The ghats also have multiple buildings which hold a lot of historical architectural value. Going to the temples are definitely your best bet. However, bear in mind that compared to the past, the streets are busier at all hours. People block the streets a lot, lots of cars blaring their horn at all hours, I don't think many Indian cities have it as bad as this from a traffic and pedestrian standpoint. The heat doesn't help at all, it makes you more dehydrated. One positive to that is that it's a dry heat. Had it been more humid doing these activities, that would be a bigger nightmare. I guess the reason for the traffic at the center attributes that 365 days of the year, there's something for everyone to do in Varanasi at all hours.

The hotels need to do a better job with the service and food quality especially here. Other than that, it was a pretty good trip. If we have a choice to go again, it would usually be in the Winter month.

One other negative side is that back in January, Ayodhya just inaugurated a new temple. However, due to time constraints, it was just not possible to go. There is a consideration that for a week, I may go in the month of May (in 2025 or 2026, not this May) and visit Ayodhya temple (it's a 4 hour car ride from Varanasi, but an hour flight to the Ayodhya airport and 15 minutes thereafter). Irrespective of the short falls, every trip to India is a good one.

In terms of the next India trip, depending on the situation of my dad's family in India, we may go in October for Durga Puja, but we will see.

Thanks for reading!

[yflyer]

Thanks for sharing, SQfanatic! I haven't flown Emirates in a while, and your TR reminded me how much I like EK A380 economy. (EK 77W Economy is not my favourite though :-) )

Catering on Emirates looks very good! I notice that EK uses the same Vibi pizza margherita box as a light meal/snack as SQ does on their SIN-JFK nonstops.

Very nice pics of Varanasi. The food you had there looks really tasty too.

[SQfanatic]

Thanks for sharing, SQfanatic! I haven't flown Emirates in a while, and your TR reminded me how much I like EK A380 economy. (EK 77W Economy is not my favourite though :-) )

Catering on Emirates looks very good! I notice that EK uses the same Vibi pizza margherita box as a light meal/snack as SQ does on their SIN-JFK nonstops.

Very nice pics of Varanasi. The food you had there looks really tasty too.

Of course yflyer. Happy to share when I am able to. I know it's an SQ forum, because at any point you never know when I might land up on the SQ side again :-)

You, myself and my mom LOVE the A380 Economy Class and the A380 in general. The entertainment system is very nice & towards the back of the plane near the galley and stairs, it just has a very roomy feeling. Although their flights from SFO, LAX, IAH, GRU, SYD, MEL, AKL NRT, possibly SIN have Premium Economy, I think Y is good enough for me.

Yes, the food indeed does look good at least from the catering our group made, which was South Indian food, but the rice was to a degree, far more overcooked. Dosa and idli in Varanasi are nowhere as good as what you'd get in Chennai, but it all depends on the restaurants perhaps. It's always good to try something else new if possible.

Emirates food is definitely great. Was especially happy my first 2 sectors. Last sector was good, but not my flight from Delhi to Dubai.

My father came back last Tuesday, but he did not take the same flight from DEL. He flew on EK515, which is a 10PM departure (I think right next to the SQ403 departure), but according to FR24, he got A6-EGG, which had the older cabin from 2011 (touchscreen, but old style controller, kind of like how Lufthansa's Y class screens are like and SQ's 2006 cabin products) and his return flight on EK225 was A6-EVM (different registration than the one we all came off of A6-EVC). He had an 9 hour layover in Delhi (checked in at exactly 5PM, went to the lounge past security to relax and eat - Encalm Lounge in Delhi) & 9 hour layover in Dubai (that was easy as he slept in some sleeping chairs and went to concourse B around 6:30AM as the sun rose). There are multiple options in Dubai Airport in terms of lounges (there is the Marhaba lounge & also a transit hotel in one of the concourses itself - something it's difficult to find in Delhi Airport if connecting).

In February, my parents also went to India for Pongala puja in Trivandrum. My father went to Chennai for 2 days before coming to Trivandrum to meet my mom as he had some shopping to pick up from a jewelry store in Mylapore. Weather-wise was a little hotter than usual for a February there. In Trivandrum, it was worse than Singapore in terms of the temperatures and humidity - they drenched in sweat a lot and it was worse than what we dealt with in Varanasi (there it was 95 degrees Farenheit with 50-60 percent humidity) and it made Pongala a little difficult for my mom but she managed since she grew up in that climate. Both of their planes while going (A6-EVO, A6-EVR had the same seats but controller was removed). My father went on A6-EGR to MAA after an 8 hour layover (2nd generation ICE like what I had on A6-ENE and Nov on A6-EGP). My mom on the other hand had the older cabin to/from TRV (She got A6-EGH while going, both my parents while coming back from TRV got A6-ECX, the same plane we took from SFO in 2011 before the advent of the A380 in SFO). When they flew back to SFO they got A6-EVE, which is identical to what I've gotten on EK.

One thing I wish they would improve in Dubai Airport is to allow people to make Whatsapp calls without audio issues. I know it's mostly a UAE government thing, but if you are handling millions of travelers daily, you might want to have some consideration on that front or suggest a workaround if the calls are that important. Same problem with Messenger.

I'll have to agree with you on the EK 777 Y-class. No matter the registration or the product offered (For example, you take a bird starting with A6-EC* or A6-EG* up to EGJ or A6-EB*, you will get the oldest 1st generation seats, A6-EGJ onwards to A6-ENZ will have 2nd generation, A6-EP* and A6-EQ* will have the newest and 3rd generation ICE, and 4th generation from A6-EQ* onwards), when you step off a comfortable A380, when you get onto a 777 with nearly the same product, you will feel that the same seat on the 77W is tighter. A6-EPJ had the same seats as the A380, but was tighter, but doable for a 3 hour flight. I wonder how one would do it flying to the USA (Some flights are operated by either oldest or newest 77W to the US).

Interesting to note that SQ serves this Margherita pizza too. I heard many Transatlantic European flights also have this, but my flight when I took LH did not have that. The Vibi pizza according to Google while made in Italy is found mainly in the UAE.

Looking ahead to October, while we will only finalize this mostly in July (after Independence Day trip to Yosemite is over), SQ and Emirates are not too much of a price difference and SQ's Premium Economy is like $3,000 to/from CCU. Sometimes, you never know - there's a chance like almost every India trip either myself (and my parents take) OR my parents took in February themselves will end up on Emirates. It's still planned, but nothing is guaranteed nor do we want to rush and lose money by changing the tickets regularly.

As always, thanks for reading!