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Trio of Sweet Suites with SQ, EY, EK (Part 3 - EK)

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  • Trio of Sweet Suites with SQ, EY, EK (Part 3 - EK)

    Continuing from

    Part 1: SQ Suites (SIN-CDG)

    Part 2: EY First (GVA-AUH)

    Here comes Part 3: Emirates First

    Flight: EK354
    Route: DXB-SIN (Dubai to Singapore)
    Aircraft: A380-800 (A6-ADW)
    Seat: 1E
    Class: First
    Load: 10/12


    Just one night in Dubai after the arrival from Geneva, we were set to make the final hop home. After the best of the best of SQ and EY which both had shown their very best for us, we were really excited to be on the blingiest of the lot. I don't share the same taste for gold and glimmer but we heard so much about it and we must try at least once.

    We were dropped at the First Class Terminal. It's huge but the design is quite basic. The hall is cavernous. Too big I feel. And at that hour (9pm), the place was deserted. I also dislike the bright lights. They make the place feel very functional and to me, there is no luxe feel.



    We proceeded to the First Class counter where 3 bored agents were sitting. They were not too friendly. No hello, no small talk, no cordial exchanges, just business. Again, there was no feeling of First Class.



    Bags in and here we were walking towards the concourse. It's a long way across this massive passage with lots of shimmer and stainless steel polish with too many different stone patterns - certainly not my kind of interior design taste. And the passage is really really long and boring.



    At the end of it, was security and then immigration and then some elevators up. We went around, got lost a bit because of bad signage and finally reached the gate levels and discovered that we were actually at Concourse B.



    We knew we had to check out the new Concourse A, so then it would be a train ride where we found ourselves in a massive hall with a bank of gigantic elevators.



    These are really gigantic - about triple the usual elevator size. It seems new, which it is, but to me, the stainless steel polish and glimmer is too much for my eyes. The waterfall behind it is impressive though.



    We headed straight to First Class Lounge which is said to be the largest in the world stretching the entire width of Concourse A. The reception is an oversized lobby where there is little feel of intimate luxury with its bright lights. But at least the agents here were quite nice and welcoming.



    We first headed to the spa for our complimentary Spa service which is far short of what TG offers at their BKK base. 60 min service in BKK vs 15 min here in DXB. Here, at DXB, we had a few options and we decided to go with the manicure service which was way better than we thought. It was quite an elaborate and thorough service lasting definitely more than the 15 minutes. It was probably the best manicure service I ever had. Nice.

    Spa reception.



    I am not sure what is upstairs. I think it's the business class lounge and they access the spa down from that level using the stairs.



    Corridor leading to the treatment rooms

    Last edited by SQueeze; 5 June 2015, 12:00 AM.

  • #2
    After that, it was time to explore the much-talked-about lounge.

    Impressive extent as can be seen from this directory. It stretches the entire concourse with many different zones.



    But it was very deserted everywhere, at least at that hour. It felt so odd.





    We started exploring the different zones. This zone is already larger than some airport lounges. It's nicely furnished, and the lighting is warm and more relaxing compared to DXB's generally very bright lights. But it was really deserted.



    Cheese selection was impressive. But we didn't take any.



    ....because we wanted to eat at the fine dining section.

    The space is really nice.



    On the other side of the railing, the other 'world' .... In Dubai, heaven and earth have to be side by side.



    There was a buffet section and also an a la carte menu. We took just this little crispy chicken fritter from the buffet section.



    Which was accompanied by champagne and cocktail.



    Bread basket was soon placed on the table, just like customarily in fine dining establishments.

    Last edited by SQueeze; 5 June 2015, 12:01 AM.

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    • #3
      Then the parade of dishes came. They all looked so good and tasted good as well.

      Pigeon.



      And perfectly-cooked scallops on a bed of wilted greens.



      Veal.



      Lamb.



      After dinner, we walked around a bit and then decided to take a nap in the snooze lounge - yes, it's one of the many lounges in the First Class 'Lounge'. There are no private enclosed rooms in the lounge like in LH FCT, but there are sleeping chairs such as these. This zone was also deserted when we were there.



      I decided to set up at one of the corners to kill the remaining hour or two. It was already very late as well (around midnight). The flight would only depart at a brutal 3am.



      An hour before departure, and after an alarm ring of course, we woke up and after a quick freshen-up, we made our way to Concourse B where our flight would be departing.

      A long walk later, gate B19 where we would be departing from.



      I think they might have separate lift access for First Class passengers who used the F Lounge at Concourse B, but we didn't so we were with everyone else.

      And voila, here the fat plane that would took us home. Omg, so many convoluted bridges going across.

      Comment


      • #4
        Then we found ourselves on the hump of the whale.... Forward cabin on upper deck.



        And in an enclosed suite such as this one.



        First impression - mixed feelings. I am not a fan of ostentatious blinginess, yet I think it's not as bad as I always imagined it to be. I think the interior lighting somewhat works harmoniously with the reflective polish and gold all around and the overall ambience is still nice. It's not my favourite but it's definitely better than TG.



        The amenities are also quite extensive .... And I am pretty happy about it.

        The distinctive mirror with many amenities under it - lotion and things



        A minibar - which is not very useable because it is not chilled



        The amenity kit which is packaged in a very nice classy leather pouch.



        Headphones are packed nicely in this.



        Very comfortable Pyjamas are packed like this.



        Lucky they don't come in gold threads. Just plain soothing grey. Unfortunately, this is the smallest they have and its still too big for me. But it's very comfortable.



        Side pocket for magazines, etc.

        Last edited by SQueeze; 5 June 2015, 12:06 AM.

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        • #5
          Writing pad like in hotels ---- this is a bit anachronistic i believe. I hardly write on paper these days.





          Seat control.



          And the seat has a massage function.



          And the doors are controlled from here too. On Etihad, one needs a lot of muscle power as there the doors are heavy. On Emirates, it's at a touch of button. Nice.



          And the best for me is always this - an aircon outlet that keeps the cabin temperature low and comfortable enough for me. Too often, airlines keep cabins too warm for comfortable sleep for me.



          In the mean time, the FAs started introducing themselves but they strike me as disinterested and 'mechanical'. There was no enthusiasm. This aspect of Emirates is a far far cry from SQ and EY. I am very disappointed. I can sense that they are not well trained, a little tense, and I can tell all they said was memorised. The FA on my section forgot her lines half way through and she was tense. I had to calm her down. I believe these kind of things should be spontaneous, and come from the heart. I also can sense that this is a job for them, and not a pleasure to be a host there. Service is more business class-like to me, functional and that's about it. Nothing is beyond the prescribed task list or procedure.

          Has Emirates grown too big? Of all the F service I had tried (SQ, TG, LH, EY, JJ), EK is the last and is far behind the 2nd last.

          Only one occasion, we had a good laugh together.
          She soon came back to ask every passenger if we are going to take a shower.

          "Mr SQueeze, are you going to take a shower later?"

          "yea, of course. Just before landing please."

          "And are you both showering together?" (Looking at both of us with a straight expressionless face)

          I was speechless ...

          "Ah, I meant in separate toilets!", then she broke into laughter.

          And so did we. That was the only time. I was hoping more spontaneous moments like this could take place throughout the flight.

          Soon after, coffee and date were served.



          Anyway, it was really late at 330am when we were airborne and we were so tired that i didn't wait around for any service at all. So I stood up, looked around, and saw them doing some beds at the rear seats. They saw me, then ignored me as if nothing happened, then disappeared into the galley.... Hmmm. Waited awhile but they were not back.

          Ok, then let me try my best with setting up my own bed. I was struggling with it so ok I just let it be and then I went to the toilet to brush my teeth etc.

          When I was back, she was in my suite setting up the bed, and then presented it to me... In this form. Not much better than how i had left it.



          Hmm. Then I really have to praise SQ crew for being able to make my bed almost to original condition no matter how messed up I had left it every time I went for my toilet rounds at night.

          Ok, fine, no big deal, but I expected better.

          Then of course, I remembered nothing else but zzzzz.

          Last edited by SQueeze; 5 June 2015, 12:10 AM.

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          • #6
            In the morning, I woke up 1.5 hours before landing, and it was time to shower. The FA turned up at the suite and said the toilet was ready. She brought me there and explained to me how to use it. She was really fast, and before I could ask any questions, she disappeared. Must be really busy in the galley for this relatively short flight I believe and breakfast was being served in a few suites.

            So I looked around. Nice toilet indeed and very huge. I am very impressed.



            Complete amenities and they were presented very nicely.



            The shower is in this circular space with a bench at the side.

            [/url]

            It has a timer indicator so watch out!



            I stripped and was excited but then Hmm! I don't know what to press to make the water come out. I think FA explained it just now, but she was too fast, so I had to dress up again. I went out looking for the elusive FA then stumbled into a smallish girl who happened to be the First Class toilet attendant. Yes, EK has this job to service the 2 toilets to prepare them for use. She was quite a pleasant character and she explained to me in detail and clearly how to operate.

            Fine, she did a better job than the FA in this.

            Shower was good. I was ready to go to work right after landing (which I did!)

            After shower, I settled back in my seat and was served orange juice.




            And then I waited and waited and waited. I was wondering if I was going to get my breakfast. It was already less than hour to landing. I was not offered one earlier at any point in time.

            I waited and waited and waited. Ok, so it was enough, I pinged them.

            They came in minutes and I asked them what they had for breakfast and if I could have one.

            "oh, sir, but we are landing soon, it would be quite rushed. Do you still want it?"

            "yes, please"

            What I was not too happy about is that there was no initiative to offer although I was already up and about 1.5 hours before landing. Even if it were already under an hour, I believe SQ and EY would have come round and explained the situation and probably would have offered a simple croissant or something. They would take care of me to the best they can considering the limitations.

            Not on EK.

            What irritated me even more was that before I realised it, my scrambled egg dish was already in front of me. It was really fast. It was not even a lot of work and we still had 45 minutes. Just put it in microwave and here comes a grainy scrambled egg.




            The other breakfast selection was this plate of noodles with some dim sum items.



            As we can see from the pics, the portion is small. But I don't mind it. I object more to the lack of initiative and enthusiasm of the crew.

            We finished everything in minutes, then everything got packed up in preparation for landing.

            We landed in the mid afternoon. And here we end our journey with EK and I knew it then that it would be my last with them.

            One last look at the whale that brought us here.



            And then after clearing customs, we headed to the limousine counter. At T1, there are no more armies of drivers picking up EK's many business and first class passengers in the meet-and-greet hall.



            After reporting at the counter, one has to walk towards the left where all these cars pick up EK's passengers.

            Last edited by SQueeze; 5 June 2015, 09:37 AM.

            Comment


            • #7
              Verdict:

              Overall, it was a very underwhelming experience after our experience with SQ and EY in those 2 weeks. My partner was quite harsh in his assessment : "worse than UA". My assessment is more positive, I think it is "just slightly worse than TG"

              Hardware - I think this is their best aspect. I am not a fan of gold and polish, but somehow the ambience works fine with me. It is calm and soothing enough and the cabin temperature is low. The amenities are extensive and the seat is quite comfortable and has a lot of functions like massage. It won't beat the real thing but it is good enough. The shower is much appreciated too (9/10)

              Food - was not that great in quality and was too rushed but I feel this is not a fair assessment. As in most cases, breakfasts don't tell much of catering quality of an airline especially if it is on a rushed short flight like this one. I still forgive them on this. (6/10)

              Crew - One of the worst set of crew I had ever met comparing all the airlines. This was so memorably bad: cold, disinterested, rushed, elusive (3/10)

              But special mention for the toilet attendant. She was more friendly and more engaging than the rest of the crew. In the short while I met her, I managed to find out where she was from , how she was rostered, how many days she spend in SIN, what she actually did (which she said not much and therefore she was in the galley most of time to help with the crew) and many more things. It would be good if EK replaces the FAs with more toilet attendants because they perform better in F.

              Ground Service - limo ride is a nice perk. The check-in experience was not memorable but the lounge and spa are excellent although it was a little odd because it was too deserted. But the facilities are complete and the F&B is of top notch quality. I still prefer it to TG's and SQ's flagship lounges at their bases but I think I still prefer LH FCT overall. (9/10)

              But will I fly with them again? Definitely not in the plan anytime soon.
              Good Bye EK, I think you are far too big to keep consistent service quality.

              Comment


              • #8
                Thanks for the TR SQueeze!

                A shame that the flight turned out to be a negative experience. But it definitely illustrates how crew can make or break a flight.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Wow, such as scathing review of EK's F class product!
                  I have not flown EK in recent years, much less their F or J class, but I have read enough reviews to know that they are no where near SQ in terms of service. I don't think SQ's worst F class service comes close to the poor service you had on EK. I suppose it all boils down to lack of experience. I thought only the more experienced and senior crew would be rostered to serve in F class....

                  What was the passenger:crew ratio on this flight?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Thanks for sharing Squeeze! Guess its safe to say I definitely put my money on getting an excellent service and amenities with business class of SQ and EY any day.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Thanks for this report! and I am surprised to see such service delivery coming from EK. It truly shows the soft services needs to be in line with hard products standard in order to retain customer loyalty.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by SQGamespeed View Post
                        Thanks for the TR SQueeze!

                        A shame that the flight turned out to be a negative experience. But it definitely illustrates how crew can make or break a flight.
                        Indeed, but for me, at the end of the day, the hard product is the most important. I can tolerate a bad crew on a good seat but not the other way round.

                        Originally posted by icn.sg View Post
                        Wow, such as scathing review of EK's F class product!
                        I have not flown EK in recent years, much less their F or J class, but I have read enough reviews to know that they are no where near SQ in terms of service. I don't think SQ's worst F class service comes close to the poor service you had on EK. I suppose it all boils down to lack of experience. I thought only the more experienced and senior crew would be rostered to serve in F class....

                        What was the passenger:crew ratio on this flight?
                        Yea? I toned down already, hehe.

                        I don't think it's about experience, it's about personality, attitude, selection process and training.

                        On SQ, yes, F crew has been with the company for 10+ years and to last that long in that difficult job means you love it so much and it shows.

                        On EY, the F crew who really impressed me totally had only been with EY for 4 years. it's just her who loves the job and is there happy and making everyone happy. It's personality and selection process. Not about experience or training.

                        Same case on LH, I was very happy with an LH F crew who had only been with the company for 5 months. I couldn't tell until she told me. Nothing about experience.

                        Originally posted by Hajimbo View Post
                        Thanks for sharing Squeeze! Guess its safe to say I definitely put my money on getting an excellent service and amenities with business class of SQ and EY any day.
                        SQ yes. But they have no amenity for J pax, no?

                        EY, I had only tried once but we were so impressed and we still talked about it wanting more of Anastasia and Robert, etc. their crew set a new benchmark in our experience. But this was in F. Not sure about their J. I doubt it stands to SQ, not the seat for sure.

                        Originally posted by j.lin View Post
                        Thanks for this report! and I am surprised to see such service delivery coming from EK. It truly shows the soft services needs to be in line with hard products standard in order to retain customer loyalty.
                        Airlines only have one chance to impress indeed or they are gone.

                        I think EK is too big. May be my experience is just an isolated case. But like in anything big, it's very difficult to impose consistency.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Great TR, SQueeze!

                          I agree that EK service is fairly inconsistent (Consistently inconsistent...)

                          My recent experience on EK has only been in the back of the bus. Some EK cabin crew are excellent, but I sometimes get the impression that it is up to the individual crew member's character or mood that day.

                          For example, there was one flight in Y where I changed my seat during the flight to one a few rows away. When the cabin crew came to return my jacket, she could not find me and she walked down the aisle with a slightly irritated look on her face. When I raised my hand and said the jacket was mine, I was told in an unsmiling tone that I should have told the cabin crew that I had changed seat.

                          Quite amused that they are like this in the premium cabins too, and not just in Y.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by yflyer View Post
                            Great TR, SQueeze!

                            I agree that EK service is fairly inconsistent (Consistently inconsistent...)

                            My recent experience on EK has only been in the back of the bus. Some EK cabin crew are excellent, but I sometimes get the impression that it is up to the individual crew member's character or mood that day.

                            For example, there was one flight in Y where I changed my seat during the flight to one a few rows away. When the cabin crew came to return my jacket, she could not find me and she walked down the aisle with a slightly irritated look on her face. When I raised my hand and said the jacket was mine, I was told in an unsmiling tone that I should have told the cabin crew that I had changed seat.

                            Quite amused that they are like this in the premium cabins too, and not just in Y.
                            Sounds like getting more and more like UA or US in its day.

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