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As you all know, I will be flying to Dhaka, Bangladesh soon. The itinerary looks a little messy and complicated, so I will spare you the details and just get to the crux of this post: the journey from New York City to Dubai aboard Emirates' Airbus 380, and the long wait for transit in the Dubai airport.
Currently, Emirates operates its flights out of NYC to Dubai on two different 'planes: the Airbus 380 and the Boeing 777. They started flying the airbus on this route only about a year ago. Due to financial constraints, however, the airlines will pull the airbus from the NYC-Dubai route effective June 1. You know what that means? That means I will be flying on board one of, if not, the last Emirates Airbus-380 to fly from NYC to Dubai. Pretty nifty, eh?
After all this talk about the Airbus-380, you must be wondering what the big deal is. I mean, isn't it JUST another aircraft? Short answer: no.
If you have ever flown on international routes (and I know you all have), you traveled on a wide-body (and by wide-body, I don't mean "junk in the trunk" but rather the industry jargon used to indicate an aircraft with multiple aisles) like the Boeing 747 or a smaller Airbus. The Airbus-380, in contrast, is HUGE. It is, by far, THE largest passenger aircraft in the world. How much bigger is the Airbus when compared to, say, the Boeing 747? Well, since we were talking about wide-body aircrafts and junk in the trunk earlier, let me use that analogy; to be honest, I am only borrowing the analogy my girlfriend used, and yes, I am aware that she is a certified perv. If the 747's junk in the trunk were comparable to Kristen Bell's, the 380's would compare to that of Andress Soares. In other words, the 380 dwarfs any other passenger aircraft in size.
The 380 is a double-decker aircraft. The cattle class seats 399 people. Say that with me. 399 people. Just in cattle class. Here's a quote I snagged from the internet about what a behemoth the 380 is.
"Just how big is [the Airbus A380]? The KLM Boeing 747 next to it looked dinky, and the American Airlines Airbus A300 that taxied past looked like a Smart car alongside a Hummer. Despite its size, the A380 is said to be quite nimble, very fast and a dream to fly."Here is a picture which will give you some idea about how ginormous the Airbus 380 is. The picture is copyrighted, so I linked it, instead of posting it in my blog.
Now, I am no aviation nerd, but that seems pretty darn big to me. You are probably wondering at this point that maybe all that Emirates has to offer are those humongous 'planes, but apparently, you'd be wrong. I am thinking of doing a photo essay of my trip to give you all a better idea of what the flight is like. That would probably be a better idea than me rambling on for a thousand words.
As for now, I'll just tell you what I've heard (and read on the blogosphere), that Emirates offers one of the better services on flights from the US to Bangladesh, that on cattle-class the seats are slightly bigger and more comfortable than in almost all other airlines, that there is a large selection of on-board entertainment options (a movie library with 500 titles, in multiple languages, along with a varied music library, a bunch of TV shows, a video games console where you can play pong - yes, pong - and a tail-mounted cam which shows you what the heck is going on outside the 'plane), that there is mood-lighting and sound (so there are stars on the roof of the cabin at night and you wake up to the sound of birds chirping in the background by morning). There are, supposedly, USB ports in every seat so you can hook up your iPod or your laptop to your inflight entertainment system. That's freakin' awesome!!! That's so awesome it required three exclamation marks.
What's not so awesome is that I am supposed to spend six freakin' hours in transit in Dubai. The new terminal (Terminal 3) is terrible, or so I have heard. Don't believe me? Check out what the reviewers on airlinequality.com have to say about how bad the airport is. The 'planes drop you off on the tarmac and it takes you anywhere from 15-45 minutes to get into the terminal, then it takes anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours to get through security, and when you have finally done that, you find out that the terminal is overcrowded, that there aren't enough seats for everyone, that there are people sleeping on the floor of the terminal, that there aren't enough toilets for everyone and the ones that are there are dirty and smelly. On the bright side, you can shop for hours in the plethora of duty free shops in the terminal and overpay for pretty much anything. Weeee!
Since I wouldn't have showered for a little over 24 hours when I finally get to the Dubai international airport (the 12-hour flight from NYC to Dubai, plus another 12 hours or so between the time I leave home and get on board the flight to Dubai), I figured I'd google and see if there's any possibly way I could get under some water in Dubai (don't waterboard me, bro). Apparently, I have a few options.
First, there's the gym. It's supposedly called G-force. For $13, you can buy an hour-pass so you can work out and then use the shower in the gym. Then there's the spa at the airport hotel which, according to online reviews, lets you use the shower for 44 dirhams (or about $12 if my math isn't off). Hmm... gym or spa? Spa or gym? I think I'd have to go with the gym option. The caveman inside of me wouldn't let me use a shower in a spa when there's one in the gym next door.
After the shower, I figure I'd head over someplace where I can sit and relax for the remainder of my time in Dubai. I used google, again, and turns out anyone can access this pay-lounge; it's called the Marhaba Lounge and there, you get internet access and all the food and drinks you can consume - all for $42. They used to charge $21 even a couple of years ago, according to the different websites I've checked, but those sneaky bastards upped the rate because really... where else are you gonna go if you have to spend hours upon hours in that God-forsaken airport? I am ballin' on a budget, so the Marhaba Lounge it is for me. If you are ballin' outta control, unlike me, you could just spend your time in the Emirates Lounge, which is pretty spiffy, or so I have been told. I would rather spend 40-odd Dollars then shell out an extra 8 grand just to use a spiffy lounge, but hey, maybe that's just me.
Here's where you (that's right; all eleven of you) can help me. If you have flown Emirates before (I haven't) or if you have been to Terminal 3 in Dubai (I haven't) and have used any of the showers or lounges I mentioned, please let me know how your experience was. Would you recommend that I go to a different lounge, or not go to any lounges at all? What about the shower facilities? Anything I need to know about Emirates and the NYC-Dubai flight?
This has been a terribly long post. I hope you all in Bangladesh are enjoying your weekend. I know it's Friday morning over there already. I have one more day until the weekend, and I must say I am jealous that you all get to enjoy the weekend before I do.
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It's been a few weeks since my trip, and I finally got the time to update my blog about my experience with Emirates and the Dubai airport.
My flight to New York City wasn't too bad. I had a few drinks before my flight, so I wasn't too bothered by flying in a puddlejumper. I flew into JFK in the evening and immediately headed to Emirates' terminal (terminal 4, I think?). There was a looooooooong line to check in. Where I went wrong (and this is the one mistake you all should avoid) was not reading the signs. There was a line for people who weren't checking in any bags or who had already checked in their bags at another airport. I didn't see that line and ended up waiting about 45 minutes. It would have taken me 15 minutes, tops, in the other line.
What I found interesting was just how predominantly male that whole area was. I saw maybe 50 women in that whole area, where maybe 300 people were checking in for multiple Emirates flights at any one time. This ratio got worse and worse the closer I got to my destination: Dhaka. In Dubai, the male-female ratio was even more skewed and when I finally arrived in Dhaka and was picking up my bags, I realized just how few women there were around me. Anyway, now on to the flight.
The aircraft - an airbus 380 - was pretty new. The seats were hella spacious. There was plenty of leg room. In comparison, there wasn't as much leg room during my flight from Dubai to Dhaka on board a Boeing-777 (I think it was a 777 but I am not totally sure as it has been a few weeks since the flight and my memory of it is pretty hazy).
The aircraft and the amenities on board pretty much matched my expectations prior to the flight. Everything I mentioned in the first half of my blog post, from the entertainment system (it's called ICE) to the stars glittering on the ceiling of the 'plane at night, were exactly as the other online reviews described them. The crew was very professional. I never really had to wait for a drink. Speaking of drinks, Emirates doesn't charge you for them, unlike American, Continental or any other domestic carrier. The only time you pay for something is if you order champagne, and even that's like $5 a glass. And really... who is gonna order champagne during a 13-hour flight? What exactly would you celebrate? Being stuck in a seat for 13 hours?
The food was great for airlines food, and the crew keeps feeding you every few hours. I did get some sleep during the flight, so to be honest, I wasn't completely drained by the time we arrived in Dubai.
In Dubai, we were herded through a gate, single file, where our body temperatures were scanned to make sure we weren't sick with swine flu. The airport was brand spanking new. However, you could tell that whoever built the airport didn't mind spending money on it but they sure did mind spending some time thinking about how it should be built. There weren't enough toilets or drinking fountains in the airport, which means that there were people crowding around every toilet and every drinking fountain. There were cellphone charging stations but there were only six outlets in each station. Sometimes, each gate had its own charging station but sometimes, I noticed that two adjacent gates had to share one station. So, what inadvertently happened was that whoever could plug in their notebook/cellphone/gadget into the outlet first would hog the station the entire six (or however many) hours before the flight. I ended up walking to another end of the terminal and plugging my stuff into the outlets there.
Anyway, since I saw those huge crowds around the toilets and since I was gonna take a shower anyway, I figured I'd find the gym and use the facilities there. I had to ask around and at first, no one seemed to know what I was talking about, until I met three Filipino girls who told me to take the elevators up to the 5th floor. The elevator is in the middle of the main concourse, and it's hard to miss. When you get off the elevator, go along the hallway to your left and you will see the reception area for the G-force gym. Inform the person at the counter that you wanna use their shower. Usually, all prices in the airport are quoted in Dirhams (the local currency), so make sure to ask for a quote in Dollars and they will usually tell you right on the spot. Only once did I see somebody use a calculator to figure out how much I owed them. I paid $13 for the shower.
The toilets are in a separate part of the floor from the shower area. I didn't want to venture into the crowded toilets in the main concourse, so when I first talked to the girl in the front desk of the gym, I asked her where the toilets were and she pointed me in the right direction. As far as the showers go... look, if you are finicky or a woman, the shower might not be good enough for you, but I am a man and after a 13-hour flight, I could have showered on the streets of Dubai and I'd have been fine. Anyway, here's what happens after you pay the front desk attendant. You are taken past the gym area (the gym is pretty inadequate, by the way) and down another hallway to where the showers are located. Each individual shower area has a door which you can lock behind you. Once you step in, there's a box (which, by the way, looks like an oversized clothes hamper with a lid) where you are advised to keep your belongings so they don't get wet. Next to that box is a glass door. Although the glass door is supposed to stop the shower water from flowing out, it doesn't because there's a thin line below the glass door through which the water can overflow into the area where the box is. The box is raised a few inches off the floor, so make sure you keep your belongings inside the box, and not on the floor. There are hooks on the wall for your clothes, but you are probably better off keeping anything that you think might fall off the hooks in the box. Whatever you might need to shower is provided, from bodywash to shampoo and conditioner to shaving gel to toothpaste to multiple towels to a robe. If you are finicky, feel free to bring your own brand of stuff, but since carrying any kinda liquids or gels on board 'planes is a hassle these days, if you are like me, you would probably do fine with what's provided by G-force in their showers.
After a long, relaxing shower, I gathered my stuff and took the elevator down to the main level. I didn't bother paying for the Marhaba lounge since a) there was free internet access inside the terminal and b) I wasn't really hungry. If you are hungry, maybe $44 for an all-you-can-eat buffet and a quiet place to sit might be a good deal for you, but I could find a quiet place to sit in another end of the terminal and I sure wasn't hungry after the Emirates crew kept stuffing us with food over and over and over during our 13-hour flight.
I am not really much of a shopper. Most men aren't. Even I was impressed with some of the duty free shops in the airport. You could buy booze for much cheaper than you could at Costco. Seriously, if you are gonna go to a dry country like Bdesh, you might wanna buy some quality booze at a decent price from the duty free shops. I sure did.
Anyway, this update was long overdue. I noticed that a lot of people were checking this page for updates, so I apologize for taking so long.
