My flight from Dubai to Brussels was scheduled to depart at 8:20AM. Since I've reviewed Emirates' first class lounges in Dubai before (in both the A Concourse and B Concourse), I decided to skip the lounge this time and head straight to the gate. My…
I had about 19 hours in Dubai between flights, as I was arriving from Colombo and connecting to Brussels. I've been to Dubai at least a couple of dozen times, and for this short stay figured I'd try one of the hotels that has fascinated me the most,…
It has been a while since I've flown Emirates first class, though the second I boarded I had the biggest smile on my face. At the forward door I was welcomed by Draginja, the Serbian flight attendant who would be taking care of me. Unlike the A380, Emirates'…
After landing on Etihad from Beirut, I made my way through immigration toward the Premier Inn. After spending the last two nights on economy class flights, I was beyond excited to sleep in a real bed. It was a long walk from arrivals to the hotel. The…
My flight from Beirut to Abu Dhabi was scheduled to depart at 2:30 pm. It's common for flights to depart behind schedule, or unofficially leave a few minutes early. Not on Etihad. When I got to the gate an hour before departure, the flight was already…
I took two Emirates flights to start off my comparison between the big three Middle Eastern carriers. The journey started at 9:00am in Zurich after flying SAS from Gothenburg via Copenhagen. Since my flight left at 3:25pm, I spent most of my connecting…
We spent a couple of nights in Dubai at the Park Hyatt, which I won't be reviewing this time around, since I've reviewed it before, and not much has changed. Our flight from Dubai to Riyadh was departing at 6:15PM, so we got to the airport plenty early,…
Upon boarding through the forward door we were greeted by two young and friendly flight attendants. Somon Air's business class cabin consists of 16 seats, spread across four rows in a 2-2 configuration. I loved how colorful the cabin was, the patterns…
At the forwarded door I was greeted by three very friendly flight attendants, who welcomed me onboard and pointed me towards my seat. Jet Airways' 737 business class cabin (or at least the version I was on) features 16 business class seats, spread across…
As a Jet Airways business class passenger I had access to the Marhaba Lounge, which I reviewed in the last installment. However, the SkyTeam Lounge Dubai Terminal 1 is also part of Priority Pass, so I decided to check that out, to see how it compares.…
A friend dropped me off at Dubai Airport Terminal 1 shortly after 11AM, plenty early for my 3:10PM flight to Mumbai. I had a bit of work to catch up on and also wanted to review a couple of lounges, so I left plenty of time. Unfortunately this turned…
I had two nights in Dubai after the first portion of my trip. I was staying not only during summer (where it's hot in the Middle East), but also over Ramadan, which is typically the quietest time for hotels in the region. If you're looking to score a…
I boarded through the forward door at around 5:30PM, where I was greeted by the cabin supervisor, as well as the two lovely Filipino flight attendants who would be taking care of me. I was escorted to my seat, 2A. This was exactly the same aircraft I…
As I explained at the end of the last installment, Johan, "my" butler, escorted me down the jet bridge and onto the plane, where I was greeted by the cabin manager and first class crew. I can't even begin to describe how excited I was at this point.…
My two days in Abu Dhabi were mostly sleepless, as I kept a horrible time schedule. While I still love any type of flying, it's not often anymore that I get excited to the point that I can't sleep the night before my trip, though this was one of those…
After spending a night at the Shangri-La Abu Dhabi and then flying from Abu Dhabi to Cairo and back in a day, I had two more nights in Abu Dhabi before my flight to Sydney. As luck would have it, Etihad offers first & business class passengers a complimentary…
My flight from Washington arrived at around 8PM, and then my flight the next day to Cairo departed at around 9AM, meaning that I really just needed a hotel for eight hours or so. However, I figured I'd take the opportunity to review something new. While…
I've reviewed Etihad's longhaul first class product a bunch of times, and have reviewed Etihad's business class product several times as well, though have never reviewed their longhaul business class. So I was looking forward to checking out Etihad's…
Surprisingly, this was my first time actually transiting in Dubai. Like this one, my previous trips on Emirates had been booked through Alaska Mileage Plan, which allows free stopovers at partner hubs on award tickets. A stopover wasn't really a compelling…
While I've flown Emirates first class on the A380 a half-dozen times (oof that's an obnoxious sentence, sorry), my husband hadn't. He had flown Emirates first on the 777 a few years back, and even had the cabin to himself, so he had a general idea of…
A couple of days ago I finally had the chance to visit Etihad's new first class lounge in Abu Dhabi. The lounge opened in May 2016, after substantial delays. While I used to fly Etihad all the time, I've been making an effort to review more new airlines…
