EMIRATES BUSINESS CLASS REVIEW: Dubai to San Francisco (DXB – SFO) 16 Hours Flight

Having more flight attendants than passengers in Business Class on a 16-hour flight from Dubai to San Francisco was an indication of at least a one-on-one attention for the most part of the flight. 

Flight details: Emirates EK225
Route: Dubai (DXB) – San Francisco (SFO)
Date: Thursday, December 5, 2019
Depart: 8:25am
Arrive: 12:25pm
Duration: 16 hours
Aircraft Type: Airbus A380
Aircraft ID: A6-EEO
Seat: 19J (Business Class)
Average Price: $6,000
Amount I paid: $62.05 (taxes and fees)

It’s no doubt Alaska Airlines remains one of the best ways (if not the best) to book Emirates flights on points. Thanks to my Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K elite status which gives me 125% bonus miles on flights operated by Alaska. That’s a total of 225% miles since the airline’s frequent flyer program (Mileage Plan) gives you one mile for every mile flown rather than revenue based.

I had an impromptu business meeting and needed to get back to the US right away. This flight was booked using 82,500 Alaska miles about 20 hours before the flight. Lately, we have seen many airlines releasing award seats few days before departure so if you’re flexible with your travel plans, you might want to be on the lookout for that.

Emirates has been one of our favorite airlines for many years, and it’s always a great feeling whenever we’re onboard any of their flights since we pretty much fly in premium cabins. Thanks to points and miles, or as some would call it, “Travel Hacking”. A friend of mine once said to me many years ago, he said “wait till you start flying business class, and you’ll never go back to economy again”. He was totally right. Why fly economy when you can fly Business Class or even First Class for free. You can check out my Emirates $20,000 First Class experience.

One of the many things that sets Emirates apart is being able to board your flights directly from the Emirates Lounge (select flights only). Click here for the review of Emirates Lounge Dubai.

The Emirates Business Class cabin is located on the upper deck of the double-decker super-jumbo ‘King of the Sky’. I’m referring to no other aircraft other than the Airbus A380. The Emirates A380 business class features 2 different sections with a total of 76 seats altogether. The first section is massive and has 56 seats, while the second section is cozier and having a total of 18 seats.

The 76 seats in the Emirates Business Class cabin on the A380 is staggered in a 1-2-1 configuration with each seat having a direct aisle access. Each of these seats can also be adjusted into a lie-flat bed.

All window seats have stowage compartments below the windows where mattress pads are stored, but if you’re seating in the aisle seat, the flight attendants would come to offer you the mattress pads and as well ask if you’d like them to make your bed right away. 

Each seat in business class has a personal minibar stocked with still water, sparkling water, soft drinks, and a glass cup. On the top tray of the minibar you’ll find Emirates branded eye mask and a cheaply made (disposable) pair of socks. On the side of the minibar you’ll find power outlets, 2 USB ports, reading light, headphone jack, and entertainment controller. The seat controller is located on the side of the table right next to the seat itself, and you can as well control the seat using the tablet. This tablet controls every part of the seat, the light, entertainment, pretty much all the features in your space.

Amenity Kit:

Amenity kit was distributed while still trying to settle in. I requested for the female version and the cream color bag was good looking. I tried to play a little game with the flight attendants to get another amenity kit since there were only a few passengers in Business Class, but the FAs were not interested in my game.

Interestingly, there was not much of a difference between the Business Class and First Class amenity kits. As usual, the amenity kit consists of Bulgari products.

How to book Emirates Business Class:

As mentioned earlier, using Alaska MileagePlan miles is one of the best ways to book Emirates flights with points. While Alaska miles is not one of the easiest to earn, there are still some easy ways to earn them. You can apply for Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card which gives you 40,000 sign-up bonus points after spending $2,000 within 90-days of opening the account, $100 statement credit, Companion fare from $121, Free Checked Baggage, and much more. You can also purchase Alaska Airlines miles.

Another option is through Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank program. You can also book directly using Emirates Airlines Skywards program. Though this option comes with a ridiculously high carrier-imposed surcharges. You can transfer points from Platinum Card by American Express at a transfer rate of 1:1 to your Emirates skywards account.

Food and Beverage:

Emirates doesn’t disappoint when it comes to food and beverage. Like most flights, the menu on Emirates flights are usually regional-curated. During this 16-hours flight, breakfast, light bites, lunch, and snacks were served. There were also varieties of hot / cold snacks available to order in the onboard lounge. More on that later.

Although it would have been better if passengers in Business Class also have the option to dine-on-demand just like you have it in First Class. 

For breakfast, I ordered Cheese Omelet: served with chicken chipolatas, potato hash, baked beans, and sautéed cherry tomatoes.

I had promised myself that I was going to get some good quality sleep during this flight. So, about half an hour after my meal I pushed the call-button and asked the flight attendant to prepare my bed for me to sleep.

Wi-Fi / Internet Access:

As I was trying to fall asleep, I decided to connect to the complimentary OnAir Wi-Fi provided by Emirates. Skywards members gets free internet onboard (both cash and award bookings). Not a member? You can sign up for a free account before your flight. If you book a partner award booking and your Emirates frequent flyer number is not linked to your booking, you’ll need to remember your username and password to login to your skywards account during the flight.

Unlike Singapore Airlines, one of the things that Emirates failed to get right is the internet services. On multiple flights (both in business and first class), the internet has been a waste of time. 

During this flight, Wi-Fi was a total failure. And it made me wonder if those who purchased Wi-Fi onboard gets similar speed or something way better.

The Emirates / OnAir onboard internet failed The points Engineer Wi-Fi test woefully.

2 hours before landing, I was woken up from my beautiful sleep. Couldn’t believe we’ve been flying for almost 14 hours at this point. Unbelievably, I got 10 hours of quality sleep during this flight.

For lunch, I started with appetizer. I ordered for Lentil soup, but the friendly flight attendant talked me into trying the Traditional Arabic Mezze (Houmous, muhammara, stuffed vine leaf and shanklish salad) which I think was okay.

Since there were only a couple of passengers in Business Class, I had 3 different seats to myself. I had my assigned seat, a dining seat, and the third seat as my bedroom in the air.

For main course, I ordered the Fish Harra (a traditional middle eastern dish of oven-baked kingfish in spiced tomato sauce) but unfortunately the fish wasn’t available. Instead, I settled for Grilled lamb cutlets with mint chimichurri (served with broccoli and barley risotto with edamame).

For dessert, I had Raspberry Yoghurt Delice (garnished with white chocolate) which was really good.

The Onboard Lounge:

The Emirates onboard lounge in my opinion is the second-best part of Emirates A380. The onboard Shower-Spa is the First thing First. While only the 14 passengers in First Class on the Emirates Airbus A380 are entitled to the shower, passengers in both first and business class can access the onboard lounge / bar.

The lounge is located all the way to the rear of the second business class cabin. You honestly want to stop by here and enjoy a glass of your favorite drink or watch the flight attendants make you some cocktails / mocktails. There are variety of snacks available at the lounge too, and you can also hangout here and mingle with other passengers, or maybe just have a little stretch here during your long-haul flights. And while we don’t see anything special in getting an instant photo taken and printed at 40,000 feet up in the air, we just never get tired of it.

When you sleep for 10 hours during a 16-hour flight, you have to pay the price in some ways. The price I paid during this flight was not being able to check out ICE. Information Communication Entertainment (ICE) as popularly called.

Our flight landed in San Francisco at 12:40pm. 15 minutes behind estimated time of arrival. Clearing through immigration at SFO only took a minute. Thanks to Global Entry. Interested in TSA PreCheck or Global Entry? There are some premium credit cards that pays for your global entry application. Like the Platinum Card from American Express. 

Bottomline:

This review was meant to share our experience and also guide others in ways to go about flying Emirates Business Class and what to expect.

There are just a few things we think we should mention here. We love the great customer service from Emirates Airline as usual. The soft and hard products were great, and we believe the bed was comfortable enough for a 10-hour sleep. The Bulgari amenity kit was another touch, and so is the onboard lounge.

Although not having the Fish Harra available was kind of disappointing, and not having dine-on-demand available forces you to order your food even when not hungry yet. But what could be more disappointing than the onboard OnAir internet? 

But with all that being said, I recommend Emirates Business Class and we look forward to our next flight onboard Emirates Airline.