6 replies to this topic

[filipef]

Emirates will start flying from and to Portugal this July and i found a great fare to BKK in November: 708 euros.
The problem is i will have to wait, on my way back, about 20 hours in Dubai, for the flight to Lisbon.
If i dont chose another fare, more expensive, departing earlier from BKK and arriving Dubai "only" 5 hours before the flight to Lisbon, have any of you mates any advice about where to stay and what to do during those 20 hours in Dubai?

[rxpharm]

There's an airport hotel you can stay at, but of course the rates will probably be more than a regular hotel.

There is an elevated rail system that connects to the airport, which goes to various hotels and malls in Dubai - here is a link to the route: Dubai Metro. Also a link for hotels: Dubai Hotels.com.

Dubai has plenty of malls, for example Mall of the Emirates, which has an indoor ski hill, the world tallest hotel - Burj Khalifa, etc.

[petesie]

Try a friendly travel agent who may find a more amenable connecting time for you for just a few more Euros...sometimes the stuff they put on the net is not that up to date with the offers.

I had a similar deal with an extended wait and for 30 Euros it was reduced to 1.5 hours.

[LBK]

Back in July, Emirates announced a fourth daily A380 from Dubai to Bangkok starting from December 1. (They also have direct B777 flights as well as the A380s.)

This will use a new version of the A380 with the highest passenger capacity ever. There are 58 business class seats in addition to 557 cattle for a total of 615. Around 100 more than other versions.

Will that 100+ make a difference in terms of on-time departure/arrival, the rate of diversions (due to intoxication, air rage, medical emergencies, etc), lost luggage and so on?

http://www.emirates....vice-to-bangkok

http://onemileatatim.../emirates-a380/

http://www.seatguru....0_Two_Class.php

[scottieM]

Back in July, Emirates announced a fourth daily A380 from Dubai to Bangkok starting from December 1. (They also have direct B777 flights as well as the A380s.)
This will use a new version of the A380 with the highest passenger capacity ever. There are 58 business class seats in addition to 557 cattle for a total of 615. Around 100 more than other versions.
Will that 100+ make a difference in terms of on-time departure/arrival, the rate of diversions (due to intoxication, air rage, medical emergencies, etc), lost luggage and so on?
http://www.emirates....vice-to-bangkok
http://onemileatatim.../emirates-a380/
http://www.seatguru....0_Two_Class.php

maybe ten minutes more in boarding and disembarking. Maybe more punctual on boarding... All the rest you list is irrelevant...and not necessary pertaining to each flight

[rxpharm]

An extra 100 more passengers on the A380 won't have much impact in the way of boarding or deplaning if the airport has the proper configuration for it. Most A380 gates have a minimum of 2, and sometimes up to 4 jetways to move the passengers. In terms of luggage - again, it won't have much impact in terms of loading and unloading.

 

The significant difference in time will be if you are waiting to be processed through immigration and customs. If more than one of these arrive at the same time, the queues will be huge.

[LBK]

An extra 100 more passengers on the A380 won't have much impact in the way of boarding or deplaning if the airport has the proper configuration for it.

Indeed that's the if. BKK has 5 A380 contact gates (no idea how many aerobridges, though evidently not all have four). Hopefully the pax-heavy version would always be assigned to gates with the most aerobridges as well as sufficient space and facilities in the gate lounge to hold an extra 100+ bodies.

In terms of luggage - again, it won't have much impact in terms of loading and unloading.

Waiting at the carousel could be more fun.

Fail-to-board is another luggage scenario. It only takes 1 out of 615 to fuck everyone over

The significant difference in time will be if you are waiting to be processed through immigration and customs.

Additionally, experienced/knowledgeable flyers may go out of their way to avoid this version, so it could be full of exactly the sort of novices you'd rather not be stuck in a queue (or caged in an enclosed tube) with! People who can't fill out an immigration card or want to ask irrelevant questions to the non-English-speaking officer.