The reason we have the Europe trip is because the miles that I’ve been collecting during the Covid lockdown is expiring. After a lot of searching, I finally got a first class for 2 with Emirates to Europe and a suite class for 2 with Singapore Airlines back. Playing airmiles is not easy as there are a lot of homework to do. Besides that, you have to be creative and flexible. However, the reward is very satisfying.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the flights and lounges of our Europe trip.
Plaza Premium First (PPF), KLIA
For the first class Emirates to London, after checking in, you will get 4 tickets as below:
- Kuala Lumpur to Dubai ticket
- Dubai to London ticket
- Visa and Transport Information ticket for chauffeur drive service
- Hotel voucher for free stay in Dubai
For the hotel voucher, you will only get it if your layover is between 6 to 26 hours depending on flight class. This service is known as Dubai Connect.
For economy and premium economy, you will need layover of 8 to 26 hours. And for the hotel it will be Copthorne Hotel Dubai. For business and first class, you will need layover of 6 to 26 hours. For business class, the hotel is Le Meridien Dubai while for first class, it will be JW Marriott Marquis Dubai.
If you see from the photo above, the lounge given for first class Emirates is Travel Club Lounge. However, I head to the Plaza Premium First lounge first using the CIMB Travel World Elite card.
Both the Plaza Premium Lounge (PPL) and Plaza Premium First (PPF) are side by side. PPL on the left and PPF on the right.
In PPF, you order your main course via a QR code at the table that you are sitting. But for salads, drinks, and snacks, you still get it ala buffet style at the respective stations.
You can also get to pour your own Asahi beer. But you basically just place the beer glass on the machine and press a button and voila:
After having a 63 Celsius cajun chicken thigh and a glass of Asahi, I hop over to Travel Club Lounge.
Travel Club Lounge, KLIA
There’s even a golf simulator room:
I didn’t take much food at the lounge as I was quite full from the food in PPF. After that, I head over to the security check which is at the boarding gate for the Emirates B777 first class.
First Class Emirates – B777 (old)
For the segment of Kuala Lumpur to Dubai, the flight is a B777 with the old first class. Therefore, it’s not a fully enclosed suite.
Me, all excited like a kid for my first ever first class flight experience:
The luxurious interior of Emirates first class looks so fine with the warm sunlight reflecting off the surfaces.
Before departing, Emirates cannot serve alcohol. Instead, I was offered Arabic tea and dates. The sweetness of the dates is perfectly balanced by the tea so that you can have one dates after another without the feeling of taking too much sweets.
Once the airplane is in the air, I ordered the Dom Perignon 2013 and Hennessy Paradis. Dom Perignon is exclusively available in Emirates while Hennessy Paradis costs RM5k+ per bottle so both also must drink.
Besides that, caviar is also a must eat in Emirates first class.
In Emirates business and first class, you will be using Bowers & Wilkins noise cancelling headphones.
The best thing about Emirates first class is that there are so many free things to take off the plane that they even give you a tote bag to put all the stuffs together:
Emirates’ Hydra Active moisturizing sleep suits are really comfortable to wear:
There’s only 1 small bar on the B777 for first class passengers:
I had a nap before landing at Dubai. As I always have difficulties falling asleep in general and more so in flight, it is my first time having a long sleep in flight which is around 2-3 hours although I believe the alcohols help as well.
The height of the door (it is slightly taller than A380)
Dubai Connect
If you did not receive your hotel voucher and transport ticket when you check in at the departing airport, you still can get it at the Dubai airport at the Dubai Connect counter.
However, if you have the tickets already, you can proceed straight to the Chauffeur-drive service counter:
You will be given a check-in receipt as below:
Once your number appears at the board, proceed to the exit accordingly:
Once you exit the airport, you will see a fleet of BMWs waiting to fetch all the business and first class passengers.
Emirates First Class Accommodation – JW Marriott Marquis Dubai
For Emirates first class passengers, you will be staying at JW Marriott Marquis Dubai:
You will have to walk past all the check-in counters before arriving at the Emirates check-in counter as below:
If you do not specify a time to head back to the airport, the chauffeur will pick you up 2.5 hours before your flight departure by default. As I want to explore the first class lounge, I requested an earlier pick-up time. Depending on your check-in time, you will also get free breakfast/lunch/dinner.
There is also complimentary shuttle bus to and fro Dubai Mall so you can explore the mall and the surrounding areas.
I took a very long time to find the place to insert the hotel card for the room electricity, cause I suaku never stay in high-end hotel before lol. So unlike the hotels that I usually stay where you put the card vertically, this card is put in horizontally.
Dubai Airport – First Class Lounge
Next day early morning, I head to the Dubai Airport to explore the huge first class lounge.
Before entering the first class lounge, there is a Timeless Spa on your left where you can get complimentary massages:
It’s so huge that it has its own duty-free shopping in the lounge itself:
At the main dining area:
You can also explore out of the main dining area for different food:
First Class Emirates – A380
My flight from Dubai to London Heathrow is an A380 which comes with the shower spa and business class bar & lounge.
The seafood antipasti:
The traditional Arabic Mezze:
The warm nuts is one of the best thing to pair with alcohol:
The shower suite:
You can take all these amenities in the bathroom:
Me at the business class bar:
As you can see from the photo below, the A380 door is slightly lower than B777 (old).
Plaza Premium Lounge, Gatwick Airport
The next day, before our flight to Iceland, we chill at the Plaza Premium Lounge at Gatwick Airport.
Icelandair Saga Premium
While waiting at Plaza Premium Lounge, I received 2 SMS. The first one is a flight delay message while the second one informs me of a seat change. However, when I check online, I couldn’t find the seat. When we head to the check-in counter, we were surprised that we were bumped up to business class known as the Saga Premium.
The day before, the flights to Iceland was cancelled due to bad weather and thus the flight is full and we were very lucky to have a free upgrade although me and my wife don’t get to sit side by side.
Saga Premium drinks menu:
As my wife don’t really eat raw food and cheese, I basically had 1 and a half meal (cause I can’t finish both meals):
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge, London Heathrow
Before taking our flight to Singapore, we head to the SilverKris Lounge in London Heathrow. As we are taking suite class, we are able to visit the first class section of the lounge.
There are ala carte meals that you can order from the menu and there are also buffet section. The food are quite good but because we had too much food, we didn’t eat much in the flight back.
United Club Lounge, London Heathrow
As United Airlines and Singapore Airlines are members of Star Alliance, we are able to use the lounge as well:
Singapore Airlines Suite Class
The most awaited flight of our whole trip as we are able to experience Singapore Airlines suite class together instead of being separated into different flights as in our Emirates flight to London.
As you can see from the photo below, there are ample space around our seat which is indeed a suite in the sky.
For the first row, there is a screen in front of you as our seats are facing forward during take-offs and landing where you can watch the safety briefing video.
The starboard bathroom which is significantly larger:
Compared to the bathroom on port side which is smaller:
I’ve never tried the Malaysia Airlines’ satay before, but this is quite good:
The caviar is still in it’s container compared to Emirates where they pour it out and serve on the plate:
Everything Lalique in suite class:
As you can see from the photo below, the beef is dry and rough:
During our flight to Singapore, the highly sought after Beary is not given out freely and we have to make a request to the flight attendants and even that, we were given a pair of Beary only.
Krug champagne for our breakfast drinks:
The Private Room, Changi
Although most lounges are for international departures, the Private Room is open for arrival as well. As our luggage are checked-in straight to the final destination, we take our own sweet time at the Private Room.
The Private Room is beside the First Class lounge but it is open only for Singapore Airlines’ suite and first class passengers.
We ordered the wagyu satay:
Grilled octopus tentacles:
And a few classic lobster thermidor:
There are large bathrooms in the lounge if you want to take a shower to refresh yourself after a long flight:
SilverKris First Class Lounge
As the first class lounge is just next door, we take a quick visit of it:
Singapore’s Hokkien Prawn Mee is my favourite dish in Singapore and I get to try it in the first class lounge. However, you can skip it as you can easily get tastier Hokkien Prawn Mee outside lol.
After staying a night in Singapore, we continue lounge hopping before our flight back to Malaysia.
SilverKris Business Class Lounge
As we are taking Singapore Airlines’ business class back to Malaysia, we are able to visit their business class lounge:
SATS Premier Lounge
Using our credit card, we head inside SATS Premier Lounge:
There’s even Osim massage chair in the lounge:
Ambassador Transit Lounge
If you have the Priority Pass, you can visit the Ambassador Transit Lounge:
Business Class Singapore Airlines
The final leg of our flight and the ending of our Europe trip is a Singapore Airlines’ business class. If you are redeeming flights using KrisFlyer Miles, you can get the flight between Malaysia and Singapore for free. However, you will have to make call or calls to get the free connecting flight. This is because not all the customer service representative knows about this. Therefore, if the person that you speak to tell you that it’s not doable, just HUCA (hang up call again) until you get a representative that knows how to do this.
Conclusion
In summary, here are the flights that we have taken for our Europe trip:
- Emirates first class (old B777 & A380)
- Icelandair business class
- Singapore Airlines suite class
- Singapore Airlines business class
And below are all the lounges that we have visited during the trip:
- Plaza Premium First (PPF), KLIA
- Travel Club Lounge, KLIA
- Emirates First Class Lounge, Dubai
- Plaza Premium Lounge (PPL), London Gatwick North Terminal
- SilverKris First Class Lounge, London Heathrow T2
- United Club Lounge, London Heathrow T2
- The Private Room, Changi T3
- SilverKris First Class Lounge, Changi T3
- SilverKris Business Class Lounge, Changi T2
- SATS Premier Lounge, Changi T2
- Ambassador Transit Lounge, Changi T2
For the flights, we prefer the Emirates first class over Singapore Airlines suite class. Although the service for Singapore Airlines suite class is top notch, the hard product of Emirates first class, the free stuffs that you can take off the flight, and on-demand dining makes it the winner here.
For the lounge, it’s hard to to any comparison as there are in different classes. However, Ambassador Transit Lounge sits at the bottom of the rank due to the limited selection of food and alcohol.
If you would like to read about our Europe trip, below are the quick links:
Please feel free to share your experience on Emirates first class, Singapore Airlines suite/first and business class, Icelandair Saga Premium, and airport lounge in the comments section below.
