Emirates Economy Class: MLE-DXB B777-300ER

After an out of this world stay at The St. Regis Maldives, I had to head back home. This trip was designed around this mistake fare when I booked Emirates from MLE to LAS via DXB + SFO for USD 110 one-way. I would be flying home in Economy after a First Class trip on the way to the Maldives.

Mistake Fare Confirmation

It was essentially a free flight after crediting the miles to Alaska Air and earning 7,496 miles which I value at USD ~150 ($0.02 per mile).

Credit Emirates to Alaska

Checking in at the Emirates desk was quick and I was off to the sparse terminal that Male has to offer it’s passengers. There isn’t much to do except look at the photos and videos you captured during your stay. Boarding for the flight started on time, but we were required to take a bus to the plane. Male airport doesn’t offer an air bridge service so you either walk to your plane or are bused to it. Boarding a B777-300ER from the tarmac using stairs really puts it into perspective as to how massive the long haul planes are these days.

I was seated at 18A, but the flight was a very light load so the lady in the aisle seat took the bulkhead in Row 17 therefore giving me the entire row. Perfect for a redeye flight to Dubai 🙂 We took off from Male on time and we were off for our 4 hour flight to Dubai. Dinner was served just after takeoff which was a nice midnight snack. I was able to flip up all the armrests to create a bed for a ~3 hour nap. I slept for most of the flight and woke up just before landing in Dubai. The seats were comfortable and the section I was seated in reminded me of Main Cabin Extra on American’s B777-300ER’s that I flew all the time on their LAX-SYD route.

WiFi was available inflight and was powered by OnAir. I had good luck with fast speeds on Emirates B777-300ER before compared to their system on the A380. This flight reconfirmed my luck. Speeds were 4.66Mbps down and 0.36Mbps up. 20MB of data was included for free and 150MB was available for just USD $1. Coverage was available for the duration of the flight.

I was satisfied with the service although limited given it was a redeye flight. The flight attendants sure do maintain the Emirates standards. We landed in Dubai @ 2AM and I had a 6 hour layover prior to my flight to SFO. I decided to give sleep ‘n fly pods a try as they are now included with Priority Pass. You only get 2 hours of use for free, but the receptionist had no issue charging 2 hours to each of my Priority Pass cards therefore giving me 4 hours of use. The pods were comfy and a pillow was provided. I’d highly recommend using them if you need to sleep during your layover in Dubai.