Best Emirates J seat BNE - AKL

[juddles]

enjoyed it then?

yep!!

 

[juddles]

The lady at the bar was Micaela - a US citizen. The crew were from everywhere on the planet.

Micaela was an extremely articulate, intelligent young lady. The flight was lightly loaded and I spent the majority of the flight at the bar chatting to her. In my world of a thousand flights I will actually remember this one!

I still love Qantas, but it was very refreshing to experience a totally different airline culture.

 

[mushez]

The express arrivals card only covers immigration, not customs. If you are one of the first 30-40 people off the plane and there is no other A380 just landed, you probably won't need the express card because there will be no queue on the passport machines. But it's good to have one just in case.

Customs can be a long wait if an A380 has landed just before you. If it is backed up, take the leftmost queue or Aussies and Kiwis. During summer, there are attendants who hand out "green cards". If you are an Aussie or Kiwi, grab a card and go through the special green card lane on the left. Alas, this is not operating at the moment.

Correct - the express card in Auckland is only for immigration - there is no express line for customs.

Immigration for the most part is not an issue with any main delays with Smart Gate, and using Smart Gate is faster than the Express Card line in most cases.

With 3 x A380's landing within 60 minutes of each other - when your flight lands in relation to the other 2 and when your bags pop out can mean quite a nice wait for customs or nice walk through.

Have not heard of these Green Cards during summer for NZ and AU - and I fly often into AKL.

When going through customs in AKL, always use the most left lane of all lanes, even if it is longer - as it is faster. If it is clear for all you can see - you "could" try to use the second most left lane and after doing the 180 turn at the end, cut through and into the left lane.

The most left lane at customs has as many as 6 people working it in primary than all the other lines will only have 1-2 working them in primary. All but 1-2 of the 6 that service the most left hand land, will stop and prioritize any Assisted PAX or crew that come through that channel - so while it has its moments of going slow while the staff work with assisted PAX or crew, when they are free they will clear people in the most left lane and for the most part goes very quickly and for those in the know and get through very quickly.

 

[mushez]

So just did two A380 back to back flights in J - 9K vrs 23K and thought would add to my prior comments here:

9K has all the benefits listed above, up front, window, extra leg room than isle etc.

However actually having flown 23k - than looked at it - comparing it to 9K:
Cons:
23K is a pain to get out of - most other seats in J, have something you can grab hold of to sit up from being fully flat to go to the bar etc mid flight - but in 23K, there is no such anything to grab hold of.
It is further down the plane - so you are one of the last J pax to deplane
Pros:
23K has the most leg room of any J seat I have sat in on EK A380 - I could stretch out and wasn't limited at all in length - as even the likes of 9k, if I stretch when in flat position - my toes and head touch both ends.
23K is a nice secluded seat, that almost know one really is going to see you. If you want the most private seats in J - 23A/K would be a good choice
23K is nice and close to the loos and bar - but again note it isn't the easiest seat to get out of in the cons.
23K - but it seems to be all the seats in the mini rear area that is window - the cupboards between the seat and the windows are bigger. I have a rather big, 17" laptop (is also 6kg) - and in all the front cabin in J, I have to put it sideways in them in flight to close the lid, as it sticks out tons - but in 23K, I could put it in longways with room. The cupboards simply have roughly an extra 20-30cm in extra depth on them.


On a side note - while in 9K, SIN-MEL, I got 8J's food tray dumped all over me. FA - in their quest to balance 2-4 trays to walk them to the rear, in balancing the tray from 8J to get my tray in 9K, slipped and tipped it all over me, half drunk water and wine and all, broken wine glasses, and overall mess. While I had my own PJ's as well as change of clothes - they offered me a pair of F PJ's and to handwash and dry my clothes.