Flight Aer Lingus Dublin - London Gatwick / Emirates London Gatwick via Dubai International - Bangkok Suvarnabhumi

My better half found a good deal on Emirates' website from London Gatwick (LGW) to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK). We hadn't been there for five years and wanted to return. We were at first a bit concerned about the coup and unrest in Thailand, but it seemed peaceful enough, so we decided to book the flight. To get to London Gatwick we bought a separate flight with Aer Lingus from Dublin.

The flight from Dublin to LGW South Terminal was full. Previous experience had shown that a pre-booked seat wasn't necessary. On this flight we were unlucky and weren't able to sit together. We chose then two middle row seats behind each other. Thank goodness a lady was so nice to change seats with us when she realized we belonged together.

Next time we consider the payable option of choosing our seats when booking the flight.

We had pre-ordered a meal, because our flight left in the afternoon, and we thought we would be peckish. Since a few months in-flight catering is provided by Clodagh McKenna, an Irish chef and TV personality. We chose the quinoa chicken salad with multi seed crackers, gluten free chocolate cake, fruit salad and coffee. For those, who don't like coffee, there's also tea available. Overall we were happy with the meal. It was refreshing, healthy and tasty. We would appreciate, though, if the description of the ingredients would be slightly more detailed. The salad contains raisins. One of us is allergic to them, so he had to pick them out.

More choice in regards to the beverage selection would be also great, i.e. also juice or water.

We find it also a bit sad that the beef salad is no longer available.

This particular Airbus A319 was a former Iberian plane. When Aer Lingus bought it they didn't change the interior, so the first generation Recaro seats are a bit uncomfortable (too few leg room) and don't have a net at the seat in front to store items.

Otherwise the flight was event less.

Before our next legs to Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Bangkok we spent a night at the Hilton London Gatwick.  The review for this will follow.

The next morning we made our way to LGW North Terminal, where Emirates is based. The check in went flaw less and very few people were queuing.

Having heard only good things about Emirates we were looking forward to our first flight with them and we weren't disappointed.

The plane type was a Boeing 777-300ER. The seats were comfortable and there was ample leg room.

ICE, the entertainment system, offered a wide choice of movies, series, documentaries, games and music.

We were served lunch (prawn salad, chicken curry, chocolate dessert) and afternoon tea. Alcoholic beverages like beer, wine and liqueurs were also available.

I watched a documentary about Lance Armstrong and a few World Cinema Movies.

Connecting in Dubai was easy. To our surprise we were handed new boarding passes at the gate and advised our seat had changed. I thought I didn't read right. It stated we had been upgraded to business class - a first for us.

The plane type used was an Airbus A380. The Business Class configuration was 1-2-1. I had an aisle seat; he had the window seat. Our hostess introduced herself as Suzie and explained she and her colleague Fatima would take care of us during the flight. We were offered a welcome drink and had a glass of Champagne (Moet & Chandon NV Brut Imperial).

We were handed the wine list, which included two white (De Bortoli Estate Grown Chardonnay 2012 Yarra Valley and Voyager Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2012 Margaret River) and red wines (Les Fiefs de Lagrange 2005 and Te Muna Road Pinot Noir, Craggy Range 2011 Martinborough) as well as Quinta do Portal Colheita Port 2000 Douro.

There was also a large selection of spirits, beers, cocktails and liqueurs available. We tried the Patron XO Cafe. The coffee liqueur was excellent.

Our order from the light bite menu was taken. There were sandwiches, vegetable pie, Asian-style chicken fried rice, fried udon noodles, coconut tart, and instant cup noodles. We chose the Asian-style chicken fried rice. It was very tasty.

We were also asked if we wanted to be woken for breakfast and invited to join the bar at the back any time.

The amenity bag containing Bulgari toiletries was handed out and we were also offered to have our bed made.

The seat itself was very comfortable and at the press of a button turned into a lie flat bed. I thought it was romantic when looking up and the ceiling twinkled with star lights. There was enough room to either sleep fully stretched out or on the side.

There was also a minibar stocked with a Sunrasia juice, Voss water and other beverages.

ICE could be accessed via the IPad at the seat or via the large flat screen TV. Storage space was either overhead, in front of the seat or at the side.

The window blinds could be opened and closed fully automatic.

The seats were angled in a way that guaranteed privacy and nobody would disturb the neighbour, if they had to get up for some reason.

It was an overnight flight and if we hadn't taken care, we could have been easily overwhelmed with all the services provided and not slept at all. Lying flat definitely helps arriving more rested at the destination.

Continental breakfast consisted of fresh fruits, yogurt, croissants, pastries and bread, butter and preserves. He had as hot item the scrambled eggs with mixed peppers and I had the courgette and cheese omelette. There was coffee/tea, Champagne, orange or apple juice to choose from.

We were also given priority lane access at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. Immigration was a breeze and the wait for our luggage wasn't too long.

After ten days in Bangkok it was time to return to Dublin.

Checking in at BKK was hassle free again and waiting time very short.

Our planes was on the legs between Bangkok/Dubai and LGW the Queen of the Skies.

It seems we had a slightly older Airbus A380 between BKK-DXB, because the seats were slightly different than between DXB-LGW and ICE slightly more difficult to use.

There was only lunch service (we had fish), but there was also noodle pots as snacks available for those, who felt a small hunger pang.

Connecting in Dubai was longer than on the journey to Bangkok. We had to take the connecting train. Previously we were able to simply walk to our next gate.

My fiancé wanted to surprise me with a watch from duty free shopping between DXB and LGW. When asking the attendant if it was available she promised me she would check with her colleague if he had it in his cart, because it wasn't in hers. After waiting for ages I had to follow up and was left disappointed. It wasn't available.

The crew on this flight seemed to be generally stressed out and tired.

For lunch we had chickpeas and sweet corn salad with tuna, grilled chicken and blueberry streusel cake.

Later afternoon tea with cheese and chutney and chicken sandwiches, double chocolate cake and scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam was served. Unfortunately the scone was with raisins again and no alternative offered, so my better half had to forgo it.

Arrival at London was on time. After crossing the longest  gate connecting bridge in the world we had to walk for about ten to fifteen minutes to Immigration, where a long queue had built up. It was moving fluid and within twenty minutes we were at the baggage claim to pick up our suitcase.

We enjoyed flying with Emirates, the comfort in both Business and Economy Class, the service, the delicious food and ICE.

After staying another night at the Hilton LGW we checked in for our flight with Aer Lingus back to Dublin.

We were sitting together even without having chosen our seats prior to the flight and hadn't any meal, because we had paid access to the Number 1 Traveller Lounge at the South Terminal.

The flight was eventless, punctual and the staff as always friendly.

Dublin International Airport was efficient and we were at home two hours after landing.

©2014

Flight Aer Lingus / Malaysia Airlines

We booked our economy class flight via Expedia, because we liked the price, timing, route and had good experiences with Malaysia Airlines on short haul flights in the past.  It also gave us the opportunity to fly the Airbus A380, which would be our first time.

We had an early flight from Dublin to Paris Charles de Gaulles, arriving at 09.00 hours at CDG. It was pleasant and eventless. Our luggage was checked through to Kuala Lumpur, but we had to get our boarding passes for the leg between Paris and KLIA at Charles de Gaulles. We had tried the online check in the previous day, but it didn't function the way we wanted it. We were checked in, but didn't receive any boarding passes.

At Charles de Gaulles was a short confusion - we were sure we simply had to go to the departure gate of our next flight and receive our boarding passes there, but an airport employee tried to convince us it might be better to go through security and go to the check in desk. After some discussions with her the time was running out to go to the check in desk and we headed to our gate. It let us believe, if we had followed the employee's advise we would have had problems later on with the counter being closed while we were stuck in security or something along the line.

No Malaysia Airline staff was there yet, so we waited and when somebody arrived, asked for the print out of our documents. Unfortunately there were problems with the printing, so it had to be done for us and other connecting passengers off site. We had to wait until the very last moment. All other passengers had already boarded. Finally we were on our way to Kuala Lumpur.

We were located on the main deck.

The seat configuration was 3-4-3. Both of us were happy with the seats. The leg room was okay.

The in-flight entertainment system was a bit own minded and always froze, when we wanted to check what kind of meals were going to be served. As soon as a public announcement was finished, the system was working again. Having learned our lesson, we didn't use this feature again and waited until the flight attendant gave us the choice for lunch. Our neighbor had the same issue and was a bit impatient. She rang the bell to summon a flight attendant quite often, which in turn didn't make the stewardess happy having to explain again and again they would restart the program for the passenger as soon as we had taken off and reached cruising altitude.
Another problem was the remote control. It didn't work either, so I couldn't play games. The touch screen on the other side was working fine.

The interior was designed in a way we didn't feel like we were going to spend around 13 hours on board of the world’s largest plane. The red and dark colors were great and the mood lightning a nice feature.

The staff was friendly and efficient.

Two hours into our flight lunch or dinner (It was around 2 PM in Paris or 9 PM in Kuala Lumpur, so you can decide what it was we had.) was served, either spicy chicken curry with rice and vegetables or fish in a creamy sauce and potatoes. The starters, side dishes and dessert were the same for either main course. There was vegetable salad, camembert, crackers, Kitkat and vanilla chocolate cake. Beverages to choose from were wine, different juices and water. After lunch tea and coffee were also offered.

Soon afterwards the lights were dimmed to prepare for our overnight flight. The crew regularly offered more alcohol free beverages. If any one was thirsty or hungry in the mean time, the galley had always something stocked, including snacks.

While my better half managed to sleep for about four to five hours or so, I couldn't and napped for about two. At least I could use the in-flight entertainment to its full potential.

Between lunch and breakfast we also received a snack box, containing a healthy bar, roasted peanuts, cookies and a fish snack.

We definitely weren't left hungry or thirsty.

Breakfast was served 1.5 hours before landing. Choice was Nasi Lemak (Malaysia's national dish) or eggs with sausage, potatoes and mushrooms.

I also used the toilet. The floor was a bit scruffy, but over all it was clean, there were enough hand towels, toilet paper, soap, moisturizer, perfume for him and her and aftershave lotion no matter if it was at the beginning of our flight or near the end. Thumbs up for this.

Time was passing fast and soon it was time to land at 07.00 hours the next day in Kuala Lumpur.

Having spent 23 days in Malaysia, learned a lot and tried a few things it was unfortunately time to return home.

Our route was slightly different. Our connecting hub was London Heathrow. Having experiences there, we knew how it functioned.

As always our luggage was checked through to Dublin, but we had to get our boarding passes for the leg between Heathrow and Dublin at the connection center.

We had again an Airbus A380 and were seated on the upper deck. We liked the experience better, because it felt slightly more intimate and had a configuration of 2-4-2.
As always the staff was attentive and friendly.

There was never a shortage of eating and drinking. The in-flight entertainment system was fully functioning and the flight took slightly over 13 hours.

There were slight turbulences over India, but otherwise it was an event less flight.

We were served two meals. The first was a choice of chicken or fish and served around two hours after reaching cruising altitude; the second beef or chicken arrived two and a half hours before landing. In between we also received ice cream and a snack box, containing the same as on the flight from CDG to KUL. Everything was tasty. We were stuffed at the end of the journey.

Having had a good experience on our connecting flight from Dublin to Dubai via LHR the previous year we thought this one would be also a breeze. Wrong.

After landing we at 16.15 hours the same day followed the signs for the connections and arrived at the transport center, where we waited for a few minutes before the bus arrived.

We had a long walk to security.
The queue wasn't too long, but somebody famous I won't name was in front of us and kept everyone up. The person didn't want to remove his electronic devices from his bags, when finally doing so, the lap top ended up on the floor. They also had an unbelievable amount of hand luggage with them, so it took ages. There were also constant reminders from security to have all liquids in sealable plastic bags and to remove all electronic devises. It started going on my nerves. Finally it was our turn. We were well prepared and weren't reminded or asked if we had anything in our pockets.

Then there was the passport control. The queue was very long and the whole process let me more feel like entering a fortress and was a marked contrast to our experience in Malaysia or Brunei, but I assume it is even there depending what nationality you are...

Finally having all security checks behind us we went to the connecting desk of Aer Lingus. We were wondering what was keeping the short queue from moving. After what felt like eternity it was our turn to have the boarding passes printed. The whole process from deboarding to finally hold our boarding passes in hand took over two hours. It was a bit frustrating.

The rest of the experience went flawless. Our flight back to Dublin was on time and eventless.

Would we fly again with Malaysia Airlines? Yes, we would.




©2013