World Traveller 73 
One of the lessor known countries in Europe is the island nation of Malta. We stumbled open a deeply discounted Air France Business Class airfare from Canada to Germany and booked it with the intention fo a little exploration around Europe. We would end up travelling to Germany, and onwards to Malta, following up with a wonderful stay in Venice, Italy and a spin through Oktoberfest Germany.
Trip Introduction: Malta and Gozo, Venice Italy and Oktoberfest Munich Germany, via Air France Business Class.
Trip Background:
One night after dinner on a work night, I was searching around the Premium Deals section of Flyertalk and happened upon an Air France SkyTeam flash sale targeting Star Alliance cities. The sale was offering $1,700 CAD ($1,400 USD at the time) round trips in full business class from West Coast of North America cities to Germany. I couldn’t get any cities outside of Germany to work at the lower fare, but options existed for Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. I mentioned it to MrsWT73 who was lukewarm about the whole idea on such short notice.
When I returned home from work the next day, after I had finished cleaning up dinner, I happened to check again and the sale was still there. I shouted over to MrsWT73 to ask if we should book it. Turns out she had fallen asleep on the couch by 9 PM. With that implied permission, I clicked through to purchase and held the ticket for 3 days for $15 CAD a person. As luck would have it, the fare returned to $4,300 CAD the next night just 72 hours after I had first seen it. The decision was easily made then and there. We would soon be on our way on the Air France Business Class sale fare from Vancouver to Munich.
Trip Planning and Organizing:
Airfares:
For the Air France Business Class flights, we credited these miles to the Alaska Mileage Plan. Air France (and Delta at one time) where still an Alaska Mileage Plan partner. The points credited without any issues.
Since it happened to be Oktoberfest during the dates that I had randomly picked, we ended up purchasing a separate ticket nested inside our return ticket to Europe. I happened to see Malta on the Amazing Race a few seasons ago and thought that it looked pretty neat. My wife had never visited Venice, so I had it included in for a romantic trip for our wedding anniversary. I designed an open jaw from Munich to Malta, and Malta to Venice. We purchased these tickets on Lufthansa as an Economy Classic Fare for 322 € per person; consisting of 193€ in fare and 129.12€ in taxes fees and surcharges. We credited these miles to Aeroplan as a Star Alliance Partner.
We had to get ourselves back to Munich for our flight home. Options from Munich were limited but we ended up with the cheaper Air Dolomiti, a regional subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The short one hour and five minute flight was 110€ in fare and 22€ in taxes and fees for a total of 132€ for the one way flight.
Hotels:
In terms of hotels, I had read great things about the Westin Dragonara Resort in Valetta Malta. It had an excellent Executive Lounge with an out door patio perfect for taking in the warm Mediterranean heat. The Executive Lounges are accessible for free for those with Marriott Bonvoy Platinum or higher status. I located a rate of 170€ a night, which was a better value than redeeming points at this property. We would end up applying Starwood Preferred Guest (now Marriott Bonvoy) Suite Night Awards which would have us upgraded into a nicer room.
For Venice, Italy, part of the charm is actually staying in Venice itself. Between the Gritti Palace by Luxury Collection, the Danielli by Luxury Collection and the Westin Europa Regina, we would end up at the Westin Europa Regina thanks to it’s wonderful patio breakfasts. We redeemed Starwood Preferred Guest points of this stay at 27,500 Starpoints per room (now the equivalent of 82,500 Marriott Bonvoy Points per room) for a total of 55,000 points for a Premium Deluxe Room. We also redeemed a Suite Night Award at this property for a larger suite room, which was a steal to get a suite in compact Venice.
Lastly, in terms of our stay in Munich, we would also end up using points / credit card certificates to stay in Munich at the Westin Grand Munich. We used a free night award from the Canadian American Express Starwood Preferred Guest credit card, for a free stay at the Westin Grand Munich in the Arrabella Park. Our cost for this stay was 0€.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Malta, Italy and Germany. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and credited to Alaska Mileage Plan and Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Valetta Gozo – Malta, Venice – Italy, and Oktoberfest Munich – Germany via Air France Business Class
- Air France Business Class: Vancouver – Paris
- Air France Business Lounge: Paris Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2F
- Air France Business Class: Paris – Munich
- Lufthansa Airlines: Munich – Malta
- The Westin Dragonara Resort, Malta
- Boating to Gozo and a last look at the Azure Window, Malta
- Swimming on the Island of Comino and Exploring the Coastal Caves of Malta
- Wandering in the Walled City of Valetta, Malta
- Lufthansa Airlines: Malta – Frankfurt
- Lufthansa Airlines: Frankfurt – Venice
- The Westin Regina Europa, Venice, Italy
- Getting Lost in the Streets of Venice, Italy
- Is a Gondola Ride through the Canals of Venice worth it?
- Air Dolomiti: Venice – Munich
- The Westin Grand Munich, Germany
- Drinking at the Beer Garden at Hofbrahaus, Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
- Taking in BMW World and the Alstat, Munich, Germany
- Air France / KLM Business Lounge, Munich Terminal One
- Air France Business Class: Munich – Paris
- Air France Business Lounge: Paris Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2E – Concourse L
- Air France Business Class: Paris – Vancouver
This trip would end up being one of the more memorable short European trips I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy, and we really got in a lot of sights in a short amount of time.
If you’ve taken advantage of a deeply discounted fare, what was the best deal you’ve ever gotten ?
The Sun Peaks Ski Resort is known as one of Canada’s sunniest ski resorts. It’s located a short distance away from Kamloops, British Columbia, in it’s own unique Resort Municipality which offers some homes, vacation rentals and a few limited city services. The resort is anchored by three distinct mountain skiing experiences, each that offer their own strengths and benefits. We’d get the experience of testing out all of them on our visit today.
This post is one chapter on our trip through the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Hertz President’s Circle. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Skiing in British Columbia, Canada during a Pandemic
- The Coastal Mountains of Whistler Blackcomb, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
- The Dry Champagne Powder of Big White, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- Home Block Restaurant at Cedar Creek Winery, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- The Fairfield Inn and Suites, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
- The Spring Ski Conditions of Sun Peaks Resort, Sun Peaks, British Columbia, Canada
Activity: Stretching the Last of the Spring Snow and Sun Peaks Mountain Resort, Sun Peaks, British Columbia, Canada, during a Pandemic.
Planning a Visit to Sun Peaks:
The Ski Resort of Sun Peaks Mountain Resort is located approximately forty five minutes drive way from the city of Kamloops, British Columbia. The nearest airport is the Kamloops International Airport (Airport Code: YKA), which is occasionally serviced by Air Canada, Westjet and Central Mountain Air. Having flown through a few times, I wouldn’t expect to many scheduled flights and you may be better off landing in Kelowna Airport and driving the two hours to Kamloops.
On our trip, we were staying at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Kamloops. We left this property and drove up by rental car to Sun Peaks Mountain Resort. It was a fairly winding road, and much more twisty than our drive up to Big White from Kamloops.
Like with our visit to regionally neighbouring Big White, Kelowna, we booked a lift ticket on line. The lift tickets were a reasonable $109 CAD ($86 USD), which was much more economical than our $167 CAD ($130 USD) for additional days at Whistler Blackcomb. After parking the car, we located the kiosks and easily redeemed for our tickets.
Skiing at Sun Peaks:
The mountain of Sun Peaks is much more of a skier’s mountain as compared to Big White. The pitches of the hill are much more steep and the runs are much more wide and expansive. I felt that the mountain was much easier to ski for a skiers like me that enjoys a good fast cruise.
The first order of business to climb the mountain was a trip up the Sunburst Express. The run views were great, and the slopes were completely empty. We’d happen to be visiting on their third day from the end of the ski season. As a result, we had some spring like conditions for the day, with softer forgiving snow.
It was another deserted ski experience with the hill mostly empty thanks to the health pandemic.
We headed down to the ultra long Burfield Quad Chair. The chair marked the furthest west most point of the ski resort. The chair featured some pretty inspiring views as it climbed the spine of Tod mountain.
The Burfield Chair was the first and only chair I’ve ever written that has gone over a horse riding stable.
From the Top of Burfield, the snow was pretty good. MrsWT73 was cutting up some turns on spring like snow.
Food and Beverage:
On Mountain Dining
In a different method than many other ski resorts, Sun Peaks doesn’t seem to have too many on hill restaurants. We could only locate this one, which didn’t seem to have a proper name, at the top of the Sunburst Chair.
Every ski area seems to do things a little differently in the pandemic. At Sun Peaks, reservations were not needed, although we had to add our name to the list for entry into the restaurant. This took about fifteen minutes to wait for a table.
Once inside, we had cafeteria styled dining with seats outside on the patio. They must have had some labour shortages as it took quite a while to get the food actually prepared in the restaurant.
Fortunately, Sun Peaks was offering alcohol for purchase unlike Big White which was completely dry. We enjoyed some crisp local British Columbian Okanagan Pear Cider with lunch today.
There were fire pits going on the deck, which made for a warmer experience while sitting outside.
After lunch, we explored the rest of the resort. We gradually worked our way to easier slopes towards Sundance Mountain. There were quite a few runs and there was enough there to keep us entertained. There was also a terrain park for kids. Like Big White, most the hill was completely deserted as a result of the pandemic.
Towards the end of the day, we discovered a pop up bar at the base of Mount Morrisey. I left MrsWT73 at the base with an outdoor wine and a fire pit while I went off to bust off a few final cruising runs on Mount Morrisey.
I left her there and happily found my mid life crisis on the ski hill.
Apres Ski:
Bottom’s Bar and Grill
Not one to miss out on an Apres Ski Bar, after the end of the day, it was off to locate the best Apres Ski in Sun Peaks Village. We located the Bottom’s Bar and Grill. Given the pandemic, there wasn’t a lot of demand for tables and we were easily accommodated on the patio outside.
A Local Beer for me and a Cider for MrsWT73 along with large smiles; happy to actually be doing something instead of sitting inside under a provincial or federal health lockdown.
We would eventually drive down to Kamloops and overnight at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Kamloops. We’ would end up returning home to Vancouver the next day. We got stuck on the Coquihalla highway in a snow storm for 1 hour, but would eventually make it back to Vancouver and returned our rental car with over 1,233 kilometers travelled over the 4 day trip.
I was relieved to get off the Coquihalla Highway road after that white knuckled adventure.
Summary: Our day at Sun Peaks Resort:
Our day at Sun Peaks was a better day than at Big White. I was more impressed with the hill overall in that offered more challenge and complexity and generally a more varied skiing experience. Although we had some softer snow marking the end of the ski season, I’d be more favoured to return to Sun Peaks for a ski visit than Big White.
If you’ve travelled to Sun Peaks, did you enjoy the variety of the hill ?
Our travels would have us passing through the centrally located city of Kamloops, British Columbia. It’s a town on the Trans Canada Highway that is about 5 hours from Vancouver; making it a natural stopover for gas, food and lodging. We’d stay at the Fairfield Inn Kamloops on this visit through town, and we’d discover a new build hotel Fairfield Inn property that met all our travelling needs.
This post is one chapter on our trip through the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Hertz President’s Circle. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Skiing in British Columbia, Canada during a Pandemic
- The Coastal Mountains of Whistler Blackcomb, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
- The Dry Champagne Powder of Big White, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- Home Block Restaurant at Cedar Creek Winery, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- The Fairfield Inn and Suites, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
- The Spring Ski Conditions of Sun Peaks Resort, Sun Peaks, British Columbia, Canada
Review: Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.
While I wouldn’t normally consider the Fairfield Inn and Suites to be an aspirational travel brand, I figured since it was part of the trip, and a location that is consistent with travel through the intersecting city of Kamloops, I’d do a quick review on the property. It may be of use to motoring travellers, business travellers to Kamloops or perhaps even someone looking for an airport hotel (that’s not exactly near the airport) on their way to and from Sun Peaks Resort.
Booking the Fairfield Inn Kamloops:
Our accommodation for the next two nights was at the Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. While there is a choice of two Marriott properties in Kamloops, British Columbia, the older Delta Hotels Kamloops is a full refurbish of a much older property with smaller seventies era rooms, and requires paid parking in an older downtown district. We opted for the cleaner and newer Fairfield Inn and Suites, with easy highway access to and from where needed to be.
During our stay, I managed to find a rate of $151 CAD ($120 USD) per night, this was only a $15 CAD ($12 USD) upgrade from the regular room rate. Anticipating slim upgrade odds under the Marriott Bonvoy Program, even as a Marriott Titanium elite level, I just booked the suite outright since it was only a minimal extra cost. With not wanting to leave all the ski gear in the car overnight, I figured we’d need the extra space.
The property is currently a Marriott Bonvoy Category 3 property. Rooms are available for between 15,000 to 20,000 a night, with 17,500 points per night considered a standard rate. If you value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.005 per night, you’d have to have a room rate under $87.5 CAD ($69 USD) per night to have a better value by paying cash. Despite this, we ended up paying cash as there was a generous Marriott Bonvoy double elite night and double points credit, which would help us easily re-qualify for Titanium status next year.
Arriving to the Fairfield Inn and Suites:
1475 Hugh Allen Drive, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
The next day, true to vacation form, we had a sleep in. We departed the Delta Grand Okanagan by Marriott Kelowna and drove the two hours up to Kamloops. The hotel is located near the Coquihalla Highway Route 5, and accessible to all of Kamloops by car. It’s also located about four and a half hours drive from the Greater Vancouver Regional District, making the city of Kamloops a reasonable overnight stopover for those continuing eastward onto the Province of Alberta.
There was no one at the desk when arrived but we enjoyed the modern lobby, thanks to this being a fairly recent new build property.
The reception agent turned up very quickly. A friendly check in agent offered the usual 500 Marriott Bonvoy Titanium points as welcome gift, in addition to two free soft drinks from the hotel canteen store as a welcome amenity.
Like many other Fairfield Inn’s, most lobby areas have a fairly standard layout. There is often a large lobby space for working, meeting or relaxing. In this case, immediately opposite from the front desk was a small television along with workspace computers. Printers were also available for those needing to print items.
The Lobby also contained the breakfast area. The Fairfield Inn brand offers a complimentary breakfast to all guests, which is typically served in the lobby. While the breakfasts are pretty standard, it’s still nice to have the convenience of not having to chase breakfast, or otherwise kill time seated in a restaurant if you plan on getting on the road quickly. For what it is worth, there is also a Cora’s Breakfast Restaurant less than five minutes drive from the hotel if you prefer a proper breakfast restaurant.
The Room: A One Bedroom Suite
We led ourselves up to room #329, which was a one bedroom suite. The halls were decorated in the usual colorful hotel carpets.
Our One Bedroom Suite was a corner one bedroom room suite on the third floor. The suite was a proper suite, in that it featured two separate rooms. The suite offered a large space, although the building design didn’t offer too much in the way of extra light even though two outer facing building walls were available; the design of the room limited the windows to one side building wall.
Upon entering the room, there was a small reception area. We headed straight ahead in the U shaped room with bed on one side and living on the other.
The Bedroom: One King Size Bed
The Bedroom offered a king size bed with television. The Bed offered crisp bedding, along with space on each side of the bed for stands.
There was limited suitcase storage space in the bedroom itself. There was room for one suitcase stand immediately next to the television.
There was an ensuite attached to the bedroom that also doubled as the main bathroom for the room. The Ensuite offered jack and jill style entry off ensuite, and into foyer area.
The Ensuite Bathroom:
The bathroom in the suite offered everything that you’d expect from a hotel bathroom. It included a stand up shower with an embedded tub, with a single vanity sink. The toiletries were the standard Paul Mitchell brand, as is frequent with Fairfield Inn’s brand.
The Living Room:
Heading over to the other portion of the room, the living area offered functional space. The room was actually quite large, although I found that the couch was a little offset with the TV unit, making for an awkward viewing angle. The feng shui of the room was a little off, in the living space with a bit of an oddly configured space.
There was a small desk area along with a small television for additional viewing. The desk did not have many power ports, which was perhaps the only disadvantage to the room. It wasn’t ideally set up for working.
The living space contained a separate microwave, Keurig Coffee Maker and mini refrigerator, which was tucked into the corner with a tall combo wall unit, mini closet.
The view out of the room’s windows was not too exciting. It offered a standard Fairfield Inn view of city streets and office parks. What I appreciated most about this property is that it was new.
For those that are interested, there appears to be only one suite per floor. The upgrade opportunities likely aren’t to be too good staying here.
The Included Fairfield Inn Breakfast:
As I had mentioned earlier, all guests at the Fairfield Inn’s are offered a complimentary breakfast. While I was expecting a mostly continental version, I was happy to report that it was a pretty full American Breakfast version. This visit was during the pandemic, so guests were encouraged to complete breakfast cards in advance, and the staff would then fill the others.
It took about 45 minutes to get through the breakfast line on Sunday morning. The staff were quite cheerful about completing dozens of custom made order items. Since it was during the pandemic on our visit, we ended up taking the breakfast up to our room on a tray, and enjoying the breakfast in our room.
Around the Hotel:
Gym
The hotel offered a small gym with a few treadmills and small weight center. I never saw anyone using it the entire time that I was there.
An Indoor Pool:
There was also a small pool area. It was a small pool but would be a good distraction for those travelling with kids. The pool didn’t have too much room to sit and spectate, as the space was a little small.
The hotel stay was reasonable and we had some solid sleeps in the bed in a room that was reasonably quiet and free from noise.
My Thoughts on the Fairfield Inn Kamloops:
The Fairfield Inn and Kamloops was a reasonably priced and clean facility for a highway hotel. I was most happy about this place being a new build, as everything was clean, well put together and had minimal wear and tear. The minimal cost to increase to a suite was of terrific value, and we appreciated the extra space to stretch out.
If you’ve frequent these types of roadside hotels, do you regularly choose a Fairfield Inn ?
The City of Kelowna is fortunate to have several wonderful winery restaurants. It’s always been a great city to visit on a business or personal trip, thanks to the sheer amount of options in this developing Canadian City. Our visit would bring us to Home Block Restaurant, attached to the excellent Cedar Creek Winery in the Okanagan. We’d experience a great contemporary meal with a three course pairing that would highlight the best meal of our trip.
This post is one chapter on our trip through the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Hertz President’s Circle. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Skiing in British Columbia, Canada during a Pandemic
- The Coastal Mountains of Whistler Blackcomb, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
- The Dry Champagne Powder of Big White, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- Home Block Restaurant at Cedar Creek Winery, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- The Fairfield Inn and Suites, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
- The Spring Ski Conditions of Sun Peaks Resort, Sun Peaks, British Columbia, Canada
Review: Home Block Restaurant, Cedar Creek Winery, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
Planning a Visit to Home Block:
The Okangan Area is home to many excellent wineries. We’ve previously visited the area in detail, visiting the hot climates that the region has to offer. During our stay at the Delta Grand Okanagan by Marriott Kelowna, I ended up taking MrsWT73 to dinner at a restaurant that I usually visited on business trips; The Home Block at Cedar Creek.
I booked a table through Open Table Reservation systems. It was quick and easy and we were able to get our preferred dates without any issues or challenges. We ended up self driving to the restaurant, which was about twenty minutes drive from the Delta Grand Okanagan.
Arriving to Home Block:
The Home Block at Cedar Creek is the winery restaurant of Cedar Creek. It’s situated in a beautiful complex that overlooks Lake Okanagan.
We were greeted promptly at the bar and were led to our seats. The setting in the restaurant is modern contemporary, which floor to ceiling windows that over look the sloping vineyard views towards the lake. There is a medium sized patio, which would be wonderful for summer time dinner dining.
The Meal: A Three Course Dinner
The meal at Home Block was a three course dinner, that offered several selections between the first, second and dessert courses. While I’ve previously visited where the menu was completely “a-la-carte”, the restuarant had switched to a set menu during the pandemic.
For the starter, we both ended up enjoying the Coal Roasted Beet and Avocado Salad, with citrus, mint, whipped feta and pine nuts, paired with Cedar Creek 2019 Estate Riesling. It was a very fresh tasting salad, with organics that were locally provisioned.
For the main course, I enjoyed the Wood Roasted Duck Breast with Celeraic Puree, Grilled Rapini and Green Peppercorn and Lemon Meyer Jus. This was paired with Cedar Creek 29019 Estate Merlot. It was perfectly cooked and a great winter dish.
MrsWT73 went with the vegetarian option and enjoyed the Rigatoni with Bolognese, Ricotta Salada and Oregano.
The dessert was also well produced and constructed. I selected the Chocolate Semi Freddo, with walnut crumble, banana custard and cardamom doughnut. It was a very tasty and memorable dessert selection, with flavours that were memorable and worked well together.
The cheque was a reasonable two hundred dollars, which isn’t bad for a Canadian Restaurant with two glasses of wine and three courses.
We checked out the kitchen as we left. The kitchen is open concept and allows diners to be able to see their meals being produced.
Our Experience at Home Block at Cedar Creek:
The Home Block Restaurant at Cedar Creek was a great special occasion dinner. While we visited in the winter, it would be a great spot to visit in the heat of the summer on the patio. I enjoyed the food, with flavours that were well put together. A visit to Home Block is highly recommended if you are in the area.
If you’ve visited the Okanagan Wine Region, did you make a point of visiting Cedar Creek ?
The Big White Ski Resort is known as Canada”s family ski resort. Situated one hour away from Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, the resort is known for it’s on hill “ski in ski out” town. The resort takes it to quite another level, offering a full on hill experience spread across several rolling mountains. It’s the perfect place for a family get away and with the right accommodation, you can be well positioned to access the hill, restaurants and some ski in and ski out skiing.
This post is one chapter on our trip through the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Hertz President’s Circle. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Skiing in British Columbia, Canada during a Pandemic
- The Coastal Mountains of Whistler Blackcomb, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
- The Dry Champagne Powder of Big White, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- Home Block Restaurant at Cedar Creek Winery, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- The Fairfield Inn and Suites, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
- The Spring Ski Conditions of Sun Peaks Resort, Sun Peaks, British Columbia, Canada
Activity: Gliding in Champagne at Big White, Canada’s Family Ski Resort, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, during a Pandemic.
Planning a Visit to Big White:
The Ski Resort of Big White is situated approximately one hour away from the central Okanagan city of Kelowna, British Columbia. The nearest airport is the Kelowna International Airport (Airport Code: YLW), which is serviced by Air Canada, Westjet and occasionally Alaska Airlines and Canadian Low Cost Carrier Flair Airlines.
On our trip, we opted to stay in Kelowna, British Columbia at the Delta Grand Resort Okangan by Marriott Hotels – Kelowna. On this particular visit, we received an Marriott Bonvoy Titanium upgrade to a large one bedroom condominium. We’ve reviewed the Delta Grand Okanagan before, so please see there if you are interested in the stay at that hotel property.
From the city of Kelowna, we had a one hour drive up to Big White. On our morning drive, we had a two lane rural farm road that had snow on it. Although the road was sanded and tracked in upward lane, it had snow overnight and was not tracked in the southbound lane. It wasn’t 4WD material and was comfortably driven in the front wheel drive Jetta. We had a mature growth forest views thick with trees.
On the day we were to ski at Big White Ski Resort, we booked a lift ticket on line. While there were capacity controls, we had pretty good availability and had no difficulty securing a preferred date. The prices were much more reasonable than Whistler Blackcomb at only $89 CAD per person (compared to $167 CAD).
Arriving to Big White:
On arrival, we parked at the Happy Valley parking lot. It was a massive parking lot which was pandemic deserted on our visit. There was space for probably about one thousand cars but there was less than fifty in the lot on our visit.
We took the short gondola up and had a little difficulty locating the lift ticket counters. It was a bit of a confusing layout on how to get to around initially. Big White offers an intertwined ski in / ski out village it took a few guesses to identify the ticket windows in order to exchange our printed emails for a lift pass.
Skiing Big White:
We started off skiing on the east side of the mountain on the Black Forest Express. The Black Forest Express didn’t remind me of Bavaria Germany in any way. The hill was mostly deserted. We had some grey conditions in the morning, which made the visibility a little flat. The hills on Black Forest were gently rolling and weren’t too steeply pitched.
The Black Forest Area also offered a real beginners area with lots of glades and terrain that is suitable for gladed skiing. Thanks to the fine snow, there were no concerns with treewells here.
We headed over to the middle mountain area, which was completely untouched. The powder was super fine, dry and low in water content.
We eventually made our way over to the far west of the mountain, Ridge Express. The Ridge Express offers the most advanced skiing that Big White has to offer. The slopes are substantially steeper pitched than the rest of Big White.
Food and Beverage at West Ridge Warming Hut:
We eventually stopped for a late lunch at the West Ridge Warming Hut. After placing our name on the list, we had a 15 minute wait before we could get seated. It was pretty austere inside, and consistent with being a smaller ski area. We struck out on getting alcohol at this location; another casualty of the health pandemic.
It was nearing the end of the day, so we hit up the slopes for a few more runs. It was much snowier on the Ridge Express side of the resort, as evidenced by the trees.
We eventually made our way back towards the main resort area. We stopped to take in the view of the Big White Resort town.
I went up for a few more runs. MrsWT73 was going woman down by the end of the day, thanks to all the runs we had done.
Finally, towards the end of the day, the grey weather broke and the blue started to show in the skies.
I paused for a funny photograph next to a popular run sign entitled “Perfection”.
We had a fully day of skiing with the day starting at 8:45 and ending at 4:00 PM. While the skiing was enjoyable with terrific snow, I didn’t find the ski area to be all too challenging or advanced. It would be perfect for families or those learning how to ski.
Apres Ski:
Finishing the day at Snowshoe Sam’s
After the day’s skiing, it was time for an apres ski beer. At Big White, the place to be was at Snowshoe Sam’s. Snowshoe Sam’s was officially rated by Ski Canada magazine as the number one ski bar in North America. I had never heard of the place before our visit.
The Snowshoe Inn was located in the pedestrian oriented resort town of Big White. The blue skies were very short as the snow started to come down just at the end of the day.
The Snowshoe Inn ski bar was pretty standard fare for a ski bar; funky stuff on the wall and a great selection of Canadian draft beer.
It was apres ski nachos and a crisp Kokannee for me. I certainly can’t complaint with a colorful plate like this.
After Snowshoe Sam’s, we popped on the skis and headed back to the car. We had a short ski through town, to get back to Happy Valley Parking Lot.
We were able to ski right to the car rental. This was a bonus for MrsWT73 as it meant no carrying of skis. This was always a bonus.
Summary: Our day at Big White Resort:
Our day at Big White Ski Resort was an enjoyable and deserted experience. The snow was excellent, although I didn’t personally find the skiing to be all to challenging. It was a more more economical version than Whistler Blackcomb. While some of the other features usually associated with skiing – such as beer and wine were cancelled. The visit to Snowshoe Sam’s was also a neat artifact and worthy of a visit if you happen to be at Big White.
If you’ve travelled to Big White, did you experience the terrific champagne powder?
Our local ski hill that is closest to our house is Whistler / Blackcomb. It’s situated in the Coastal Mountains about ninety minutes drive from beautiful Vancouver. As a world class destination, it had a serious shock from the lack of international and American visitors to the hill during this ski season. Most visitors were locals or visitors from Vancouver and other parts of Canada. Let’s take a look at how the season shaped out…
This post is one chapter on our trip through the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Hertz President’s Circle. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Skiing in British Columbia, Canada during a Pandemic
- The Coastal Mountains of Whistler Blackcomb, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
- The Dry Champagne Powder of Big White, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- Home Block Restaurant at Cedar Creek Winery, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- The Fairfield Inn and Suites, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
- The Spring Ski Conditions of Sun Peaks Resort, Sun Peaks, British Columbia, Canada
Activity: Skiing the Coastal Mountains of Whistler / Blackcomb – Canada during a Pandemic.
Planning a Visit to Whistler / Blackcomb:
The Whistler / Blackcomb response to the pandemic was about as safe as you could imagine. Firstly, the resort used a reservation system to limit the amount of visitors on the hill. While it was great to have a general capacity system, the weekends frequently booked out several weeks, if not months in advance making it difficult for any spontaneous skiing.
A Long and Lengthy Mountain Upload:
Regulars to the Whistler valley would recognize that the upload to the alpine is typically through shared multi cabin gondolas. Vail Resorts took a pandemic policy of only uploading one family bubble per cabin. This resulted in tremendous lines, which further appeared much longer through social distancing measures.
The initial upload lines were typically 30 – 60 minutes on a weekend day, which really cut into your skiing times. A morning of stretching lines throughout the upper village in the Blackcomb Benchlands would be the usual routines of the day.
Once you finally got into the gondola, the upload was marked with solid signs that encouraged advanced booking of restaurants. There was also signage that encouraged open air gondolas.
Needless to say, pandemic or not, the Blackcomb Mountain upload still had great winter views of the valley. The West Coast snow dumps were ever present on our visits. The snow lines stretched down one side of the mountain and up the other side of the valley.
On the hill, we were treated to great skiing conditions on some exceptionally empty slopes and hills.
The lack of crowds made the season all the more unique thanks to no one being around.
On Hill Eating at Glacier Creek Restaurant:
Since it’s a long way from the top of Whistler / Blackcomb Mountains to the valley floor, it’s typically much easier to eat directly on the hill. The Whistler Blackcomb restaurants were set up through reservations system administered using the Tock system. Fortunately, it wasn’t all to bad to get availability. We would be able to book and usually get a table within 60 – 90 minutes of requesting one. As a result, we often played it day by day and hour by hour. We typically ate late in the day.
Once you arrived to the restaurant to claim your reservation, you were led to a table by a host. The tables were all socially spread out and distanced, with the usual plexi glass divider screens; certainly a strange look for a remote on hill ski lodge.
The cafeteria flows through the Glacier Creek lodge were also reformed into a one way path. It was the same general food, which has gotten a little less exciting over the years. It’s become a bit more cafeteria versus upscale casual.
Vail Resorts Makes an Effort at Apres Ski:
Merlin’s Restaurant Runs at Part Capacity and Part Hours
Vail Resorts has taken a very conservative use of it’s food and beverage outlets under the “new” management. Most of them have been closed in the evenings after apres ski; sometimes they haven’t even made an effort to keep any of them open.
We were able to get in some Apres Ski at the legendary Merlins Restaurant and Bar which has anchored the base of Blackcomb Mountain since 1987. Despite the pandemic making things a little gloomier than normal, it was still nice to sit on an open patio and enjoy a crisp Kokanee Gold draft beer.
Winter Snow Blasts through the Whistler Valley:
The snow at Whistler Blackcomb was deep at times. There were days that the valley got deep winter blasts of snow. This was a mixed blessing of providing additional snow base, but reservations some times precluded our access to the alpine.
Experiencing Skiing at Whistler during a Pandemic:
Well – like many things in the pandemic, it wasn’t perfect. Long lines, reservations that weren’t always available and a ski hill that gave up hope almost immediately when times got tough. I’m fortunate that I didn’t have to a long way domestically or internationally for limited services and experiences. However, better days are ahead and it’s hopeful we’ll be beyond the worldwide pandemic real soon.
If you’ve travelled for downhill skiing, did you have long lines, reservations or a lack of services?
As an avid downhill skier, the pandemic health conditions were not at all favourable to downhill skiing. The activity of downhill skiing of being outside in the outdoors, away from all other people was deemed to be safe, whereas the crowded employee housing and other après ski venues were not. We had a patchy ski season in the winter of 2020 – 2021, with reservations needed at almost all ski areas throughout British Columbia. As this year’s international trips were all put cancelled, we ended up travelling around our home province of British Columbia for a little skiing.
Trip Introduction: Skiing Around British Columbia, Canada during in a Pandemic.
Trip Background:
My local and regular ski hill at Whistler Blackcomb, was not easy to do business with these days. Since being taken over by Vail Resorts from the locally owned Intrawest, the Vail Resorts management had been a lot less kind and generous to visitors.
After I had used up my shorter five day ski pass, the discounts during a pandemic season were only 15% off the full price lift ticket at $167 CAD a day. This was an interesting value proposition considering their only guests able to visit were Canadians since the international borders remained closed and locked out to all international travellers. Seeing discounted $100 spring lift ticket days were not uncommon under the previous management. However, the deep discounts to attract the Vancouver visitors would never arrive and it seemed as though Vail Resorts had just given up on the 2020 – 2021 ski season. As a result, we opted to take our money elsewhere and get in some extra spring days at other local British Columbia ski areas. For this trip, it would involve a trip up to Big White, Kelowna and another stop at Sun Peaks Resort outside of Kamloops.
It turns out, Whistler Blackcomb would eventually be ordered closed by the provincial health authority for 3 weeks, and Vail Resorts under it’s unfriendly customer applications would close out its pass holders and would elect not to re-open for the rest of the season thanks to a management decision that they didn’t think it was worth re-opening for the last 4 weeks of the April ski season.
Trip Planning and Constructing the Trip:
For the first leg of our adventure, since the west coast Sea to Sky Highway is almost dry and snow free, we used our own car to get to and from Whistler from Vancouver.
Given the distances involved, for the portions of the trip involving the travel to the interior of British Columbia, we elected to rent a car through our local edition Hertz. The highways in the region are famous for rock chips and given the mess that are Canadian roads in the winter, it was almost easier to return a dirty car to Hertz than spend my weekend time attempting to get my own car clean.
Given that Marriott was offering a “height of pandemic” promotion of Double Elite Nights and Double Points, we opted to stay at Marriott properties throughout this trip. We elected for the Delta Grand Okanagan in Kelowna, and for the less inspiring Fairfield Inn and Suites in Kamloops, British Columbia. While no one is ever excited to stay at Fairfield Inn, both properties met our needs and were reasonably comfortable for the 1,200 kilometer spin around British Columbia.
This post is one chapter on our trip through the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Hertz President’s Circle. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Skiing in British Columbia, Canada during a Pandemic
- The Coastal Mountains of Whistler Blackcomb, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
- The Dry Champagne Powder of Big White, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- Home Block Restaurant at Cedar Creek Winery, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
- The Fairfield Inn and Suites, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
- The Spring Ski Conditions of Sun Peaks Resort, Sun Peaks, British Columbia, Canada
We had a great short and circular trip through the various regions of British Columbia, enjoying one of the more empty ski seasons British Columbia had to offer.
I hope you enjoy following along on another adventure through British Columbia’s mountains.
If you’ve designed a pandemic road trip, how did you make it to the ski hill ?
For our short flight leaving Seattle, we opted for jet service with Delta Airlines, instead of propeller service on competing brands Air Canada and Alaska Airlines. Our First Class flight was competitively priced, and offered us lounge access at the Delta Sky Club, in addition to heavy baggage allowance.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Delta Airlines First Class E135, Seattle Tacoma International Airport – Vancouver International Airport
“Delta Airlines offered jet service between Seattle and Vancouver when most competitors offered propeller service”
Wow. We made it to the end of a North America – Africa trip; the last flight of of our thirteen flight trip. We were eager to get home at this point as this was the third flight of the day.
After leaving the Delta Sky Club S Concourse Seattle Tacoma International Airport, we stocked up on duty free at the South Terminal. Seattle, like most other United States of America departure points, does not actually allow you to take the duty free with you on purchase and instead deliver it to the gate.
We had a last minute gate change from the South Satellite Terminal over to the A Gates in the main terminal. We tore over there, via the subway, and unfortunately, the re-assigned gate agents had already started boarding despite being among the first group of people getting off the train. It seems there were some people that were either watching the monitor or had plum luck that they didn’t make it out to the S satellite terminal.
Delta Airlines
First Class
SEA-YVR (SeaTac Airport – Vancouver International Airport)
DL5874
May 5, 2016
Booked: Embraer 135
Flown: Embraer 135
Departure: 9:59 PM
Arrival: 11:12 PM
On Board Delta Airlines First Class:
We had to wait for the duty free girl as well so we ended up boarding late so unfortunately. Today’s photos are recycled cabin photographs from our past Delta Airlines First Class Vancouver – Los Angeles flight on the same equipment type. The seating remains a 1-2 configuration in First Class, with the usual compact seating and overhead bin cabin storage arrangements on the Embraer equipment type.
We ended up sleeping through the beverage service and it was less than one hour before we were landing back in Vancouver. We were home after a day and a bit of travel. There isn’t typically a lot of service on the Seattle – Vancouver routes, as the flight is only approximately 26 minutes in the air, and is usually scheduled at 50 minutes gate to gate.
The Bottom Line: Delta Airlines
Delta has continued to impress me compared to the legacy carriers. They’ve always been pleasant to deal with when compared to United and our past usual Air Canada. It’s another two thumbs up for Delta.
If you fly transborder from the United States to and from Canada, is Delta Airlines your first choice ?
The Sky Team network is one that doesn’t happen to have a lot of footprint in my home country of Canada. While it does offer many international connections to and from Canada to China, the lounges are something that have always escaped me. We would get the opportunity to visit the Delta Sky Club “S” Concourse at Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle, Washington, United States prior to our International Flight in First Class to Canada. The Delta Sky Club offered a contemporary space that was slightly more cutting edge and hip as compared to the usual American Airlines and United Club offerings.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: The Delta Sky Club, Sea-Tac International Airport – South Satellite “S” Concourse, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
This review is of the Delta Sky Club S Concourse. For another lounge in the Priority Pass network available at the Seattle S Concourse, please see our review of The Club at Sea S Concourse.
“The Delta Sky Club Sea Tac ‘S’ Concourse offered the usual contemporary Delta Sky Club furnishings, in a nicely decorated and conservatively ‘hip’ space”
Since I couldn’t find any award space over a six month period between Los Angeles and Vancouver on Alaska Airlines First Class, we had routed ourselves to Seattle via Alaska Airlines First Class Los Angeles – Seattle to end our journey as part of our award ticket. I was toying with the idea of dropping the last Los Angeles to Seattle Leg on the award ticket, but by the time I got around to it, the change fees for the ticket outweighed any savings that we would have had. I could have purchased another ticket and just not shown up for the last leg, but I think that it’s poor form failing to show up for a flight (especially since we would have probably been on another Alaska or Delta flight trying to credit to Alaska Mileage Plan). We ended up just buying a revenue ticket on Delta Airlines First Class Seattle – Vancouver on a separate ticket to get ourselves home. With our Delta First Class Ticket, we also got access to two free checked heavy bags, which was handing coming off an international flight with bags stuffed with African souvenirs.
Checking into Delta Airlines First Class:
On landing, we collected our bags and re-checked in at the Delta counters on the public side at Seattle Tacoma airport. The check in was well marked, and distinctive with bright red Delta Sky Priority branding.
Since Seattle, USA to Vancouver, Canada is an international itinerary, and thanks to having a First Class ticket, we were given access to the Delta Sky club in the South Satellite Terminal. We took the tram over there and found ourselves a place to hang out. Our flight was scheduled to depart from the Seattle S Concourse where many international flights would depart fom.
Locating the Delta Sky Club:
South Satellite “S” Concourse
The Seattle Tacoma Airport is spread out in an odd layout. It’s got several wings off the main terminal and two out lying satellite buildings that are accessible by an underground train. There are currently two Delta Sky Club’s at this airport. Their flagship location is located in the “A” Concourse, whereas at the time of our visit, this was the only Delta Sky Club at the “S” Concourse located in the South Sateliltte building.
The Delta Sky Club “S” Concourse is located on the roof top level. It’s above all the gates and is accessed by stairs or a nearby elevator.
Accessing the Delta Sky Club Lounge:
The Delta Sky Club offers access through a variety of ways.
As a Delta Sky Club Individual Member (an annual lounge membership), you would get access for yourself and two guests, or spouse / domestic partner and children under 21 (at $39 USD), with a confirmed same day boarding pass.
As a Delta One or Sky Team Premium Cabin Passenger, access is granted for passengers travelling in the flagship Delta One cabin on a Domestic Flight, or in a Delta One cabin on an international flight, or on a domestic flight connecting to an international flight. For Sky Team passengers (excluding Delta), customers need to be travelling on an international First Class or Business Class ticket. International Travel is considered to me almost anywhere outside of the United States, except Guam, Saipan, Palau and the Carribean. There are no guests permitted for premium cabin passengers.
If you are a a Skyteam Elite Plus member, including Delta Diamond, Platinum or Gold Medallion Members, you get access when travelling internationally, or connecting to and from an international flight. One guest is permitted.
If you happen to hold a variety of American Express cards, including the American Express Centurion or Platinum Cards, and the American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve, you are given access with a confirmed same day boarding pass on a departing Delta Airlines flight. No guests are permitted.
Westjet Business Class Passengers and Westjet Rewards Gold and Platinum Members are provided access in conjunction with same day international travel on a flight operated by Westjet or Delta Airlines. No guests are permitted.
In our case, access was granted through travel on a confirmed international flight (to Canada) in a Delta First Class cabin.
Inside the Delta Sky Club “S” Concourse:
Once we were inside, we bunked down in the corner after our long travel day. The space was nicely re-freshed and re-modeled similar to other Delta sky Clubs in the system. There was Dom Perignon champagne available for purchase at the bar but we didn’t indulge this time around; at least not at the prices that they were asking!
The lounge, like several others on this trip, offered good air side views thanks to giant floor to ceiling windows. It was much better than the old United Red Carpet Club in the basement of the North Satellite terminal, which was a windowless dungeon by comparison.
We would end up relaxing in the Delta Sky Club S Concourse prior to heading to our Delta Airlines First Class Seattle – Vancouver flight.
The Bottom Line: The Delta Sky Club Seattle S Councouse
In summary, the Delta Sky Club lounges are nicely decorated and we’ve found them reasonable and comfortable places to hang out before a flight. The food offerings seem to have improved in the last few years to a better level than the comparable United Clubs in the Star Alliance network. There isn’t anything all to special about the Seattle version of this – other than it offers nice day light windows which you don’t always get in every airport.
If you have visited the Delta Sky Club in Seattle, do you make an effort to get there early to visit it?
There are many carriers that operate from the mega airport of Los Angeles International Airport. While many carriers operate smaller regional jets up and down the coast, Alaska Airlines exclusively offers a Boeing 737 in it’s fleet, with the occasional Airbus 320 that is left over from it’s Virgin Australia acquisition. In Alaska Airlines First Class, this affords a little extra room over its competitors that usually use an smaller Embraer aircraft. We’d have the opportunity to test out of their First Class product for our short flight up the West Coast today.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Alaska Airlines First Class B737-8, Los Angeles International Airport Terminal Six – Seattle Tacoma International Airport
“With cheerful service, Alaska Airlines offers more space in First Class in their Boeing 737 product that most of the competitors do in their Embraer First Class Products”
We ended up departing the Alaska Lounge Los Angeles Terminal Six and we headed down to our flight. Coming off a wonderful Emirates First Class Dubai – Los Angeles flight, we were getting pretty tired by this point as with a 12 hour time change, as it was about the equivalent of 4 AM our time. We dragged ourselves the short distance to the gate and onto the plane.
Alaska Airlines
First Class
LAX-SEA (Los Angeles Terminal 6 – SeaTac Airport)
AS 479
May 5, 2016
Booked: Boeing 737-400
Flown: Boeing 737-800
Departure: 4:35 PM
Arrival: 7:20 PM
On Board Alaska Airlines First Class:
The Alaska Airlines First Class seat is a large deep blue puffy wonder of a seat. It’s deeply padded and plush. It’s exceptionally comfortable for short distances such as this two hour Los Angeles – Seattle hop. Whereas it’s less exciting for those longer Alaska Airlines Bellingham – Honolulu flights or Alaska Airlines Seattle – Los Cabos Mexico runs.
Pre-Departure Services:
In my experience, Alaska Airlines doesn’t typically offer a pre-departure beverage. Instead, we found a small Dasani water waiting for us on our seat.
We had a smog free departure from Los Angeles today, with coastal views to the south.
In flight Entertainment:
Alaska Airlines doesn’t offer in seat back video monitors in First or Economy. While some longer cross continental and Hawaii flights offer tablets for rent, this short flight was not one of them. Instead, entertainment was available through to GoGo entertainment app. A few free movies were offered.
The Alaska Airlines in flight magazine was promoting the recent Alaska / Virgin airlines merger.
The Meal: A Two Course Meal
Alaska Airlines offers a pre-dinner drink as part of their regular meal service. Meals in First Class are complimentary, consistent with most competitors in this class.
For the dinner beverage service, I went with the jet lag standby. A Gin and Tonic and a coffee. These two don’t necessarily pair together, but a drink and a coffee was meeting the tired need.
We were served a scrumptious green salad as a starter. The green salad featured romaine, cherry tomatoes and jullienne carrots with creamy italian dressing. This was a welcome treat after all the cooked food we’d had in Africa and the Middle East.
The main was a very strange looking Chicken Breast with a white sauce on top of it. Alaska has some pretty strange mains that don’t get many awards for visual presentation. They also don’t print menu cards so there is nothing more specific that I can offer other than it was served with cubed carrots, kale and a large onion slice.
I napped for the balance of the flight until we touched down in a partly cloudy Seattle. Since Alaska doesn’t offer screens in its headrests, the entertainment offerings were minimal. It was pretty tired anyway thanks to our earlier international flight.
Landing in Seattle:
We arrived at the gate next to an Alaska Hawaii aircraft, which you can tell by the lei around the Alaska Eskimo head.
My Thoughts on the short hop with Alaska Airlines :
I haven’t been disappointed with my Alaska flights. They’re a quirky airlines with some strange food on offer. Aside from that, the service levels are really good with a great positive attitude by their staffers. They are a reasonable option for those preferring a larger aircraft over the regional Embraer style aircraft typically offered by their competitors.
If you had the choice of carriers on the West Coast of America, has Alaska been your first choice?
As a smaller company, Alaska Airlines operates a small suite of lounges across the Western United States. It features lounges in Seattle, Portland, Anchorage and Los Angeles. It has since opened a space in New York and is soon to open San Francisco. Alaska Airlines describes these spaces as a an unparalleled airport lounge service in a quiet space to relax and recharge, or get a little work done between flights. We’d try out their Alaska Airlines Los Angeles lounge offering before our onward flight.
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: The Alaska Lounge, Los Angeles – Terminal Six, Los Angeles International Airport, United States of America
This review is of the Alaska Lounge in Los Angeles International Airport Terminal Six. For another review of a competing lounge in Los Angeles Terminal Six, please see our review of the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Los Angeles Terminal Six.
“The Alaska Airlines Lounge offered a functional space to relax in at Los Angeles Terminal Six with great airside views. Getting in will be the hardest part, thanks to restrictive access and limited Priority Pass accessibility”
On an Emirates Award redemption, Alaska Mileage Plan allows a free connection to a city of origin paired with the Emirates award space. I couldn’t find any business reward space on our Alaska Airlines ticket from Los Angeles to our home city of Vancouver. As a result, we had to settle for Seattle, or end the ticket in Los Angeles and buy our own way home. I figured we would just get ourselves to Seattle in First Class and worry about the shorter distance home.
Locating the Alaska Lounge:
After floating off our Emirates First Class Dubai – Los Angeles flight, we dropped our connecting bags at the connection desk in Tom Bradley International Terminal. We wandered over to Terminal 6 and located the Alaska Lounge, previously known as the Alaska Board Room.
The Alaska Lounge was located up one level from the main Los Angeles Terminal 6 concourse.
Accessing the Alaska Lounge:
The Alaska Lounge is accessible through a variety of means.
Alaska would probably prefer that you purchase an annual membership for it’s lounges. Holding a membership card allows you access prior to your departing flight. Unlike many other American carriers, you can also get access as a paid first class passenger. You unfortunately don’t get access as an elite upgrader if you’ve purchased an economy fare and have found yourself upgraded to First Class. Select One World Sapphire and Emerald Members get access, dependent on the rules of their itinerary per the One World access policies. You may also get access by purchasing a one day pass. Lastly, this lounge belongs to Priority Pass, but has a reputation of not allowing Priority Pass members to attend due to over crowding. As a result, I wouldn’t rely on Priority Pass if you were insistent on visiting this location.
Our access today was courtesy of our Alaska Mileage Plan First Class Award redemption, which is one of the categories that allows complimentary access. Even upgraded fares do not allow Alaska Lounge access., making access to this location a little challenging at times.
Inside the Alaska Lounge:
This visit marked my first visit to an Alaska Airlines Lounge. On our visit, it was quite an earthy looking place as a result of the brown tones throughout the space. The lounge area was compact and contained both a lounge seating, dining and short bar area.
One of the best features of the lounge was the nice air side views, through large windows. Day light is the best feature of any airline lounge, of which the Alaska Lounge offers plenty of light.
Food and Beverage:
The Alaska Lounge offered some light snacks. These included snacks you don’t always find in lounges: nacho chips and a chili cauldron!?! The usual cubed cheese also made an appearance as an offering in the fridge.
While it was nice to have the offer of some food, it’s not a location that I’d treat as dining for a meal replacement.
There was also a kids room available. Although after the jet lag today, the kid in me was not ready to come out and play.
We would spend just a little time in the Alaska Lounge Los Angeles, prior to heading off on our Alaska Airlines First Class Los Angeles – Seattle flight to take us home.
Summary of The Alaska Lounge LAX:
The Alaska Airlines Board Room was a perfectly satisfactory place to check in for some free wifi, and perhaps a drink or a snack. It wasn’t by far the nicest place around, instead it was perfectly functional. The worst part was that our last lounge was the beautiful Emirates First Class lounge Dubai, which made this place look a little worse for wear. We didn’t stay too long and just stopped for a quick fuel up and water before the next leg.
If you regularly visit Los Angeles International Airport, what is your “go to” lounge to visit ?
The Emirates First Class Cabin on the Airbus 380-800 is one of the most featured First Class suites in the sky. The experience includes a First Class Shower Suite, a private cabin with doors, and a stand up bar at the rear of the first class deck that is shared with economy. We redeemed Alaska Mileage Plan miles for a 16 hour experience in Emirates First Class. How did it fare for the lengthy 12 hour time zones crossed experience?
This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. This trip was redeemed through American Airlines AAdvantage & Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
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Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates via Emirates First Class, South African Airways Business Class and Qatar Airlines Business Class
- American Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Los Angeles
- American Airlines AAdmirals Club: Los Angeles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge: Los Angeles
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Doha
- The Westin Hotel and Spa, Doha, Qatar
- Souq Wahif, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge, Doha, Qatar
- Qatar Airways Business Class: Doha – Johannesburg
- The Slow Lounge, O.R. Tambo Domestic, Johannesburg, South Africa
- British Airways Club Class: Johannesburg – Cape Town
- The Westin Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Winelands of Paarl, South Africa
- Shark Diving at Gaansbai, South Africa
- The Hermanus Coastal Walk, Hermanus, South Africa
- Returning to Stellenbosch & Franschoek, South Africa
- A Repeat Visit to the Test Kitchen, Cape Town, South Africa
- Air Namibia: Cape Town – Windhoek
- Overland Travel: Driving to the Desert; Windhoek – Sesriem
- The Sossus Dune Lodge, Sesriem, Namibia
- The Majestic Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Sesriem – Walvis Bay, Namibia
- The Pelican Point Lodge, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Overland Travel: Walvis Bay – Spittskope – Windhoek, Namibia
- The Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
- Air Namibia Windhoek – Maun – Victoria Falls
- The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Stopping Hippopotamus on a Zambezi River Cruise, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Feeling the Smoke that Thunders, a day at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- British Airways Club Business Class: Victoria Falls – Johannesburg
- The Hyatt Regency Johannesburg
- South African Airways Business Class: Johannesburg – Mauritius
- The St Regis Mauritius, Le Morne, Mauritius
- Emirates First Class: Mauritius – Dubai
- The Grosvenor House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- The Heat of the Desert at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class Lounge Terminal “B” Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates First Class: Dubai – Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, Los Angeles
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Seattle
- Delta Sky Club Lounge Seattle South Terminal
- Delta Airlines First Class: Seattle – Vancouver
Review: Emirates First Class A380-8, Dubai International Airport – Los Angeles Tom Bradley International Terminal
“The Sixth Longest Flight in the World was hallmarked by traditional caviar service, the famous Emirates A380 standup bar, a shower suite, and a broad selection of movies to keep you fully entertained while crossing 12 time zones”
Booking the Ticket:
If you’re going to book an award ticket in First Class, you might as well get the most out of it. With ample award availability at the 6 month mark, and before the no warning Alaska Mileage Plan devaluation, we had booked two reward seats on the Emirates First Class Mauritius – Dubai, and Emirates First Class Dubai to Los Angeles through Alaska Mileage Plan. The tickets were for 100,000 miles per ticket for an Emirates First Class Africa – North America First Class redemption, $90.96 USD in taxes and other fees and a partner award fee of $12.50 USD totalling $103.95 USD.
Emirates First Class is uniquely positioned in the market. It’s the only carrier to and from the Middle East that offers a First Class Suite in all it’s cabins and typically flies a large amount of Airbus 380’s to and from the Americas. It’s competitor Etihad doesn’t offer a first class suite on all it’s aircraft and flies a combination of smaller wide body aircraft, whereas Qatar doesn’t offer First class on all its planes.
At the time of writing, the Emirates flight was the sixth longest flight in the world. It was blocked at a scheduled 16 hours and 35 minutes of travel time, covering a distance traveled of 13,240 km or 8,339 miles traveled.
Boarding Emirates First Class:
We left the Emirates First Class lounge and walked through the concourse towards Gate B14. It was a massive sea of humanity on the concourse, which we aimed to get through quickly.
We got down to the gate, which was the smallest A380 gate I’ve ever had the pleasure of passing through. Boarding was pretty much a mess, but thankfully there was a priority lane that was sort of unblocked on the left hand side.
There was a long line of boarding, with an apologetic ground agent when they saw the queue which meant up the jet bridge for most of the way. It was a very un-first class boarding experience.
I’ve never had the opportunity to see a bag of menu cards but with the elegant packaging, it’s evident that they need a means of getting them to the aircraft.
Emirates
First Class
DXB-LAX (Dubai International Terminal 3 – Tom Bradley International Terminal Los Angeles)
EK 215
May 5, 2016
Booked: Airbus 380-800
Flown: Airbus 380-800
Departure: 8:55 AM
Arrival: 1:55 PM
On Board Emirates First Class:
At the top of the jet bridge, we were asked to head to the top of the stairs for our first class experience. Today’s boarding was onto the main deck so we carried our rolling suitcases up the stairs on the aircraft. It’s unusual not to be greeted when flying first class. With no one around, we led ourselves to our seat. I was in 2K and Mrs WT73 in 1K today on the opposite right hand side of the aircraft from our last Emirates First Class Mauritius – Dubai flight. The Emirates First Class configuration is 1-2-1 on the A380-800 series. Each suite has walled doors.
The Emirates First Class Cabin itself is a combination of pale birchwood and gold. It’s a pretty over the top looking cabin. You certainly won’t mix this cabin up with any other First Class cabin carrier out there.
We located our First Class Suites and started to settle in. They offer a good amount of space, with features that include a large screen, a vanity mirror, an individual reading light, a room temperature mini drink bar, along with a fresh orchid flower.
The Emirates First Class Suite offers a room temperature mini bar. While it’s a neat and convenient feature, I’d personally rather just ask for a cold drink. The Mini Bar on our trip was stocked with Pepsi, Voss Water, fruit juices, Perrier Sparkling Water and Sprite.
While we were waiting for the rest of the plane to load, we had a flight attendent introduction. A glass of champagne was brought around for us to enjoy while we settled in.
While we waited, the views over the wings showed a mostly Boeing fleet of Emirates tails at the Dubai International Airport under the usual hazy UAE skies.
Pre Departure Services:
A welcome beverage of champagne was offered, in addition to the dates and Arabic coffee served from the traditional Arabic coffee pot. Whoops, that champagne went awfully quickly!
The Amenity Kit: Emirates Branded with Bvlgari Lotions
The amenity kit, pyjama, slipper order came around. The Emirates Amenity Kits are study, classy looking and are large enough to be kept as a souvenir after the flight. The kits featured Gillette and Blvgari Lotions. I find that the Blvgari Lotions are common in the middle east. While they are fancy, I don’t find them to be that exotic and sometimes the Blvgari lotions have an oily feel to them in my humble opinion.
There was not too much passenger appetite for the shower spa appointments and it was easy to get an appointment one hour from landing at LAX Los Angeles.
There was an introduction by the crew, and both pilots and first officers. During the flight announcements, there were some techno facts provided, in that they had 550 tons of weight loaded, in addition to 220 tons of fuel for the flight. The track was to take us over the north pole, less 80 miles from the polar north.
The Entertainment System: Emirates ICE
It was a slow departure from Dubai International Airport today, with us still on the ground at DXB waiting for runway clearance at T+50 minutes from the scheduled departure time. There are heaps of movies available on the flight, with a phone book like directory that features them all.
The aircraft was equipped with wifi. I was able to use the free wifi to do some light internet. It was a bit slow overall, but good enough for an Instagram post of the Emirates First Class Experience.
We were underway and I watched the climb out with a view of Sharjah on the right hand side of the aircraft. Thanks to some poor visibility, there was not a lot of sights to see.
I watched Argo for the first two hours with a Mojito.
The Meal: A Full Breakfast
Today’s menu presentation had breakfast on offer first, following by a lunch service later on in the flight. The menus on Emirates are surely impressive and they are always a delight to look through.
For the first service, I went with a second round of breakfast. I had the scrambled eggs with chives paired with a grapefruit juice and watched the movie Sicario.
As we were seated in seats 1 K and 2 K, there isn’t a lot of interaction between partners. The load in First Class was 12/12 today, so there was no opportunity to get into the middle seats to share dinner.
The On Board A380 Emirates Bar:
In a genius move, Emirates installed stand up bars in the back of all their A380 aircraft. The bar are accessible to business and first class passengers. It is probably one of their best features that they have going for them in their premium cabins.
We ended up wandering back to the bar and chatting up some of the people back there. Since the airplane was completely dark, there were about 8 people passing the time back there.
We took up a position at the bar just chatting with random people; we met a manager from Visa, a tech entrepreneur and a IT consultant. After 3 rounds and 3 different proactive bartenders (they seem to work a 1 hour rotating shift), we managed to consume a full 3 hours of flight time. I had a great time chatting up these people and just killing the time away with no time limitations on our conversations. It was a super pleasant way to get out of your seat and chat, talking about all sorts of things from life in Dubai, great diving destinations, and hidden city ticketing.
The Second Service: A Full Course Dinner
After the bar, we were almost flying over the North Pole. I was pretty hungry at that point we decided to order some dinner.
There was also a snack menu offered as well, in the event you didn’t want the full service.
MrsWT73 started her dinner with the Arabic Messe presentation, captured through the drone aerial photography that is my long muppet arms.
I started with the Caviar presented with a traditional selection of finely chopped onion, grated egg, sour cream and lemon, served with melba toast and blinis. I paired this with the Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc.
My second course was a fresh mushroom soup served with full fresh chives. It was quite tasty and pleasant.
My main course was the Beef tenderloin with green beans and truffled potato coquetes. It was a good news / bad news situation. The bad news was that it was pretty much cooked through and not the best meal I’ve ever had on a plane. The good news was that it was paired with the Cos Estournel 2004 Bordeaux Red Wine which was among the best wines that I have had on a plane. Thanks to the high tax in British Columbia, which is amongst the highest in North America, this wine is retailing for about $190 USD. Needless to say, I wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity to enjoy a second glass.
I closed with the cheese board with more Cos Estournel 2004. They were not plating the cheese individually and the cheese was presented all at once without options. I was pleased to report that I was fully “First Class” stuffed with food by this point.
Overall, the service was a bit more diluted and less personalized, more assembly line, than our Emirates First Class Mauritius – Dubai flight. This was probably in part due to the 12/12 load, and the fact that the flight was so long and the staff took crew breaks.
The Emirates First Class Bar:
I took a bit of a walk around and looked at the separate First Class bar. Emirates does offer a smaller First Class bar at the front of the First Class cabin. However, it’s typically a dull place being placed in the middle of a small hallway. You certainly won’t miss this one for the larger, and more pleasant space at the stand up bar at the rear of the cabin.
After a wonder around the plane to nowhere, I decided to turn in for a little nap. I laid down the bedding and duvet. I found it pretty warm temperature wise in the suite with the doors closed. I rested for about 4 hours. I let the flight crew know to come and wake me up for the shower suite about one hour ahead of our landing time in Los Angeles, United States of America.
The Emirates A380 Shower Suite:
Along with a wonderful stand up bar, Emirates has a treat in store for it’s First Class passengers. In the hollows of the plane’s fusilage, they have installed two terrific shower suites. The shower suites are available to it’s first class passengers and are typically booked through reservation at the start of your flight.
I woke up at about 2 hours prior to the end of flight (or 10:30 PM DXB time). I went for my shower suite appointment at the pre-arranged time. I was looking forward to a relaxing shower a la Jennifer Aniston in the Emirates television commercial. Unfortunately, one shower had since become defective due to flooding issues so they were cycling everyone through one of the two remaining showers with only 10 minutes of allotted time instead of the usual 20 minutes provided. It was a pretty rushed experience, but I was still able to get a shave, shower and a hair wash in, prior to the polite but firm knocks on the door reminding me that my time was up.
It’s such a thrill to be able to take a shower on an aircraft at 38,000 feet. You even have a moving map that you can look at as you fly away scrubbing yourself clean.
The Emirates Shower Suite is truly one of the most unique and cool aviation First Class experiences in the world today.
The Third Service: A Snack
After the Shower Suite, there was still time to get a snack in as I was feeling a little peckish. I went with the chocolate cake with raspberry coulis paired with a glass of French Sauternes. A cold dessert (they had run out of hot ones) and it was quickly prepared and served.
Arriving to Los Angeles:
It was a super long flight but it sure rips by quick when you’re flying in this comfortable of an environment. Sixteen hours flew by made very easy by great food and better, the on board bar to keep you entertained, a shower spa to keep you clean, and a nice nap to keep you rested. We had a last look at the cabin before we got off at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
MrsWT73 thoroughly enjoyed her flight ensconced in her cocoon “where they brought her things” including several glasses of Dom Perignon champagne.
We were off and into the arrivals area of the Tom Bradley International Terminal and had an easy connection thanks to Global Entry (a life and time saver) and easy connection desks after customs.
My Thoughts on Emirates First Class:
The Emirates First Class experience was a pretty nice way to go. Although it wasn’t the best First Class of our lives, I can’t think of a better way to get from the Americas to the Middle East, including having to connect on Lufthansa First Class. The service was very good, but not excellent. In some ways, the service was similar to what you’d expect on an overseas business class flight. All in all, it was a great experience and a nice way to experience the sixth longest flight in the world. We hope to be able to do it again someday. I certainly still taste the Cos Estournel Bordeaux wine which was a highlight of the journey.
World Traveller 73 
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