My Friend Flew Emirates First Class in 2025. Here’s the Review.

What, you think bloggers make enough to fly on Emirates First Class?

I sure don’t.

But my friend (a very successful digital marketer) does. We got dinner in New York City just before his Emirates First Class flight to Athens.

“How are you getting to the airport?” I asked him. “Emirates included a car in the ticket.”

“Weird, airlines don’t do that for me. You’re flying first?”

(What a stupid question.) I followed up, “Mind if I blog about it?”

Shortly after our dinner, a black Lincoln showed up to whisk him away to JFK Airport.

So here I am, reviewing Emerites First Class vicariously through him. Consider this the internet’s normy review of Emerites First Class.

Summary of Emirates First Class (According to My Friend)

I got a running commentary from him as the journey unfolded. Here’s what stood out:

• Private ride to the airport — This is the first flex of the experience. Emirates sent a black car to pick him up at the hotel and drive him straight to JFK. In fact, the car was there waiting for him an hour ahead of time.
• Lounge access — This is where things dipped a bit. The Emirates lounge at JFK, he said, was “kinda meh.” It had food and drinks, but nothing you couldn’t get from a decent credit card lounge. Also, he still had to wait in line to board.
• The Suite — Onboard, it’s not just a seat. It’s a s”uite.” There are doors that close. There’s a massive private TV.
• Restaurant-level dining — The food isn’t “airline food” — it’s a full menu, with actual courses, plated beautifully. It looked like something you’d get at a very expensive restaurant (minus the turbulence).
• Sleepwear provided — They give you clothes to sleep in. Actual pajamas. I don’t know why, but that detail makes me laugh the most.
• Service that borders on telepathic — This might be Emirates’ biggest strength. The crew seems to have mastered the art of being there the second you think of something. Water refilled before you realize it’s low. Blanket fluffed the moment you look cozy. My friend called it “borderline eerie.”
• He slept most of the time — It was a red-eye flight to Europe, and with a full bed, it was easy to sleep. If it were me, I would’ve pulled an all-nighter.

A Normal Person’s Thoughts on Emirates First Class

It’s seemed over-the-top as I would have imagined.

If you want to feel like you’re in a luxury hotel that just happens to be hurtling through the sky at 600 mph, this is your ticket.

But it’s also a reminder that First Class is still flying. There are still lines. There are still airport terminals. There’s still TSA. There’s still that weird dry air.

And as luxurious as it sounded, it reminded me that, for just $280 I got a private room on an overnight Amtrak train (cheaper than an economy flight.) There are other ways to achieve luxury.

Even if I could spend thousands of dollars on a first-class flight, I don’t think I would.

Okay, let’s go a little deeper.

Private Ride to the Airport Included

“Yeah, and they gave me a free ride!” My friend said.

I told him he was too good a marketer to fall for this. “Included,” I corrected him.

We walked back to his hotel, where he had his bags, and well before he left (I’m talking like an hour), a black Lincoln was waiting for him in front of the hotel. I suppose this sort of luxury should be part of a first-class ticket.

JFK Emerites Lounge: “Kinda Meh”

The other checkpoints in the experience didn’t sound impressive. I got a simple text. “Got access to the lounge. It’s kinda meh. It’s a general lounge.”

Now even I’ve been in my fair share of nice lounges, and this one sounded underwhelming.

Boarding: No Special Treatment:

I have many memories of sitting in a long line waiting to board for economy, watching business travelers cruise by me. But it seems that even in First Class, you have to wait to board.

The next text I got was, “Still have to wait in line for first to get on the plane. Kind of a rip off.”

It sounds like these were the two hiccups in the first-class experience.

Each First-Class Seat Has Its Own “Suite”

Emerites calls these seats “suites,” and it seems like that’s an appropriate term. It has doors you can open and close, so you get complete privacy, if you want it.

A Big TV

They better give you a bigger TV, and they do.

Sleepwear

He also got pajamas.

Food: Seemed Like an Upscale Restaurant

The menu includes a clichéd list of expensive food like caviar and lamb.

But they don’t lose sight that some people just want some snacks.

My friend chose popcorn as his snack instead of “lobster salad.”

“Pretty Insane Service”

The service was so good my friend called it “borderline eerie” and “pretty insane.”

Would I Do It?

For most of us, flying first class is something you might splurge on for a once-in-a-lifetime trip (honeymoon, round-the-world adventure, winning the lottery, etc.).

If you’re going to fly First Class, this seems like a good one to pick.

There’s a reason it has a reputation as one of the most luxurious flying experiences on the planet. And from my friend’s account, it seems to live up to the hype.

For now, I’ll keep flying budget airlines, writing about them, and living vicariously through my friend.

I choose to pick my versions of luxury in different ways, private rooms on Amtrak.

For those who know me, you know that no matter how much money I had, I’d still take the train to JFK for environmental reasons, and if I were going to spend that much on a flight, I’d spend more on the backend to offset the emissions.

In fact, just how destructive flying is for the environment is the reason why I limit how much I fly.

When I hang out with my friend and hear about his extravagances, I find myself asking, “What could luxury look like in a sustainable world?”

Emerites First Class is not the answer to it, and so, no, I don’t think I would.

Have you flown Emirates First Class?

Let me know what it was like in the comments. I’d love to hear from someone who ate the caviar.