Emirates is the second largest airline of the United Arab Emirates. Usually, when I think of Emirates, I think of luxury. I guess all of their ads have been working on me over the years! I wasn’t lucky enough to fly first class or even business, just economy. But even economy was a very comfortable experience – even on a nonstop 12.5 hour flight from NYC to Dubai (and 15 hours nonstop on the way back!)

Here are a few things I learned from flying Emirates:

1. They have a very generous cancellation policy due to Covid – at least at the time I booked in August 2021. You were able to get a full refund as long as you cancelled 48 hours prior to the flight. A lot of airlines have flexible policies nowadays during pandemic times, such as changing a flight, or perhaps an airline credit. But a FULL REFUND?! That was unheard of! It was a no brainer to book with Emirates

2. They keep you well fed, and the food isn’t terrible. It’s definitely better than most other airplane meals I’ve had. In addition to food, alcohol is also included in economy class. They have beer, wine, and spirits

3. Bathrooms are probably the most spacious out of any airline I’ve flown, which I really appreciated

4. There’s an outlet and a USB port at your seat so you will have two sources of power to charge up your electronics

5. Entertainment screens are bigger than most other international flights/airlines, and the selection of movies/shows is pretty good. I did sleep for a couple of hours here and there but when I wasn’t sleeping, I never ran out of things to watch

6. They seem a little lax about face masks. The policy is that you have to wear your mask properly unless you are eating or drinking. Not to be the mask police but I did notice a few things. From NYC to Dubai, the guy sitting next to me fell asleep without one and no one said anything. Then when flying from Dubai to Maldives, these unsupervised (and rowdy) kids sitting in the row in front of us wore theirs as a chin guard the entire flight – no one said anything. Finally on the way home from Dubai to NYC, I heard one flight attendant actively telling a passenger nearby that they needed to wear their mask properly. That was also right after Omicron was discovered

7. In JFK, it is based in Terminal 4 so if you have a Priority Pass, there is the Wingtips Lounge, or if you have an Amex Platinum card, Terminal 4 is also where the Centurion Lounge is located

Emirates flies to over 150 cities across 80 countries, so I definitely see myself flying them again in the future. Just waiting for that winning lottery ticket to come through so that I can experience first class!