Hi all, long time lurker, I have not posted very much, but I decided now is the time to post more. Below are the links to two recent trip reports I have made. The first is EK216 from LAX-DXB in Y and then EK701 DXB-MRU in Y as well.

Just a little background on EK216, my wife and I arrived at LAX 3 hours before our flight. The EK counter at TBIT was extremely long, but it went pretty quick. I did some spotting at TBIT and visited the new MSC (TBIT West). Its a very nice new extension of Bradley that doesn't seem to be 100% complete yet. The flight on EK was great. The food was very good, they provided a small amenity kit which was nice, and the A388 was nice with good IFE. More than enough for a 15:30 flight. I slept for close to 8 hours. The EK crew was fantastic, with 19 different languages spoken. I'd definitely recommend this flight and take this flight again. Arrival at DXB was easy, we were cleared passport and were at baggage claim in less than 15min. My only critique would be EK's awful boarding process. However, what was neat is that it was fully biometric boarding. We didn't need a boarding pass or our passport. The reg. no. of our A388 was A6-EUV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTNDKN63t4s&t=1s

Background on EK701, my wife and I arrived at DXB at midnight, our flight was at 2:30am. Check-in was smooth and easy. Passport control was easy as well, they tried to whisk us towards the Smart Gates, but I always try and get a stamp, since they are becoming a rarity nowadays. My impression of Terminal 3 at DXB is mixed. The B and C portions were fine. C is much nicer than B. The A concourse was not my favorite. The sort of "shell" that wraps around Terminal 3 makes plane spotting, especially at night impossible. Also, for having a large bank of flights between 2-4am, DXB felt like a ghost town. It was very quiet (they advertise themselves as a quiet airport - announcement free essentially). Many of the stores were open, but it just felt sort of empty which was interesting. The flight from DXB-MRU was quick, just under 6 hours. They served one meal, a very good breakfast 2 hours before landing. The A380 was older than our LAX A388. Not as nice, the IFE was a tad older. Arrival at MRU was easy, immigration took close to an hour due to only have 2 agents. After that it was smooth. The reg. no. of our plane was A6-EES.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87eelbqAc14&t=39s

Please give me feedback on the trip reports. I have many more coming (MRU-DXB-FCO on EK and then FCO-MUC-LAX on LH).

I also have older trip reports that I will post on here. Thank you so much for watching!