If you’re lucky enough to score a flight in an Emirates Airline suite, you will want to make sure you’ve maximized your time in this precious product, especially if your flight was going to be less than four hours.

You’ve probably seen the pictures: a motorized mini bar in your suite that appears and disappears at your will, a writing desk, gilded ornate doors that close for privacy, and a vanity with a makeup mirror and lamp. Outside your suite your luxury space expands to the enormous bathroom with shower, a bar lounge area where your personal bartender attends to your every cocktail desire, a waterfall feature at the top of the Titanic-like staircase, and very few people to share the space with.

For most of us, this is a once in a lifetime experience that you will want to savor and certainly maximize. Based on our recent flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok in such a suite, I’ll offer the following insight for maximizing this unforgettable journey:

1. Don’t just sit there
2. Bond with the crew
3. Reap the rewards

 

Don’t just sit there

As soon as the seatbelt sign was off we were up and around, glasses of Dom Perignon champagne in hand, exploring our surroundings. During takeoff we all became familiar with our suite, watching the takeoff on our flat screen TV, playing with the motorized mini bar, sampling the high-end  personal items in the vanity, pressing every button, and familiarizing with the personal remote digital screen. Oh yes, and we scanned the extensive menu for delicacies yet to come.

Bond with the crew

Our crew was exceptional. Since we were a group of four jovial members, we were immediately noticed and our giddiness was appreciated. We were easy to please and appreciative of every gesture. This enthusiasm elicited eagerness in the crew to kick it up to the next level and deliver service well beyond expectations.

Reap the rewards

The shower stall strictly prohibits occupancy to two persons.  However, our crew was determined to demonstrate that this limit is only a suggestion and as long as we were not technically showering, that capacity could be pushed to four. It took very little coaxing to lure us into the shower stall and all was happily documented by the crew. Our enthusiastic purser, bartender, and cabin crew couldn’t take enough pictures for us and of us. They even pulled out the Polaroid to capture our creative poses in front of the vanity mirror, showing off our suites, standing behind the lounge bar, reclining on the lounge sofa, group photos in front of the water feature at the top of the staircase, and in various groups with/without each and every member of the crew. We estimated that there were nearly a hundred photos over the less than four hour period.  Our cameras were full of photographic evidence of our elaborate experience of excess.

Noticing there were no amenity kits in our suites (none expected on the short flight), we asked if it was possible to get one for each of us. Our wish was their pleasure and they scanned the plane successfully to find them for us.

The crew told us how much fun they had with us and asked where we were staying in Bangkok so they could meet up with us after the flight for drinks but our hotel was not nearby. We were honored by the invitation, the ultimate compliment to any passenger.

The Dom Perignon flowed endlessly. Plus, my first class bottle of wine followed me to the lounge where there was no first class wine available. The cabin crew followed me there with bottle in hand to make sure I didn’t have to switch wines.

Everyone in the cabin received exceptional service but our service was unprecedented: special food was presented that was not on the menu, we had more conversation with the crew, there was certainly an elevated attention to detail, and we received tips on how we could make the most of our time on board.

The crew searched for someone on board who could write in Thai for us. They wanted to make sure we had the address of our hotel written in Thai so the taxi driver could find it easily when we arrived in Bangkok.

Some of you just getting started in this crazy game may be thinking that this is an experience you will never have.  Truth is you can absolutely have it if you want it bad enough.  You can have your own party in an Emirates suite by purchasing the one way ticket from HKG to BKK for around $750. You could charge it on your Capital One card and reimburse yourself with points.  You could also cash in 37,500 Emirates Skyward Miles, if you have them.  Another option would be to transfer Starwood points to Emirates; they transfer on a 1:1 basis.

Have you had a suite experience? How did you book it and was it worth it?

Thanks to Justin L. for the photos.