[JFK-MXP] Emirates Business Class: is Boeing-777 really that bad?

Our answer: No

One of the things I looked forward to the most for our trip to Italy was finally experiencing Emirates business class on their A380 (especially the bar). All the reviews I looked into seemed to promise the best in-flight experience. However, as all things in life, things didn’t work out as planned. Shortly after our booking on the A380, Emirates announced that they will swap out the plane to their 777 for all flights in this route (just my luck). While I was disappointed for a few days, I didn’t let it dampen our travel plans - we were going to to Italy, after all!

JFK Lounge

JFK lounge experience was excellent. The lounge only seemed to open up for guests for this particular flight at 10PM out of JFK and it was closed when we went to the entrance a little before 6PM (we definitely got to the airport too early). Around 5:50PM, staff let us know that they will be opening the lounge in 10 minutes. After waiting, we walked into the spacious lounge.

Again, because we were so early, we were the only people in the lounge for about 30 minutes. We made ourselves comfortable near the window so Eli can see the planes coming and going. The buffet selection for dinner was fine - nothing too expansive, but good for a quick bite. There were multiple hot/cold options such as soup, salad, pasta, and salmon, and the menu seemed to continue to rotate throughout our stay here. Drinks were abundant and the fruit plates were fresh.

After getting something to eat, we all took our own quiet time - book for me, web browsing for dad, and screen time for Eli. About an hour more to go, we played a few round of friendly Uno game before it was time for us to start boarding. I’ve heard that you can board directly from the lounge for some flights, but this was not the case for us, so we headed downstairs to the gate.

Friendly family Uno game

In-flight

Eli loves to make small goodie bags for the flight crew whenever we fly. As we started boarding, Eli gleefully handed over his goodie bags to the flight attendants and asked if he could give one to the pilots. The flight crew were so delighted and showed him to the cockpit where he got to meet the pilots and sit on his seat. After a joyful interaction, we walked over to our seats.

The 777 has a 2-3-2 layout, which seems to be one of the biggest complaints I’ve read online due to the lack of aisle access for all seats. However, this didn’t bother us since we were traveling as a family - in fact, we preferred this layout because we could always keep an eye on Eli as he sat in the middle seat between us.

As we started take off, Eli enjoyed watching the live airshow on his screen and seeing the plan take off in real time, while sipping on his welcome drink - orange juice. Once we were in air, one of the flight crews came to our seat and showed Eli what he could watch on their entertainment system. They also came over to give Eli a bunch of Emirates branded goodies including a blanket, backpack, and an activity kit which Eli worked on. Needless to say, the amount of selection available was massive and Eli enjoyed a few episodes of Bluey and Paw Patrol before going to sleep under his Emirates blanket.

Another main complaint I read about the 777 prior to our flight was that the seats were not true lie-flat since they are on an angle. Luckily, we had the newer retrofitted 777 model with leather seats and a complete lie-flat setting. But I must say, I usually don’t even utilize the full lie-flat in business class and like to sleep a bit elevated, so I don’t think I would have minded the angle in the older model. Flight attendants quickly came over after take off to set up the “bed” for us with extra padding for the seat and blankets.

Once we were all comfortably situated in our seats, flight attendants came over to take our order for some mid-flight snacks. Since this flight was overnight, they did not offer a full dinner menu. However, there were some sandwich options on the snack menu, which my husband enjoyed. I opted for a chocolate cake and boy, it was so good!

After a couple hours, I decided to tuck in for the night. One thing to note is that the cabin was extremely warm - which was a first for me in any flights. I woke up a couple times to adjust the AC and ended up barely using the blanket.

As we got closer to Milan, the flight crew took our orders and served breakfast for us. I opted for the pancake which I enjoyed (my husband not so much - but he is very particular about food). The fruit plate was fresh and the croissant was nice and buttery. Eli skipped breakfast as he slept until we got on the ground.

As we started gathering our belongings to leave the plane, the flight crew came over to our seats and handed Eli a huge bag filled with treats and a heartfelt card. None of us were expecting this and it definitely made us feel so warm and welcomed to the last minute.

Bottom line

On our last day in Italy, Eli asked us if he will be able to see the same flight crew again on our way back to JFK. Despite our worries about the plane product change, the in-flight experience in the Emirates 777 business class was nothing short of excellent. Above all, the warm and attentive flight crews made our experience a whole lot better than any other airlines we’ve flown with.