Monday, 8 November 2021
Leaving Los Angeles for Dubai 

Today I truly begin my trip, with a 15.5 hour flight to Dubai, the longest non-stop I have ever flown. The route will take us (I use the royal “we” for all my fellow passengers), northwest across the US, east across the bottom of Greenland and north of the UK, then southeast across Europe, Turkey, Iraq, several Gulf States--eventually landing in Dubai. But I will begin with a recap of the morning’s  events as I await my wheelchair ride to whisk me from the Emirates Lounge at LAX to the departure gate.

I spend the morning futzing around and repacking my carry-on, which seems to weigh almost as much as one of my two suitcases (I will be traveling for over three weeks).  I also have to spend endless hours resetting passwords on my new iPhone 13, my iPad, and my iMac Pro. For some strange reason, the fingerprint IDs have stopped working and I have to set new passwords, some of which simply refuse to function properly—this becomes very frustrating when I check in for my flight and I have to pull up the results from yesterday’s Covid-19 test (negative; I wont have to fly home), with a line of other passengers waiting behind me. Fortunately several Emirates Air folk work hard to help me.

But blog time finds me still in my Hilton LAX Hotel room, awaiting the arrival of my Emirates/Blackstone limo, a free perk when flying Business Class on the airline. It is not a particularly pleasant stay at this large Hilton: from the young woman at reception who takes almost 30 minutes to check me in (she is unable to understand my dayuse.com reservation for 10am to regular arrival time at 3pm, and she keeps trying to sell me Hilton’s early check-in; no more complementary early access, even for members of Hilton Honors); to the manager, with whom I speak, who sees me trying to manage my cane and suitcases but never offers to find someone to help me; to the high-priced room that is badly in need of updating, does not have any wifi outlets for charging cables, but has a Keurig coffee-maker with no coffee pods to use in it. There are additional issues about payment and a security deposit, but I do not wish LFLatSea to become a litany of complaints. 

The limo driver arrives on time at 11am, in a new, glossy black BMW, for the very short ride to LAX.  Emirates Air requires check-in four hours before the flight, and I am one of the first to arrive.  All goes well, even with several crises trying to access my Covid test result from my email.  But I finally achieve success and I am soon whisked by my wheelchair pusher, a very pleasant gentleman of years--who has worked his job for the past 20 of them--to the Emirates Business Class lounge.

I go through security without having to take off my shoes and belt, or take my camera or iPad out of my bag.  I do not need to walk through the X-ray machine and am given a very cursory pat-down, still sitting in the wheelchair.  I guess big LAX is a little lax about these things (sorry for the pun!). 

The Emirates lounge is very peaceful since not too many travelers are flying yet. There is a wonderful selection of free food and drink, and the men's bathroom has a foot bath for Muslims, a full shower stall, and another full shower stall equipped for the handicapped.

Handicap-Equipped Shower

Islamic Foot Bath

 

Lunch in Emirates Lounge:  (from left Baby Lamb Chops and Vegetables,
Fruit Plate, Tomato Bruschetta, Crudités, Coconut Cheese Cake)

Boarding the double-decker Airbus goes very quickly. The Business section on the upper level can seat 72 passengers, but is only one-third occupied. I have a place in a single bed-seat next to two windows on one side and an aisle on the other. There is a large-screen video, plenty of storage and amenities, and just after boarding I am handed a glass of better-than-ordinary Clique Vivot champagne and a mattress pad that covers the entire seat and feels wonderful under my own seat.  As usual, the airline provides a blanket, socks, and eye-mask.

Take-off is one of the smoothest I have experienced, especially for this behemoth of a plane.  Soon we are flying eastward over the desert and Las Vegas and then northwest to Boston. 

During the flight I enjoy the lavatory with cloth Bulgari products for men and women, and a faux polished wood toilet. There is open bar at the back of the section with as much alcohol and snacks as anyone could consume, and very cordial "bartenders."

Dinner is served at 5:30pm (LA time): drinks of choice, warm nuts, squash soup with creme fresh, green salad, two very thick perfect baby lamb chops, delicious veggies of some unrecognizable kind, a perfect fruit plate and two Arabic chocolates. Before settling in for four hours of good sleep, I watch one film, Oslo, about the Israeli-Palestinian meeting that established the "peace" accord/framework that President Clinton celebrated at the White House. Because every seat is safely distanced and all crew and passengers are fully vaccinated, masks must be worn only when moving around--so I don't need one at my seat sleeping. The temperature on the plan is very comfortable, I don't even need the blanket!

After my nap, it is almost time for breakfast. The  scrambled eggs on the menu are not available, but a small serving of French toast, with berries and fresh cream, another fruit plate,  and coffee does nicely--other things are available too

During the night we have passed over southern Greenland and just north of the British Isles, before turning southeast over Europe and Turkey. Then we cross Iraq to the Persian Gulf, passing near several Gulf States, before landing a few minutes early (15hrs and 15mins)

At 7:30pm (Dubai time), the newly cavernous remodeled airport is almost empty--there are not a lot of tourist tonight.  Most outbound flight leave in the wee hours of the morning (to UK and US), shorter flights generally leave in the afternoon. With the help of a pusher and a carrier (for the luggage), I make it through all the formalities in record time and I am soon in another complimentary limousine to my hotel, about a 20 minute drive.

I will start with a description of the hotel and my first day at EXPO 2020 in the next blog entry.

For now, good night.