Thinking of making a change for my next trip over. Anyone been on this flight and if so how would you compare the service to Delta or SAA?

Also how easy is the change in Dubai and how complicated is the firearms process with Emirates?

Thank you!

Last year I flew Emirates Houston-Dubai-Harare, so a somewhat similar trip to yours.

Emirates service is light years better than Delta or SAA. Seriously, there is no comparison, especially to SAA. Every flight was on time, the gate agents knew what they were doing, the food was good, and the flight attendants were great. We flew in the big double deck aircraft and it was very comfortable.

Firearms were simple, checked them in Houston and never saw them again until Harare. So you would check in at Dulles and pick them up in Jo'burg. You do have to have certain permits though so I would recommend Steve Turner at Travel with Guns and they take care of it for you.

If you overnight in Dubai, Emirates takes care of your UAE visa, hotel, shuttles, and meals at no additional cost. You do have to make a hotel reservation on the Emirates website but it is simple. Transit through the Dubai airport is no problem for an English only speaker.

The only reason I would go on Delta next time is if I use frequent flyer miles.

Emirates is price competitive with the others as well.

I have flown the Dulles > Dubai > JNB route and it is an excellent flight..

The only thing I like about the SAA flight is no layover and if going on to Harare on SAA you can check your guns all the way through..

My wife and I flew this route in business class 15 months ago. There is simply no way you can compare it to SAA and Delta( which I have also flown in business). Night and day difference.

Another vote for Emirates. Far better service than Delta or SAA especially in business or first.

Their gun policy is straight forward, just need to follow their instructions on the website or probably a better option, use Steve Turner or another travel agent to take care of the paperwork for you.

My wife and I have flown Emirates BC from DFW to Joburg thru Dubai and will flying Emirates on 8/26 to Harare. Way better than the others we've flown (Delta and SAA), if you fly with them I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed.

Thank you for all the info. I will definitely look into that flight for my next trip over!

I'm in the Emirates lounge at DFW getting ready to go to Jo'burg via Dubai. I have flown Delta and others in the the past. This route is quite a bit longer but we'll see if it is worth it.

How long is the layover in Dubai?

quote:

Originally posted by Labman:
How long is the layover in Dubai?

Depends on the final destination.

Around 20-22 hours.

But, Emirates provide hotel accommodation for the passengers.

One of the flights I was looking at only had a 2 hour layover in Dubai. I will recheck that!

Thanks Saeed. Not being in the airline business I've never understood why airline can't schedule flights to major destinations like Joberg without the long layovers. Nice of Emirates to provide the hotel room but adding that much travel time to the trip each way is enough to make me stick with SAA.

I fly SAA out of New York and with the early arrival of that flight I can make connections in Joberg without an overnight stay and avoid the SAPS stuff. I only have to deal with the firearms import requirements at my final destination.

I finally made it to Vanderbijlpark.

Emirates had great service on the first leg and good service on the second leg ie from Dubai to Jo'burg. Both flights had service better than the standard carriers. Singapore Airlines does better but doesn't make this trip for me.

My biggest beef is the seats. I traveled in business on a 777-300 for both Emirates legs. The seats had only one arm rest and a recessed segment on the other side that was pretty much useless.

Using Delta et al. My two US legs + two internal RSA SAA flights and transtlantic flights totalled about 9200USD. The same itinerary with Emirates was 5400USD. On the other carriers, the flight from DFW to JNB is ~15 hours. From DFW to DXB is ~15 hrs then an additional 8 hrs from DXB to JNB. I had a 2.5 hr layover in DXB.

One thing I found funny was that they Accurate Reloading wqas not acceptable use for their internet service.

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper:
One of the flights I was looking at only had a 2 hour layover in Dubai. I will recheck that!

My Dulles-Dubai-Joburg layover last year was 2-3 hours in each direction. Time enough to eat, shower, and change clothes. The business lounges in Dubai are very nice. The first class lounges are spectacular....

Had a visit from a gentleman from Africa, who has not traveled much.

He was travelling in Business Class on Emirates.

He could not stop talking about Dubai Airport, or the Emirates Business Lounge.

"Emirates Business Class Lounge is bigger than our airport! And there are more goods at the Dubai Duty Free than in my whole country!"

Poor man had a very fast learning curve to go through!

I told him about one of our trackers in Zimbabwe - who was absolutely mad about hunting, and has never been to a city.

Alan took him to Bulawayo, and the poor man was a bit shocked, to say the least.

He refused to go up into multi story buildings - and kept saying only baboons live up cliffs on the rocks!

I wonder what he would say if we took him up Burj Khalifa, the highest building in the world??

I also found it funny that the Accurate Reloading website was blocked on the inflight wifi however it was accessible in the lounge.

In order to save funds for other things I always have to fly economy. If I decide to go this route I will be sure to post a review in comparison to all the SAA flights I have been on.

The Burj Khalifa is a magnificent piece of architecture. But isn't the highest building now in Doha?

The last comment is humor. I worked in Doha from 2006-2007. Doha and UAE, especially Dubai, Were quite competitive over things such as tallest building, most Rolls Royces sold, etc.

SFO (or even LAX) - Dubai - Jberg was perfect, I think lay over in Dubai each way was only 3-4 hours. Barely enough time to stuff myself and take a shower in the lounge. Really amazing. And the service and comfort was A+ in business class, ESPECIALLY on the A380, make sure you're on that one vs the 777. No idea why and how the pricing from US to Africa is so affordable. Pricing is WAY lower than just a direct flight from LAX to Dubai. Scratching my head on that one. But I'll take it!

I haven't flown with Delta or SAA to Africa. Only Emirates and Turkish Airlines. Both are wonderful, but Emirates is a cut above. I've been spoiled, and I don't think I can do 15-16 hrs in anything else now. Firearms were no problem. I had prior security clearance with Emirates, and they had me in the system and knew what was going on at each transfer. HIGHLY recommend Emirates for this route, ESPECIALLY business class on the Airbus 380/388.