Antarctica via Cape Town

via Emirates First Class

January 2025

Off to Antarctica

Today I’m off on a bucket list trip to Antarctica via Cape Town one of my favorite cities in the world. It’s a mostly Emirates First trip starting in Chicago where Emirates now flies the gorgeous 777 Game Changer. First up is an American positioning flight from Denver. And a great start as there is no one at CLEAR+ PreCheck.

First stop is the Denver Amex Centurion Lounge.

Pretty empty a little before 7am.

At T-50, I headed off to my gate. Cool Lear 35 hanging from the rafters.

Denver DEN to Chicago ORD

American AA 2771

A319

8:16a-11:54a

January 15, 2025

Cosy 8 seat A319 First Class cabin.

Sparing no expense, AA's cutting edge seat back entertainment system. LOL.

Gorgeous morning to fly.

Hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere.

AA's tasty frittata breakfast.

Chicago on a frigid morning.

Classic T3 design.

With an 8 hour connection, I headed over to the Hyatt Regency O'Hare.

And a sweet Globalist Suite Upgrade for the day.

Emirates Gamechanger First to Dubai

Emirates Gamechanger New First Class to Dubai

Checking in for my flights to Dubai and Cape Town.

ORD T5 is an embarrassment and sadly Emirates picked the worst lounge to partner.

What a dump.

With dreadful food options.

The new LOT Business Lounge looks really nice from what I can see. How about making a deal with them?

The SAS Lounge was so depressing that I headed to one of the best airport restaurants anywhere, Rick Bayless' Tortas Frontera, conveniently located right across from the Emirates gate.

My Crispy Chicken Milanesa was fabulous!

Chicago ORD to Dubai DXB

Emirates EK 236

777-300ER

7:45pm-7:00pm +1

January 15, 2025

Departed 6/6

Cost: 178,750 EK miles for ORD-DXB-CPT

Gorgeous Gamechanger First Class cabin...

My Suite 2A tonight...

No more cheap stuff at the gate, as Dom is served as the predeparture champagne.

Each First Class suite has individual temperature controls.

Taxiing for take-off.

In the air, the really good stuff... Dom P2.

Tonight's menu...

And wine list...

Showtime: Emirates First Class style.

Tonight's amuse bouche.

Oh yeah!

Seared prawn starter.

Wowza!

Delicious cream of mushroom soup.

And fabulous chicken biryani.

Why not?

If you insist.

Nighttime pics of our gorgeous cabin.

Bedtime.

Another cool feature is being able to select your own lighting color.

I went with my favorite blue.

But a push of the button gets you other colors...

After a wonderful 7 hours of sleep, descending to Dubai.

What a wonderful flight. It's hard to beat Emirates First Class especiallty on the Gamechanger.

My Instagram video of my day with Emirates.

First Class Lounge Hopping at DXB

Emirates First Class Lounges at Dubai DXB

With an 8 hour Dubai connection, lots of time to visit and explore the wines in all the Emirates First Class Lounges. Since I arrived at a B gate, I started with the B Lounge, mostly to check out the wine offerings. I never really liked this lounge and more so after the "renovations".

Sprawling dining room with zero personality.

The worst part of the renovations is the lack of any visible wines, with all the wines are hidden behind the bar.

I had to ask to see what wines were available. Bartender was happy to line them up and give me a taste of whatever I wanted to try.

After 15 minutes or so, I headed for the long walk to the C lounge, which is the smallest of the First Class lounges.

Much more attractive and intimate than the B lounge.

But no hidden gems.

Saving the best for last, the long walk back to B and then the train to the A gates.

And the best for last. The A First Class Lounge, the largest First Class lounge in the world.

Checking out the wine selection.

Time for dinner in the elegant A Fine Dining room

The wine selections.

Starting with a beautiful Corton.

And lovely Ducru.

The Butter Chicken was fabulous.

As was the tiramisu.

After dinner, off to the quiet room for a couple hours rest.

And then back for round 2. lol

Hokkaido scallops were delicious.

The Iranian mixed grill was wonderful.

Emirates First Class to Cape Town

Emirates First Class Dubai to Cape Town

After a lovely meal, great wines, a nap and another meal and more great wine, I headed over to the B concourse for my 9 hour flight to Cape Town.

Dubai DXB to Cape Town CPT

Emirates EK 772

777-300ER

3:50a-11:30a

January 17, 2025

Departed 3/6

Cost: included in my 178,750 EK miles ORD-DXB-CPT fare

It may be old First Class, but I still love it.

Pre-departure Dom.

This morning's menu...

And wine list.

After take-off, sampling a couple of wines.

OK, pretty cool to have live TV. Sadly, only to see my Cavs get destroyed by OKC.

What a glorious Africa sunrise.

Bedtime for me across the aisle.

Welcome to Cape Town. So happy to be back.

So awesome to see an empty immigration/passport control area.

My Instagram video of my Dubai lounge hopping and Emirates First Class to Cape Town.

Cape Town by Helicopter

Welcome to Cape Town

Sticking with my Hyatt theme, I booked a 4 nights stay at the Hyatt Regency Cape Town for the ridiculously cheap price of 6,500 points per night. And used a Suite Upgrade. The view from the Hyatt.

Nice outdoor terrasse.

Awesome view from my suite.

After a much needed shower, off to the V&A Waterfront. What better way to see Cape Town on a glorious summer day than an helicopter tour. I booked a last minute seat on Cape Town Helicopters’ 3pm Two Oceans flight. What a wonderful flight with incredible views of Cape Town and the gorgeous coastline.

My Instagram video of my Cape Town Helicopters flight.

Dinner at La Colombe

What a treat to return for my second visit to fabulous La Colombe, one of world's truly great culinary experiences. Ranked #1 in Africa and finally into the World’s 50 Best restaurants at #49, La Colombe is a pure delight. Service was impeccable from the entire team. The special no cameras allowed wine cellar experience was a great not-to-be-missed experience. I made some new friends in the cellar who I joined for the rest of the meal. What a thoroughly enjoyable five hours.

Lovely G&T to start.

Cool presentation of all the ingredients for tonight's meal.

Tonight's menu and the amazing price of just US$120.

And the 3 wine pairing options. After a little on the spot Vivino research, I went with the Heritage Pairing at US$205. The Iconic Pairing at nearly US$700 seemed way out of line given the mediocre ratings of some the selections.