A woman flying from Brisbane, Australia to Dubai found herself as virtually the only passenger on an Emirates flight last month. She was in economy and says, “When I say this flight was empty, I am not lying. What a dream.”
She took video shwoing completely empty rows in front of and behind her. She thought maybe should could by in business or first class?
- Flight attendants wouldn’t give her a free upgrade.
- Emirates does allow onboard upgrades, though. Upgrading a business class award ticket to first class, for instance, is one of the best uses of Emirates miles – all open seats are available for this at check-in, and if someone no shows the flight you can even do it after you’ve boarded.
- But a flight attendant advised it would be a waste, since there was unlimited space in coach.
14 hrs of full row bliss. I requested to upgrade to business knowing it’d be cheap and the flight attendants told me it’s a waste of money in a flight so empty and I’m glad I took their advice. Well rested arriving in Dubai.
@lianasusan1 14 hrs of full row bliss. I requested to upgrade to business knowing it’d be cheap and the flight attendants told me it’s a waste of money in a flight so empty and im glad I took there advice. Well rested arriving in Dubai
An Emirates Airbus A350 seats over 300 passengers. An A380 in their high-density configuration can fit over 600. Ehe airline operates one of each of these on the route, and from the 3-4-3 economy configuration I can’t actually differentiate the two. I’ve never flown Emirates long haul economy! Get a decent look at the doors and that would tell you, though.
Not that I haven’t flown long haul coach, though it’s been years. I did it to Australia as a kid. And there was nothing better than stretching out across a whole row of center seats on an American Airlines DC-10!
Also when I was young in the early 1980s I flew as one of only three passengers from New York LaGuardia to Cincinnati after a long series of delays. Everyone else rebooked. On January 1, 2000 there were just a handful of us flying Los Angeles to Washington Dulles on a United 777. It was “Y2K” and everyone else was scared to fly. And I’ve had first class cabins to myself on ANA, Thai, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, Asiana and more. But I’ve never had a whole plane to myself.
Here’s a man who had his own private jet after all the rest of the American Airlines customers bailed for ohter flights during a delay. This man was the only passenger on a 7-hour Etihad flight and all of the announcements addressed him by name. And this one videotaped the best day of his life as the only passenger on a Delta flight.
These two passengers had business class all to themselves on a long haul flight so they decided to have dinner together and see what might come of it? They began with champagne…
I’ve been on 2 first-class flights as one of only two passengers. One was ANA to Japan, and the other was Emirates KUL-Dubai. And as the single biz passenger on an Air India flight in the 90s I was upgraded to F to save work for the FAs.
Once I flew on a UA 737 from DFW to ORD as one of eight passengers (weather delays). We all got F class meals. I had the entire exit row to myself. A memorable flight!
Would not upgrade her. And advising it would be a waste are two different things. Please don’t turn into another click bait site I have to tell Google news to not show anymore.
Why should you be upgraded??? Just because a restaurant has a leftover lobster doesn’t mean you automatically get it. Passengers are so entitled!!!
she should be grateful that her flight didn’t get canceled.
I have heard that Emirates has very strict upgrade policies, rarely upgrades anyone and has strict rules of dress and deportment. Sigh!
I loved emirates. As a frequent flyer with Airline, often I was asked upgrade to Business Class.. How ever, my wife travelled to UK by Emirates , she was not offered to use the Business class lounge in the airport.
I was furious. Now I am travelling by Cathay Pacific Let’s see the service.
Emirate 350s are 3-3-3 in Y.
I was a travel agent…kinda sorta…while in college. Scam to get cheap/free travel.
Flew from LAX to SYD on Pan Am 747. I was one of six, count ’em six, passengers.
Pan Am died shortly thereafter
Sounds like she was complaining about having an empty, clean cabin! If she had been serious about an upgraded service she should have booked what she wanted. Domestic united once discussed canceling a flight ( IAD PHX) in front of the only nine passengers. Now that was troubling for a few minutes!
Flew early morning 9/11/2002 . Didn’t even think about it when we booked. SW had more staff than passengers. They said it had been a pleasure to see us sleep all the way when we arrived.
If there were passengers in first or business, that number of meals was catered ahead of time, they can’t change that enroute. Pay out the miles or money, if you’d like the upgrade.
I was the only passenger on board a Delta L1011 flight from Miami to New York in the 80s. It was a red eye and we flew through some wicked weather. I could see the barrel shape of the cabin swaying back and forth in rhythm with the turbulence. It was pretty exciting.
Pan Am flight, Heathrow to JFK. February 1971, night flight There were 7 passengers on the 747 and they moved us all up to First. I had been traveling since 4 a.m. with a 4-month-old (bus, ferry, bus, two plane changes) and I was wiped out.
Not only did they move us to First, they made me a bed and sent me to nap for two hours while the crew (including the captain) cared for my baby.
Those were different times.
I was once on a fairly empty British Airways 747 flying ORD-LHR in economy. Found a middle row of four seats and created a “poor man’s lie flat” seat with blankets. Arrived nicely rested.
Eric the phrase “would be a waste” sounds like she wanted to use her points to do the upgrade… And I would be miffed if someone told me I could not use my earned rewards.
It’s called ‘poor-man’s lie-flat’ and while it’s not as nice as Business Class, it’s better than nothing. 3-across is plenty for shorter folks; 4-across is perfect for taller fellas.
On January 1, 2020: you probably meant to say January 1, 2000.
The article made it seem like she was alone, when there was clearly other people in some of the seats. Maybe it wasn’t a full plane but it definitely wasn’t empty nor was she alone. At least the video showed otherwise. She even was happy the attendant advised her not to waste money on the upgrade.
Emirates wasted a no-cost opportunity to make the passenger a customer for life. So shortsighted.
I think a lot of commentators missed the point that she was willing to pay for the upgrade, at least with points. I would appreciate the flight attendant’s suggestion that it was a waste, but if she really wanted the suite or something they should let her if she was willing to pay. I hope they gave the few passengers they had some extra food or something nice.
Ya cant just get the upgrade to biz, the flight attendants are resting up there!
In 1987 i had an entire Aerolineas Argentina 747 to myself from Ottawa to New York. I kid you not. I was in “first class” but all i can remember is how surly the crew were – perhaps had I not been on the flight they would have cracked open the disco. I cannot for the life of me remember what they were even doing flying to Ottawa.
I would have been so happy to be 1 of a few on flight ✈️ since I have heard good things about Emirate
Heard good things about Emirate
It’s as if I was also there,,,
As a witness soul,,,,
Wonderful truth,,,,
November 25th 2025,,,
Tuesday ,,, Morning 09:08:07 hrs.
What I think they meant was it was a “waste on you”, specifically.
What’s up with all of the spelling typos? Did anyone proofread this?
Reminds me of my last virgin Atlantic trip from Los Angeles to London. It’s was traumatic as I’m disabled can’t walk .the crew really stepped up as I had missed a previous flight thanks to my daughter.not only did I get a whole front row on coach there was virtually nobody behind me to kicking kids no screaming etc .just rows and rows of empty seats .I didn’t realize that I could have have had access to various lounges just booked in advance and paid extra . So for the second leg of my virgin Atlantic trip to lagos Nigeria it was the night of the governor elections so where no traffic everyone was supposed to be indoors . The flight was empty again no bookings . . I had virtually the whole coach to myself. !
Back in mid-May 2015, I was just 1 of 2 passengers on an early morning B737 IAD-LGA UA flight, connecting from another long-haul UA flight from DXB. No pre-departure announcement was given, not a single cabin crew walked thru the aisle, didn’t bother to offer beverage service, as if it was ‘ferry/repositioning flight to NYC.
Thanks for sharing. Though the video shows a number of other passengers. Still a cool story, but the headline “Alone” isn’t true
She wasn’t the only person. You can see other passengers.
I’m surprised that only one other commenter mentioned the clickbait headline. The headline said that flight attendant “wouldn’t” upgrade the passenger, when in fact she merely advised her that it would be a waste of money, thereby doing the passenger a favor. Passenger later said she was GLAD that she didn’t upgrade.
Come on, Gary, you can do better than that!
(Note: if the bad headline isn’t Gary’s fault but rather an incompetent editor’s decision, I hope Gary complains loudly and persistently about that.)
This is the problem; you hade the entire row to urself, no screaming baby in front, no kid kicking your chair. Did you offer to pay for a business class seat? Then be quiet and accept the free upgrade of an empty plane
Luxury planes are for the bourgeoisie. The proletariat will see it through so these frivolous waste machines are dismantled and disposed properly once the revolution takes place
They are selfish and cunning people,always their ticket very costly ,they don’t know anything about services or passenger benefits,they only want to earn money by any means,eccentric mentality,if their ticket was cheaper ,may be it would be full to capacity ,even in corona time their attitude was same
It Was A Ghost Plane
Everytime I was the only passenger in a flight, the flight was cancelled. She should say thanks that the flight came out. It probably happened only because they needed the plane on the other side of the route.
The flight crew doesn’t always have the authority to upgrade passengers as per their will. That depends on company policy. And the company was already having such a loss in this flight that they did not want to add more to it.
Years ago I had fairly empty 6am flights.
Flight over the weekend was delayed due to insuffient crew. It was a 6am flight delayed to 930. Many were rebooked on AA. There was about 10 of us on the flight.
I recall seeing in the news when Covid began. There was to be a big conference in Orlando that was cancelled the Friday before. A Monday flight that would have been full of conference attendees was empty except for 1-2 economy PAX. The image went viral at the time.
1. She was not alone in the flight. Other passengers are there.
2. Rather than expecting free upgrade (which is obviously not carrier policy, she should politely request to use either seats to lay down. Or enjoy the flight with her own seat.
How to save the planet. Throw away 300 meals and 80,tons of jet fuel.
If the damn plane is basically empty, just let the people sit where they want; who cares?
In 2020 I was one of 6 passengers onboard a China Air flight from Hangzhou to Incheon Korea. It was in late February, during COVID, and when we boarded the flight we actually had no idea where we were going. We thought perhaps Japan would allow us to land and transfer to a North American but we were denied entry while we were mid air. Thank heavens S. Korea was very gracious and allowed us to land. I was the only passenger who could NOT converse in Mandarin but staff and other passengers were gracious and assisted me. I went on to the USA while others flew in to Canada. It took me 4 days and 5 flights after that to make it to my hometown airport. I met great people all along the journey.
Wow. Strangest people in the comments here. It’s enough to make me stop reading these columns.
Under the pandemi i fly regularly between north Europe and Cebu in both classes sometimes only 10 pax in economy and only one in business class…. Crazy times….
I flew Emirates once and was refused a beer. Never flew them again. Arab bias and not upgrading the lady as the only passenger is good advertising. Mean airline
January 1, 2020 was not Y2K. You are off by 20 years.
The flight wasn’t empty. You can see many heads. It was mostly empty. This is not worthy of a story so scraping the bottom of the barrel didn’t yield much.
Many years ago I was a young man flying military standby on TWA San Francisco to St. Louis. I was the only passenger on the plane. I got lots of attention from the stewardesses (yes, they were called that in those days), perhaps due to my U.S. Coast Guard officer’s uniform. (They asked me for which airline I flew.) I had great young man fantasies about this, but, alas, the flight went on to Chicago, where the women were stationed. Sigh.
I had my very own E190 once from MIA to ATL it was pretty funny
Very entitled…. The worst kind of passenger. Just because does not mean they have to.
Written by A1? So many things with this article that I can’t believe a thinking human wrote it.
– Blatent lack of editing and grammatical errors
– photo that shows lots of passengers and not an empty flight
– date discrepancy with Y2K vs. 2020
This is what is wrong with journalism today. When you mail it in thinking people begin to avoid all of these stories. i check in every few months to see what ridiculous tripe is currently pawned off as legitimate news. One aritcle and I’m not disappointed to find that no one questions the outright idiocy of these articles.
I had a First Class 747 cabin to myself on a 7 hour flight from Melbourne to.Singapore with BA. I didn’t care for it, honestly. It was like being the only person in your favorite bar, drinking alone.
My girlfriend and I were 2 of maybe 10 on a Braniff 727 from TUL to SFO in 1982. Had the whole back half of the plane to ourselves. Flight Attendant came by maybe twice on the 4 hour flight. MHC? I’ll never tell.
You misspelled “showing” in the first sentence of the second paragraph.