Although travel has been a passion of mine for many years now, luxury was never really part of the equation. Sure, I like a little bit of bling bling now and then but I’m the kind of guy who’d rather be sleeping in a tent in the mountains than living it up in a 5-star hotel (most of the time, anyway). So it was somewhat odd to recently find myself sitting first class on an Emirates flight from Dubai to Houston. Not just any Emirates flight either – the A380. The Cream of the crop. The golden goose of travel hacking.

After having breakfast in the Emirates first class lounge (included with the flight), my wife and I both boarded the luxurious aircraft for a 17-hour trans-Atlantic flight. It’s a long haul flying over the Middle East, Europe, the Atlantic ocean, and most of the US in one jaunt but it was made all the better by sitting in pure luxury.

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