$14,000 Showers in the Sky Edit

Emirates A380
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For $14,000, Emirates is letting its most affluent passengers take showers above the clouds. On board the Emirates A380, first class passengers get to dine on seven course meals served with the finest wines, champagnes and spirits, and kill time en route to their destinations while getting massaged in their leather seats—which morph into fully lay-down beds.

Showers are limited to 5 minutes, but who cares? Each guest gets a plushy towel during their “Shower Spa” experience and can choose from a selection of fine shampoos. Another really neat feature is that the cabin lighting mimics daylight, with fake sunrise and sunset to help minimize jet lag. Passengers get to enjoy fresh cut flowers and have 23 menus to choose from, so no matter how pick you are, there’s bound to be something for you.

Aboard the United Arab Emirates airlines new A380 airbuses, first class consists of only 14 seats, each worth $14,000. Each of the 76 business class seats cost $9,000; they don’t get hot showers and the 15-person bar doesn’t have a waterfall, but their services are pretty darn good too!

The plane’s 399 economy seats cost a fraction at only $1,500, but the services don’t look too pale in comparison. Everyone gets a 9” TV with 500 channels and excellent dining services. In addition, they can make $5/minute satellite phone calls or send text messages.

Emirates wants to roll out 500 of the A380 airbuses offering seats at those rates, but if fuel prices keep rising, seat prices could go up even more. Does the world really have that many super elite fliers?

Adel Al Redha, executive VP and engineer says there are. “The only thing holding us back is the planes,” he says. “We can’t get them fast enough.”

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