It has been a few years since I have been through DBX but I thought Emirates’ lounge was one of the best I have been in, and orders of magnitude better than the business-light lounge that Qatar offers.
Depends which lounge you use at DXB, there is 4 Emirates business lounges and they vary greatly. The Concourse C lounges are pretty ordinary but Concourse A and B lounges are pretty good. Obviously the First lounges are a fair step up though.
Haven’t been in the Qatar business lounges for years as we have First lounge access and it’s an absolutely superb lounge but hear varying reports about the different business lounges there. The Al Mourjan garden lounge which is the newest one generally gets good reviews
1 Like
Qatar has First and “First” lounges. The first First is justf or people flying First class - not for OneWorld Emerald PAX flying J. The “First” lounge for OW Emerald is a basically a huge space with uncomfortable chairs, and access to some dining facilities.
Emirates - at least the last time I flew via DBX - has real first class lounge access for OW Emerald.
They all change. Just sitting in the Qantas lounge at Melbourne and it’s been done up since I last saw it. And after posting yesterday both coffee machines in the Emirates lounge that I was in broke down 
for those that have been to Copenhagen and Oslo - what are your ‘do not miss’ things to see around the city centres?
It’s a long time since I was in either city but for Copenhagen, The Tivoli Gardens at night were fantastic.
Oslo…The Viking Ship Museum,Kon-Tiki Museum and Vigeland Park were all impressive.
1 Like
Copenhagen:
Nyhavn
Amalienborg
The Mermaid Statue
Do a boat cruise (couple of hours, starting from Nyhavn)
Kastellet
Climb the Church of Our Saviour
Stork Fountain/Amagertorv area
Frederiksborg Castle
Just wander the old town area
Oslo:
Walk Karl Johans Gate from Central Station to Royal Palace (about 1 - 1.5 km’s worth, most things are near there)
The Royal Palace and gardens
Holmenkollen Ski Jump Museum
The Harbour Area (incl. Opera House and the “She Lies” statue)
Akershus Fortress
Frognerparker (Vigeland Sculpture Park)
Both are pretty compact and 3 days tops in each will cover everything. Oslo’s lovely, with a great little public transport system. We had a 4 y/old with us, so there’s probably a few things we didn’t manage to get to.
1 Like
awesome, thank you! 
and similar question for Reykjavik!
Ah Reykjavik…such a beautiful little city…you can easily walk around it in a day.
Hallsgrimkirkja dominates the city skyline…you can climb the tower for 360 degree views over the city.
Harpa Concert Hall
Sun Voyager Sculpture
To be honest, I spent an entire day just walking around the city…I had planned to see the Sun Voyager and Hallsgrimkirkja but other than that I just wandered.
Beware…it’s very expensive…but a great place to visit.
Also…if you’re intending to go the Blue Lagoon, try and book ahead…I didn’t know to do that and so was unable to get there (it might be different now since their recent volcanic activity).
1 Like
Strojet is the main shopping street in Copenhagen, if that’s your thing. Very long and car-free.
Both cities are expensive. Go easy on the alcohol.
2 Likes
As opposed to Denmark and Norway? 
We started our trip in Finland and worked our way west from there, through Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. Things started expensive in Finland, and it got sequentially dearer from there.
We didn’t go to Iceland so can’t compare it, but it must be frightening if it’s more expensive than Norway. For a “pub meal” (a couple of parmas, a bowl of chips for our daughter, and a beer) in Norway we would drop well over 100 bucks (this was 10 years ago). Staying in AirBnB’s helped keep costs down but still, even groceries were exxy…
1 Like
Luxury
2016 in Reykjavik…Lamb chops, loaded potato, salad and half a pint…70+ dollars (just for me)
2 Likes
Ouch… yeah, that’s dear…
1 Like
Home safe and sound. Left my jacket in the hotel in Dubai, flew home in shorts and shirt. Good old Hobart, disembark out into the open and blowing a gale with a balmy 9 degrees
2 Likes
That’s not quite correct though. Qatar do things differently and their lounges are class of service based rather than status based like others.
At Doha the Al Safwa lounge is their First class lounge and it’s for First class tickets or Business class only if you are a Qatar Platinum tier which we both are. That is their best lounge and it’s fantastic.
The Al Mourjan lounge and Al Mourjan Garden lounge are their 2 Business class lounges. You must have a business ticket or higher.
OWE and Virgin Australia Platinums flying Economy get their third tier Platinum lounges.
OWS and Virgin Australia Golds get access to the 4th tier Gold lounges.
Emirates don’t allow OWE entry to their first lounge. They have a special reciprocal deal with Qantas to let Platinums and above into their First lounge no matter the class they are flying at Dubai and Qantas Golds get access to the Business lounge regardless of class of travel.
If you are OWE at any other OW airline you get zero access to the Emirates lounge and instead get the utterly diabolical third party lounges
1 Like
What is it with hotels advertising satellite TV or similar then when you get there there’s no satellite, no regular antenna and it’s a dumb TV. 4th in a row I’ve got a brick. FFS gotta.find somewhere to watch the Grand Final
Don’t limit yourself to the immediate city centre in Copenhagen. Check out the street Værnedamsvej in Fredriksberg, the Nørrebro area and nearby Assistens cemetery. It’s a lovely park and I think we’re HC Andersen is buried.
In Oslo you should get the metro to Holmenkollen station and walk to the ski jump. Near the station you get great views down to the fjord and then ski jump has to be seen to be believed. It’s mind boggling that people go down it. The ski museum as someone else recommended is good. And if the ferries to the islands are going you should do that. You use a normal zone 1 public transport ticket and basically get a free fjord cruise plus explore islands. Some of them have cafes/restaurants.
Reykjavik is awesome. A lot of bars do good happy hours which makes drinks cheaper if that’s your thing. All the happy hours are listed in the Reykjavik Grapevine which is a free, English paper both online and available all around the place.
The biggest tip for Iceland is to visit the public swimming pools. They are the ‘third place’ of every village, town and city. Everyone goes there to soak in hot tubs and swim leisurely in the pools. They are well heated all year round thanks to geothermal energy. There is honestly nothing better than sitting in the spa after a tourist day walking around. It’s affordable and authentic.
2 Likes
And, if it’s your thing, you can zipline down the Ski Jump these days. It was about 100 Aussie dollars 10 years ago… God only knows what it costs these days…
1 Like
Was about $110 last year when we were there. Also have to pay the $15 fee for the museum and lift entry so all up about $125
1 Like
Who are the main carriers into Taipei?