Talk about customer service.
Brotastic lifestyle vlogger Casey Neistat said Emirates Airlines recently gave him a free upgrade to its coveted first-class cabin from business class on a 14-hour flight from Dubai to New York.
Neistat shot a nine-minute video detailing every part of his journey aboard the giant Airbus A380, from the caviar (“salty”), to his night of sleep (“this is more comfortable than my bed at home”), to the five-minute shower (“the dream”).
But Emirates might have gotten the best deal out of it. As of Sunday (Sept. 25) morning, the YouTube video had 18 million views.
Neistat says in the video that he was not hired or paid by Emirates to make the recording.
While prices of course fluctuate, the difference between business class and first on a recent search between Dubai and New York was about $3,000 ($8,027 for first, and $4,987 for business). One-way first class tickets can climb to heights of above $21,000, and even at that level it was a bargain for Emirates.
For a modest price and filling what could have been an empty seat in its most premium cabin, Emirates got a viral video that details all of the out-of-reach luxury. It’s not the first time either: a similar video from last year shot by a travel blogger who said he got booked on Emirates first class using frequent-flyer-miles has over 2 million views on YouTube.
As for Neistat, he says he had one of the best days of his life.
“When I think of the greatest days in my entire life, I think of when my children were born, or perhaps when my son graduated high school or today when I was upgraded from business to first class on Emirates.”