Apr 5, 2014, 3:23 pm
Last edit by: eponymous_coward
Emirates award guide using Alaska Airlines miles
Routing Rules:
All trips must start or end in North America.
One open jaw and one stopover allowed on each one-way award.
No fees for changes/cancellations prior to 60 days from departure.
North American Gateway Cities:
West Coast
Seattle
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Central
Chicago
Dallas
Houston
East Coast
Boston
New York (JFK)
Orlando (Effective September 1, 2015)
Washington DC (IAD)
Canada
Toronto
Award Chart Links*:
Middle East & Africa
Asia
Europe
*If region is not listed on chart its not available.
Perks
Chauffeur Drive NOT Available
Car service is not available for all Business Class and First Class passengers on Alaska Airlines ticketed award tickets on Emirates flights (as of Jan 2015). The chauffeur will not confirm if you use the EK website for this, though the website makes it look you can make a reservation.
Lounges
Access is available for all passengers traveling in Business and First Class. Not all cities have lounges and many may be operated by a Partner. There have been some reports of people having an issue accessing the Dubai lounges as the tickets may appear in their system as non-revenue employee travel. This is not as much of a problem as it used to be but in case it comes up please advise the lounge attendant that you are on an Alaska Airlines award.
Dubai Connect
AS Awards on EK do not qualify for Dubai Connect, which is the service that offers the free hotel.
Tricks to find Transoceanic availability
Instead of performing a blanket, i.e. SEA-DXB search, perform: SEA-MED.
Madinah is a destination that is only served by EK. Consequently, if there is availability, only EK will show up in the calendar results.
Routing Rules:
All trips must start or end in North America.
One open jaw and one stopover allowed on each one-way award.
No fees for changes/cancellations prior to 60 days from departure.
North American Gateway Cities:
West Coast
Seattle
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Central
Chicago
Dallas
Houston
East Coast
Boston
New York (JFK)
Orlando (Effective September 1, 2015)
Washington DC (IAD)
Canada
Toronto
Award Chart Links*:
Middle East & Africa
Asia
Europe
*If region is not listed on chart its not available.
Perks
Chauffeur Drive NOT Available
Car service is not available for all Business Class and First Class passengers on Alaska Airlines ticketed award tickets on Emirates flights (as of Jan 2015). The chauffeur will not confirm if you use the EK website for this, though the website makes it look you can make a reservation.
Lounges
Access is available for all passengers traveling in Business and First Class. Not all cities have lounges and many may be operated by a Partner. There have been some reports of people having an issue accessing the Dubai lounges as the tickets may appear in their system as non-revenue employee travel. This is not as much of a problem as it used to be but in case it comes up please advise the lounge attendant that you are on an Alaska Airlines award.
Dubai Connect
AS Awards on EK do not qualify for Dubai Connect, which is the service that offers the free hotel.
Tricks to find Transoceanic availability
Instead of performing a blanket, i.e. SEA-DXB search, perform: SEA-MED.
Madinah is a destination that is only served by EK. Consequently, if there is availability, only EK will show up in the calendar results.
Consolidated Emirates (EK) awards availability/booking/routing thread
Mar 29, 2016, 4:27 pm
#3076
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Mountain Time Zone
Programs: AS Million Miler/Marriott Lifetime Titanium/ IGH Ambassador
Posts: 5,990
Which lounge is "nicer" is quite subjective, but you'll likely have enough time to sample the options and decide for yourself.
The A Concourse is designated as the A380 concourse, with a massive lounge that spans the entire space. It boasts boarding directly from the lounge, but in my experience this lounge space can feel cavernous, cold and not as inviting as some of the other spaces.
By contrast, the C Concourse lounge is diminuative and intimate, but lacks some of the amenities found in the other two.
My Goldilocks opinion - and I admit it is subjective - is that the B Concourse first class lounge has the best of both worlds, combining a variety of intimate spaces with a large array of amenities and dining options. I've visited both A and C on more than one occassion, but keep coming back to B as my favorite, regardless of where my departure gate is located.
It is my understanding that you are able to bring one guest into the lounge, but I have no personal experience with this since I always travel solo.
The dining in the lounges is complimentary, whether in one of the sit-down restaurants or at one of the many buffets or specialty food stations spread throughout each lounge. Wines and other beverages are also complimentary.
The A Concourse is designated as the A380 concourse, with a massive lounge that spans the entire space. It boasts boarding directly from the lounge, but in my experience this lounge space can feel cavernous, cold and not as inviting as some of the other spaces.
By contrast, the C Concourse lounge is diminuative and intimate, but lacks some of the amenities found in the other two.
My Goldilocks opinion - and I admit it is subjective - is that the B Concourse first class lounge has the best of both worlds, combining a variety of intimate spaces with a large array of amenities and dining options. I've visited both A and C on more than one occassion, but keep coming back to B as my favorite, regardless of where my departure gate is located.
It is my understanding that you are able to bring one guest into the lounge, but I have no personal experience with this since I always travel solo.
The dining in the lounges is complimentary, whether in one of the sit-down restaurants or at one of the many buffets or specialty food stations spread throughout each lounge. Wines and other beverages are also complimentary.
I just came through
Mar 29, 2016, 5:51 pm
#3077
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 759
I've read that guests have to be on the same flight as you. Sounds like it won't be a problem for you in this case, but mentioning as a general note.
Mar 29, 2016, 6:27 pm
#3078
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: SNA, VCE
Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Gold, United
Posts: 129
Booking CX with Alaska miles?
Deleted, found the correct forum
Last edited by Soulag; Mar 29, 2016 at 7:04 pm
Mar 29, 2016, 8:43 pm
#3079
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: 718
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, IHG Diamond
Posts: 966
Thank you everyone for your feedback! ^
Mar 29, 2016, 9:28 pm
#3080
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: YVR, KUL
Programs: AC, MH, BA, AF-KL
Posts: 2,903
How good is EK at with releasing last miinute space in F? I'm looking at flights to/from Asia for Dec/Jan and there's nothing on the dates I need, save for Y.
Was thinking taking a gamble by booking Y first before changing to whatever pops up later on.
Was thinking taking a gamble by booking Y first before changing to whatever pops up later on.
Mar 29, 2016, 10:51 pm
#3081
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SFO or OAK
Programs: AA 1MM GLD, Hertz #1 Gold, bunch of other programs w/no status
Posts: 1,452
I can confirm this chauffer "workaround" from DXB to Park Hyatt did not work for me in Feb 2016. Had First JNB-DXB-JFK. Presented my boarding pass at the desk at DXB, but after some furious typing by the guy behind the counter, he said we could not get the chauffer because this was an AS award ticket.
Mar 30, 2016, 1:42 pm
#3082
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: TYO
Programs: Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 1,744
Not very good. It's likely nothing will open up for you in Dec, maybe January. Lock in at J if you can and setup an ExpertFlyer alert.
Mar 30, 2016, 6:29 pm
#3083
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Mountain Time Zone
Programs: AS Million Miler/Marriott Lifetime Titanium/ IGH Ambassador
Posts: 5,990
very last minute works suggestion check on EK website to see how many seats taken that will give you an idea. Expert flyer is so so in reliability. I have seen it fail twice on EK
Apr 1, 2016, 2:38 pm
#3084
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,194
***We'll take this opportunity to go ahead and close this thread and restart discussion for 2016 (post-devaluation) in a new thread.***
Please find the continuation of this thread here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...6-edition.html
As well, just a quick heads up--we've moved all of the meta-discussion about the new Emirates award prices themselves to this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...no-notice.html
Please consolidate all discussion about the new award rates there.
The other thread linked above can continue to be used for discussion about award availability, booking procedures, and routing rules for Emirates award on AS.
jackal
Moderator, Alaska Airlines
Please find the continuation of this thread here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...6-edition.html
As well, just a quick heads up--we've moved all of the meta-discussion about the new Emirates award prices themselves to this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...no-notice.html
Please consolidate all discussion about the new award rates there.
The other thread linked above can continue to be used for discussion about award availability, booking procedures, and routing rules for Emirates award on AS.
jackal
Moderator, Alaska Airlines
Last edited by jackal; Apr 1, 2016 at 4:29 pm