Rip Off Emirates

Old May 2, 2012, 12:28 am
  #1  
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Rip Off Emirates

So beginning of last year I was giving most of my flying to Emirates even though I was based in Abu Dhabi. Mainly cause I wanted to fly the A380 and liked the rewards program for Emirates.

But flying out of UAE on Emirates is just day light robbery now. Their prices to most destinations are at least 50% more than others, sometimes twice as much as other carriers. I am sorry but the service aint that good to justify that.

It seems they dont even care about there local market anymore cause they know they have the monopoly on it.

Very dissapointed...
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Old May 2, 2012, 12:46 am
  #2  
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Originally Posted by Omar84
So beginning of last year I was giving most of my flying to Emirates even though I was based in Abu Dhabi. Mainly cause I wanted to fly the A380 and liked the rewards program for Emirates.

But flying out of UAE on Emirates is just day light robbery now. Their prices to most destinations are at least 50% more than others, sometimes twice as much as other carriers. I am sorry but the service aint that good to justify that.

It seems they dont even care about there local market anymore cause they know they have the monopoly on it.

Very dissapointed...
Omar84, them are fighting words, especially on here. But everyone is entitled to their opinion and you are certainly free to air yours here.

My question is this. Does SQ operate any differently out of its home market in Singapore. Or Qantas out of Australia? Or LH out of Germany?

You would find an equal amount of Aussies (like me) who think like you do, but direct their vitriol towards QF in Australia.

I havent set foot on a QF long-haul flight in 12-years. And wouldn't consider SQ either for anything long-haul. EK's pricing on the other hand is super competitive out of Singapore. And not bad out of Australia.

Is EY any better out of Abu Dhabi? I've just tried to talk to EY in Australia and Singapore to chase up a status match offer, but both staff were completely useless and their call centre very unprofessional.
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Old May 2, 2012, 1:22 am
  #3  
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Apologies if I sounded like I was coming on a bit strong. Need to write better.

I understand the idea of the homebase arguement and how all other airlines are the same.

However just did a quick check, for example a flight from DXB to JFK is coming in at around 6600 Dhs on EK, can get the same on BA for 3600 Dhs. Economy of course.

EY is surprisingly competitive out of AUH, but how long that will remain is questionnable. But I am sure they wont be going to the over pricing that Emirates is using.

Regarding their status matching, they did do an offer recently on it, but no idea how successful it was

http://resources.etihadairways.com/e...web_04_12.html


As I said and agree with you EK is competitive out of other countries, but how can one justify such an increase in price from their home base?
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Old May 2, 2012, 1:43 am
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Originally Posted by eightblack
Omar84, them are fighting words, especially on here. But everyone is entitled to their opinion and you are certainly free to air yours here.

My question is this. Does SQ operate any differently out of its home market in Singapore. Or Qantas out of Australia? Or LH out of Germany?

You would find an equal amount of Aussies (like me) who think like you do, but direct their vitriol towards QF in Australia.

I havent set foot on a QF long-haul flight in 12-years. And wouldn't consider SQ either for anything long-haul. EK's pricing on the other hand is super competitive out of Singapore. And not bad out of Australia.

Is EY any better out of Abu Dhabi? I've just tried to talk to EY in Australia and Singapore to chase up a status match offer, but both staff were completely useless and their call centre very unprofessional.
I couldn't agree with you more eightblack.

I have seen a lot of negative comments towards Emirates not only on FT but all over the internet.

Now I'm one for free speech, so I'm not trying to protect anyone or anything. I'll say that strait up.

I must say, 90% of the issues I'm hearing are a first for me. I've flown on Emirates countless times, in fact it's almost gotten to the stage where counting has become an issue.

Yes, I've had my ups and downs on flights but nothing that would make me write home about. After all the airline is run and operated by humans and mistakes are expected as time goes by. But I've never and I mean never, have I experienced the same issue on multiple flights / sectors. I can't say the same for many other International and Domestic airlines.

I think prices throughout the world have increased. And I strongly disagree, that aircraft types have a major part to play in such actions. e.g. 2010, I flew on SQ's A380 to HKG, Business Class. Paid close to $1,500 SGD for one ticket, for the same time of year in 2011 it would've cost me an extra $1000 SGD. I have never seen such an increase from any airline other than Singapore Airlines. Yes, Emirates is not immune to increases in ticket prices, but you find me a route that prices have increased more than $1000 dollars on an equal sector.

I hope I've been getting on the correct flights. The aircraft does say 'Emirates' on the side of it. :S

^
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Old May 2, 2012, 2:58 am
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I do the DXB-JFK trips around four times a year, and I completely agree that nonstop pricing from Dubai to pretty much anywhere in the states is ridiculous, and as a student it's pretty darn irritating.

Vote with your wallet, simple. I'm flying BA/AA this summer, instead of my usual EK203/202. Let's see if it was worth shelling out ~3000AED more for Emirates. Perhaps it might even be.

Plus, the usual home base model. You try flying nonstop domestically to Atlanta on Delta during peak days..
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Old May 2, 2012, 3:05 am
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Originally Posted by Xlr
I do the DXB-JFK trips around four times a year, and I completely agree that nonstop pricing from Dubai to pretty much anywhere in the states is ridiculous, and as a student it's pretty darn irritating.

Vote with your wallet, simple. I'm flying BA/AA this summer, instead of my usual EK203/202. Let's see if it was worth shelling out ~3000AED more for Emirates. Perhaps it might even be.

Plus, the usual home base model. You try flying nonstop domestically to Atlanta on Delta during peak days..
But if you were doing 4 x round trips to the US, wouldn't you be better to position yourself to the US via a one-way DXB-JFK and then start buying all your return trips ex the US? I've seen some great pricing ex USA...
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Old May 2, 2012, 7:34 am
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Originally Posted by eightblack
But if you were doing 4 x round trips to the US, wouldn't you be better to position yourself to the US via a one-way DXB-JFK and then start buying all your return trips ex the US? I've seen some great pricing ex USA...
It depends on your specific needs but in general no. I know someone who did this recently and it didn't turn out all so great.

If you're traveling to DXB in the summer/ winter peak season, a r/t is around $2000. Which is not only more expensive than a ticket ex-DXB, but it comes with a $400 change fee vs. free changes. What's more, these overpriced tickets are Saver fares.

I could live with overpriced tickets ex-DXB, but then they made even those Savers.

People are voting with their wallets, but often EK is the most convenient for a lot of routes. For example, to and from most of India, the alternatives are narrow bodies, red-eye flights, with poor frequencies. To Singapore, Etihad flies 3 times a week, so it's never been an option really.
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Old May 2, 2012, 8:05 am
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The best thing to do in this situation is to go with whoever is cheaper - upto a certain point of course.

Airline status (esp EK Gold) is not worth maintaining at a more than 10% premium to other airlines. The benefits are simply not there, especially on paid business where op ups to F are very rare (~ 1 of out 12 sectors at best) to SFO.

This year, I already have 2 non EK (SQ and TG) trips booked between the US-India. I was able to get a cheap D fare on SQ for about US$4200 in June/July, and an even cheaper J fare on TG for about $3575 in October. EK wanted $5300.

It's not that I hate EK, but it is time to realize that blind loyalty to any airline is a thing of the past.
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Old May 2, 2012, 8:07 am
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EK in general has got quite expensive though. What used to be a $350 CMB-MLE fare is now over $500. That's almost a 50% increase in 12 months.
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Old May 2, 2012, 10:20 am
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I agree. Fares BOM-JFK in Y used to be around the INR 55K-60K range but now it is more around the INR 75K-90K range. The funny thing though is that most other airlines have raised fares too (including 9W) and EK still is competitive. I would assume this are more due to a devaluing rupee and rising fuel costs in India...
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Old May 2, 2012, 10:35 am
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Originally Posted by CommittedLurker
The best thing to do in this situation is to go with whoever is cheaper - upto a certain point of course.

Airline status (esp EK Gold) is not worth maintaining at a more than 10% premium to other airlines. The benefits are simply not there, especially on paid business where op ups to F are very rare (~ 1 of out 12 sectors at best) to SFO.

This year, I already have 2 non EK (SQ and TG) trips booked between the US-India. I was able to get a cheap D fare on SQ for about US$4200 in June/July, and an even cheaper J fare on TG for about $3575 in October. EK wanted $5300.

It's not that I hate EK, but it is time to realize that blind loyalty to any airline is a thing of the past.
I agree with the first statement. For me, EK delivers the best bang for my buck out of SIN. It's an easy choice.

But not sure I agree with the next part. Status is worth something ex SIN, especially given that many of the flights are oversold. If I told you how many op-ups I've had in the last 2-years, Ung1 would burst into tears. Or fly into a fit of rage. And that's from Y to J and J to F.

Sometimes, the flight to MEL will have 20 op-ups from Y-J. And what started out as zero in F, left as 8 out of 8. Status matters. To me at least.

Re the long-haul flights to the US (ie West Coast) I was told that most of these flights are weight restricted, hence no overselling of any cabin, hence very little op-ups. Which makes sense.
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Old May 2, 2012, 10:50 am
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Rip Off Emirates

Eightblack, there are plenty of op ups from Y to J on EK to the US WC. I think EK has decided to regularly oversell Y and upgrade to C. Seeing 5-10 people regularly upgraded to C is common. C to F upgrades are very rare. Not even 1 per flight IME.

Upon reviewing my original post, I meant to say that EK GOLD status is pretty useless on flights to/from the USWC when in paid business. If in Y, it gives you a great chance of an op up - agreed.

But I disagree that EK doesn't oversell on these flights due to weight restrictions. They do, but apparently only enough to fill up the J cabin.

I also see the same trend on flights to CCU (2 class). Y is regularly oversold, with the J cabin going out full due to the overspill.
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Old May 2, 2012, 10:58 am
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@CommittedLurker, absolutely agreed re Y-J - point taken. I haven't flown WC before (only East Coast). I think EK do try and protect the integrity of F on most sectors and only op-up to F if absolutely necessary.

The stats you quote for J-F op-ups are probably the same for most of the flights I take within APAC...
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Old May 2, 2012, 4:00 pm
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Originally Posted by eightblack
Status is worth something ex SIN, especially given that many of the flights are oversold. If I told you how many op-ups I've had in the last 2-years, Ung1 would burst into tears. Or fly into a fit of rage. And that's from Y to J and J to F.
That is because your last name starts with a C!!!!
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Old May 2, 2012, 4:03 pm
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Originally Posted by CommittedLurker
Eightblack, there are plenty of op ups from Y to J on EK to the US WC. I think EK has decided to regularly oversell Y and upgrade to C. Seeing 5-10 people regularly upgraded to C is common. C to F upgrades are very rare. Not even 1 per flight IME.

Upon reviewing my original post, I meant to say that EK GOLD status is pretty useless on flights to/from the USWC when in paid business. If in Y, it gives you a great chance of an op up - agreed.
Pfft!!!!!

Op-ups from USWC are a joke.... If your last name doesn't start with A - D.

I am 0 for 1 on Y and 0 for 7 on J with op-ups from the USWC. Then again my last name starts with a W.
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