joe2

Hi all - I am a new member to FT. I noticed that Emirates has recently(Nov 15) changed their checked in baggage size (H+L+W) to be not greater than 59 inches for flights in/out of USA/Canada. It used to be 62 inches back when i travelled last year.
Does this mean we have to buy new checked in luggages?
Has anyone come across Emirates checking these sizes at the counter?
Please let me know. I'd hate to buy new bags just for Emirates.

ft101

Have a look here, where there is some discussion on the subject:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emira...es-15-nov.html

joe2

Thanks !

dfwrob

Hello all. Happy new year.

Quick question, transiting from a SAA flight (separate ticket) to the 13:50 Emirates flight at JNB tomorrow. I haven't done this before and would like to know what is the quickest way to make it to the Emirates lounge? :-)

Is there a ticket counter in the intransit area past immigration that I can pick up a boarding pass? Just OLCI and it will not give me a mobile one. I'm sure at 9:30 am it won't be too busy going through there instead of exiting past baggage claim and going to regular ticket counter. Am I thinking correctly?

knav2013

Hi,

Does anyone know the seats with the most leg room after the bulk head seats. I am guessing that the bulkheads usually have more legroom on all airplanes.

I am flying on a 333 (Airbus A330-300). Does all seats in the bulkhead row receive the same legroom.

Thanks,

manman12

Hello,

i have a problem with printed e-ticket. Whats the meaning of:

NON-END/SKYWARDS FLEX//WPID68117/DTE CHGE FREE

I hope DTE CHGE FREE = DATE CHANGE FREE

Is it right?

thanks

eternaltransit

Your ticket is Non-Endorseable, so if you present your e-ticket to another carrier with which EK have an interline agreement, then EK will not pay them to carry you - so basically, you have to use this ticket on EK

It is a Skywards Flex fare, so you will earn Skywards miles at the Skywards Flex rate

WPID68117 - is for internal EK use

DTE CHGE FREE - yes, you can change the date for free. The fare rules attached to your ticket should tell you any conditions that might apply, such as, the number of date changes included etc. But I suspect you are on a Y/E fare so that means unlimited free (date) changes.

jackiedada

Except Row 52 on the A380.

ProleOnParole

Hello,
and thank you for this thread.

I have an Economy Saver itinerary with EK, purchased directly through their website. I've flown the outbound leg in October. The inbound leg is mid-January, but I would like to postpone my return somewhere until late February or early March, picking a date with the lowest fare.

Since I've already rebooked the return once (it was originally scheduled for December), apparently it can't be done online this time. Instead, I'm supposed to call EK customer service.

I understand my options are as follows:

1. Do nothing, don't show up for the January flight, buy another ticket later (losing all the remaining value on the ticket).

2. Refund this ticket and buy another one later (this being the lowest fare class, there's probably some hefty fee involved).

3. Change to another date, paying the rebooking fee (around US$100 the previous time, but that was online) plus any fare difference (last time I found a date with no difference in fare but it took some searching; I assume the agent will not want to put that much effort into it so that I can save money, am I right?).

4. Upgrade to Economy Flex, if that's even possible, so that I can make any future date changes for free and hopefully online (not sure if that's how it works).

Could you please advise me which option I should pursue. Any other advice would be appreciated as well. I understand during the phone call I will be given the three most expensive choices and 15 seconds to decide between them, unless I have some prior knowledge of how this works and what I should be asking for.

I realize this has probably been covered here before but I couldn't find any information immediately relevant to my situation. If you know of any such threads, a link will be appreciated, too.

Side question, perhaps really stupid, but I've never actually booked a ticket/made itinerary changes over the phone before: am I supposed to give the agent my credit card details during the call? Is this SOP? Is there a security risk involved?

Thank you for your patience reading my long post.

johnnylorenzo

Thankyou, helpful, great tip.

eternaltransit

Usually it's not a problem to make multiple changes online, but it's not uncommon to be redirected to a call center, it's perfectly normal, so don't worry about that.

1 - if you drop the remaining sectors, you would have to buy a (one-way) fare back to your origin point, which would almost certainly be more significantly more expensive than your return fare. Also, the new ticket would originate in your current location where fares may also be much higher than the corresponding reverse direction (e.g. Europe-Asia is generally cheaper than Asia-Europe). You will also have to deduct the no-show fee from any refund you might apply for - in effect, you will get nothing back.

2 - The fees for your refund are stated in your fare conditions attached to your ticket. On a saver fare, they are usually on the order of 200 GBP/USD/EUR/AUD etc. (similar to a no-show).

3/4 - This basically the same scenario: you are changing your flight and you will be booked into the lowest available fare class (unless you request a specific one). Flex tickets don't all have free changes - only Y and E fare buckets have this, R and W will cost you 50 GBP/USD etc. for changes. You will of course have to pay the current change fee (unless you upgrade to Business or First) and the fare difference and any applicable new taxes. You may have a nice agent, but you probably will have an indifferent one who doesn't want to go around searching dates for you. This is dependent on your phone manner and charm though...

There is no 15 seconds, 3 choices etc. pressure applied on the phone. If you don't want to make the decision you can call back and try again - bear in mind, flight availability may change when you make the next call. They won't give you 3 choices - you are calling to request something from them, and they will price your request accordingly. They will ask you for your credit card details and address - if you have a Skywards profile and a saved card, then they will ask you for your CVV code to confirm. This is totally normal practice. I would put the security risks of telling EK your card details over the phone between low and negligible - but to reduce risk to you, I would use a credit card not a debit card so that in the unlikely event that your card details are stolen and used, you aren't out of pocket waiting for a refund.

ft101

To add to eternaltransit's detailed reply, if you have access to Expert Flyer you could search in advance for dates where your fare bucket is available, thus eliminating the potential problem area from point 3.

If you don't have access to Expert Flyer (and don't want to pay for the service) you can get a weeks free trial, which may show you the detail required.

elzeviro

A newbie question about layovers in DXB.

I will land in DXB 6.50am. Off to work downtown, then leaving again to CAI the day after 8.40am. All flights EK, no checked luggage. I'm liking the idea of checking in on my arrival flight at the airside hotel in DXB, get a shower, leave my carry on in the room then be on my merry way to work to check back in the evening and leave the hotel right before my flight leaves.

I'm not sure this can work though: the hotel website somewhat unclearly states that passengers are not allowed airside before 6hrs from their flight. I would hate to be stuck landside until 2.40am so I'm not sure if I should play it safe and deal with transfer to the airport & security lines in the morning. As my outbound leg is Y, I'd rather be airside by then.

I understand Dubai connect wouldn't apply as my flight to CAI is not the earliest connection, but I'm happy to consider that if feasible.

YuropFlyer

While your idea has some merits, I would probably settle with a hotel somewhere near your workplace or the airport.

8.40am isn't THAT early departure, arriving at the airport at 7am will give you plenty of spare time, and the airport hotels aren't that cheap either, in the city you'll get a better place for less money, probably even with lounge access in the evening

So, a hotel convenient nearby work (still be able to checkin/drop luggage as room most probably won't be ready) would be the better solution in my view. Probably enabling you to arrive at work earlier, as DXB will take some time if you want to stay airside after arrival, then eventually go out..

elzeviro

Thank you YuropFlyer.

Actually rates are comparable: I just checked and we are looking at a difference of 50USD between airport and downtown. I will need anyways to have access to a shower before I head into work, so I'm guessing that it's either an arrival lounge or the airport hotel. From then I can jump on the limo and head directly to the office instead of getting shuttled to the hotel then have to take a cab to the office.

I also could use every moment of additional sleep: my trips look increasingly like a MR, I will do SEA-MIL-LON-PAR-BRU-DXB-CAI-JNB-DXB-SEA in 14 short days, so I'm prepared to pay for the added convenience of not having to take my shoes off in the morning.

My only worry is that many places state that if you pass immigration you won't be given access to the hotel until 3hrs/6hrs before departure, so I want to make sure I don't have to sleep on a bench landside...