blessing786

Hi,

Please accept my apologies for the title of this thread, I couldn't think if anything more productive.

I have been on this forum for about 4 months now on and off looking at all the posts and getting all the info etc but this my first post and my first ever flight on Emirates. I have previously been a die hard fan of British Airways.

The question I have is, I recently booked a flight to London Heathrow>Dubai>Islambad>Dubai>London Heathrow, Because there was a stop over in Dubai on the outbound the fair for upgrade business class was huge and jumped from Ł1584 to Ł2305 because of the stopover in Dubai for three days. I was unable to upgrade just one leg and had to upgrade both legs i,e, London to Dubai and then Dubai to Islamabad. Which was going over my budget.

I therefore upgraded the inbound to buisness (Islambad to Dubai and then Dubai to LHR) and I decided to purchase 15000 skywards miles and used existing miles to upgrade just the one leg from Dubai to Islamabad on the outbound leaving LHR to Dubai economy.

This was all okay until now where I have had to cancel my stopover in Dubai due to some dates issue of friends wedding and had to rearrange it for on the way back stopover. I paid the difference of Ł328 and got all the whole flight upgraded to business class. So now the entire journey is on Business Saver class. I got the miles i initially used for the upgrade back and on my account/

Now my question is is their anyway I can refund the miles I purchased which were Ł292 for 15000 miles?? I know they will stay on file for three years but ideally I could do with that Ł300 quid back as I have now paid Ł600 in upgrades, (292 for miles and 328 for actual upgeade later) I have tried to ask for a refund but told its not allowed and rightly so I should have read the terms and conditions which at the time I didnt think were relevant because my dates were fixed and didnt expect to be in this boat?

what are my options other then leave the miles in my account for the future?

Also, I was initially stopping over, i now have 18 hour lay over. Does anyone know if I will be able to get my luggage back when I land at Dubai before my next flight which is 18hrs after I land? or will it be kept at the airport and moved onto the next plane automatically? Ideally, Id want my luggage to get my laptop and stuff out.

Anyone shed some light please?

m3red

Getting your bags will be no issues.

Getting a refund most likely will not happen I understand they are non refundable.

You can use the points for upgrades or easy jet flights or in the Emirates high street - it's a shame you don't have enough to get to first on the Dxb lhr leg.

kuroko

He do have enough. He upgraded Y to C so he has at least 30K.

The bought miles are non refundable: save the miles, upgrade LHR-DXB/DXB-LHR to F, buy a flight with easyjet or TP

blessing786

Hello Gents,

Thanks for getting back to me. Its shame, they are not refundable, i suppose il have to keep them.

In relation to upgrading from LHR to DXB, I have enough miles however when I called up to upgrade they told me I cannot upgrade using miles but only cash. Whem I check online, the area is greyed out? anyone know why? how i can upfrage it?

Keep getting this message "Sorry, there are no reward seats available at the moment, please try again later"

blessing786

Thanks for replying.

I will have look at emirates high street.

In relation to the baggage will i have to arrange this or will it automatically pop out on the belt when i land?

m3red

You need to ask them to tag it's only to dubai and then you will need to check in again before your onward flight.

Re the miles it appears that there is just no availability so keep trying.

RadioGirl

I can't comment on the points refund or even how you arrange to get your luggage at Dubai, but this sentence caught my eye.

It's never a good idea to put a laptop or other fragile/valuable items in your checked luggage. Unless it's an old laptop you won't mind losing or having damaged, you should take it with you in your carry-on. (Same for cameras, phones and other valuable electronics as well as prescription medicines.)

blessing786

Many thanks for your help and info. It puts me at a little ease knowing what to expect.

Will ask them to tag it for dubai.

blessing786

Hi RadioGirl,

I totally understand where your coming from and usually they always go by hand, the issue I have is, recently due to global events, Our government in the UK has decided it wants to check all devices when clearing security at airports and therefore the user/owner has to prove this by switching the device on, the advise currently is keep batteries topped up etc as if the device doesn't switch on, you wont be allowed to take it with you onboard the aircraft and will have to dispose of it or leave it behind. Rightly so if it ensures travel safety.

My laptop has fried battery, its fairly new laptop (about 1yr old). However, it has that many recharges and dis charges. It wont switch on without plugging in the power adapter. I have got new battery coming through extended warranty but my expected delivery date is after I depart. So I am planning for worse case scenario in case it doesn't turn up on time and I need my bags at Dubai because I wont have choice but to stick it in the checked luggage. I will have to take the risk.

Kind Regards

RadioGirl

Oh, my, are they still doing that? I know there was a peak in this silliness some months ago (in both the US and UK). At the time, it was discussed widely (including on FT) but, from reports, only implemented very infrequently. Are these tests actually occurring on a regular basis, or is it just "advice" that it may occur?

(And no, with respect, it doesn't ensure travel safety; the fact that a laptop powers up doesn't guarantee that it's "safe", nor does failure to power up mean that it's dangerous. It's just security theatre to make passengers feel like the gov't is Doing Something. But that's a discussion for another forum.)

I've avoided travel to the US and UK for some years, but I'm under pressure to go to the UK later this year. Sigh.

blessing786

From what I have read so far on the subject and asked colleagues they are still doing all mobile phones and some of the laptops/tablets. They were definetley doing it six months ago when I went to Saudi. It would appear laptops are being done if the security are in the mood etc.

So its hard to say if they will do it on the particular day i fly, the issue will be if they do, il be stuck and will have to leave my laptop behind because by then my luggage will have already been checked in. This I cant afford to do, The alternative would be buying a new one paid by the employer but then all my work and company software wont be loaded.

I agree with what your saying about the government however from what I understand someone tried to replace the battery fluid with a chemical used in explosives and tried to to board the jet, presumably they were then going to extract the fluid from the battery and use/mix it wither other things to cause damage, the battery is not checked and this would be a form of way to get somin on the jet. The "power on" test is so the battery hasn't been tampered with and still contains battery fluid. The problem is you could never be to sure with these things so its best to be safe then sorry, that said we never know when any government is telling the truth to safeguard their own personal interests. like the US who has been at war for 222 years out of 239 years of existence, but like you say thats matter for another forum.

We are lucky here in the UK that we don't get sexually assaulted and frisked when travelling but i hear in the US that's a regular occurrence or your with held behind for unknown reasons with the TSA agents saying they running some additional checks. Some collagues who visit that part of the world on regular basis have some stories to share even tho they enter in an out on regular basis, others have had no issues whats so ever.

m3red

I've never had these tests once this year and we've flown a lot ie nearly platinum.

ukdoctor

Havent been on EK for several months but I remember that the tests were random just prior to boarding the aircraft.

I was never selected for the same. I remember a couple getting really annoyed with the staff when their phone would not switch on due to low battery. They were asked to plug it in ( but their charger had a different socket . ) . They had to use another passengers charger and then switch the phone on.

m3red

Status run?!

eternaltransit

If you are flying out of A concourse from F/J lounges there is usually the two security people at the exit to the elevators - by the time they call boarding they have just about packed up so no electronics check there!

Have flown DXB-UK about 12 times this year and haven't been checked once. In fact I have actually never been checked since the whole thing started