I'm new to Emirates so am unfamiliar with their skyward program, so forgive me if these are dumb questions... My mother has booked, paid and ticketed round trip from the UK to SYD/AKL next Feb/Mar in business (J class). I made sure that the segments between DXB and SYD/AKL were on the A380 (so hopefully there are no more delivery delays!)

Now... I'd like to try and upgrade her to First on the segment from SYD to DXB....

1) If Expertflyer.com shows availability in 'A' does this mean that the upgrade is available or is there a hidden class not visible to Expertflyer?

2) I'm not a skywards member, but I have lots of Starwood points that I can transfer into skywards once I join. Anyone have experience on how long it takes for points to move from SPG to EK ?

3) Related to last question... can EK hold an upgrade for me before the transfer from SPG completes?

4) I see that at the EK website, manage booking, there is an option to upgrade the flight... can I go to my mothers booking and upgrade using my (yet to be created) skyward account, or should I do it by phone, given skyward account will be mine, not my mothers.

5) Upgrades from AKL and SYD take the same number of miles. She is flying AKL->SYD (one week stopover) SYD->DXB. Can I upgrade both flights for the same miles, or would this be considered two upgrades (in which case I won't bother for the AKL to SYD segment).

Thanks for any advice.

DAK