Originally Posted by
eightblack
While I philosophically agree with your statement, "if you want C or F, pay for it", I'm not convinced that generalisations such as "so many EK fliers seem to not only expect upgrades, but we get frustrated at not getting them" is accurate.
If we're generalising, then lets talk about the absolute hysteria and passion over on the UA forum - regarding all the 1K's, GS etc who are constantly waving their arms about not getting upgrades, and the fact that the upgrade lists are getting longer and longer...
The EK forum is tame in comparison.
And no, not every Tom, Dick & Harry can be a Gold. 50,000 tier miles still means you either need to spend the money in J or F or do the yards in Y. Grab any manifest in SIN, MEL, SYD, AKL etc and you will note that on a 777-300 for example, not every pax has status. Far from it in fact.
Perhaps I should have clarified: "Many EK fliers on this thread etc."
I've been flying about 120K every year for the past 5 years (except for last year: 8K! Ouch!) and this year I'm set for 200K (thank you very much recovering economy) but I hardly consider that heavy. I know people who've been doing 300K every year, for 6-7 years! And not just one or two... Alas, maybe I've become desensitized towards frequent travel and see everyone the same way.
And please, don't bring UA's name with EK in the same sentence! That's more or less like blasphemy! I actually was a 1K with them at some point a few years back and survived to tell my story!
Originally Posted by
ung1
I agree with eightblack on this. Most "normal" people travel long haul once, at most twice, a year on vacation. Some regional travel if they are from the region (think S Asians in Dubai or SE Asians in Singapore etc). Yes, with fares going down, it has increased people's affordability to take these long haul flights, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are taking more flights.
That leaves a small number of people who travel either very frequently or very long distances for personal reasons (I do 4-5 a year and think that's a lot), or those doing it as part of their employment. And if you're doing it for work, you shouldn't be sitting in Y anyway, and certainly shouldn't be complaining about there being too many status pax. (just IMO of course).
My company, well known in its field, has a company wide Y policy! Everyone, from the top down flies in Y. What's worse, a lot of companies are now requiring travel on specific fare buckets only, even if they are sometimes cheaper than discount C/J!