They finally got to my regular route, DXB - SIN.

Thanks to the lovely combination of increasing fares due to increasing oil prices, and the flex/ saver changes, I would need to pay 60% more than I did 2 months ago for a flex ticket. At current prices, a flex ticket would cost 30% over a saver ticket.

I think this is where EK becomes uncompetitive for me. It turns out Etihad has decent timings even though they only fly 3 times a week. But changes cost AED 200 vs free on EK. But I get full miles on EY.

SQ is now the cheapest on this route, but for the same price as Etihad I can get a mileage accruing ticket. I hate SQ, so I know I won't switch to them, but this really has me thinking now. QR has great fares too, but only 50% mileage, a detour via DOH and terrible timings.

I could give up on having status on Skywards and still fly EK at the Saver fare level. But that's going to make EK boring. If I suck up and pay the extra for the flex fare, I'll be flying a lot less. The other thing I could do is burn miles, which should keep me going at least a couple of years.