I don't know where this post should go, so please don't yell at me if its in the wrong place. There are two parts to this.

That said, I read on the board someone mentioned DNATA as a place that discounts F flights on Emirates. Couldn't find them. But, as I am one of those people who have to pay for first if I don't have an upgrade voucher (and I don't), I try to get the best fares I can. Anyway, I've been checking DL flights to Cairo for a pleasure trip this fall & the fare is $5612. Expected, except that the flights have me in F or B to the gateway city, then K on the international leg. Even on AF, the fare was coming up 1st, but the class for at least 2 legs was coach. Since K is coach, I'm not paying almost 6K to sit in coach.

I found a site that advertises first class discounts & requested a fare quote. They responded with $3500-3900 depending if I payed cash or w/credit. (Like I'm gonna pay that kind of money without protection) Anyway, the information attached was weird. Apparently, they "buy" miles from others. Really, someone else just gets an award in my name. Not what I want since I rarely cash in my own miles because I hate to fly without earning miles.

Anyway, the shady part was the 2 paragraphs where they explained how one could get the miles credited to their account after checking in for the first leg even though it would be an award ticket. It went on & on about how selling miles wasn't illegal nor was trying to scam F bonus & actual miles.

Needless to say, I deleted their message without response & have no intention of dealing with them. My question is, does anyone know of any legitimate places to get even the modest discount on F seats, or is that an oxymoron???

Second, has anyone flown Emirates? I know they are partnered with CO so I could get status miles on the LGW-DXB-CAI return legs on their code shares. I'm havng difficulty trying to plan a routing that will allow me to stop in Bahrain for a few days, earn mileage, & be in F the entire way. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate it. I am w/ NW,DL,AA,US,UA, & for the time being CO.

Thanks