Originally Posted by
jackiedada
Actually, what this new rule has done is completely eliminate the possibility of Dubai connect in all 3 classes F/J/Y from a place like BOM, (or probably LHR/ BKK for that matter), which is served by 5 daily connections with an average spacing of approximately 5 hours between each connection. Now I need to slog it out in 501 departing at an unearthly 04:30 am or prepare to slog 10 hours in the F lounge (and thank goodness, at least I still have access to that). I think I'll need to shift to 501 for this flight or do 509/203/Jeblue to ORD. Not sure yet.
Yes, would definitely save EK a lot of money. Not sure if it is for the better though - definitely not for us pax.
I can understand the logic behind this.
With the addition of several new destinations with 1x day flights (ORD, BOS, SEA, ARN, etc) you could easily take an earlier inbound flight (e.g. from a destination with 3-5x daily) and get a free night/day of leisure or business in Dubai even by taking the first available onward connection.
Dubai Connect was originally created to entice pax to deal with no other option than a long layover and with the increasing amount of frequencies and can see how they are tightening the T&C's. Dubai is also a lot more appealing as a layover destination nowadays too.
(10+ years ago, I once even got a free hotel night when connecting in Dubai on using two different non-EK airlines).