Originally Posted by
David Brent
I don't think EKs email upgrade offers give much, if any, value at all.
I fly from Asia to the UK via DXB and an economy return is usually ~£600 whereas a business return is ~£2100. I usually get emailed upgrade offers to J for £3-400 per leg (remember, there are 4 legs in that journey) so it essentially works out at the same price. So if I'm flying EK, I either book business to begin with or book economy and don't upgrade. On my last flight I actually did upgrade from Y to J on one leg and there were approx. 10 people in the J cabin whereas Y was full. It did make me wonder why they don't offer the upgrade at a lower price presuming many more people would take it.
I don't think anyone would purchase an economy ticket and then also purchase the upgrade 'offers' for each segment because as you say it is quite obvious the price would be the same. The bonus of the upgrade emails is that you can choose to fly a particular segment in J then stay in Y for the rest of your flights which is something you cannot normally do via a cash purchase.