Apr 5, 2014, 3:23 pm
Last edit by: eponymous_coward
Emirates award guide using Alaska Airlines miles
Routing Rules:
All trips must start or end in North America.
One open jaw and one stopover allowed on each one-way award.
No fees for changes/cancellations prior to 60 days from departure.
North American Gateway Cities:
West Coast
Seattle
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Central
Chicago
Dallas
Houston
East Coast
Boston
New York (JFK)
Orlando (Effective September 1, 2015)
Washington DC (IAD)
Canada
Toronto
Award Chart Links*:
Middle East & Africa
Asia
Europe
*If region is not listed on chart its not available.
Perks
Chauffeur Drive NOT Available
Car service is not available for all Business Class and First Class passengers on Alaska Airlines ticketed award tickets on Emirates flights (as of Jan 2015). The chauffeur will not confirm if you use the EK website for this, though the website makes it look you can make a reservation.
Lounges
Access is available for all passengers traveling in Business and First Class. Not all cities have lounges and many may be operated by a Partner. There have been some reports of people having an issue accessing the Dubai lounges as the tickets may appear in their system as non-revenue employee travel. This is not as much of a problem as it used to be but in case it comes up please advise the lounge attendant that you are on an Alaska Airlines award.
Dubai Connect
AS Awards on EK do not qualify for Dubai Connect, which is the service that offers the free hotel.
Tricks to find Transoceanic availability
Instead of performing a blanket, i.e. SEA-DXB search, perform: SEA-MED.
Madinah is a destination that is only served by EK. Consequently, if there is availability, only EK will show up in the calendar results.
Routing Rules:
All trips must start or end in North America.
One open jaw and one stopover allowed on each one-way award.
No fees for changes/cancellations prior to 60 days from departure.
North American Gateway Cities:
West Coast
Seattle
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Central
Chicago
Dallas
Houston
East Coast
Boston
New York (JFK)
Orlando (Effective September 1, 2015)
Washington DC (IAD)
Canada
Toronto
Award Chart Links*:
Middle East & Africa
Asia
Europe
*If region is not listed on chart its not available.
Perks
Chauffeur Drive NOT Available
Car service is not available for all Business Class and First Class passengers on Alaska Airlines ticketed award tickets on Emirates flights (as of Jan 2015). The chauffeur will not confirm if you use the EK website for this, though the website makes it look you can make a reservation.
Lounges
Access is available for all passengers traveling in Business and First Class. Not all cities have lounges and many may be operated by a Partner. There have been some reports of people having an issue accessing the Dubai lounges as the tickets may appear in their system as non-revenue employee travel. This is not as much of a problem as it used to be but in case it comes up please advise the lounge attendant that you are on an Alaska Airlines award.
Dubai Connect
AS Awards on EK do not qualify for Dubai Connect, which is the service that offers the free hotel.
Tricks to find Transoceanic availability
Instead of performing a blanket, i.e. SEA-DXB search, perform: SEA-MED.
Madinah is a destination that is only served by EK. Consequently, if there is availability, only EK will show up in the calendar results.
Consolidated Emirates (EK) awards availability/booking/routing thread
Oct 31, 2015, 12:04 pm
#2416
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: ANC
Programs: AS; Hyatt; Bonvoy
Posts: 1,718
My friend stumbled upon a yahoo article in which the blogger advertised a "$60K flight" for almost free. I looked at it and was surprised at his routing.
In short, he was able to go from IAH-DXB-MRU-DXB-FCO-DXB-AKL-BNE-SIN under a single AS award booking. Of course, all of the layovers are <24 hours, but I still don't understand how he was able to book the IAH-DXB-MRU-DXB-FCO-DXB portion.
The most EK flights I'm aware of in a single AS itinerary I was aware of is 4-- JFK-FCO-DXB-HKG-BKK, but you're only routed to DXB once. Here, he visited DXB 3 times. The blogger doesn't explain how he did this. Any thoughts?
In short, he was able to go from IAH-DXB-MRU-DXB-FCO-DXB-AKL-BNE-SIN under a single AS award booking. Of course, all of the layovers are <24 hours, but I still don't understand how he was able to book the IAH-DXB-MRU-DXB-FCO-DXB portion.
The most EK flights I'm aware of in a single AS itinerary I was aware of is 4-- JFK-FCO-DXB-HKG-BKK, but you're only routed to DXB once. Here, he visited DXB 3 times. The blogger doesn't explain how he did this. Any thoughts?
DaveInLA, there's an AS forum thread devoted to this topic.
Oct 31, 2015, 4:48 pm
#2417
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Mountain Time Zone
Programs: AS Million Miler/Marriott Lifetime Titanium/ IGH Ambassador
Posts: 5,992
DaveInLA, there's an AS forum thread devoted to this topic.
Nov 1, 2015, 8:41 am
#2418
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,542
I poked around this and other threads, ran a couple of searches, but didn't come across anything definitive (though in fairness, only spent 3-5 minutes searching - so flame me if I missed something obvious).
Best, Jamie
Nov 1, 2015, 9:57 am
#2419
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
Programs: AF Platinum, EK Gold, AA EXP, UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 21,603
Thanks. What's the verdict on EK opening F awards close-in a la Cathay? Cathay is so reliable, I've actually traveled around the world without a return plan, confident that CX would come through.
I poked around this and other threads, ran a couple of searches, but didn't come across anything definitive (though in fairness, only spent 3-5 minutes searching - so flame me if I missed something obvious).
Best, Jamie
I poked around this and other threads, ran a couple of searches, but didn't come across anything definitive (though in fairness, only spent 3-5 minutes searching - so flame me if I missed something obvious).
Best, Jamie
Nov 1, 2015, 10:37 am
#2420
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: LHR, DFW, J Cabins WorldWide
Programs: AA EXP, UA GS, FB Gold, AS MVPG, MR Titanium, VS Gold
Posts: 954
Although policy seems a little inconsistent and somewhat route dependent, EK is reasonably good about opening award seats as you get closer (inside 7 days) if inventory is there. IMO, recently CX is not as reliable as it used to be. A few weeks ago, I kept looking for one F seat on JFK-YVR, but it departed F5 with CX not releasing another seat.
Nov 1, 2015, 12:14 pm
#2421
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,542
For some more anecdotal evidence, I have booked 2 last minute (less than 5 days out) F redemption on EK (LHR-DXB-DFW, HKG-DXB-SEA), and 5 last minute F awards on Cathay (HKG-SFO/LAX/YVR/ORD) in the last year. 2 trips were booked without the return at the time of booking, have had no problems booking either a EK or CX last minute ticket (just have to be flex on timings/days).
Best, Jamie
Nov 1, 2015, 12:14 pm
#2422
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,542
Although policy seems a little inconsistent and somewhat route dependent, EK is reasonably good about opening award seats as you get closer (inside 7 days) if inventory is there. IMO, recently CX is not as reliable as it used to be. A few weeks ago, I kept looking for one F seat on JFK-YVR, but it departed F5 with CX not releasing another seat.
Nov 2, 2015, 11:36 am
#2423
Join Date: Jul 2014
Programs: Jeff is Deaf
Posts: 541
Although policy seems a little inconsistent and somewhat route dependent, EK is reasonably good about opening award seats as you get closer (inside 7 days) if inventory is there. IMO, recently CX is not as reliable as it used to be. A few weeks ago, I kept looking for one F seat on JFK-YVR, but it departed F5 with CX not releasing another seat.
Nov 2, 2015, 2:09 pm
#2424
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: PDX & PHX
Programs: AA,AS,HH,HY,IB,LH,IHG,MAR,WN
Posts: 199
Nov 4, 2015, 11:00 pm
#2425
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 589
Is there any update yet with the EF and EK issue?.
Nov 5, 2015, 9:23 pm
#2426
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
Checking tonight, November 5, 2015, the following banner still appears on the Expert Flyer search page:
NOTE: There is a temporary issue affecting the display of EK flights other than ones to/from North America. We are working with our information provider to fix the issue and expect it to be resolved within the next few weeks. Thank you for your patience.
I was not able to get availability to come up - checking the Southern African Zone - DXB.
NOTE: There is a temporary issue affecting the display of EK flights other than ones to/from North America. We are working with our information provider to fix the issue and expect it to be resolved within the next few weeks. Thank you for your patience.
I was not able to get availability to come up - checking the Southern African Zone - DXB.
Nov 6, 2015, 8:03 am
#2427
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Mountain Time Zone
Programs: AS Million Miler/Marriott Lifetime Titanium/ IGH Ambassador
Posts: 5,992
Checking tonight, November 5, 2015, the following banner still appears on the Expert Flyer search page:
NOTE: There is a temporary issue affecting the display of EK flights other than ones to/from North America. We are working with our information provider to fix the issue and expect it to be resolved within the next few weeks. Thank you for your patience.
I was not able to get availability to come up - checking the Southern African Zone - DXB.
NOTE: There is a temporary issue affecting the display of EK flights other than ones to/from North America. We are working with our information provider to fix the issue and expect it to be resolved within the next few weeks. Thank you for your patience.
I was not able to get availability to come up - checking the Southern African Zone - DXB.
Nov 6, 2015, 8:08 am
#2428
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,913
What is the best strategy to get South Africa-USA F awards? I know the DXB-USA part is easy but the only thing in advance is JNB in J. I heard that they usually open up though a week in advance. Is it best to book now and change later with paying the fee or just waiting the week before? Also let's say I took the JNB J now would upgrading it to F on that leg cost anything extra?
Nov 6, 2015, 9:04 am
#2429
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,542
What is the best strategy to get South Africa-USA F awards? I know the DXB-USA part is easy but the only thing in advance is JNB in J. I heard that they usually open up though a week in advance. Is it best to book now and change later with paying the fee or just waiting the week before? Also let's say I took the JNB J now would upgrading it to F on that leg cost anything extra?
Good luck, Jamie
Nov 6, 2015, 9:38 am
#2430
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SFO or OAK
Programs: AA 1MM GLD, Hertz #1 Gold, bunch of other programs w/no status
Posts: 1,454
Phone fee to upgrade J segment on F award inside 60 day window?
Sorry if this has been asked before, but I searched the thread and didn't find an answer:
I recently booked SFO-DXB (stopover) DXB-MLE with SFO-DXB in F and DXB-MLE in J. If F opens up for DXB-MLE and I call to change it, will I be charged a change fee if it is within the 60-day to departure window?
BTW, as another data point reinforcing what others have already posted, I could not book my itinerary online with the mixed cabins and the stopover, despite separate searches showing the availability was there. Agent on the phone worked it out and waived phone fee (kudos to her!) ^^
I recently booked SFO-DXB (stopover) DXB-MLE with SFO-DXB in F and DXB-MLE in J. If F opens up for DXB-MLE and I call to change it, will I be charged a change fee if it is within the 60-day to departure window?
BTW, as another data point reinforcing what others have already posted, I could not book my itinerary online with the mixed cabins and the stopover, despite separate searches showing the availability was there. Agent on the phone worked it out and waived phone fee (kudos to her!) ^^