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
Sep 20, 2013, 10:13 am
#406
Ambassador: Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 7,390
I wouldn't get too excited about this flight compared to other NA flights. It's a 772 with open suites not the private suites you get on the 77W and A380.
"... The flight will be operated by a GE-90 engine-powered Boeing 777-200LR..."
emirates.com DXB-BOS Announcement
"... The flight will be operated by a GE-90 engine-powered Boeing 777-200LR..."
emirates.com DXB-BOS Announcement
Sep 20, 2013, 10:18 am
#407
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
Programs: AF Platinum, EK Gold, AA EXP, UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 21,598
I don't believe that is accurate, none of EK's current 77L (777-200LRs) have the open suite design. All are private. The 77L is coming from the SEA route which is being up gauged to 77W. I double checked with EF, read the EK fleet thread in the EK forum, it is going to be the 77L with the long haul product.
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Emi..._LR_3class.php
Sep 20, 2013, 12:11 pm
#408
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,499
Good to know. I was just going off of seatguru... sounds like it is not correct.
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Emi..._LR_3class.php
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Emi..._LR_3class.php
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Emi...300_3class.php
Sep 27, 2013, 1:39 pm
#409
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
BOS-DXB is for sale but no awards available yet.
Sep 28, 2013, 10:12 pm
#410
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
Programs: AF Platinum, EK Gold, AA EXP, UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 21,598
EF Z availability may not necessarily show up on AS.com or with AS agents.
If EF says yes but AS says no, press the issue because it is likely available.
Booked one JNB-DXB-LAX Z seat tonight when it showed up on EF. Not available on AS.com and AS agent could not see Z avails in either computer system. He sent a message to EK and got a positive confirmation within a couple of minutes.
If EF says yes but AS says no, press the issue because it is likely available.
Booked one JNB-DXB-LAX Z seat tonight when it showed up on EF. Not available on AS.com and AS agent could not see Z avails in either computer system. He sent a message to EK and got a positive confirmation within a couple of minutes.
Sep 29, 2013, 9:13 am
#411
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
Programs: AF Platinum, EK Gold, AA EXP, UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 21,598
God, I feel like I've just run a marathon. It took nearly two hours this morning but we finally have two First (Z) seats together on our JNB-DXB-JFK return.
Overnight, two Z seats opened on DXB-JFK on our return date two weeks out. Let the fun begin. Naturally, the EK requirement to have married segments the entire way meant no changes to an existing ticket. So, I cancelled Mrs. SFO's JNB-DXB-LAX ticket. Her JNB-DXB Z seat was immediately returned to Z inventory although a painfully slow AS agent couldn't see it unless she built the itinerary manually.
I then cancelled my JNB-DXB-SEA. The second JNB-DXB Z seat was immediately returned to Z inventory but I made the mistake of hanging up before realizing that the AS.com multi-city availability only showed Economy on JNB-DXB. Called back three times before finding a competent agent that voluntarily said "let me try to build it manually" and booked Z all the way.
This is one seriously difficult partnership to find and book seats for a couple. But if you have the time and patience, you will be rewarded. Good thing I'm MVPG, as all the changes on this trip would have cost a fortune.
Overnight, two Z seats opened on DXB-JFK on our return date two weeks out. Let the fun begin. Naturally, the EK requirement to have married segments the entire way meant no changes to an existing ticket. So, I cancelled Mrs. SFO's JNB-DXB-LAX ticket. Her JNB-DXB Z seat was immediately returned to Z inventory although a painfully slow AS agent couldn't see it unless she built the itinerary manually.
I then cancelled my JNB-DXB-SEA. The second JNB-DXB Z seat was immediately returned to Z inventory but I made the mistake of hanging up before realizing that the AS.com multi-city availability only showed Economy on JNB-DXB. Called back three times before finding a competent agent that voluntarily said "let me try to build it manually" and booked Z all the way.
This is one seriously difficult partnership to find and book seats for a couple. But if you have the time and patience, you will be rewarded. Good thing I'm MVPG, as all the changes on this trip would have cost a fortune.
Last edited by SFO777; Sep 29, 2013 at 10:27 am
Sep 30, 2013, 1:52 pm
#412
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: (SJC)
Posts: 2,198
Married Segments are still the rule?
I am sure I already asked this, but how about after taking segment 1, can segment 2 be changed via phone support.
Next Monday:
I have 2 Seats on JFK-DXB Z
I want to change DXB-SEZ Z to a different date, but don't want to lose my JFK-DXB seats. Thoughts?
(Note, Agent seems to think no changes allowed after taking an outbound.)
Right now there is Z1 on my first segment, and she could make the change, but only if it was Z2. Guess I better cross my fingers Z2 opens.)
I am sure I already asked this, but how about after taking segment 1, can segment 2 be changed via phone support.
Next Monday:
I have 2 Seats on JFK-DXB Z
I want to change DXB-SEZ Z to a different date, but don't want to lose my JFK-DXB seats. Thoughts?
(Note, Agent seems to think no changes allowed after taking an outbound.)
Right now there is Z1 on my first segment, and she could make the change, but only if it was Z2. Guess I better cross my fingers Z2 opens.)
Last edited by AMRivlin; Sep 30, 2013 at 2:10 pm
Nov 11, 2013, 12:04 am
#413
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 63
Booking Emirates F private suite in an A380 Seattle/Dubai/Barcelona
I just booked next years trip, to Spain this time, and we really wanted to check out the private suites, the two bars, the showers, and the A380. I'm no genius at this but thought I would share the process in case anyone at my amateur level wanted to give it a go. Also I am hoping to get some tips on where I went wrong.
First problem, SEA/DXB is a 777 not an A380. I think maybe just LAX and NYC get the 380.
Second, very few seats are released.
Third, a lot of miles are required.
Forth, it's a long flight and burns vacation time. With 3 and 4 in mind I booked just the return.
Using the AS award booking engine I watched the Barcelona-LAX flights. The pattern seems to be, on 11/08/13 I saw but couldn't book F on 10/06/14. Same on 11/9/13. At midnight+ about 3 minutes I still saw that flight and also a flight 10/7/14 and couldn't book either of them. In every case it lets you enter all the info and a CC card and then you get an error screen. On 11/10/13 I received the error at 12:35am and bailed for the night, failed at 6am, failed at 7am. I got ready to call and try the CSR's and then, while getting everything set up to call I booked the 10/6/14 flight at 7:35am.
So it was 330 days plus 7.5 hours.
I couldn't get the website to book me BCN-DXB-LAX-SEA so I booked the flight through to LAX, then a few hours later I called and got a CSR to add the SEA leg. The result was A380 BCN-DBX-LAX, a 6 and a 14 hr flight. Cost was 200K and $125 for 2 people. Lots of miles, yes, but we have a lot of miles and really wanted the experience. We are very loyal AS fliers and it's good to get something back for all those miles in AS metal. Not to mention the Horizon metal, with the propellers.
VB
First problem, SEA/DXB is a 777 not an A380. I think maybe just LAX and NYC get the 380.
Second, very few seats are released.
Third, a lot of miles are required.
Forth, it's a long flight and burns vacation time. With 3 and 4 in mind I booked just the return.
Using the AS award booking engine I watched the Barcelona-LAX flights. The pattern seems to be, on 11/08/13 I saw but couldn't book F on 10/06/14. Same on 11/9/13. At midnight+ about 3 minutes I still saw that flight and also a flight 10/7/14 and couldn't book either of them. In every case it lets you enter all the info and a CC card and then you get an error screen. On 11/10/13 I received the error at 12:35am and bailed for the night, failed at 6am, failed at 7am. I got ready to call and try the CSR's and then, while getting everything set up to call I booked the 10/6/14 flight at 7:35am.
So it was 330 days plus 7.5 hours.
I couldn't get the website to book me BCN-DXB-LAX-SEA so I booked the flight through to LAX, then a few hours later I called and got a CSR to add the SEA leg. The result was A380 BCN-DBX-LAX, a 6 and a 14 hr flight. Cost was 200K and $125 for 2 people. Lots of miles, yes, but we have a lot of miles and really wanted the experience. We are very loyal AS fliers and it's good to get something back for all those miles in AS metal. Not to mention the Horizon metal, with the propellers.
VB
Nov 11, 2013, 4:41 pm
#414
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: Alaska MVP 75K / SPG Plat (100 Nights) / NEXUS
Posts: 220
Cheers,
Kermee
Nov 12, 2013, 7:35 pm
#415
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 2
Is there a maximum of 4 seats when booking through Alaska's web site? Trying to do a test booking for family of 5. BKK or SGN DXB SEA without success. Don't want to buy extra miles and then not be able use them.
Nov 12, 2013, 7:46 pm
#416
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: (SJC)
Posts: 2,198
In what class. ON EF(ExpertFlyer) I have never seen more than F4, you might try 2 in J and 3 in F.
Nov 12, 2013, 9:23 pm
#417
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 2
On EF I see flights with 7 seats in D (Business Saver award and upgrade), but when I search for 5 passengers on Alaska's site nothing comes up.
They do show availability with 4 passengers.
They do show availability with 4 passengers.
Nov 12, 2013, 11:56 pm
#418
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: ANC
Programs: AS; Hyatt; Bonvoy
Posts: 1,718
Posting here rather than on the EK thread since it's more likely folks here have been on the SEA-DXB routes. It looks like the A380s have wireless. Not so with the B777s.
I've checked directly on the EK website ("See what's on your flight") and on SeatGuru for an answer -- but hope to get further insight here since neither of those sites is completely reliable.
From what I can determine, none of the B77Ws or B77Ls that operate on the SEA-DXB route are equipped with wi-fi.
Is this accurate or has anyone had wi-fi on either of those aircraft?
I've checked directly on the EK website ("See what's on your flight") and on SeatGuru for an answer -- but hope to get further insight here since neither of those sites is completely reliable.
From what I can determine, none of the B77Ws or B77Ls that operate on the SEA-DXB route are equipped with wi-fi.
Is this accurate or has anyone had wi-fi on either of those aircraft?
Nov 13, 2013, 6:58 am
#420
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
**OnAir Wi-Fi services may not be available over a number of countries including, China, India and the USA. Our service provider is working with regulatory authorities to extend coverage. the web, chat, tweet, check your email and more by connecting to OnAir Wi-Fi. OnAir is available on the majority of our A380 flights and a select number of Boeing B777 flights** – price plans for Wi-Fi start from just USD 2.75 for smartphones and USD 7.50 for tablets and laptops.