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
Jul 19, 2014, 11:23 am
#901
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Upper Left Corner of the Map
Programs: AS MVPG & Board Room, Marriott Silver, Global Entry
Posts: 2,203
EK announced BUD service starting late October. Perhaps some late fall seats available
Jul 24, 2014, 7:43 pm
#903
Suspended
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 233
EF shows Z1 but alaska manual sell desk does not see it... 
What can I tell her so she sees what EF sees?
What can I tell her so she sees what EF sees?
Jul 24, 2014, 7:52 pm
#904
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
Programs: AF Platinum, EK Gold, AA EXP, UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 21,603
Jul 25, 2014, 10:39 am
#905
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: AS, UA, AA, Hyatt Globalist, and Marriott Silver
Posts: 278
EK Availability
Hi all! I've been reading off an on through this thread the past couple months. Will be working on flights for next summer coming up on EK to Europe. Have been following the phantom availability issue, so know that's a problem. It seems when I look at the calendar (going to be looking for 2) both close in and further out (May/June 2015) there doesn't seem to be any (or very little) F space for even one person from SEA/SFO/LAX to DXB. Just so I temper my expectations, could someone clarify the current status of EK award space for me?
1) Is EK releasing much space between North America and DXB? If so, does it seem to be further out, close in, or somewhere in the middle? Any specific routes with better availability? We're flexible for starting location.
2) In general, how is the award space between DXB and various points in Europe? We are somewhat flexible with our destination, but would prefer in this order: MXP, ZRH, FCO, or MUC.
Thanks for your advice. As much as I want to experience EK First (especially on the A380), we do want to get our flights booked sometime between now and fall so we can start nailing down lodging as we like to stay in small hotels/B & B's which fill up quickly.
1) Is EK releasing much space between North America and DXB? If so, does it seem to be further out, close in, or somewhere in the middle? Any specific routes with better availability? We're flexible for starting location.
2) In general, how is the award space between DXB and various points in Europe? We are somewhat flexible with our destination, but would prefer in this order: MXP, ZRH, FCO, or MUC.
Thanks for your advice. As much as I want to experience EK First (especially on the A380), we do want to get our flights booked sometime between now and fall so we can start nailing down lodging as we like to stay in small hotels/B & B's which fill up quickly.
Last edited by Jed33d; Jul 25, 2014 at 12:30 pm Reason: Fixed airline code...oops!
Jul 26, 2014, 9:13 am
#907
Join Date: Nov 2013
Programs: UA 1K; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott Gold
Posts: 218
To pile onto the list of questions here...
1) Is the best strategy to find F awards to save individual flight alerts for every single flight on every single date that I'd be interested in going?
2) Is there a general time of day when award space is released?
Looking for awards for late december (US-DXB) or early Jan (DXB-US)
1) Is the best strategy to find F awards to save individual flight alerts for every single flight on every single date that I'd be interested in going?
2) Is there a general time of day when award space is released?
Looking for awards for late december (US-DXB) or early Jan (DXB-US)
Jul 26, 2014, 11:17 am
#908
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 759
I looked at those a bunch last year and this year and I've seen basically 0 EK awards available on AS' site ex-DXB from like late December until Feb. I'm guessing that's just due to popularity of going to somewhere warm for the holiday season.
Aug 2, 2014, 11:03 am
#909
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
No its just the website is broken
Aug 4, 2014, 5:36 pm
#910
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: JFK
Programs: -
Posts: 178
I've tried calling ~10 times over the past couple of days and all agents refuse to do a manual sell. Is there any secret on how to ask for it?
Aug 5, 2014, 10:42 pm
#911
Used to be 'Travelergcp'
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: New Orleans
Programs: AA Plat, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,826
Booking EK via AS miles is maddening. But I did have luck booking JFK-DXB-BKK for my desired dates when EF showed Z1. First choice was phantom inventory, second choice actually went through. Dates were T<30.
Aug 5, 2014, 10:46 pm
#913
Used to be 'Travelergcp'
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: New Orleans
Programs: AA Plat, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,826
One seat.
Aug 5, 2014, 10:52 pm
#914
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: LON
Programs: AS MVPG, Marriott Titanium, UA Silver
Posts: 1,350
Just booked SEA - IAH - DXB - LHR in F on the a380 (again!)
IAH - DXB gets in around 1900HR and DXB - LHR leaves around 9:00HR the next morning. I assume EK does not offer a hotel for the layover?
IAH - DXB gets in around 1900HR and DXB - LHR leaves around 9:00HR the next morning. I assume EK does not offer a hotel for the layover?
Aug 5, 2014, 10:55 pm
#915
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: New York City
Posts: 801
Congrats.
Agree that it's become sort of like whack-a-mole booking EK with AS.
A couple commenters above alluded to a "manual sell desk," though did not give any further details, unfortunately. If one could access that desk, one could simply look on EF for actual inventory.
A man can wish...
Agree that it's become sort of like whack-a-mole booking EK with AS.
A couple commenters above alluded to a "manual sell desk," though did not give any further details, unfortunately. If one could access that desk, one could simply look on EF for actual inventory.
A man can wish...