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
Apr 13, 2015, 7:39 am
#1831
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: yyz
Posts: 1,611
Do you get charged to upgrade a cabin? For instance, I'm looking at 2 tickets to JFK-DXB-MLE out a year from now. Invariably the DXB-MLE portion is in Y. If a F or J spot opens up within a week of departure (which I'm actually seeing now) do you still have to pay to get the cabin upgrade (which you actually paid for)?
Apr 13, 2015, 5:49 pm
#1832
Join Date: Dec 2009
Programs: WN A-list, Hyatt Glob, HH DM, Marriott Plat
Posts: 434
If any of the segments is in F, you will be charged the F price, even if the other segment is in Y. So if you want to upgrade the Y segment later, there will be no additional charge since you have already paid the full F price.
Do you get charged to upgrade a cabin? For instance, I'm looking at 2 tickets to JFK-DXB-MLE out a year from now. Invariably the DXB-MLE portion is in Y. If a F or J spot opens up within a week of departure (which I'm actually seeing now) do you still have to pay to get the cabin upgrade (which you actually paid for)?
Apr 13, 2015, 6:12 pm
#1833
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SEA town
Programs: Alaska LTG, HHonors-Gld, IHG-Dia, LT MR Ti
Posts: 627
Do you get charged to upgrade a cabin? For instance, I'm looking at 2 tickets to JFK-DXB-MLE out a year from now. Invariably the DXB-MLE portion is in Y. If a F or J spot opens up within a week of departure (which I'm actually seeing now) do you still have to pay to get the cabin upgrade (which you actually paid for)?
Today SFO-DXB or DFW-DXB have award seats avail in F. As grandgourmand mentions DXB-MLE won't release in J or F until the end.
Is the 'married segments' still required?
Should I book it now? Get my A380 F experience locked down or wait? I don't mind 4 hrs 10 mins in steerage on Emirates for A380 F 14 hrs.
Let's seat DXB-MLE pops open in Nov, will I lose out on DFW-DXB F?
Apr 13, 2015, 7:57 pm
#1834
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: UA 1K, SPG Plat 100, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 87
I too am looking at options for a trip to MLE next Feb.
Today SFO-DXB or DFW-DXB have award seats avail in F. As grandgourmand mentions DXB-MLE won't release in J or F until the end.
Is the 'married segments' still required?
Should I book it now? Get my A380 F experience locked down or wait? I don't mind 4 hrs 10 mins in steerage on Emirates for A380 F 14 hrs.
Let's seat DXB-MLE pops open in Nov, will I lose out on DFW-DXB F?
Today SFO-DXB or DFW-DXB have award seats avail in F. As grandgourmand mentions DXB-MLE won't release in J or F until the end.
Is the 'married segments' still required?
Should I book it now? Get my A380 F experience locked down or wait? I don't mind 4 hrs 10 mins in steerage on Emirates for A380 F 14 hrs.
Let's seat DXB-MLE pops open in Nov, will I lose out on DFW-DXB F?
I was concerned at first because Z availability was gone for SFO-DXB after I booked initially but they kept my existing reservation and just changed the DXB-MLE segment.
Apr 14, 2015, 6:44 am
#1835
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: yyz
Posts: 1,611
This shouldn't be a problem as long as the DXB-MLE seat is available. I did this exact thing earlier this year. I first booked SFO-DXB in F and DXB-MLE in Y for the F award price. Then I kept an eye on DXB-MLE J space (I think that route is only 2 class) and when it opened up, I was able to switch the reservation to J with no issues and no additional miles.
I was concerned at first because Z availability was gone for SFO-DXB after I booked initially but they kept my existing reservation and just changed the DXB-MLE segment.
I was concerned at first because Z availability was gone for SFO-DXB after I booked initially but they kept my existing reservation and just changed the DXB-MLE segment.
Sounds like what I hope to do.
And btw, there is a 3-class plane to MLE. EK656 and EK658 are 2-class and EK652 is in 3-class. I'd be perfectly happy in J if it meant a shorter schedule, especially for a 4 hour leg.
Apr 14, 2015, 10:07 am
#1837
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YVR to SEA
Posts: 2,535
The F leg on the old 777 to MLE is nothing major to speak of. We took it... at 4 am.
2-2-2 with old creaky seats was no A380, that's for sure.
2-2-2 with old creaky seats was no A380, that's for sure.
Apr 14, 2015, 1:26 pm
#1838
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: UA 1K, SPG Plat 100, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 87
Thanks for the anecdotal evidence. So just to be clear, you booked a single award: SFO-DXB-MLE with the first leg in F and the second leg in Y for 90k points. Then you saw the second leg open up availability in J and called in to change your seat?
Sounds like what I hope to do.
And btw, there is a 3-class plane to MLE. EK656 and EK658 are 2-class and EK652 is in 3-class. I'd be perfectly happy in J if it meant a shorter schedule, especially for a 4 hour leg.
Sounds like what I hope to do.
And btw, there is a 3-class plane to MLE. EK656 and EK658 are 2-class and EK652 is in 3-class. I'd be perfectly happy in J if it meant a shorter schedule, especially for a 4 hour leg.
Apr 14, 2015, 2:50 pm
#1840
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PHX
Programs: AS MVP, HH Diamond
Posts: 3,259
We also had a similar experience. We have a LAX-DXB-DUS booked in all F and wanted to change the last sector to DXB-JNB J(Yes we're very indecisive). Some of the posts in this thread made me think this would be a problem, especially if there was no longer F on LAX-DXB(which was the case). We called anyway and the agent said that would not be a problem and could change it. She was about to do it, but we had a moment of uncertainty and stopped the agent. This was a few days ago.
Apr 14, 2015, 5:25 pm
#1841
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,385
I just swapped from my second segment from SFO-DXB-KUL to DXB-HKG, where SFO-DXB didn't have space anymore when I made the change. Agent was able to keep my existing SFO-DXB and just add on the DXB-HKG segment.
Apr 15, 2015, 12:10 am
#1842
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
I've reserved F seats for LAX-DXB-MAD for early March 2016. My plan was to visit 1 other city in Europe or North Africa before heading back to LAX, but I don't see a lot of great options to come home from RAK, BCN, or LYS. All involve at least 1 (usually more) connection with high fees via BA, and only economy seats. I'll probably have to go back to work after just 1 day rest, so I'm thinking of switching my itinerary so I fly econ to RAK/BCN/LYS first, then MAD, then take EK from MAD-DXB-LAX in F.
I have no reserve AS miles. How would I go about doing this? The date for the potential return isn't available yet, but the date for the MAD-DXB portion is. Do I have to wait a few days until my DXB-LAX segment opens up to book the flights? When I cancel my current itinerary, I know I'll lose the $12.50 (x2 seats), but will my AS miles immediately become available in my account again? Or does it take a few days before I can use them again? Or is it better to call in to the center and let them do it?
I have no reserve AS miles. How would I go about doing this? The date for the potential return isn't available yet, but the date for the MAD-DXB portion is. Do I have to wait a few days until my DXB-LAX segment opens up to book the flights? When I cancel my current itinerary, I know I'll lose the $12.50 (x2 seats), but will my AS miles immediately become available in my account again? Or does it take a few days before I can use them again? Or is it better to call in to the center and let them do it?
Apr 15, 2015, 12:55 am
#1843
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: FAI
Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, HH Gold, Hertz PC, Marriott Titanium LTG, CO, 7H, BA, 8E
Posts: 42,953
Wirelessly posted (beckoa's BB: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)
Its usually instaneous during the redeposit, but not always.
Its usually instaneous during the redeposit, but not always.
Apr 15, 2015, 1:14 am
#1844
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London
Programs: SK Gold, ITA Executive, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Avis PC, IHG Platinum
Posts: 5,163
I've made a cancellation over the phone last week, and miles were back in my account before I put the phone down.
Apr 15, 2015, 7:27 am
#1845
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 716
Booked two F tickets IAH-DXB-BKK (stopover) BKK-HKG. I've already changed the itinerary a few times to get dates/times in order and it's been incredibly easy. Another datapoint to confirm what others have posted above...there's no space left on our first two flights, but changing the date of BKK-HKG hasn't been a problem.
