Apr 2, 2016, 9:31 am
Last edit by: eponymous_coward
Emirates award guide using Alaska Airlines miles. Note that Alaska Airlines cannot book EK F any longer- it's just J or Y. F awards were ceased on 3/31/2021.
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.
Only AS and EK can be used for the award.
North American Gateway Cities:
West Coast
Seattle
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Central
Chicago
Dallas
Houston
East Coast
Boston
New York (JFK, EWR)
Washington DC (IAD)
Fort Lauderdale
Orlando
Canada
Toronto
Mexico
Mexico City (via Barcelona)
Award Chart Links*:
Middle East & Africa
Asia
Note: EK flies DXB-HKG-BKK but otherwise it is DXB-final stop
Europe
Note: EK flies JFK-MXP-DXB and EWR-ATH-DXB but otherwise routing will be via DXB
*If region is not listed on chart it's 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.
Only AS and EK can be used for the award.
North American Gateway Cities:
West Coast
Seattle
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Central
Chicago
Dallas
Houston
East Coast
Boston
New York (JFK, EWR)
Washington DC (IAD)
Fort Lauderdale
Orlando
Canada
Toronto
Mexico
Mexico City (via Barcelona)
Award Chart Links*:
Middle East & Africa
Asia
Note: EK flies DXB-HKG-BKK but otherwise it is DXB-final stop
Europe
Note: EK flies JFK-MXP-DXB and EWR-ATH-DXB but otherwise routing will be via DXB
*If region is not listed on chart it's 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 (2016 and Later)
Oct 10, 2016, 12:01 pm
#256
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: SF
Programs: UA MM, AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTP, HH Dia
Posts: 1,132
Agreed, though that's not what Sean22mac was referring to, unless I'm mistaken. He mentioned making a separate (from his current LAX-DXB) booking and linking them together.
After several calls I was able to get 2 F LAX-DXB on Jan 23. Really weird the way it appears and you can't book it, then it disappears, then reappears and is bookable. A total mystery.
Now I just need my DXB-CPT to re-appear and be bookable for Jan 29. I guess I will do a separate booking and link them together instead of changing the original booking and risk losing the first leg.
Now I just need my DXB-CPT to re-appear and be bookable for Jan 29. I guess I will do a separate booking and link them together instead of changing the original booking and risk losing the first leg.
Glad calling worked for you. Also, you won't risk losing the first leg by changing the original booking online-- and you'll only lose it over the phone if your agent is truly incompetent.
Separately, you can't use AS miles for itineraries that don't start/end in North America, so booking the DXB-CPT standalone won't work, unless you're using a different currency.
Separately, you can't use AS miles for itineraries that don't start/end in North America, so booking the DXB-CPT standalone won't work, unless you're using a different currency.
Oct 10, 2016, 1:06 pm
#257
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,395
Presumably that's what he wants to get to eventually...
Oct 10, 2016, 1:56 pm
#258
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: SF
Programs: UA MM, AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTP, HH Dia
Posts: 1,132
But he already booked LAX-DXB. And he mentioned making a separate booking on top of this one and trying to link them in order to keep from losing the LAX-DXB he already booked.
My advice was that making a separate booking DXB-CPT is not possible with AS miles, and I'm not sure he understood/knew that, so I was trying to help.
Oct 13, 2016, 10:41 am
#259
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: 6km East of EPAYE
Programs: UA Silver, AA Platinum, AS & DL GM Marriott TE, Hilton Gold
Posts: 9,582
Oct 24, 2016, 1:56 pm
#260
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PHX
Programs: AS MVP, HH Diamond
Posts: 3,259
One-Time Change
Having a bit of an issue here. We made our bookings (Two pax reservation N. America - S. Africa and separate two pax reservation return) for next month back in December/January. Over the following month, we found something to get us from HNL to our US departure city, so we changed that. On the return we had a segment booked in Y show C availability, so we changed that flight. These changes were both before the devaluation on Mar. 30.
Now we're finding some inventory changes on these flights or flights around these dates and we're wanting to make that 'one-time change' that was announced when the devaluation occurred. However, the agents 'see that we've already made a change to the reservation' and say we've already made the change. Is this how they intend for this rule to be enforced, that it was to be retroactive to anyone who made changes before the new rates and rule was announced? Has anybody been in this situation and pressed the agent to contact customer care with this situation?
Edit:
Looks like after a bit of explaining of the timing to a good agent, they are working it out and it's in the reissue queue. Return flights seem to be set, now the waiting game of trying to get C/F instead of Y for our DXB-S Africa leg.
Now we're finding some inventory changes on these flights or flights around these dates and we're wanting to make that 'one-time change' that was announced when the devaluation occurred. However, the agents 'see that we've already made a change to the reservation' and say we've already made the change. Is this how they intend for this rule to be enforced, that it was to be retroactive to anyone who made changes before the new rates and rule was announced? Has anybody been in this situation and pressed the agent to contact customer care with this situation?
Edit:
Looks like after a bit of explaining of the timing to a good agent, they are working it out and it's in the reissue queue. Return flights seem to be set, now the waiting game of trying to get C/F instead of Y for our DXB-S Africa leg.
Last edited by Ripper3785; Oct 24, 2016 at 3:20 pm Reason: new info
Oct 26, 2016, 12:06 pm
#261
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: Alaska MM, AA MM, BA Silver, Bonvoy Lifetime Gold
Posts: 321
Just got back from flying EK FC LAX-DXB-AMS and return and could not be happier with the service both on and off the plane, with one notable exception. As others have posted in the past, lounge access on an Alaska award is sometimes not included on the stub. When we checked in at LAX, the agent was able to get access listed on our LAX-DXB boarding passes. When we got to the LAX lounge, I noticed it was not on our DXB-AMS passes and asked for help from the lounge agent. She was able to get our passes reissued with lounge access no problem.
On our return, we checked in at AMS and were given the option of lounge access (Aspire Lounge) or a meal voucher. We selected lounge access because we were there 3 hours prior to departure. As we were walking to security, the agent ran after us and let us know that he was mistaken and that we did not have lounge access. I explained to him that I believed we did as it was an Alaska FF award and that sometimes had to be manually dealt with. He indicated we had to come back and speak with their customer service folks. (And I use that term VERY loosely.) I explained the situation again to the agent who just kept saying we were not eligible. I asked to speak to the station manager, who happened to be sitting right next to him. They spoke in Dutch for several minutes and then she said, yet again, that we were not eligible. I said that she was mistaken and asked for her to call for support from the EK central office. She refused and just kept saying we did not have access and demanded our passes back, which we surrendered.
The whole thing was handled very poorly and when we got to Dubai, they had no problem letting us into the FC lounge (which is unbelievable) and apologized for the lack of understanding in AMS. At their urging, I did write a comment card to EK about the situation if for no other reason that maybe they can have their remote stations have the information on lounge access for FF awards. I am writing this as less of a complaint but to let AS FF reward users know that there is still some confusion about lounge access on awards. Usually, it is not an issue but the AMS EK staff were frankly extremely rude and did not understand the rules.
On our return, we checked in at AMS and were given the option of lounge access (Aspire Lounge) or a meal voucher. We selected lounge access because we were there 3 hours prior to departure. As we were walking to security, the agent ran after us and let us know that he was mistaken and that we did not have lounge access. I explained to him that I believed we did as it was an Alaska FF award and that sometimes had to be manually dealt with. He indicated we had to come back and speak with their customer service folks. (And I use that term VERY loosely.) I explained the situation again to the agent who just kept saying we were not eligible. I asked to speak to the station manager, who happened to be sitting right next to him. They spoke in Dutch for several minutes and then she said, yet again, that we were not eligible. I said that she was mistaken and asked for her to call for support from the EK central office. She refused and just kept saying we did not have access and demanded our passes back, which we surrendered.
The whole thing was handled very poorly and when we got to Dubai, they had no problem letting us into the FC lounge (which is unbelievable) and apologized for the lack of understanding in AMS. At their urging, I did write a comment card to EK about the situation if for no other reason that maybe they can have their remote stations have the information on lounge access for FF awards. I am writing this as less of a complaint but to let AS FF reward users know that there is still some confusion about lounge access on awards. Usually, it is not an issue but the AMS EK staff were frankly extremely rude and did not understand the rules.
Oct 26, 2016, 12:51 pm
#262
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Mountain Time Zone
Programs: AS Million Miler/Marriott Lifetime Titanium/ IGH Ambassador
Posts: 5,991
Just got back from flying EK FC LAX-DXB-AMS and return and could not be happier with the service both on and off the plane, with one notable exception. As others have posted in the past, lounge access on an Alaska award is sometimes not included on the stub. When we checked in at LAX, the agent was able to get access listed on our LAX-DXB boarding passes. When we got to the LAX lounge, I noticed it was not on our DXB-AMS passes and asked for help from the lounge agent. She was able to get our passes reissued with lounge access no problem.
On our return, we checked in at AMS and were given the option of lounge access (Aspire Lounge) or a meal voucher. We selected lounge access because we were there 3 hours prior to departure. As we were walking to security, the agent ran after us and let us know that he was mistaken and that we did not have lounge access. I explained to him that I believed we did as it was an Alaska FF award and that sometimes had to be manually dealt with. He indicated we had to come back and speak with their customer service folks. (And I use that term VERY loosely.) I explained the situation again to the agent who just kept saying we were not eligible. I asked to speak to the station manager, who happened to be sitting right next to him. They spoke in Dutch for several minutes and then she said, yet again, that we were not eligible. I said that she was mistaken and asked for her to call for support from the EK central office. She refused and just kept saying we did not have access and demanded our passes back, which we surrendered.
The whole thing was handled very poorly and when we got to Dubai, they had no problem letting us into the FC lounge (which is unbelievable) and apologized for the lack of understanding in AMS. At their urging, I did write a comment card to EK about the situation if for no other reason that maybe they can have their remote stations have the information on lounge access for FF awards. I am writing this as less of a complaint but to let AS FF reward users know that there is still some confusion about lounge access on awards. Usually, it is not an issue but the AMS EK staff were frankly extremely rude and did not understand the rules.
On our return, we checked in at AMS and were given the option of lounge access (Aspire Lounge) or a meal voucher. We selected lounge access because we were there 3 hours prior to departure. As we were walking to security, the agent ran after us and let us know that he was mistaken and that we did not have lounge access. I explained to him that I believed we did as it was an Alaska FF award and that sometimes had to be manually dealt with. He indicated we had to come back and speak with their customer service folks. (And I use that term VERY loosely.) I explained the situation again to the agent who just kept saying we were not eligible. I asked to speak to the station manager, who happened to be sitting right next to him. They spoke in Dutch for several minutes and then she said, yet again, that we were not eligible. I said that she was mistaken and asked for her to call for support from the EK central office. She refused and just kept saying we did not have access and demanded our passes back, which we surrendered.
The whole thing was handled very poorly and when we got to Dubai, they had no problem letting us into the FC lounge (which is unbelievable) and apologized for the lack of understanding in AMS. At their urging, I did write a comment card to EK about the situation if for no other reason that maybe they can have their remote stations have the information on lounge access for FF awards. I am writing this as less of a complaint but to let AS FF reward users know that there is still some confusion about lounge access on awards. Usually, it is not an issue but the AMS EK staff were frankly extremely rude and did not understand the rules.
If this was the most pressing issue in your trip your doing pretty good.
Nov 6, 2016, 12:12 pm
#264
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: LAX
Programs: UA MM | BA Silver
Posts: 7,193
I was able to change an EK F award (December) made at the old redemption levels from LAX-DXB-ICN to LAX-DXB-NRT. This is part of a larger itinerary and I've been working with Cranky Concierge. They found the space and made the changes.
Quite happy with the one time adjustment. Our first and final experience in EK F. Long flights with both the A380 and 77W.
Quite happy with the one time adjustment. Our first and final experience in EK F. Long flights with both the A380 and 77W.
Nov 6, 2016, 3:23 pm
#265
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: ANC
Programs: AS; Hyatt; Bonvoy
Posts: 1,718
I've flown EK a number of times using AS award tickets, but have never used their phone app. I have a quick question for others who've flown on EK using AS miles (not on tickets purchased for cash).
Did you sign up for an EK account, download the app, and have success in using it to monitor your award redemption flight details? If so, how helpful/useful was the app?
Did you sign up for an EK account, download the app, and have success in using it to monitor your award redemption flight details? If so, how helpful/useful was the app?
Nov 6, 2016, 6:40 pm
#266
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Mountain Time Zone
Programs: AS Million Miler/Marriott Lifetime Titanium/ IGH Ambassador
Posts: 5,991
I've flown EK a number of times using AS award tickets, but have never used their phone app. I have a quick question for others who've flown on EK using AS miles (not on tickets purchased for cash).
Did you sign up for an EK account, download the app, and have success in using it to monitor your award redemption flight details? If so, how helpful/useful was the app?
Did you sign up for an EK account, download the app, and have success in using it to monitor your award redemption flight details? If so, how helpful/useful was the app?
Nov 7, 2016, 9:50 am
#269
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: ANC
Programs: AS; Hyatt; Bonvoy
Posts: 1,718
I've flown EK a number of times using AS award tickets, but have never used their phone app. I have a quick question for others who've flown on EK using AS miles (not on tickets purchased for cash).
Did you sign up for an EK account, download the app, and have success in using it to monitor your award redemption flight details? If so, how helpful/useful was the app?
Did you sign up for an EK account, download the app, and have success in using it to monitor your award redemption flight details? If so, how helpful/useful was the app?
I downloaded the EK app last night and added my upcoming trips. It looks terrific!
One feature I love is the ability to pull up the full menu for each segment of the journey - much easier than accessing it via the website. This foodie is in heaven pre-planning what she's going to be eating on flights over the next two weeks.
Nov 7, 2016, 4:54 pm
#270
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Mountain Time Zone
Programs: AS Million Miler/Marriott Lifetime Titanium/ IGH Ambassador
Posts: 5,991
I downloaded the EK app last night and added my upcoming trips. It looks terrific!
One feature I love is the ability to pull up the full menu for each segment of the journey - much easier than accessing it via the website. This foodie is in heaven pre-planning what she's going to be eating on flights over the next two weeks.
One feature I love is the ability to pull up the full menu for each segment of the journey - much easier than accessing it via the website. This foodie is in heaven pre-planning what she's going to be eating on flights over the next two weeks.