Consolidated Emirates (EK) Awards Availability/Booking/Routing (2016 and Later)
 

Welcome to the 2016 (post-devaluation) version of the Emirates availability/booking/routing thread!

Just a quick heads up--we've moved all of the meta-discussion about the new Emirates award prices themselves to this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...no-notice.html

Please consolidate all discussion about the new award rates there.

This thread can continue to be used for discussion about award availability, booking procedures, and routing rules for Emirates award on AS.

jackal
Moderator, Alaska Airlines

Consolidated Emirates (EK) awards availability/booking/routing thread (2016 edition)
 

I'm trying to get JFK-MXP in late July- August. I'm booking with JAL so not effected by the recent AS deval. I'm trying to decode the econ availability on expert flyer. There is Econ Saver and Econ Partner Availability. There is no availability at all in the month of August except for a few days that show partner availability in economy for the MXP-JFK route. But when I cross reference those dates against AS site or emirates sites, I'm not seeing the same availability. Are these actually bookable with JAL miles?

I have a quick question. I apologize if this is already answered upthread.

I have an itinerary booked for LAX-DXB (in F) and DXB-JNB (in J). I feel very lucky to have this booked at the old price of 100K miles.

If first opens up on my DXB-JNB flight, can I upgrade to F without charge, or would that cost another 100K?

Thanks :)

I think you're posting in the wrong thread. Alaska Air (AS) and JAL do not have a partnership.

If you are booking with JAL, I suggest that you post your question it in a FlyerTalk section devoted to that airline mileage program.

I think you would be very careful in changing unless you have an ironclad agreement from the agent BEFORE. I have done that before and been banged. I kicked and screamed but

I also wonder. I've been thru devaluations on other airlines, and this would definitely have been allowed. But people are expressing reservation about AS allowing it on EK tickets. I hope the first to try will share their experiences - or that AS will issue public guidelines for these tickets.

I think the culprit is the multifarious amount of bloggers scammers et al Not that the airlines and cc companies hands are clean in all this. There are few days that go by without someone posting on one of the various travel sites boasting about their FC trip on EK for little to nothing. And how you can do it too. I think these are the same ones selling get rich on flipping houses!

Personally and I have been traveling a long time, I like revenue based rewards, I "grew up" in business travel with that and it works. It will mean more seats available, better selection.

As I have said before let's let the smoke clear and see where we are. Well if one looks at J class one way is 120K now compare that to others and it's not too terribly bad and J on EK is a nice product, especially on the 380. I prefer non US metal when I am going abroad for many good reasons.

As for guidelines from AS not sure what guidelines they can issue. But anything to keep order is welcomed

It looks like they updated their FAQ to allow one change to any booking under the old pricing.

https://blog.alaskaair.com/emirates-redemptions/

Thank you. That's helpful.

well for those that booked that's very helpful.

^^^^^

Oh thankfully they did this! Saves me from 120K extra points (across 2 people) for a trip I need to push back a couple of months.

That's North of Expected.

But, of course, the objections and admonitions will continue.

Does anyone know if they will allow any one-time change (origin and destination)? Or is it only a one-time date change with the same routing?

I definitely appreciate that they are willing to do this.

But, this doesn't seem to me as something that as "north of expected" so much as in line with what one could expect with an airline that is part of a major alliance, such as American.

Question about availability for DXB-->MLE:

I'll be booking a flight soon using the new valuations and am not finding any F on that leg. It looks like there is up close,but not for 2017, which is when my travel is.

Is there evidence that this flight opens later then the SFO/lax--dxb A380 flights? F availability is wide open on them.


EDIT:

For anyone reading this: There is a current issue between AS and EK, it is not that they pulled this option, its just broken. Apparently their top tier helpdesk is working with EK on fixing it.

In the meantime it can be worked around by booking the Z(first) ticket then add the D(biz) leg in.

I booked jfk-dxb(stopover)-mle on F for 2017 travel. I booked it 331 days out (from the departure date of the dxb-mle segment). I had booked online via AS website originally on J for both segments as that was what was only shown available on the website. Right after booking online, I made a call to AS asking rep to change my JFK-DXB to F since when searching separately online it had shown F space but when adding the MLE leg, the F space did not show up (their IT isnt great...). Rep said np and advised will need to charge me addtl miles (total 90k). Rep then looked into my DXB-MLE segment and advised that there was actually F space (only 1 seat) available as well and asked if I want to switch that as well (UH HELLLL YEA!) :D . I had no idea that there was even F space available for DXB-MLE and was fine with J (only 4hr flight). Only difference is I had to pay additional taxes on the flights (switching from J to F).

Just an FYI. Also, it seems that the AS website calendar only shows 330 days out? but you are able to search for flights up to 331 days. So my DXB-MLE flight date was technically greyed out (unclickable) on the AS website calendar when trying to search; but I manually typed it in and was able to search for it. Good luck and I advise calling AS to book since it appears they see more space/are more flexible at booking.

Thanks!

If there are 2 of us and only 1 seat, can 1 get the better seat and one get the lesser seat? Or is that not doable on the same reservation?

I was fortunate enough to book 2 tickets from JFK-DXB-DEL just before the devaluation. Both seats on JFK-DXB sector were booked in F, but I was only able to find 1F from DXB-DEL, so I booked 1F and 1J. For some reason, after I booked the 1F, I still see Z1 on expert flyer as well as a seat available on qantas, but the emirates site doesn't show any thing available.

Any one has any experiences with something similar to this?

Thanks

All over the old thread if you look.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...ng-thread.html

I read about 50 pages of it from the back, but couldn't find anything... would really appreciate if you knew a date range that i should be looking in.

I called AS and they said they don't see it. Would I have to wait for expert flyer to show Z2 before calling again?

Search the thread for "expertflyer". It's not unusual for EK Z expertflyer to be off for AS at times.

If your seat is not showing on the AS site, you won't be able to book it.

yes that much I got. was mostly wondering if anyone's had experiences with Z=1 sticking around after booking 1 ticket and whether if it's phantom

More often than not, it's phantom. But once in awhile it's the real thing. It's frustrating. Some agents are better than others in finding the real deal. That's also frustrating. All you can do is call and ask.

The agent cheerfully split our record so that we could get the better seat on one booking. I continue to search for a better seat for the second person. I expect that by the time we travel, I'll have it.

I recently flew SFO-DXB (stopover) DXB-MLE and also could not find availability in F for DXB-MLE. Luckily, J was available and I set EF alerts for 2 F seats, but it never triggered. Based on seatmap on day of flight it looked like F filled up. In retrospect, I should have set my EF alert for 1 seat as maybe EK released Z inventory on that flight one at a time. Oh well, J was fine for that segment.

And my wife and I were the only 2 pax in F for SFO-DXB, so having the entire A380 F cabin to ourselves was absolutely incredible! ^

This has not been my experience in several cases. Most recently, 2.5 weeks ago, I booked SFO-DXB (stop) DXB-SEZ for my son in J (who was formerly traveling as our nanny's lap infant). First leg was showing availability on AS site, complete trip was not. EF showed neither to be available. Figured it was still worth a call to AS, and the agent was able to ticket it. Other times I've found agents able to ticket awards that show on EF and not on AS.

So if neither EF nor AS show availability, are you saying that is totally irrelevant?
Is there anything that is useful to check on then?

you know it all depends on the luck of the draw. If you call AS and get an experienced agent and they tap into EK's system sometimes a seat will show up that wasn't there five minutes ago. it happens I have seen it happen.

So if one poster gets lucky and thinks it's a "work around" think twice.


Just saying

If neither shows available, I would just call and have a rep check. You just never know until you call!

nope... that info is quite relevant... just not 100% accurate

I don't purport to have a "work around". Just trying to help others based on my experience.

I've only ever had luck when the ex-USA segment shows availability somewhere (either EF or AS), and that's really the only time I call. I'm not interested in spending unnecessary time on the phone.

Connecting segments-- and I'm speaking from experience with DXB-MLE/SEZ/SIN/BKK, seem to be more readily available to agents than AS.com. IME, married segments and stopover inventory are quite unreliable on AS.

Agree with ps9a, I've been able to book many seats that did not come up on the AS website. The problem is as SanDiego1K stated. Often it's hard to differentiate between an incompetent agent and truly lack of availability, so I guess the only way to find out is to keep calling

Not sure if I would say " incompetent" rather I have found there are some new agents on board that are not quite as experienced. Remember having points does not give a right

Has anyone else noticed that mixed-class availability seems to have vanished?

If I search my first leg, I can see first class
If I search my second leg with my first leg, I can only see biz.

Expertflyer shows Z available on that first flight and D available on the second

I was able to do this Sunday, but can't seem to do it today.


Anyone have any luck calling to get something like this fixed? AS told me twice over the phone they can't force it and are unable to (refusing?) to contact Emirates to work it through with them.

If you call EK and tell them you are booking AS award then they will tell you to call AS.. Next time get the AS agents name

"Connecting segments-- and I'm speaking from experience with DXB-MLE/SEZ/SIN/BKK, seem to be more readily available to agents than AS.com. IME, married segments and stopover inventory are quite unreliable on AS. "
I totally agree with this.

Originally Posted by paladin732 View Post
Has anyone else noticed that mixed-class availability seems to have vanished?

If I search my first leg, I can see first class
If I search my second leg with my first leg, I can only see biz.

Expertflyer shows Z available on that first flight and D available on the second

I was able to do this Sunday, but can't seem to do it today.


Anyone have any luck calling to get something like this fixed? AS told me twice over the phone they can't force it and are unable to (refusing?) to contact Emirates to work it through with them.

Assuming you are not within the 60 days (from departure) so you can just cancel if it doesnt work; if you see F in your first leg, but when searching for first leg+2nd leg together, you do not see F but only see J available. I recommend you to book the J seat. Then right after booking, call AS immediately and tell them you want to upgrade your first leg to F. The rep should have no problem doing this and will tell you that it will cost you the F redemption rate for the entire trip (though your 2nd leg will be in J). I hope this makes sense... :)

I can tell you I am seeing "phantom " availability aka AF on some EK flights

I only find EK availability on AS.com departing from North America.
Is there a reason that there isn't any availability from other countries like in Europe or am I only able to get that availability through an agent by phone?
Also, how many stopovers am I allowed other than DXB?

All tickets must begin in or end in the US. Are you checking Europe - USA?

Didn't know about that restriction. Why do they have it in place?
I was actually checking Europe to some parts of Asia/Africa. Do they allow a stopover in Europe or elsewhere other than DXB?

You can stop over in DXB going west to east of course you can do JFK to Milan. EK is more or less point to point