Hi all,
New member here looking for advice. My regular travel profile has meant EK silver status for the past few years, but with the recent changes to Skywards I will fall 1,000 miles short of retaining this in future. I'm hoping to find some way to boost my Tier Miles at the least cost/hassle. My current thoughts are (1) to stopover in DXB on a trip and do a flight to Muscat or Doha and back or (2) to get a paid upgrade on one leg of one trip. I also thought about making an outbound flight in a separate month from the inbound so if the outbound qualifies me the inbound will count towards the next 13 month period but that's starting to get complicated.
As far as I can tell there are no other avenues to gain Tier Miles (affiliates etc).

Any comments on the above or any other suggestions?

Any thoughts on whether it is worth spending a bit extra to stick with one airline to gain the program rewards?

Thanks all.

Welcome to FT!

On a stopover do a quick run to Doha or MCT but do so via Arabian Airpass if it you starting outside of Middle East. $35 each way in Y - and even if it is a Saver fare (which is unknow) it is still 1000 miles for the return trip. If you are over 1000 miles you need you can combine Y and J.

http://www.emirates.com/english/dest...scover_me.aspx

It's interesting to see how they've changed the mileage awards so that everyone falls just short of the required amount.

To obtain the extra miles through a paid upgrade would mean that the sector mileage be 1400 or 1700 miles which would be Asian sub continent South or Near East. A one way upgrade to one of the Indian destinations should be AED 1000 off peak, which isn't too bad, though for the same amount you could take a return flight to a few places.

That being said, it really is a question of how much the tier benefits matter to you. I wouldn't say it's worth that amount just for priority check in and boarding, but if you frequently have a lot of luggage, or long transits at DXB, it could be useful.

Thanks for the advice guys.

yyzlhr - I wasn't aware of the Arabian Airpass so I've learned something already and it looks like a good option. My Tier Miles will be exactly 1,000 short so a Saver fare will do. I have started seeing some Saver Fares on other routes over the last couple of days so they may become available once the whole Skywards reshuffle works itself out.

ung1 - My sectors are Europe West to Dubai and Dubai to Far East so it might work out more for the upgrade. However, I have noticed when doing some dummy bookings that the website comes back saying that it's giving me biz class for both legs (of either the outbound or inbound) to get the best price. Is this usual or can I "force" it to give business on one leg and economy on the next?

I don't mind paying a bit extra to keep the status as long stopovers are always a risk and upgrades always a bit more likely.

Another thought for this one. If I did the two legs seperately I would get 6,500 miles each way but on one booking via DXB I get only get 6,000. Would Emirates entertain me if I phoned and asked for the same price but with two seperate PNRs and would this give me the 6,500miles?

No, they wouldn't. The reason they give more miles is because two separate tickets cost more than a single ticket. So one option for you is to buy two separate ticket, though I assume that would cost about double, so it doesn't make sense. Arabian Airpass is probably your best bet.

Looking at the Arabian Airpass just now and I see that it must be purchased by 31st March 2010. Does this offer normally get renewed as next year's flights when I'll need it won't be out by then?