So most of you probably know about this but EK operate only First and Economy to Riyadh - no Business. The seats really are Business class seats but they are called First. The service is shocking too. I returned from Riyadh last night in the so-called "First" and there were no menus distributed, just a trolley service with everything dumped on the tray at once. The best was at the end, the little Godiva chocolate boxes were served down one aisle and they did not even bother with serving them down the other side! I was on the 'forgotten' side ... :-(
What kind of service you've expected on a flight that last just over an hour and time between seatbelt sign off after take off and seatbelt sign on for landing is probably 45 minutes? Be real.
EK is not hiding that on RUH flights (and not long ago JED) the FC is using JC seats.
EK is not hiding that on RUH flights (and not long ago JED) the FC is using JC seats.
I fly this route more than I care to and agree that the EK flights in F are comparatively poor value when purchased as stand-alone DXB-RUH tickets. The crew are also consistently the worst I encounter on my EK runs - although I can imagine Riyadh is fairly low on the cabin crew wish list!
That said, these flights are almost always full in F so you can't blame Emirates for charging what they can. My guess is they need the seats for people they are through ticketing to other destinations on F so try and price the RUH-DXB passengers out of them - my understanding is that they can't add extra flights on the route so need to maximise the return from the limited seats they can offer.
That said, these flights are almost always full in F so you can't blame Emirates for charging what they can. My guess is they need the seats for people they are through ticketing to other destinations on F so try and price the RUH-DXB passengers out of them - my understanding is that they can't add extra flights on the route so need to maximise the return from the limited seats they can offer.
Interestingly, they only do this for RUH, and not DOH, MCT etc. QR on the other hand, for example, runs its DXB-DOH as F (I think there's one w/b on that route that's a 3 class).
I suspect this is because of the high Saudi - UAE premium traffic that wants to travel in 'First' and doesn't care what value for money that represents. Also, because these 1 hour premium seats are only ever going to be booked by corporations, the fares can be fairly outrageous. DXB-MCT is usually AED 3500 in J!
I suspect this is because of the high Saudi - UAE premium traffic that wants to travel in 'First' and doesn't care what value for money that represents. Also, because these 1 hour premium seats are only ever going to be booked by corporations, the fares can be fairly outrageous. DXB-MCT is usually AED 3500 in J!
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That'll be why they are introducing the A380 on the Jeddah route I suspectOriginally Posted by FinalCallDXB
my understanding is that they can't add extra flights on the route so need to maximise the return from the limited seats they can offer.
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Well the JED route is very popular now due to the A380 with many doing mileage runs just to try it out .... I hear from a friend in EK that they get almost full load on that flight everyday.Originally Posted by freakstar
That'll be why they are introducing the A380 on the Jeddah route I suspect
Even the FA on my last flight said she wouldn't mind JED due to the A380 and the fact they come back the same day so no need to leave the airport !!
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More US domestic flighsts than I care to remember! But this ain't the US ...Originally Posted by chunk73
Ever taken US domestic flights? You have Economy and er, 'First' there too. Nothing new there.
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True enough, but the point is that in different places First is business and business is something else. Try Euro business and then business on the same airline to anywhere else. Not the same....no difference here then really...just that the minimum standard for regional flights appears to be, er, higher than Europe or the US. Hmm.Originally Posted by Brussels traveller
More US domestic flighsts than I care to remember! But this ain't the US ...