that is exactly what they do. If you can't get a specifc flight/upgrade/reward, call them and they will see what they can do.

How do you reach them?

Usually by telephone!

So I called the US reservations desk (1-800-777-3999) and asked to be transferred to the Gold Desk. They were able to do this, but the Gold desk seemed pretty clueless about this two-seats for upgrades option. One of them said that Gold members are able to waitlist for upgrades, while the other said that the rule applied only to revenue tickets when the flight is sold out. Don't suppose anybody else has had better luck with this when calling from the US?

well, I have more positive news to report.

My mother and her sister (mum and aunt) are visiting me in November from Glasgow to Dubai (a typically difficult route to get an ug as the load is so high and they only have 2 classes).

Anyways, I called the Gold desk and aksed the availability for upgrade from econ. He said there were none. I asked him to check his system for Gold upgrades. He said yes there were two still available for both legs. Great, I would like to book I said. He advised me that he needed to put me over to reservations to book the ticket - In the past I would usually find this very problematic if I am not one of the passengers.

This time, the guy from gold desk must have advised the reservations desk that this was ok (first time ever on emirates) and I booked my 2 econ flights on a separate credit card (although I did have to pay a bit more for doing the transaction over the phone). When that was all done, I asked the guy for my upgrades....no way,, I asked to go back to gold desk...he asked if you would like to speak to the same guy but you may need to wait as he was on another call. I said, ok anyone at gold desk.

Got referred back. Same reply, no upgrades available. I asked what about the gold allocation, she said she would check (takes about a minute) came back and said yes!!!!!

Superb!

The lesson is, always ask to double check!

Nice one, Freakstar!
Clearly they like the tone of your voice better than mine - Next time I might get you to pose as me ;)

I'm still waitlisted for my flight on Tuesday, but can see that there are still at least 4 revenue seats in F, so still have my fingers crossed that they'll release them soon.

Thanks again for sharing this tip - It didn't quite work for me this time, but can see that it will in the future.

wow - very exciting! lets hope its available on the dxb/lhr on the 001!

well, i have done it on the 004 in sept:D

...The waitlist didn't bear any fruit for me this time. I logged onto MYB on Sunday and found I'd "dropped off" the waitlist.
Called the gold desk but didn't get anywhere there either (although they've now waitlisted my for my return flight)

I'm flying out on EK004 tonight, so will now give Down_The_Back's tactics a go and see if I can get myself upgraded whilst in the lounge.

Wish me luck! :)

Be soooooooo interested to know how you did?

I tried asking in the lounge if the seat next to me was empty this one time. They said I would need to ask at the gate, though this was probably because I would otherwise have missed my flight. For some reason, the T1 lounge doesn't show the correct boarding information for many flights.

Well I'm at the lounge now (got here super early - had a long commute on train / chauffer car and typically everything went to plan) and well..... I chickened out!
Checked flightstats just before I checked in, and F availability had gone down from 4 to 2, but still 7 in J. I'm pretty keen on seeing F on this flight (it's my first time on A380) so I asked at check in. I was worried that someone else would do the same thing and take the last available seat(s).

Thought I was going to get it straight away - the person at check in made a call to someone, but then said that they'd sort it out in the lounge, but it was looking very good.
I'm sitting here, with a glass of wine and everything crossed!

I'm flying back on EK1 in a couple of weeks, although understand my chances on this will be particularly slim, but *promise* I will give this a go!

FF

FF enjoy your flight, assuming you will get it.. My little tip so you can Bragplain (like complain but brag at the same time)...

Go to the bar at the back of J and ask for a glass of Dom. They will then insist that it is only for F class passengers, then whip out your boarding pass from your top pocket! It's a guarenteed way to make friends, as the fab bar staff, then hand it out to anyone you are speaking with! ;)

Have a good one buddy!

Love it! Would be great to bump into you one day - I'm sure we'd get on!

Assuming I do get F, I will absolutely do this.
If I have to stay in J, I hope someone else in F does this - I'll be one of their new friends!

Really looking forward to the flight.. it's been a long time since a flight was exciting!
Just seen one (it?) land, and I'm sat at the window right next to the stand.

That will be it! I was on it on Saturday and you will enjoy for sure - good luck with J to F...