Slightly O/T but when are we going to see a second daily flight from Scotland?

Can't remember seeing an empty seat in the last year and apparently this was the only Emirates route that was instantly profitable (Scottish exec funding probably helped though)?

Use this thread please:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emira...es-2010-a.html

I am increasingly getting annoyed about the fact that my operational upgrade ratio (Y->C, but also C->F) is almost down to zero this year, despite multiple fully booked and over-booked flights I have been on. Best example was last night, when several people were operationally upgraded, but I got stuck in the back of the bus.

I understand that there is not entitlement for an upgrade. But if the need arises, the best clients should be preferred. At LH (where I am a HON), I am always the first to get bumped up. At EK, I have earned Gold status multiple times this year, but neither is there a recognition by another tier level (like e.g. 1K at United), nor seems there to be an internal rating that puts me on top of the "barely so" Golds. Really annoying - maybe I should give Etihad another try, where I am a Gold as well and "upgrade recognition" has always been much better.

This is an intelligent conversation. I agree in the sense that as frequent flyers, we are not entitled to op-ups. But with EK, it would be nice to know the actual criteria they use to process when a flight is oversold.

As you say, UA approach things differently by having another tier. And actually another if you consider GS as a stand alone "tier".

EK have been threatening another tier above Gold ever since they made the program changes at the beginning of 2010.

Can you share the sectors you were on? Was the fare saver or flex?

You mentioned that you have already qualified multiple times for Gold in 2010, but unless you looked at the manifest, there's no way to tell the tier credit position of the other Golds on the flight who were op-upped before you.

The other thing is that it often depends on the EK staff member working the flight. If your surname is down towards the bottom of the alphabet, don't be surprised if they simply scroll through the flight and simply take the first Golds they get to...starting from the "A's". You would hope that they used a more complex criteria, but it could happen this way.

Seriously, I simply can't figure out why EK does not have a tier above Gold. I'd fly way more than 55K tier miles/year if they did (especially now that they have a second LAX-DXB flight). In the past they had some bonuses for various thresholds above 50K tier miles (either discounted redemptions or bonus miles), but that's also gone in the past few years.

I guess they saw the large number of Golds and decided to make the criteria more revenue driven and hope to drive down the number of Gold's and keep exclusivity - but that's not mutually exclusive with having a new tier at 100K tier miles right? Any ideas on why this has not been done yet??

The sectors I fly most frequently are DXB-FRA vv., DXB-MUC vv. and DXB-LHR vv. If I fly economy, my fares are always flex-fares. In business, the cheapest fares available.

Interesting that the manifest shows a tier credit position, was not aware of that. Will check my tier credit next time when I stroll by the kitchen. Does anybody know how the tier credit is calculated?

Maybe I also fall into the alphabetical trap, am certainly not in the upper half.

Here's my take on it, though it certainly isn't what EK may be up to.

If you fly mainly in Economy, Gold provides you benefits that should keep you flying. Lounge access, excess luggage, priority this and that, upgrades if you're lucky. And you're flying an airline that is competitive on price and offers great service. Most people would rather fly EK than AA even without all this tier business.

If you fly primarily in Business class, that Gold card is pretty useless. But most business travellers pick airlines based on schedule and convenience. Except in markets with strong competition, a lot of these high yield pax are picking EK because of flexibility and to some extent a good product.

In either case, if you're based in DXB and fly frequently enough, EK is likely to be your first choice if price is not under consideration.

So as I see it, there's really no need from a revenue perspective to introduce this tier. However, that being said, the additional cost of servicing a new tier, after the start up cost, should be fairly low if they're just giving more guests to the lounge, more baggage, Flounge and such. And that will surely encourage some people to fly more on EK.

Thanks tgsh2006 I will need to look into the Gautrain, but I have heard Nelson mandela Square is worth a visit, if only for a decent meal etc.

Out of interest, you mentioned 6 hours is a little to short a time, If it was longer what would you recommend? I could push my EK flight back to the later one which departs around 10PM, meaning I would have a 9 hour transit. If there anything this additional time would allow me to do?

Thanks

Agreed 100% - I had started a whole thread on this earlier at:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emira...d-j-class.html

Also agree about the captive DXB traffic who end up with EK by default/convenience.

But as EK expands to North America (and a lot of this traffic is through traffic to South Asia), the competition really heats up and the FFP needs to do more to attract high-revenue PAX on a consistent basis.

If EK had a 1K equivalent with SWU's and provided J class + 1K access to the FCL (and better award/upgrade inventory for the top tier), then I'd pretty much do all my US - India travels in EK (~4-5 RT/year in paid C/J) and just keep 1P on United for my domestic travels in the US. EK is a much better product than LH - but the lack of alliances really hurts them wrt my business.

Currently, I do 2 RT on EK J (~60K tier miles) and 3 RT on LH (using SWU's to fly F and access the FCL) and all my other travel (domestic, Europe, etc.) is on *A, which lets me keep SEN, 1K, and EK Gold. But if EK were to have a really good top tier (they could make it like PPS with either a revenue cut off or require 100K tier miles in paid C/F), then they'd get at least 2-3 extra paid J RT's from me each year!

OTOH, this may mean doling out extra free benefits to the many DXB residents who meet this criterion right now any way...they probably way outnumber those like me and hence the lack of a higher tier!!

Thanks for helping me work out the answer to my own question

Hi,
the number i have used for the Gold desk quite a few times is:
+971 4316 7200.
It is in Dubai and phone traffic between them and the normal reservations desk to get things done is sometimes problematic.

I also have a qustion about the likelihood of upgrades for Gold flyers. I often use miles to upgrade flights from Y to J. Anyone know or hazard a guess what are the chances of complimentary Y to J upgrades on flights like DXB to IAH for me and my wife, if I don't want to use a zillion miles? We are both Gold flyers.
appreciate any advice.

I'm not saying that complimentary upgrades aren't unheard of within EK, but the only way you'll get an op-up on the DXB to IAH sector is if it is oversold in Y.

Check the loads via Expert Flyer or the EK seat-map. Even though they are a rough guide only, you can normally tell if the back of the plane is oversold.

The other thing to do is call them. Ask about the possibility of using miles to upgrade from Y to J on your flight. Then ask innocently, "so what's the load in Y like anyway, is it full?". If you don't get the right answer, follow the FlyerTalk Golden Rule - hang up and call again.

Good luck...

Thanks! I'll give that a go. I have been upgraded quite frequently on busy flights but would obviously like more 'control' over the situation if possible!

Anyone have any luck on DXB - YYZ - DXB upgrades Y -> C ?

I have to make a quick trip up to Canada Land and J is 4 times the cost of Y Flex Fare

Expert Flyer shows decent loads in Y but filling the 380 I take can be quite a challenge.

Never availability in advance but they invariably op-up so there will also be availability for upgrades at the airport.

I have been opped up once Y-J on IAH-DXB (which coincidentally has been the only time I booked and planned to fly Y on this route), and got opped up J-F when flying DXB-IAH on December 31st. That J-F op-up occured on a Y ticket upgraded to J with miles, so I suppose I got lucky and snagged the elusive "double upgrade" that one time.