FAQ 2 - Redemptions/Upgrades
 

Redemption Details - EK and Partners.

The fastest way to determine redemption levels on EK is by logging into your Skywards account.

If you don't have a Skywards account and want to see what redemption levels look like, follow this link

Skywards Redemption Levels
Simply enter the origination and destination cities and see how many miles you will need for either an award flight (shows both Flex and Saver) and/or how many miles you will need for an upgrade (shows both upgrading a Saver Fare and a Flex Fare)

For example, lets say I want to see how many miles it will take to either redeem an award flight from MEL-SIN or how many miles it will take to upgrade an existing MEL-SIN ticket.

Go to Skywards.com, click on Earn and Spend -> Miles Calculator, then you will see the following:

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You will then be presented with the following table.

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1...1221atpm0u.png

You will see that the table shows you the miles required for a round trip award flight or round trip upgrade. Remember, you can only do one-way upgrades and award travel on Flex fares (see below)

This example shows the miles required for an ECONOMY round-trip flight reward. To see how many miles are required for Business or First, simply input the class of travel when you make the initial query.

If you're on a FLEX fare and want to know how many miles you will need to upgrade from Y-J between MEL-SIN, then you simply halve the indicated amount shown (ie the one-way upgrade is 30,000 miles)

If you apply for the upgrade prior to departure and the upgrade is processed successfully online, then you are entitled to Chauffeur Drive. To confirm this, it makes sense to call your local EK ticket office if you have one, or call the EK reservations number nearest you.

You can alter the flight search details at anytime by clicking on "recalculate" at the top of the page.

Saver and Flex Flight Awards
Skywards Saver Rewards offers you value when travelling in lower demand periods or when you are willing to choose alternate flights to reach your destination. They are offered on a return basis only, in all classes of travel. Skywards Saver Rewards allow a maximum stay of 3 months and permit you one stopover on your journey.

Skywards Flex Rewards offers you more reward seats during high demand periods and on high demand flights. They are offered on a return and one-way* basis, in all classes of travel. Skywards Flex Rewards also provide you full flexibility when making your travel plans. They allow you to stay up to one year, permit up to two stopovers and you can change your travel dates at any time without charge.

Saver and Flex Upgrades
There's differing opinion on the EK forum about the relative "value" of Saver and Flex upgrade awards. For example, if I wanted to do an upgrade award between MEL-SIN, one-way, it would cost 30,000 miles.

If however, I wanted to do a MEL-DXB, then the total upgrade would only cost 45,000 miles (ie only 15,000 more and it's essentially the same flight distance). As far as I'm concerned, that's much better value.

If you're not sure, just ask one of our resident experts.

Booking FLEX and SAVER fares online:
November 2011 saw the long-awaited functionality of being able to book FLEX fares online. In the past, you couldn't specify to the booking engine that you wanted FLEX fares. Now, when you go to the home page, you will be prompted to login, using your Skywards credentials. The system will then show you FLEX fares (or SAVER fares) and you can choose which one you want. The new interface is very clean and at first glance, EK have done a very good job. You still cant force a FLEX fare one-way and a SAVER fare on the return for example, but I'm not sure how many people would want that.

Partner Redemption Details.

The following airlines are EK partners, in terms of mileage redemption.

1. Japan Airlines - 1 Skywards Mile per mile flown
2. Jet Airways - 1 Skywards Mile per mile flown
3. Kingfisher Airlines - 1 Skywards Mile per mile flown
4. Korean Air - 1 Skywards Mile per mile flown
5. South African Airways - 1 Skywards Mile per mile flown

If you wish to redeem miles on a EK partner airline (above), you will need to submit an online form and wait for Skywards to come back to you. Use this link

It's important to note that when you travel on EK airline partners, your Skywards account is only credited with RDM's (and not tier miles). RDM's = Redeemable Miles.

This is one of the main differences between EK/Skywards and Oneworld (OW) or Star Alliance (*A)

Operational Upgrades?
 

Operational Upgrades

One of the common questions that appears on this board is "How can I score an operational upgrade on EK?"

An "op-up" is just that. It's made for operational reasons, normally due to overbooking in the cabin of service you are in.

Most op-ups happen when the Y cabin is oversold and EK need to make room down the back. This means that Skywards members who hold status (Gold, Silver and sometimes even Blue), will be provided with an operational upgrade.

My personal experience with EK is that op-ups only occur when the flight is oversold (or very close to it).

And the upgrade is typically processed prior to arrival at the airport. And would you believe, for the most part, the upgrades are processed in alphabetical order.

OCLI (online check-in) doesn't appear to have any impact on your op-up chances.

Obviously, the best way to score an op-up on EK is ensure you fly routes which have heavy loads. There will be some times, such as during the holidays, where most point to point routes on EK will be full.

There are a couple of ways to check.

Obviously - one way is to look at the seat map on the EK booking engine when you've made your booking. If you don't book travel via the EK website, then you can use external websites such as ExpertFlyer.com

The most accurate way is to actually call your local EK sales/ticket office and politely enquire as to the actual load. If the agent on the phone won't tell you or doesn't seem that helpful, hang-up and try again.

I've yet to have it confirmed whether or not there is any further criteria that EK use when processing upgrades apart from raw status (ie fare basis, tier miles YTD, how long a member of Skywards etc).

One of the things we are trying to find out is how EK process op-ups on routes where for example, there are 30+ Gold's (for example SIN-DXB or MEL-DXB are often very elite heavy).

I dont subscribe to the old fashioned mentality that how you dress, using the "upgrade" speech at the counter, pretending you have a leg injury etc etc all can help with an op-up.

In many ports, EK use contract staff. They are told to follow the book. So flittering your eye-lids at someone is unlikely to help ;)

Sometimes, we get questions from people who ask how they can get an op-up and then tell us that they aren't even members of Skywards. Folks, you have to meet us half way here!

There are always exceptions to the above. Many people will have experienced a double op-up (ie moving from Y to F), but they are rare.

You may also hear of people who are Silver members who have been upgraded over Golds (although that should be rare too).

What Fare Class Do Upgrade Awards Book Into?
 

How do I search for award availability?
What fare class do I look for?
What tools are there to assist me?

Onboard Upgrades
 

Onboard Upgrades

Onboard Upgrades are only available to Silver or Gold Skywards Members.

As a Skywards Gold and Silver member you have the added flexibility of using your Miles to instantly upgrade to the next cabin at the airport or on board an Emirates flight, when a seat is available. All you have to do is present your membership card and enquire with check-in staff or with the flight crew once you are on board. If you have enough Miles in your account the EK staff will be happy to process your request.

Instant Upgrades are subject to seat and catering availability and staff will inform you of your options at the time of your request. It is recommend that you pre-book your upgrade by booking in advance through EK service centres, especially since minimum time is now reduced to just 6 hours before flight departure.

Instant Upgrades at the airport and on board are available for yourself or a family member traveling with you on the same flight. Please visit the Mileage Calculator at ek.com to check how many Miles are required for an upgrade.

Instant Upgrades are only available for the immediate journey you are undertaking. If your travel involves transiting through a destination, you will be required to request upgrades at the start of each journey.

However, booking your upgrade in advance through an EK service centres will ensure an upgrade for the entire routing.

The chart below illustrates the total Miles you will need to redeem for an upgrade if you are travelling from London to Singapore via Dubai...

One way Upgrade
Request through Service Centre - 52,000
Request at airport - 57,500
Request on board - 57,500

Many people use the instant upgrade feature as a last resort. ie if you were anticipating an op-up or find yourself in a poor seat and can't move, this is a handy feature and in the overall scheme of things, the additional mileage expense is not that bad (ie in this example above, only 5000 more miles)

The EK purser has an onboard laptop with mileage balances and can process the upgrade request immediately.

How do I get an upgrade on Emirates?
 

Pay the fare difference between cabins. Only infrequently are there e-mail offers or check in specials for discounted upgrades. These offers do not qualify for higher tier miles earnings.

Redeem miles for an upgrade. This is possible on any fare, however Saver fares require more miles than Flex fares (check on Skywards.com). Only one class upgrades are possible. Miles may be used from any Skywards account. Must be completed 6 hours before departure, though Silver and Gold members can also use miles at check in, lounge or onboard.

Receive an operational upgrade (opup). These are given when a flight is oversold, ie there are more passengers with a confirmed seat than there are seats on an aircraft. These are given out in order of status - VIP, Gold, Silver, Blue, non-Skywards. Processed at check-in and sometimes at the gate or onboard.

When is a mileage upgrade available, and how do I check?
 

Availability of upgrades is dependent on historical loads for a flight depending on route and season. While some upgrades are made available several months prior to a flight, most become available closer to the date of travel, from a couple of weeks to a day in advance.

Note that mileage upgrades entitle you to all the benefits of a paid ticket, such as Chauffeur drive, additional baggage allowance and Lounge access.

Use Expertflyer. Set an alert under awards and upgrades for D (Business) or Z (First). You will receive an e-mail notification once it is available.

Manage a Booking. Retrieve your booking using your PNR, and select the upgrade using miles option.

Make a dummy booking. Log into your account on emirates.com and try making a booking for your date/ route in Saver Business/ First. The fare bucket used for redemption Saver flights is the same as that used for upgrades.

Call Skywards. There are two upgrades in addition to the D/ Z inventory made available especially to Skywards Gold members, for which you need to speak to an agent. Alternatively, you can ask to be placed on a waitlist for upgrades.

Any advice on when best to call? 7 days out? 24 hours out?

The earlier the better before someone else snaps them up.

From previous threads on this, some Gold Desk operators don't know of these "reserved" seats - if you get one that doesn't just hang up and call again.

Once booked and waitlisted does one need to keep calling to improve chances of an upgrade?

Just wanted to add another data point to support the fact that the Gold desk does have access to additional D inventory for Gold members.

Case in point: I booked EK 212 (IAH-DXB) in Y, late May, Friday evening flight. No D inventory available. Even I inventory was zeroed out (per EF), but the seat map showed empty. The international call from the US to the Gold desk in Dubai was worth it: the agent was able to process the upgrade without any additional prompting from me. However, the miles had to come out of my account, not the account of another family member (who is Silver), in order to access the additional inventory.

No. I was waitlisted together with my wife for the A380 flight from SYD to DXB for several month. When I checked "manage your booking" online, it showed this part of our trip as "waitlist".
Nearer to the flight date I phoned EK 2 or 3 times and asked for a confirmation. The answer was that nothing can be done at the moment, but that we are on the priority waitlist, which will clear if there is availability.
The last week before the flight I checked "manage my booking" daily. 5 days before the flight the "waitlist" changed to "confirmed".
I phoned EK again, because the miles for the upgrades had to be deducted seperatly from our accounts, which was done immediately.

Question: What are the cancellation penalties (if any) for redemption bookings on Saver/ Flex?

Answer: Refunds before travel cost USD 50(Flex) USD 75 (Saver) (only within ticket and Miles validity)

Source: Skywards T&C

Is it possible to place skywards on hold while I transfer SPG?

Never heard of that but could be worth making a call and if you can pull it off let us know. Thanks.

How does this work? - If I search for a saver reward does this mean that there is only a saver upgrade available - i.e. I need to book a saver ticket then upgrade with a saver reward?

Is there anyway to search for a flex upgrade, so purchasing a flex flight?

Ta