blueline7

Yes; you are correct, sir! The 5% accounts for the discrepancy. So, the answer is, 'it's the average between the flex and saver award points'. Many thanks. And thanks as well Eightblack.

Don_VA

i have one quick question. How is the gold status better than the silver one? Skywards does not give complementary upgrades or anything to gold members whereas it takes twice the amount of miles to reach that status. The only two differences i see is the e-gate pass which can also be achieved with silver with 5k miles and the extra lounge access. I was a silver till last year for the past couple of years but i made an extra trip at the end of the year to achieve that gold status

ung1

Increased baggage allowance, guest someone into lounge, 25% more miles, better chances of an upgrade, better treatment during irrops...

rathin100

Gold Works if you travel economy regularly You get all sorts of things oveer what you pay for and the J cabins I travel in are choc full of Gold upgrades

Absolutely useless as a regular business class passenger. Forget about upgrades etc to first (12 sectors in J in the past year not a single upgrade -- at GRU Ive seen passengers without Gold being upgraded to F on a flight I was in so status matters little when things are chaotic on EK). Also..

forget about checking in first. forget about access to a quieter lounge (You get all this with other airlines by the way, eg BA)And guest in lounge must be on same flight as you Yes they come and say hello to you they know what your preferred beverage is, they will get you champagne from first class etc if you are shameless enough to ask but Im told they do this for silvers as well.

Ive stopped bothering about my status on EK and have begun diversifying my flying for this reason

ung1

I have a question about your complaint about too many upgrades from Y to J, though perhaps someone else might have the answer to it.

I thought that after upgrading GRU to the 77W, it was load restricted and Y could not be filled, let alone over sold. It seems like this isn't the case, but it definitely is on the SFO flight (which seems to be a similar length).

ft101

Also Gold Desk access, Guaranteed Seat Reservations (although almost impossible to qualify allegedly), Priority Baggage, Opening Doors programme and extra upgrade availability.

finnsch

i got a question:

i want to travel from muc via dxb to bangkok in autumn 2011. i am EK silver, my friend has no status.
we both will buy economy tickets, but in my account are enough miles to upgrade one leg to businessclass.
now the question is, whats the best way to "upgrade" both of us in C?
should i, as EK silver, use my miles to upgrade his ticket and ask kindly for an upgrade because he is flying business?
should i upgrade myself and ask at business check in at the airport for an upgrade for him?
and last but not least, which leg should i upgrade? i would say dxb-bkk because of the length. but at which airport? at dxb or bkk for the returning flight?
so much questions, hopefully some answers.
thanks!

rathin100

Very interesting point, thanks for raising it.

lets say Y can operate at 90 per cent and that J and F cabins are not load restricted You sell to fill 95 percent Then to meet load restrictions you upgrade... I think thats what happnes. In addition I do NOT think EK only ops up Y to J when Y is full even though thats what the Skywards guy said on the radio. Ive been seated wioth compups from Y with 20-25 seats available in Y on DEl-DXB, and the morning DXB-BKK service, in addition to the GRU run

By the way I am not complaining about the upgrades from Y to J Just making the point that the asymettric operation of the rule makes being a Gold much less value for a regular J pax. Another way fo putting it is that EK treats in Silvers so well, that the value added from Gold, if J pax, is not much.

ung1

Load restrictions have to do with weight, not with available seats. A Y passenger op uped to J weighs the same. So this is definitely not why they do it. If they fill Y to 95% they have to ensure there are correspondingly fewer people in J/F.

Complimentary upgrades do seem to happen sometimes, on some routes. DXB-DEL is a good example, as I also know someone who flying as Silver in Y, was upgraded to J despite Y having many empty seats.

ung1

The only advice I can give you is don't count on it. Upgrades are entirely, well mostly, dependent on loads. If the flight is light, they won't upgrade. MUC is usually quite full, so you have a good chance as Silver. BKK, not as much, but probably still a fairly good chance of an op up. Depending on the length of the stopover, you probably want to upgrade the friend flying out of DXB so you can both use the lounge, though they might allow you a guest if you ask nicely.

So my advice is - try getting everything for free, and when you don't, offer to use miles to upgrade so you get what you want. Don't plan ahead, just go with the flow! Good luck!

finnsch

thanks for the tipps. is an upgrade at check-in /boarding the same amount of miles as online?
i never thought about the lounge thing, thats an interessting point. thanks for that!

ung1

If you're doing it for only one leg, then yes, it is the same.

blueline7

FT Friends,

I am travelling on an EK F Award Ticket, YYZ-SIN, no stopover.

Flight arrives DXB at 18:35. Flight departs DXB to SIN at 02:45. That's nearly 9 hours...

Wondering if I should get my own hotel room (on points of course...), or whether EK provides a hotel room, meals, etc.

If they do provide, how does one arrange it?

And lastly, will there be a buffet at EK's transit hotel??

LovetoTravel83

They should provide a hotel for you, it will be Le Meridien hotel and you should get dinner too, Just call them up and tell them about the long stopover, you need a voucher from the ticket office (sometimes you don't need them).

blueline7

Many thanks!