Emirates nightmare
 

Since discovering Emirates, we had been loyal customers, traveling from New York to Tehran every 8 months and looked to take Emirates on other trips where possible.

On our last trip in November 2010, we arrived at the airport 10 minutes later than the cutoff and although the last person was being checked in, they refused to take our luggage and did not allow us to board an empty flight (as stated by the supervisor on duty). Upon verifying the checkin situation the Friday after our return, we realized that we had been very unlucky to have been on an empty flight, as checkin continued well after the "cutoff" time that night.

We ended up spending the night at the airport and had to go stand by the next morning at 10 AM which gave us a 17 hour layover in Dubai instead of the usual 4.5 hours.

On Saturday, once we paid the $400 "change" fee, they reopened checkin to print our boarding passes (something they said was impossible the night before) and sent us on our way. At this point, Emirates employees dropped the ball. We did not realize this until our return trip.

The ground crew at JFK did NOT rebook our reservation to show the flights we actually took so our return trip got cancelled.

The ground crew in Dubai advised us that our return flights were intact when in fact they were not.

On our return journey, we had to call the US to fix the reservation. It took over 8 hours because "Dubai had to call Tehran!" I will not get into the condition of our minds or physical being during this period.

The US reservations rebooked us on two different flights stating our reservations are still on the same booking number and my husband was already checked in. I tried to check myself in and was not able to do so online.

We arrived 3 hours early at Tehran airport and were told WE had to call Dubai to get us both on the same flight instead of their ground crew in Tehran being able or willing to fix it. WE paid for the international call. :mad:

After a lot of emails, the customer affairs dismissed these huge mistakes of Emirates and stated “the predicament that you found yourselves in was not due to Emirates”.

There is no cohesion between one unit of Emirates and another. Everyone at Emirates we spoke with at reservations or in person was very saddened and shocked at our situation and lack of concern from the customer affairs or JFK ground crew. But the people who were able to do something refused.

Clearly, Emirates has no idea what loyalty or customer service is. Clearly, we will NEVER fly them again, nor will we recommend the airline to anyone.

These comments are without my MOD hat on...

I feel for your predicament but as an observer, the trip unraveled due to you being 10-mins late at JFK. All airline res systems are designed to auto cancel the return portion of your trip if you no show for your outbound (which technically you did).

The fact that the airline were still completing the check-in process was largely irrelevant. Maddening no doubt to you, the affected passenger.

I'm not sure I understand the point about the flight being empty or why you felt unlucky.

And without knowing the full details of the reservation, I can't really comment on why on earth you were separated from your husband on the return res.

Your comments:

I know there is a fair degree of emotion in these statements - and obviously you are entitled to your opinion. Just as everyone else on the EK forum is entitled to theirs.

I personally feel that EK do have a clue when it comes to loyalty and customer service, and that there is cohesion between one unit and another. I was stuck at JFK this past Xmas for 4-days, flying EK (ticketed in Y). I can assure you that the treatment I received was nothing short of extraordinary.

I'm a big believer in how things unfold is largely due to how you interact with the airline staff. I know you must have been frustrated. But did you request to speak to the JFK supervisor? What class of travel were you in? Do you hold any status with EK (not that class of travel or status) should have a whole lot to do with it - but in reality we know it does with every airline.

If you didn't get the answer you were looking for, did you keep persisting (a trait every seasoned FlyerTalker will attest to).

Without knowing your complete details, it could be that you were very lucky that EK rebooked you. You were late, so they weren't under any obligation.

And I find it hard to believe that a JFK flight would be anything near empty.

There's a lot in you post that doesn't make sense.

Cheers,
Rick

I have little sympathy for your plight. You missed the check in cutoff time by 10 minutes, and everything else that happened thereaafter is a consequence of that delay. So, what exactly is your complaint? I have trouble following your comments as to the sequence of events in your dealing with Emirates.

Its always a good idea to check-in to flight 24 hours before departure using Online Checkin (OLCI), wherever that is offered. That way, you are in the system, and it is difficult for the airline to leave you behind.

Actually, No. OCLI makes no difference to the people controlling the flight. If the OP had used OCLI but still showed up 10-mins after flight cut-off, the same result would have occurred.

On an Intl flight, an agent still has to physically "load" you onto the flight, cross check your ticket details with your passport, check valid Visa issues etc

Sweetra Welcome to FT!
I would fly them until you get enough miles to redeem for an award, perhaps on a partner. Then stop flying them.
Anyway, moral of the story is that loyalty pays only to get a reward flight. Do NOT expect anything else.

Nonsense. Moral of the story is to be on time for an international departure. And one flight every 8-months is hardly anyones idea of demonstrating loyalty. Well not mine, anyway.

No one plans on arriving at airport late. It is bad planning. OP did a bad planning in getting to airport. Getting to airport 10 minutes late, is not a criminal offence, so stop bashing the OP for that.

OP is looking for some sort of guidence in getting the right answer for the subsequent cancellation of the return part of their ticket, and that too separately. This is certainely not expected, by novice traveller who only travels once or twice in a year by air. To add to the wound, they had to pay for a phone call that EK suppose to make. May be the airport has no international phone lines?

On loyalty, there are pax who flies a couple of trips in F full fare and gets on the top tier of that airline, while there are those who just don't get anywhere after flying 12 RT on domestic US flights. Loyalty is a relative term. If OP is flying every 8 months to Tehran, it is nothing to brag about, but in OP's mind, it is a big thing, also because of such tickets also cost a lot $$$.

Coming back to OPs initial complaint, I believe that when the ticket was date changed at JFK for $400 (change fee and fare diff), the onus is on EK to reinstate the booking with original return, or advice the OP of what they have done or otherwise advice that what they ought to do/contact to reinstate original return dates. Once the original ticket was cancelled, EK should advice the pax accordingly for what is omitted from the original booking, so the pax can take next course of action.

Eightblack might have had the best possible service at the EK counter, because of what he is (travel savvy and a EK Gold), but don't expect the same for non-status pax and that too from EK?

Firstly, I am not "bashing" anyone. It is a refreshing change to have a civil conversation, which I promise it will be.

The long and short of it is this. EK are not going to go in and re-open this case. It's finished as far as I can tell. If the OP on the other hand, is looking to the board for help in terms of how she/they can seek compensation - then I am sure the EK community can assist, with some probably saying that it would be a futile attempt and others saying no harm in asking (ie in terms of perhaps having the $400 change fee refunded).

Was there a legitimate excuse for being late to the airport? While things do happen, I have never missed a flight in 20-years (as a result of my own lack of planning). Missed plenty due to mechanicals, missed connections, weather etc - but none as a result of I woke up late, underestimated traffic etc etc

And you're right, loyalty is a relative term.

In terms of EK re-instating the itinerary after the fee was paid - I would agree with you, it sounds as if this is something EK should have done. But again, the onus is on us to check and confirm the schedule. I have never heard of a PNR being split where one pax is put on separate flights to another (when they originally started out travelling together) and no request was made by the pax to do anything to the contrary.

You said that you were loyal customers and flew regularly...

That being said, as loyal and frequent travellers you know that airlines operate a very tight schedule. You were 10 mins late. A cut off is a cut off. Period. Once the cut off comes, the computers automatically shut down and the flight information is transmitted to pilots and EK headquarters.

The person in front was being checked in - yes, but they were probably there before the cutoff point and that the computer system had to finish them before it shut off.

The airport station manager has no jurisdiction in allowing you to check in - at that stage in time, it will be the Captain. Because just be processing you, you will in fact be delaying the flight procedures. From that time on, it will be a ripple effect. If you are let on, and the flight is delayed because procedures were not met, then everyone will be inconvenienced because of you. Say you were on already on a flight (not necessarily with EK - any flight), and the Captain comes on to say that the flight is being delayed due to a late arriving passenger and that most likely everyone will miss their connecting flights onwards, how would that make YOU feel?

Having said that, it is normal for airlines to do that. Make you may for the change fee that is. And in this age of e-ticketing , you cannot go on another flight, next day or otherwise without getting your ticket reissued to the correct date, and at that, with the correct change fee. Without this - the computer simply cannot reissue the ticket.

I have been in similar situations with other airlines like Lufthansa (where I was 2 mins late - traffic in Paris !!), and Air Canada (where I was standing in queue at the wrong check in desk area and was late by 5 mins), and I was denied check in. The computers simply will not allow check in anymore. Sure the employees were still behind the desks doing 'something' but that's normal procedure... they cannot reopen the check in procedures as the computers had shut off. And on top of that I was their Gold elite frequent flyer programme. Sorry.. no, they said. We would personally like to help you.. because it will be easier to let you on, but the computer will not allow that.

So yes, I had to spend the night at my expense. Yes I had to pay for the change fee. Yes I had to make sure that my return reservations were intact. Actually LH had automatically cancelled the return. But that situation is same as yours... it is not up to JFK staff to rebook you. You were late, and well, you (as a frequent traveller) should make sure all is well before you depart.

If you don't want to travel on EK again based on ONE bad experience, then please go ahead and try the other airlines. Sooner or later, you will go through the same problems if you show up late for their flights too. Maybe you have personally learnt your lesson and may show up 2 hours prior to departure from now on, or maybe not.

But having said that, we fly with airlines that we know are reliable.. ground service aside, which do crop up once in a while , is all part of being a frequent flyer. Yeah, sh*t happens.

But really it could be worse...no volcano eruptions! :D

EK is a great airline at following such rules to the letter, but IMHO (and I do have a lot of experience with it) 75% or more of their flights are LATE!

Isn't this inconveniencing the passenger, but with no comeback?

Note that I am EK Gold.

:cool:

For what it's worth, I was on an EK flight from JFK on Monday with, acccording to the agent, about 110 passengers on board. Felt pretty empty.

I have overslept once (for very pleasant reasons may I add) in Moscow in 2004 I was on Austrian through to JFK and a *Gold. Called Austrian, was rebooked, no fee. The rebooking necessitated overnight in Vienna, got a room at airline rate ie 40 per cent off published rate through airline efforts. Yes I was Gold, Yes I was J class. But I through my own fault messed up on my travel and the discretionary response was excellent. if they had played it by the book I would have been disappointed.

So in my view the behaviour of Emirates was not incorrect (other than the PNR splitting etc which are inexplicable) but not in line with high customer service expectations. Emirates thinks it provides top quality customer service So this is not good. And, as this thread is evidence, word gets around.

Ref another point in a different post. Im not so sure computers shut down automatically in the fashion described Ive seen EK at GRU wait for a Y customer beyond the close of check in. The ground head honcho used her discretion to make this happen. In fact EK (outside Dubai) does tend to be quite good at use of discretion. So I would advise the OP to take up the matter, not US style agressive, but rather more gently -- perhaps along the lines of my argument above?

The OP made the cardinal mistake of admitting in their opening line that they were late for check in - by the sounds of their own admission even later than the 'normal cut off'.

Now if it was a business or a flex Y ticket then I can't imagine it should have been too painful so I am guessing they weren't.

OK - EK may have screwed up from then on but it doesn't look like they made the mistake that was the catalyst.