That's weird, on two occasions where I booked a Saver fare, I did not have a change fee. Though I don't know how that happened.

The cheap change fees and the low cancellation penalties are things that definitely make Ek a good option even if the fares are similar to QF

It depends where you are flying from. The specific example was ex Australia I presume, but EK is quite generous with change fees compared to other carriers such as BA for example.

On routes I tend to purchase, EK's fares tend to be very good and have less onorous restrictions.... e.g. when QF/BA were offering r.t in 1st to oz for GBP3000 they had restrictions of no refunds/no changes whilst EK was offering similar price with much more reasonable restrictions

These sorts of things ( apart from that I think that EK's premium products are very good ) which have a much more relevent impact for me than lesser things like FF miles.

Overall , the new earning structure has been no worse for me than the old one was

Point is should EK be doing these kinds of "enhancements" .. we are aware of many changes to the benefits and this is what is concerning.. add to this the price rises in many sectors as evident from the many posts in this thread..

If price is not higher with better timings, fare conditions then its great..

I myself am resorting to EK lately since EK serves my city nearly double daily whereas the next best ( LH ) serves it 3 times a week.. and the fares ( though higher than earlier but with 50% less miles) are still better than LH BUT that does not mean EK needs to fall to the standards of many European / American carriers..

Perhaps EK figured that the redemption value to amount being spent was too high and so decided to rectify it. By making the lower fares earn at a lower rate hardly seems insane. Istr lots of issues raised about the number of gold members and it sounds like the enhancements may well have raised the bar for some

Is it reasonable to change the scheme, well yes, they own the scheme. Those who choose to be members have to decide whether they want to accept the changes and continue participating or to collect miles to another scheme or change carriers

If EK lost too many passengers to other carriers I am sure that they would reconsider whether they want to keep the changes

Just complaining how it is unfair or unreasonable is and how it shoudl be changed, to me, on par with hens in a henhouse declaring that foxes need to become vegetarians

Are you suggesting that people should withdraw their right to complain? That we should just toddle off to another airline, or meekly accept the changes without making a fuss?

I have personally given my feedback to Skywards and suggest others do as well if they are unhappy with any aspect of the programme.

The most powerful message is of course to vote with your wallet, as this is the only way to genuinely command attention, but to say and do nothing will achieve nothing.

The scheme has been around for a while now in its current form. Is there any real expectation that they will reverse it? there is a point where rather than whine, there is a need to decide whether to stay or go

Many (all) schemes change and it often is portrayed as the end of the universe, that no one will fly with the airline, what are they thing of, but the world doesnt end, the airline doesn;t go out of business... some people may leave , others may join


As far as flex vs saver, one thing that it would be nice if they did, would be able to select by fare rather than only get offered the cheapest. Not the end of the world given that I pay the same over the phone as online for tickets , but would make life easier when wanting flexibility

The scheme has been around for about 1 day in it's current form (no Flex tickets available at the lowest price on many routes). Many other changes have been made over the last 16 months.


As you mention in your previous post "If EK lost too many passengers to other carriers I am sure that they would reconsider whether they want to keep the changes"

If they listened to feedback or engaged with FT, or other social media, they might come to this point sooner rather than later (if at all). To use a farmyard analogy as you did before - should we all go like lambs to the slaughter? It may currently have little or no effect but if nothing else, venting on here lets FTers share their thoughts.


Agreed, but how do you pay the same over the phone if there is a surcharge as mentioned previously (7 or 8% IIRC).

I find that there is very little correlation between the Saver/Flex designators, and the actual flexibility of the fares in question. I have priced ex-DXB Saver fares with no date change fee, while ex-USA Flex fares have had a $400 change fee. The fare conditions and flexibility themselves dodepend heavily on routing. EK fares ex-DXB tend to be quite flexible while ex-USA fares tend to be very restrictive - in line with, or moreso than other carriers, often at higher prices in premium cabins.

The lowest fares being saver has been around for a fair while



All reading fora such as FT would tell them is that there are some people who dislike the change. I doubt that they needed to read anywhere to figure that. It doesn't really tell them how many people are ambivalent to the change or see it as a good thing.

"IfI is the operative word . There is no difference in fares that I purchase over the phone or what they would be online and, unlike some carriers, there is no booking fee for phone bookings.

I have just booked a LHR-DXB-BKK return for a not inconsiderable sum of £990, which is a saver.

3 weeks ago it was £860 return and Flex, you win some you lose some.

Anyway, I called EK to 'upgrade' the same seat (in Y) to Flex, theay quoted an additional £330 so I told them to swing for it.

I also asked for the lowest booking class for flex, she told me it is W, so all you Flex hunters out there, look for W!!!

Has anyone seen that the miles for Flex fares have been reduced as well? I know of at least two: Europe-Far East-Europe from 13,000 to 11-12,000, and Europe-PER-SYD-Europe from 17,000 to 16,500 (In my case, I would be 500 miles short of 50,000 then) .....

Again as has been mentioned several times before, it is NOT a specific fare bucket that determines whether your fare is flex or saver. While this might be the case on the specific route you booked, it is not the case on every route, and many don't offer a W fare.

Since the new program was introduced, West Europe - Far East has been 12,000 miles for a flex fare. There was no 13000 or 11000 though the website often mistakenly showed Europe - Dubai (6000) and Dubai - Far East (7000) separately.

Maybe on your routes - certainly not on mine where Flex fares were the norm. I find it difficult to believe that someone thinks the current Skywards is the same as it was even a week ago. You just have to read posts on here to know that is not so.

It was you that suggested they might reverse some changes if they lose business because of them. I am merely suggesting one method (of many) they might use to monitor the customers' opinion.

Maybe your market is different from most discussed on here. Emirates general practice seems to be to charge more for telephone bookings. May I ask where you are based?