Was the DXB-HKG leg the direct flight or via BKK in each case? That could make the difference.

Hmmm.. so the saver and flex mystery continues...

Ex-dxb or some countries can be understood, but I dont think a flight from Asia to Europe ( showing similar fares for same dates) will hv different miles.. but again, IMHO all this is a mystery and luck of the draw as things stand now..

From the research I've done so far, it looks like it would cost me about $1000 extra to retain Gold next year.

We'll have to see how that pans out...

I wanted to add some data points and feedback.

Looking at BHX - BKK for a friend for June, the cheapest flex is 67% higher than cheapest saver. Which is USD 600. In Y. The J fare is 5x the Y fare.

Someone else I know just purchased a USD 2100 DXB - JFK ticket to find that she gets 6000 tier miles only.

And looking at CDG - SIN, the cheapest flex fare is almost 2x the cheapest saver. Or 700 Euros more.

The consensus among my non FT savvy friends and family is that EK no longer values customer loyalty. And I'm talking about people who pay pretty much whatever EK wants for ex- DXB fares for all their personal travel. They're looking at other options now.

EK no longer seems to value high-rev pax also, by awarding saver miles on Biz/First fares.

They do. Business saver earns more than a economy passenger

Business saver earns 2.5 times that of an economy saver and 1.25 times that of a economy flex. What they are valuing is that there can be a fair difference between cost of different business fares and rewarding the higher fares with a 40% bonus over the saver

I don't think they do, but I think you have made this point before as well.

Again, I base my comparisons on:

1. EK's Skywards earnings ability relative to other airlines, that I fly. (LH etc)
2. EK's own earning ratio (miles earned per dollar spent) prior to this whole saver/flex fiasco.

Many, if not most, non-US airlines severely restrict mileage earning on discount economy fares. I understand that.

EK is one of the first, IME, to do this on Business/First fares. This is what i find stupid.

Even if this were the case, it wouldn't be that great considering that the cheapest business class fares can be 4-5 times the price of an economy saver ticket.

Where's the equity in that?

At least QF (with whom I'm also Gold) recognises this with their status credits.

I'm not sure where Emirates is headed right now, but their hubris and arrogance seems to have got the better of them.

As far as points earning goes, Qantas only gives 25% bonus on miles credited for business class travel which is , ime, fairly typical.

For status earning, QF only gives discount status credits internationally unless on actual Y fares , so effectively counts just about all economy fares as "saver" fares for earn towards status whilst it is quite feasible to purchase flex with EK. QF offers 100% SCs over a full Y fare whilst EK offers 1.75 for a flex business over a flex economy.

The 4-5 times fare is for the travel in business class, not for the purchase of miles. I would say that the EK points earning is easily more generous for 1st and business miles than Qantas and better redemption rates too . e.g. to redeem an upgrade from economy to business on SYD-DXB is 45k for a flex and 57.5k for a saver ( and is confirmable ) whilst QF charges 72k for a similar distance for economy to business ( other than full Y at 45k)

I agree. Redemption rates are relative to earning rates, especially in a FFP like Skywards where an EK co-branded credit card is only available in a few countries.

Yes, but the 4-5 times fare is relevant in calculating the cost of accumulating Skywards points. Budley is correct. The cost of earning Skywards miles flying on a (now) Business Saver is 2-4 times the cost of a comparable Economy Saver ticket.

LH M&M has it right (one of the few things, admittedly). The fare (discounted economy to business) is about 4-5 times, so M&M typically gives 4x the mileage as well (200% for Z class as compared to 50% for discounted economy).

Looking at various fares on Expertflyer it would seem that EK has aligned flex/ saver with fare buckets. W, R, E, Y are flex while M, B, K, Q etc are Saver.

It seems that this is the order of fares (in decreasing price):

Y, I, E, K, R, O, L, and W are FLEX

M, B, U, Q, L, and T are SAVER

Although a recent price check on CAI-DXB round trips had the above order, plus another W fare (that was FLEX) in between U and Q in price. There were two W fares, and U, B, and M were all SAVER even though more expensive than the W. However, this rouge W fare is now gone and the order is as above. A quick random check on some other segments and the above was correct for those too.

For CAI-DXB-CAI the fare difference between M and W is about 1000 EGP, about 170 U$ currently. However, U fares are available at 2400 EGP and the cheapest FLEX (W) is 5800 EGP, so that's a big difference to pay for 1400 extra tier miles!!!

How do I find a good travel agent who will book these fares for me out of the UK? Does anyone here know?

Try this recent thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emira...el-agents.html

I plan to book dxb man for next week... all i get is saver fares. saver points are !!

I think this has already been discussed.

All i need to know is any chance i can get flex fares?

rgds...