Just wondering how Emirates does this...

I'm used to Cathay Pacific's system, where once the online check-in opens and you check in immediately, you normally get a Boarding Number 1 (maybe 2 or 3 if someone's quicker than you).

But for Emirates it doesn't seem to work that way. For instance, I just checked in for EK038 tomorrow BHX->DXB, and I did it just when the OLCI opened, but still, my Boarding sequence is already 0052.

I can understand that for big destinations like LHR etc. there will be connecting passengers who will have already checked in before me, but I can't imagine there being 52 people connecting to an EK flight in BHX?!

I mean, do Boarding sequences matter anyway? In Cathay for example, the higher BN you are (along with your status), the higher chance of you being op-uped. Do BNs mean anything for EK?

Many thanks.

I'm not sure if the boarding sequence means anything, but EK boards by zone, and there will be a zone on your boarding pass.

The zones go from A onwards, starting with First and ending with the last several rows in Y. They board First, Business & Skywards, and then from the back of the plane.

Unfortunately this is often not enforced and the boarding gate can become quite a zoo!

I would also really like to know if there is any method to this. I've done OLCI at the second it opened from an outstation like Cairo, and gotten a number in the 300s!! I thought maybe it's linked to status? like Blue starts at 1, silver at 200 and gold at 300, but that doesn't really make sense either, as sometimes I get below 100 and I have gold.

Maybe it's just in order of ticket purchase for the flight? I mean if you are the first one to purchase a ticket for a given flight you get sequence 1...

Thanks for your response, and yes I know the "boarding sequence number", despite its name, doesn't actually affect the way in how boarding works. It just appears on your boarding pass, and on some airlines, the lower number you are, the higher chance of you being prioritised/op-uped.

I just don't understand how EK allocates these numbers, because for many airlines the BN should be according to the time one OLCIs.

Hmm interesting so you've found the strange situation too. I somehow doubt it's the sequence of ticket-purchasing, because I remember buying a ticket two weeks before the flight, and when I got my BP my BN was 80, but the flight was completely full, so I can't imagine 300 people buying their tickets at the last minute.

For me so far I've never gone below 50.

I've never really noticed what the number has been - just thought it was one of those random things on the BP.

But I had an old BP stub in the desk, so just took that out to look at it. Sq no. 227.

That was on an A380, CDG-DXB, I was in J (using a mileage upgrade), and J was half empty with only 13 Golds & Silvers. So it's unlikely that it has anything to do with op up priority.

Then again, this was part of a SIN-CDG-SIN itinerary, and I bought the ticket 2 days before my SIN-DXB leg (the DXB-CDG was after a couple of months). So maybe I was the 227th person to buy a seat on that flight?

Maybe this is something we should ask Skywards.

I dont see any pattern

YYZ-DXB Y 434
DXB-DOH Y 353
SIN-DXB F 475
DXB-DEL J 244
DXB-DEL J 226
DOH-DXB Y 208
DXB-CMB J 017
DXB-BLR Y 149

These are what I had a arms reach in my office-- was GOLD for all flights and prob OLCI for at leat half fairly close to t-24

IIRC MARS/MACS allocates these in the sequence in which seat assignments are allocated, either via preseating or checkin. I may be wrong though, but I vaguely recall this from a technical presentation by Mercator.

DXB-MUC in F = Seq No.: 0355

Pretty high ...

Me and my wife, she was blue, I was gold. Both on the same ticket, back in 2009. Checked it online, I was something like 50, she was in mid 300's.

I thought it's to do with tier level. Anyhow. Now I think it's just a random number, they should replace SEQ with RAN

I am quite sure this is linked to tier level. The boarding pass stub doesn't carry any verbiage on status, yet I have experienced flight attendants recognizing I am Gold and welcoming me on board accordingly.

Yes! I get this too, but don't understand how it works (I'm Gold too). Here's my last couple of flights and seq number:


Date Segment Sequence
30/3/2011 DMM-DXB 145
1/4/2011 DXB-BKK 67
2/4/2011 BKK-DXB 251
3/4/2011 DXB-CAI 130

It seems totally random. I'm going to keep track and see if I can find a pattern.....

How so? How do they recognize your Gold status?

Maybe because of the "Gold-Luggage-Tag" on your carry-on luggage ...

If you are referring to the "welcome back Mr. XYZ", they get that from the e-ticket coupon number on the bottom of the boarding pass stub. Look at the last digit of the e-ticket, it will be between 1-4 denoting the coupon number of the ticket. If it is any number other than 1 then it stands to reason you have flown before and hence "welcome back".