Hi,

with all the aggressive expansions ek is looking into i think it will be a downhill slide for privileges we get from our silver/gold tier.

Imagine with all the new routes that are going to be included the number of passengers ek will handle is going to be massive. With such high loads i am sure it will be a case of who cares if you are a ff.

After a few years we'll probably hear how good it was to get comp upgrades, ek lounges and gold/silver check-in counters. It will be a case of you'll get what you've paid for.

Rgds,

fly hi

I think you're right. The comp upgrades will probably continue, for those who continue to fly with the airline and maintain status.

The only positive thing they have done for FFs in the last two years was to increase the bonus for Business and First. The zone system, fewer miles awarded and more expensive rewards, saver fares - they've all greatly reduced the value of the miles earned. And they have only reduced benefits as well. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

hmmm... +1..
what about the majority of flyers in Y .. EK does not seem to care about them anymore, so it will b interesting..
But yes, they hv connectivity and prices ( mostly still lower than european airlines in many routes) and ppl will take them because of this..( something similar to why many ppl r forced to take LH earlier from south asia to Europe and beyond because of their good connections and frequencies, even though their onboard product was nothing to write home about)..

Yup - LH is good competition for EK on the India - US sector, but EK can't be beat for India - Africa, and connecting in DXB is also significantly shorter for getting from India to Latin America (GRU, GIG, and EZE all being served soon).

For US based passengers who fly a lot to Europe and within the US, the alliances do matter and so 1K/SEN is a much better combination for folks like me, and I will not re-qualify for EK Gold for next year after all the Skywards devaluations/shenanigans.

But, no point complaining much about EK because they don't need my business and will do perfectly fine with their current strategy because of their great location and superior hard product, and the fact that the growth patterns in air traffic point to India/China to Africa/Latin America being a bigger driver of growth than the traditional North American routes.

Not that North America/Europe are not important - but EK has more competition here and so it makes sense for them to try and dominate the India/China to Africa/Latin America routes in the coming years, as opposed to trying to lure US-based 1K's to increase the share of travel with EK.

Superior hard product? I don't call 3-4-3 seating in Y on 777's or 2-3-2 in J on 330's "superior". I call it squashy and many airlines with comparable pricing have wider seats.

Just one measure of how EK isn't the bees knees that everyone thinks it is.

And, I haven't yet decided to renew my Gold status for 2013 (already Gold until 12/12). Probably won't.

And, I haven't yet decided to renew my Gold status for 2013 (already Gold until 12/12). Probably won't.[/QUOTE]

do you think they will care or if it matters to them... we'll still see the business lounge bz in the mornings and evenings, flights will be full. The only thing that matters is if you have a better option to go with. For me EK still beats everyone else in connectivity but it is still getting very irritating so when I am travelling EK the expectations are zero, nada, nill !!