The Definitive EK Upgrade Thread 2011
 

My wife is booked LON-DXB on EK 004 on 10 July in economy (Skywards Saver tariff). I can't work out her fare class - this is what the Fare Calculations line says on the ticket receipt:
LON EK DXB Q162.15 356.74ULE1YGB1 EK LON328.36KLE1Y GB1 NUC 847.25END ROE0.616693
She is a Skywards Silver member and is trying to upgrade to business class with miles. The booking system keeps saying "please come back later".

Any experiences with upgrading in similar situations, any suggestions on how to do this cost effectively?

Much appreciated.

Gene

Upgrade availability usually opens up @ 48 hours before departure, but maybe even closer as they try to flog pricey biz tickets to walk up customers.

Best you can do is hold your nerve and keep everything crossed.

Good Luck

I fly on 004 errrrr quite a bit, and i have always seen spare seats in Y, J is always full and F is an area that my bread can not enter. best bet is keep looking on line, usually opens up with upgrades about 48hrs before departure. IF you get an e mail asking if you want to upgrade for $$$$$ dont, I expect theyre looking for people to move as theyre over booked.

Chances of an upgrade at last minute
 

if I go up to the emirates check in desk at glasgow and ask for upgrade for glasgow to malaysia via dubai or malaysia to glasgow via dubai leaving on july 17th and return august 11th

will i get an upgrade on either legs if i ask at the check in desk at glasgow or malaysia

Only if your already on their list for an op-up. More chance if you go to the ticket desk with your credit card in hand.

Y - F miles upgrade
 

Scoop from my latest flight, though one completely clueless crew member might not have been entirely sure what he was talking about.

I was looking at the manifest and they have a list of miles for each member, and miles required to upgrade. That included Y - J, J - F and also Y - F. According to the crew, it is possible to do a Y - F upgrade on a 3 class flight using double the miles (so 65,000 miles instead of 32,500 for a Flex ticket on DXB - SIN).

I thought this was interesting as I previously thought this to be impossible.

It has always been possible (well, for the last 2-3 years at least) using on-board upgrades. You can also use this to do a double upgrade (Y-J in advance and then J-F on board). :)

The only catch is that no matter your base fare basis, if you upgrade from Y-J, you are shown as SAVR for mileage requirements to upgrade J-F.

Flying Rome Sydney requested upgrade for Dubai Sydney leg in Rome and was put on the computer.

On arriving at Dubai (5 hour transit) checked and advised nothing available. The staff in lounge advised to check again 40 minutes prior to departure when the flight closed which was succesfull.

As an aside I find the staff in Rome are always helpfull.

The Definitive 2011 EK Upgrade Thread
 

There's a lot of people posting about upgrades on EK at present. So I thought I would do a little bit of housekeeping and tidy things up (ie merge, move, tidy, add etc).

As at July 2011, loads across the network are high - so op-ups are somewhat more frequent for those with status (and some lucky ones without).

We have heard that changes are on their way, but until we can confirm and have approval to publish here, anything you might hear is innuendo.

At present, op-ups only happen as a result of "oversales" in the Y or J cabin. EK rarely oversells J and never F.

All flights are handed to the airport at the T-24 mark (meaning the airport staff have control of the flight and load management). The load controller working the flight will look at the overall load and start to "manage" the flight around the 6-hr mark (sometimes earlier, sometimes later) depending on the airport.

Here's a couple of myth-busters as far as I know...

Currently, the fare you paid (ie saver or flex) has nothing to do with your chance of an upgrade. In fact, the load controller doesn't even see your fare basis.

Upgrades are processed via your Skywards status. That's it. That's all the science to it. Not on tier miles year to date, not on date of birth, date of joining the program, not on total Skywards miles in your account. It may just even be decided alphabetically if they have more Golds than seats.

OLCI (online check-in) does not impact your ability to be upgraded from Y to J.

Sometimes, selecting a middle bulkhead seat helps (as one of the first things a load controller will do is see if/how many families are travelling) and if you are taking up a seat they need, voila, they'll move you.

Rarely does "the speech" work in remote stations as EK use a lot of contract staff and they are told to do things by the book. In addition, it is usually only an EK staff member (one in EK uniform) who has the power to upgrade. No point smiling sweetly at the check in agent who's making minimum wage, using the "we're celebrating our 12th honeymoon", or "you wont believe what happened last time we flew with you" or anything else you can think of.

However, if you are in DXB, anything goes as the staff have heard it all before and are used to it. They may put you on the "upgrade" list and if you do have status, you need to check with the agents or the desk staff at 30-40 mins prior to departure. It cant hurt, but dont count on it. And no amount of arm waving will shift them.

The other piece of advice is this. If your schedule is semi-flexible, use a tool like ExpertFlyer to monitor loads and pick the busiest. For example, I know that loads ex SIN are always busiest Fri/Sat/Sun as the flights are typically full of Aussies on their way home from holidays. Also, the most Golds I will see on a flight like that are maybe 6 in total. So chances are high.

However, if I go to DXB from SIN, then this sector is much much harder to score an op-up as the flights are elite heavy (meaning a lot of Golds and Silvers) plus the fact that the J and F cabins are typically full of rich oil guys and bankers...

If you cant get your head around using EF, then call your local EK office if you have one, and politely enquire as to how busy the flight is. Do not ask "oy, how busy is this flight as I'm looking to score a free upgrade?". Better to ask nicely "I'm thinking of upgrading one or more of my flights using miles, could you tell me my chances?". The second way is more likely to get you a co-operative agent. The agent may innocently let you know that Y is very full and using miles to upgrade would be a good idea. If they say this, do nothing, especially if you are Gold, as an op-up is likely.

If they toe the company line and give you nothing, simply hang up and call again. It is the FT mantra.

Remember, upgrades only happen because the airline wants them to happen. Rarely do they "comp" good customers for their loyalty. They op-up because they need the seat. Your seat. Anything can happen on the day though. Boarding late doesnt seem to help. Nor does boarding early.

99% of all the op-ups I have received have been given to me at check-in (not at the gate). Typically, its non status passengers who receive gate upgrades - because the staff are still working the flight and are under the pump to get the flight out on time.

Hope this helps...

Thanks for this eightback, great post! :)

You mean they're going to make it harder for me to get an op up or any other kind of upgrade? I guess that would push me back to the Star Alliance and to abandon EK totally (I really don't have any long-term commitment to EK. If they scratch my back I'll scratch theirs, otherwise...).

Well, my experience is quite the opposite. 99% of my op-up's have been at the gate, and I've been Gold for a while now. My only op-up at checkin was last Tuesday in Europe.

Other than that, what you say makes a lot of sense.

Why? Because they might introduce a system which uses actual relevant data to allocate operational upgrades? EK in my mind, has to introduce a system which uses a set of criteria (ie like UA does, where they view fare paid, status, etc to allocate). No system will be perfect, but anything they introduce will be a lot more efficient than the arbitrary process which they use now.

Like you, I've spent a lot of time on UA metal over the years and I have probably received 3 op-ups during that time. Sure, I've had 60-70 more - but they were all using upgrade instruments.

I think this is very station dependent. At a hub such as DXB, it makes sense that they're working the flight up until the last minute, managing misconnects, delays, overbooking etc.

Linking PNR's
 

Here's another data point.

Lets say one of you is Gold. And the other is Blue. You are either on a joint booking (single PNR) or you have linked PNR's (which can be done via reservations). This is most often done when their are kids on the reservation.

When the flight is under departure control, the load controller will actually split the 2 x pax as far as upgrade priority is concerned, as you will be processed via status. You just have to hope that the EK person is astute enough to realise that the second person on the reservation needs to come with you.

I will let you know how up to date this process is on Sunday when my daughter and I check in at MEL for the 405 back to SIN :)

Interesting. Didn't know that.

Thought it is different as my experience shows, that I was more likely upgraded when I didn't check-in.

You know the Load Controller likes you when you see this...
 

I had pre-selected 18H.

Logged in around 4pm SIN time today. Saw this. All good is all I can say...:)
Whenever you "lose" your seat, it is normally always a good sign...

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/1...10708atpm0.png

I have two data points. We were on our honeymoon to Auckland in 2007 and it was my wife's first flight with EK. She had just registered as a Skywards blue member, and I had Gold. We both got upgraded to J on the Sydney Auckland legof our onward journey.

Year before last we were both traveling to JFK from BOM in J. On the BOM-DXB leg they upgraded me to F but when I enquired about my wife, they said that they couldn't upgrade her since she wasn't either a silver or a gold. This was actually quite a frustrating experience for both of us but they just refused.

I think it may also be station dependent since I have always had a very bad experience with the local staff here at BOM regarding opups. Of the 30-35 odd flights I have taken with EK over the past 6 years as a Gold member ex BOM, I have only been upgraded 2 times, compared to 50% flights ex-DXB until about last year where it was just once.

I've never seen my seat disappering in the past 6 years as gold. Never. And almost all of my upgrades have happened at the gate, except once when I was upgraded at check-in.

Same here. Very interesting!

Complete opposite here. I always had my upgrade at check-in and only once from J to F at the gate.

Op-up locations depend on station and when you checkin. All my three regular stations (ACC/DXB/BOM) have upgraded me both at checkin and at the gate depending on the situation. Last week in DXB, I was even upgraded after I had boarded (but missed out on the upgrade since I had agreed to a seat swap - so the other lady got my upgraded seat instead :mad:).

ROFL!!!

I tried doing that for the 385 to DXB yesterday and it showed a blank screen and on it in red something along the lines of "you cannot access the seatmap as it is now in the control of the airport"

I have heard about this before for BOM flights. A colleague who is a blue member inquired and got the same response back about whether they were Silver/Gold member or not which I thought was odd given they have that info.
On the contrary I have had an almost 100% op-up (J-F) out of BOM but again haven't done anywhere near 30 flights to there.

OP But Why????
 

Hi Mates,

Consider this a RANT but try & be GENUINE & UNDERSTANDING from MY point of veiw. Consider this the OTHER prespective.

I fly F with EK alomst every week because of business. Have been doing this for 4 yrs now on a regular basis. Never seen an OPUP(you can not opup some one who is already in 1A:D)

I feel PISSED offffffff when some JACK ends up in 1E because of an OPUP & drinks & eats all the way to the end. The noise that he makes comes in on the house. This is STUPID.

SQ does not OPUP to F. Almost NEVER. If EK keeps on doing this then they will just end up losing revenue F paxs. Not fair when I blow $12000 on a TKT and a JACK gets it for $ 2900.

... should I pay this kind of money???? And then the OP's enjoy the F ride & to the max usually.

Yeaah I know I have disturbed quiet a few here by posting MY PERSPECTIVE but then why is EK trying to resemble SQ on 1 hand then behave like an EU or US airline?????????????????

Revenue YES but atleast keep the sanity of the F Cabin if you want to be a premier air carrier.

My Prespective.

Safe Flying

EGT

Ok, here's my point of view. Surely this is an exaggeration of all proportions.

You could also argue that they may increase F passengers by more J customers experiencing F. As you say, you "blow $12,000" on a ticket - but you're assured of an F ticket. Those op-ups are just that - and may not get to experience the F cabin again.

I just don't find the argument credible. You pay F, you get F. Someone pays J, and they get to experience F (thru no fault of their own). You cant simply over generalise the argument and say that every op-upped F customer sits there and behaves like a barbarian.

Happens pretty often. More than I would want to & that too on the ULH flights unfortunately.

Safe Flying

EGT

Do you personally, out of your own pocket, blow $12,000 on each and every ticket? If you do, I would feel some sympathy with you (and also maybe think you could do better things with your money, but that's your call).

If, on the other hand, the tix are paid for by your employer or someone else (eg the tax man), I would feel no sympathy whatsoever and hopefully I would never have the misfortune of sitting next to you.

Just my take...

:rolleyes:

Well, seems like you have indeed been unfortunate. UA have been very good to me over the years; pity UA no longer exists, so I can no longer fly them.

I've never missed out on an Intercontinental upgrade on UA (and I've had a few) and I've been op-upped countless times, including several SYD-LAX in the same month, and also quite a few when travelling on award tix, especially out of LHR (this even happened to me a couple of weeks ago on an (unnamed) Asian carrier).

So compared with that, Emirates record isn't that great, but better than nothing. I probably don't do as well as some for op-ups on EK because I don't actively seek out flights that are likely to be overbooked. I just book the flights that suit me best, but even doing this I have discovered some flights to Europe where you can be virtually guaranteed an op-up if you have the status.

Oh, and I should say that if I were ever to be op-upped to 1st and placed in seat 1E next to Mr ELITEGOLDTRAVELLER, I would probably politely decline, or maybe not, so as to make his life hell (seems as if he deserves it).

Outstanding, high quality rant there Mr Traveller.

Thanks for taking the time to brighten everyones day with your eloquent view on the life of the put-upon F passenger.

The amusing idea that you would spend $9000 to avoid the barbarian J pax, will have me laughing for a very long time.^

EGT,

If I were you I'd be threatening to quit my job unless my employer started forking out for me to fly private ;)

Figured better to post this here, rather than starting a new thread.

Have a flight in December from CDG-DXB that's showing no upgrade availability through Skywards or on ExpertyFlyer. Just wondering if upgrade availability can open up closer to the date of travel or if there's no chance? As I've noticed other flights in December (different routes) currently have upgrade availability then I'm assuming it's related to load factors, not time until travel date.

Thanks a lot.

Yes - award availability does open up (sometimes exactly a month before the flight). Set an ExpertFlyer alert, and you'll get an email if/when availability appears.

Cheers,
Rick

Emirates upgrade worth taking?
 

We've just received an email from Emirates offering an upgrade from Economy to Business class for 9500 thai baht each (approx £193) from Bangkok to Dubai. We haven't been offered it on the connecting onward flight from Dubai to Manchester. The original return flights from Man- Bangkok economy class cost £648 each, and we were upgraded on the outward leg Man- Dubai. Could anyone advise if this worth taking please or if there's a chance we may be upgraded for free at the airport? We are Skywards members blue level but do not fly frequently. Many thanks.

Good question.

I would probably do it. An economy to business upgrade is going to cost you 32,500 miles if you are on a flex fare or 42,500 if you are on a saver.

If you had to buy those miles (and remember, you are limited to 25,000 per year), then 32,500 would cost you US$1300 (or close on £800). At £193, its a quarter of what it would cost in miles and its guaranteed - no sweating it out at the gate lounge waiting for the load controller (or the upgrade gods) to smile down on you.

Chances would be slim (but not impossible) for an op-up.

It's a good deal for the upgrade, IF you value the upgrade.

It is also a very good time for op-ups right now due to the Eid holidays in Dubai. Everyone is flying, no one on Business, so not that many Golds, which makes it easy for Silvers and Blues to get an upgrade.

Would be worth it, for me, especially if you're heading straight on to MAN without a stopover in DXB.

Thanks for all your replies.

We've now received an email offering an upgrade on the Dubai-Man leg for £274 each. From what others have said about this not being a very common occurance, it's making me wonder if they're overbooked and trying to maximise revenue from someone they may op-up anyway?

Since you've already been op-upped on one of the sectors, you should be able to judge the value in the incremental comfort & service of J vs. the incremental cost. If you don't think it's worth the upgrade offer price, perhaps you can wait and see if you'll get an op up at check-in or the gate.

If you were Gold, I would suggest you wait until check-in to see what happened. The last few times I have been offered the email upgrade, I declined as I knew my status would probably come through. If it was me, I would still do it - because the cost is still a lot cheaper than what you could buy the seat for - whether in revenue or miles.

I personally feel it's worth the added cost for the space and comfort alone, however my travelling companion doesn't agree. I'm willing to pay for both upgrades but they wouldn't feel comfortable accepting so it leaves me with a dilemma.

shakka, what dilemma? Its easy fixed. Find another travelling companion ;)