There's no rule or thumb. It varies as much as daily on the same route
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The older ones (up to EEL) have a lower take off weight so may not be able to reach all destinations. I don't know if that covers any USA ones. Have a look on the route tracker on The EK Source and it'll give you an indication on what's been used recently, although it can't be guaranteed you'll follow any pattern.

Thanks for the info. It seems YYZ gets a mix of second and third generation (only one first generation in the past month). I do note that they are using some that have 426Y -- does this mean it does not have crew quarters?

No, the crew rest area was relocated to below the main deck.

Booked EK212 A380-800 2 FC Can't Reserve 2 Middle Seats (E and F)
 

Just booked 2 First Class awards seats EK212 IAH-DXB and EK won't assign 2E/2F or 3E/3F (or even 1E/1F), even though the whole cabin is empty - says these are all reserved for families with infants. ?? Meaning it's impossible this far out (11 Months) to get two seats assigned for a couple. Seems crazy. We had changed our rez from a 777-300ER and there was no such blocking on that aircraft. Suggestions?

Have a look at the following thread :-

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emir...s-blocked.html

Call or use live chat or twitter and tell them you’d like to sit together and it’s blocked out and you’ll move if requested (you won’t have to move).

Hi Guys,

I am new to EK sub coming from UA sub. I’m interested in learning more about booking an award F ticket.

Is there a more recent thread with up to date information? I can’t seem to find one…am sure I am missing it. Thanks!

I’m flying from London to Bangkok via Dubai in December and originally booked J class, but decided that i wanted to look at upgrading to F class, didn’t want to spend the extra without knowing which window suites would be available, so I used the chat facility on Emirates.com to ask what seat availability was as prefer to be on the left and my last flight was in 2A but 2A apparently not available on either flight , so was offered 2K or 3A. Decided to take 3A, but wondering if maybe 2K might be a good alternative?

any recommendations on 2K over 3A?

many thanks

I'd pick 2K over 3A, but either one is fine.

I have an upcoming flight on EK381 route (an A380), and seats 1A and 2A seem like the seats they block for high tier flyers, so it is possible that at some point close-in to departure your preferred seat of 2A might open up. I would advise that some point you start looking at your reservation online and wait for 2A to become available.

My preference in order is:
2K, 3K, 2A, 3A
Mostly because I'm a righty and prefer the console on my right.
But to be honest the above 4 seats are all pretty much equal.

I will never forgive AS for trading EK to give us QR

Out of interest, whilst the Emirates seat map was showing 2A as not available to select on the 4 F flights I’m taking in Dec, ExpertFlyer was showing a different story on 3 of them, so I jumped on another online chat with Emirates to enquire if 2A could be assigned to me and in a matter of minutes, I was informed my seat allocations had been updated to 2A on flights 1,2 and 4. Flight 3 remains as 2K as 2A is already allocated to another passenger.

I guess either something changed since my online chat a few weeks ago or I just happened to connect to a staff member who was ok to allocate the seat to me. Appreciate it’s just an allocation and could change but a result I’m happy with and looking forward to flying F again. 🙂

I don't think anything has necessarily changed of recent. My experience was based on what I was seeing on my reservation for several months, and my comments were also based on some insights gathered from other FTers. The fact that you saw something different on EF versus what the EK seat map was showing is telling in some ways.... that is, EK might in fact be "holding" seats for various reasons, but your experience would indicate that connecting to the "right" EK agent might prove an avenue to getting around the issue.

I was wondering if anyone might explain how they think it is that EF could see actual seats assigned to traveling pax versus what EK wants to show as being available?? I understand that EF can tell you the number of reservations booked by fare bucket, wasn't aware they could tell specific assigned seat reservations. The only logical explanation is that EF has contracted for access to EK's internal reservation/seat allocations.