Having flown exclusively in F and J, I decided to try Y, since Emirates has what posters here termed before the "great J giveaway" for Gold passengers booked in Y, and others have posted about a very high percentage of being upgraded on fuller flights.

I am also flying with wife and two young kids, so Y was an obvious choice from my origin unless I wanted the flights alone to cost over $40k.

So, how have I fared? SFO -> DXB, Y is full and no upgrade. 15 hours contorted in a seat. I actually survived it much better than I had imagined possible, but still sucked. Next leg is DXB -> ICN, Y full and no upgrade!!

So, 0 for 2 so far on full long haul flights. Argh....

I did make sure my ticket was on a separate PNR to maximize chances of the upgrade.

I will report back on how the ICN -> DXB and DXB -> SFO goes next week.

If I am 0 for 4 I will likely need to be wheeled off the plane.

The sole benefit of this experience is that I will much more fully appreciate F and J on future flights.

Dude what is the point of doing all those mileage runs in F and J if you're not going to use the miles for upgrades on future flights?! I'd rather stay home than have to fly 24 hours in Y!

Was just a test. I am gathering mileage for more important use later.

Arranging 773s in a 3-4-3 arrangement is pretty cramped for 10h+ journeys, especially since they use the aircraft to SFO, LAX, EZE, GIG, Australia & New Zealand and are going to use it to SEA. If they introduce an A380 service to SFO, as rumoured, then the 3-4-3 arrangement will be more spacious and better, and I've heard that it even has more legroom.

My DXB <-> ICN legs were supposed to be on the 380, but Emirates just switched both my inbound and outbound to a 777.

Why did they do that? Was it a last-minute move or were you told well in advance?

They've been switched to 777 until 31st March to accomodate A380's being taken out of service for the wing crack checks. It also meant the additonal A380 DXB <=> LHR service that was due to launch in Feb is still on 777's as well at the moment

That is shocking.

Karma has probably denied you an upgrade to date.

This experience will only make your experiences in J and F that much better.

Well, not quite as it sounds. If I did get upgraded to J, I would have given my wife the seat, at least for half the flight or on half the legs that I got upgraded.

If I was on the same PNR as all other 3 passengers, 2 of them kids, and none of them with status on EK, I can pretty much guarantee there would have been no upgrade.

Speaking of letting her have the seat part of the time, talking to an FA on the 380 she said they don't let wives/husbands switch their seat mid-flight, but she did say it was more "allowed" on the 777.

Considering that you chose to spend an extra 14 hours inside a 777 Y cabin (15.5 + 9 vs 11.5 hrs SFO->ICN Direct), I am still wondering what's your motivation for doing it the "other way around the planet." I am sure you love flying EK, but to spend an extra 14 hours inside a 3-4-3 config in a 777 with wife and kids beats me completely. Silver Status mileage run for family?

Ah, good question. There actually is a reasoning for what would appear to be madness.

We are spending a few days in Korea then 4 days in Dubai at the Atlantis.

Back when I was checking fares it was about $1,400 each for a Y roundtrip to just Dubai. Yet, it was $880 for an SFO -> DXB -> ICN -> DXB -> SFO, with stopover in DXB on the return. While price isn't of main importance to me, the $880 deal made this an impulse buy/trip.

I knew my kids would love the IFE on Emirates, and we got 9 hours between connections to relax in Dubai at a hotel prior to the 2nd leg. Plus my kids are very well behaved and loved both legs so far, primarily since they are not allowed to watch much TV at home and were able to overdose on kids movies.

Lastly, I will likely have a house in Dubai in the not so distant future, so might as well get all of them earning miles and acclimated to 15 hour flights.

Aaah. Well, price is always a factor - might as well save some $$$ on the flight to spend on a nicer hotel/ more fun later on.

KVS was painting a beautiful picture this morning, it was showing F2 J7 Y0 for my ICN -> DXB flight.

I went alone to the check-in counter and the agent look confused and asked me if I was travelling alone. Hmmm, how did she know, since I was on the separate PNR?! She said that Y is oversold and she was going to upgrade me but wasn't sure if I wanted to be broken up from my party.

I told her that I booked a seperate PNR so that I could be upgraded, so "gladly" I would take the upgrade, and upgraded I was!!

1 for 3 now, and hoping 2 for 4 on the brutal flight from DXB -> SFO.

This was the first time I was upgraded at the check-in counter, before it has always been at the boarding gate. What has others experience been?