Class options and when to purchase
 

Good morning,

Mrs Ivanhoe and I are FITs for leisure and fly two or three times a year in J and its associated classes spending fifty or so nights 'over there' per annum and each of us currently require 8,124 additional tier miles by 31 May 2012 to achieve 'that shiny new silver card'.

I plan two to three trips ahead and then do the daily 'EK dance' avidly searching the flights on the website to see if there is a good price on offer for the dates as every dollar saved matters to us.

We also 'opt-in' each month for the Miles Accelerator, but wonder why we bother as, when searching for flights, the Miles Bonus always shows as it did today without having already 'opted-in' for April :confused:

Because of this splendid forum, I've also become a Premium Member of EF to try and understand classes and pricing but, unfortunately, FAIL :rolleyes:

This morning I visited my favourite URL and found that EK is offering a good price for our usual MEL-KUL-MEL run... but can't find that booking class on EF... would it be 'I' with EF not yet having updated the fares?

I do not consider myself to be a fool, howsoever it may appear, but... as this is the first of April and with EK suggesting that after the second I should 'Hello Tomorrow', do you think that fares may drop even more by some 'tomorrow' prior to the thirty-first of May?

Is the new slogan connected to an up-coming sale?

As an innocent newbie, I find myself kneeling in awe at the feet of the great FTers and supplicating in hope of kind advice.

Cheers ツ

Edit
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I just checked and it's really not imperative as the expiring miles on the 31st of May only amount to 4,137 and our next return trip in August will up us to silver.

I can answer this bit - the "Show Miles"drop down on the booking page shows what you could get for your planned trip if you were opted in for the MA programme during the month you are making the booking in. Kind of a reminder to make sure that you do!

Firstly welcome to the EK Forum,

I am a fellow Melbournian so can appreciate where you are coming from re pricing.

Here's what I would. It's called "positioning".

What you do is this. Buy a ONE-WAY ticket from MEL to SIN (or KUL). Then buy all your future flights ex SIN (or KUL) via the EK website.

So, buy a one-way to SIN. Then as soon as you get here, buy your SIN-MEL-SIN in J (even with the date change fees, its still cost effective)

The pricing differential is significant. Look at this example.

1. MEL-SIN-MEL on 22 May, back 29 May in J = A$4004 (flex fare both ways)
2. SIN-MEL-SIN on 22 May, back 29 May in J = A$2819 (thats using EK's exchange rate tool) and Flex fare both ways.

This makes sense if you are doing 2-3 trips a year. The pricing ex SIN is some of the cheapest EK fights in the region. One is the exchange rate difference between the AUD and the SGD and the other is that EK doesn't really try and compete with SQ and QF etc, so its premium cabin pricing is very good.

Make sense?

Good luck, and if I used a handle like yours, mine would be KEW3101 (I know you will understand!)

Cheers

SIMON

Aahhh! So we're on the right track by opting-in each month... thank you so much for your prompt reply!

Cheers ツ

I'm guessing you're looking at the IRTAU1 fare which is a saver (!!!!) fare at 3914AUD

My advice follows eightblack's: rough it up 1-way to KUL (about 550 plus taxes) where you'd had booked a CRTMY1 fare (flex) at 2657AUD that carries no penalties for changes, earns you proper miles and you will have your return trip to KUL covered.

And being a C fare you should have more availability than having to battle with I's. You could also get an A fare (still flex) for 3684AUD if you fancy EK's first class :)

@ eightblack ^

What clever and wonderful Advice!

BUT... as it would seem that we on our hill are a little slower on the uptake than you across the creek on yours: How does one get into either country on arrival at SIN or KUL if one hasn't an exit ticket?

Can the new return ticket be purchased on-line at the cheaper rate to overcome this?.. I do hope so as it would open-up many more 'tomorrows' for us.

For instance, following the trip in question, I've planned to do a 'run' - SYD-SIN-BKK-KUL-MEL - in February to top-up our tier miles for GOLD in preparation for MEL-DXB-PRG / IST-DXB-CMB-SIN-MEL in the second-half of 2013.

I'll now plan for it using your most cunning paradigm and book KUL-MEL-SIN... if I can.

I'm so glad I came across FT!

Cheers ツ

Hi edy4eva

Thank your for your reply... today's price on Emirates website is AUD 3905.00 - one that isn't listed on EF's website so that was my confusion of the code.

As mentioned, I'm not au fait when it comes to codes and using them... if I wanted to book one of those different codes (say C) would I need to book through a TA?.. the Emirates site doesn't seem to give you that option :confused:

Unfortunately we aren't able to 'rough it up' as I can't fly longer than four hours at a time in Y... but WOW! AUD3684 in the pointiest part... gotta try that at least once - although I'm sure that having experienced the pleasure I'd probably start a PJ collection as a hobby. :cool:

Cheers ツ

Yes, you can easily come into SIN on a one-way ticket. It is highly unlikely they will even ask when you clear immigration and I have done this many times.

You then simply go online to EK.com, select SIN-MEL-SIN and voila, purchase the ticket which will be charged to you in SGD (at a much better rate than you could ever buy it ex MEL)

Check the fare differentials between SIN and KUL, but last time I looked, they were pretty much line ball.

Let us know if you need any further assistance...

Too easy, follow the oldest trick in the book:
Book a return trip MEL-KUL-MEL but have it in J on outbound and Y on the return sector which should come to about 2351AUD plus taxes (which is a bit cheaper than 1 way J 2504AUD+).
This is assuming finding I on outbound and L (you can see from EF the valid travel dates for L).

Then book your return J or F from KUL and voila.

Good idea...or as another option, buy a ONE-WAY Flex Y fare MEL-SIN, use EF to search for upgrade availability and then when you land in SIN, buy your SIN-MEL-SIN ticket, that way, you always have as your "start" point, the cheapest ticketing orgin. It works well if you make multiple trips to the same place.

Same hold trues for buying premium fares ex Europe. If you can position to somewhere like Rome or Athens, then buy return fares from there, you will save a significant amount.

Thanks muchly to you both,

You've oiled the gears well and I'm wondering... if I bought a one-way MEL-KUL in Y and then upgraded to J using miles (we have 27000 each now [37500 required] I would need to buy another 11000 or so each @ $40 per 1000 = $440) could this be done?

I just can't get my head around the class codes and how to book an up-grade class that EF shows using the EK website... or should it be done by telephone specifying which class I want to purchase?

I've at least eased my concious with the entering Malaysia bit without an exit ticket: by using my tablet at KLIA, I could buy the returns BEFORE actually entering the country and then have evidence of an exit ticket via the email confirmation if confronted.

Cheers ツ

Edit:
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That is unless Emirates refuse us to board at MEL without the required exit ticket to satisfy Malaysian Immigration.

Don't get hung up on fare codes within EK. All you really need to worry about is FLEX versus SAVER. A flex fare (MEL-SIN or MEL-KUL) will require 30,000 miles to upgrade and a Saver fare will cost you 37,500.

You can search for Flex now on EK.com by logging in using your Skywards number and then selecting "show flex fares".

You can buy up to 25,000 miles per annum, so no worries about buying the 11,000 you need. It's a good deal (in your particular case). And you will have much more luck upgrading the outbound (ie MEL-KUL or MEL-SIN) rather than the return as the premium loads are typically never 100%

You wont get refused boarding in MEL. Many people come here to live and work and a lot of people buy one-way due to the fact that they honestly don't know when they will return. SIN will give you a 90-day Visa - and all they care about is that you don't breach the 90-days.

Fanbloodytastic!

You've really opened my eyes to using Skywards fruitfully!

I just priced a FCO-KUL-FCO business class ticket and it came to an extremely attractive price indeed... something like AUD 2300 per pax. Goodness me, I can see us gathering mountains of PJs in future times - simply by using our reward points.

I just love FT, EF & EK to bits ^^^

Cheers ツ

Interesting. Though I'm still trying to get my head around this idea of positioning, basically doing 2 round trips.

But its not really. It's doing ONE one-way trip to get to a better start point (from a cost perspective).

My example is real. I was based in MEL. I relocated to SIN. I bought a ONE-WAY ticket to SIN (so I might not get the best deal on the one-way ticket, but not too bad). I then commence my round trip tickets from SIN (due to the fact that they are something of the order of 30-40% cheaper than MEL.

As long as I need to keep going back and forth (which I do), then it is fine.

Same applies if you do multiple trips to Europe. Your return leg will always be "open" if you get my meaning.