A seat on a seat map, yes, is not uncommon.

This appears to be a whole row, though, and I’m curious about the language “removed”.

Does anyone know which 777 is next in line to be retired? With A350's entering full service from tomorrow surely some more of the older A6-EBx/ECx will start to go.

Hi all - new joiner. I am flying Hong Kong to Dubai in July 25, and when i booked the plane it was an a380, but they have now switched it to an 777 which is quite disappointing. I can see from murtaza12 's excellent spreadsheet that this is one of the non-refurbished models (flight 383, tail number A6-EGN). Does anyone know if this plane is likely to get an upgrade before July 26, or if there isa a way to find out? Thanks in advance

Hi Xar18, welcome to FlyerTalk and the Emirates forum.

Yes, that is a very diapppointing switch from an A380 to a 77W. I presume you are on EK383. There is no way predicting which particular aircraft will fly that route on that day. I guess you have found that it is A6-EGN today? Looking at ExpertFlyer, there will (currently) be no PE cabin on that flight, so it will not be a refurbished frame.
Depending on your ticket you could try to switch to EK381 which leaves almost 19 hours earlier. The availability on both flights is exactly the same so the only cost will be the change fee (which is why I mentioned the type of ticket as the change will be free of charge if you have a Flex+ ticket).

Many thanks for the response - it is flight EK383 indeed. I got the tail number from a flight tracking website as it seems to feature as the plane in service quite often. As you note, it may be a different plane on the day, but seems likely to be of the same config.

I am travelling as a family of 4 and have connecting flights in Dubai, so my options to change are limited. I was looking at some of the HK - Bangkok - Dubai options as they seem to be exclusively a380 or only a 777 for the shorter leg, but feels like adding extra hours purely for the plane swop. I am flying business class for clarity, but it is also going to be my last ever long haul flight due to my wife having a rare medical condition, so looking to get the best experience I can.

I shall investigate alternate timings

May just suck it up

Yes, the flight via Bangkok that day is an A380. If you are looking for the ‘best experience’, the difference between A380 and 77W in Business is massive (much more than in Economy or in First in my opinion and I have experienced all of them).
So if the timings work and the change fee for 4 pax is manageable it might be worth doing. But that’s of course just my 2c worth.

And those 2c are very valuable to me in this scenario based on your experience, so thank you - I shall actively investigate changing to the Bangkok/A380 this weekend.

Thanks again

Hi again, and apologies if this is wrong thread, but does anyone have experience of upgrading from business to first at the last minute (cash, not points, no status)?

Specifically, how likely is it that a 'deal' would be available leading up to departure/is it possible to ask at the gate? The flight is 9th July, Hong Kong to Dubai, 7pm departure on a 777. I appreciate the answer is 'it depends', but it was to judge how feasible or not it may be based on your collective experiences. I did once get an upgrade offer (econ to business) via the app flying from Dubai to HK, but have never seen once since.

It would be for 4 people for clarity, so I feel like its a complete non-starter.

I would say a discounted offer is possible, but not probable. You may get an email / app offer in the run-up to the flight, but they seem relatively rare and some of them aren’t really good offers to begin with. Never been offered anything at check-in or the gate, but have also never asked.

That's what I figured - plus for 4 people it is even more unlikely. Appreciate the input

I have had email upgrade offers from J to F a few times, but they were never very attractive and therefore I have never taken them. You can ask at check in (there is some anecdotal evidence somewhere on this forum which shows that it is possible).

Your problem is that you are looking for 4 seats out of 8 in that cabin. Now July is a long time away so there is no point in looking at availability to get any idea at all (it’s actually wide open at the moment , not a single seat in F allocated - I guess you are in row 9/10, seats A/B?). But on tomorrow’s flight there are no seats that are not either allocated or blocked (although strangely it shows F4A3), on the 14th there are two, whilst on the 16th nothing is allocated (at this stage). But that may well be completely different tomorrow.

I fear the ‘pigs might fly’ statement is pretty appropriate here for 4 seats at a ‘special price’…..

I think that phrase is entirely appropriate here :). And we are in 9/10 seat A/B indeed.

My wife isn't keen to change the timings, so I will probably just have to stick with it. Just got to hope for a switch back to an A380 or getting a refurbed plane, but neither seem likely. The worst bit is that this was going to be the flight I could actually properly enjoy the A380 bar on for the first time ever...! Ah well.

I noticed that these aircraft have 5A, 5D, 5F, and 5J blocked off as bassinet seats, which makes no sense unless they took out a row in between doors 1 and 2 and massively increased pitch, in which case row 5 would now be behind door 2. Is that the case, or is this just a glitch?

From another thread :-

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6341de4817.png

Do you mind linking the thread and/or post? I can’t seem to find it in search. Curious what the increased pitch looks like, or what else they did in the cabin with one row of J removed between doors 1 and 2.