Interesting one, but given the context of the situation I really doubt it is the start of "something new" in terms of overall policy.

You were told that J was overbooked, so clearly there were always going to be some op-ups. And as a Plat there was also every possibility you would be firmly in their sights - even if you had not discussed the issue at check-in.

But the exchange that then took place later at the gate is, I feel, absolutely no indication that merely asking would necessarily bring similar results in the future. It just so happened that your request (and that of the pax in front of you) suited them on the day, because they needed to move a number of pax anyway and it gave them the chance to say ..... "look how good we are to you, you only have to ask and we give you what you want" .......

Smart tactics on their part, but sort of disingenuous at the same time. IMHO.

I notice EK22 tomorrow has moved to a two class 777-300ER from a three. I always thought F was heavily booked from MAN. Was going to upgrade with miles...

Well if it HAD have been heavily booked and stayed as a 3 class, it's possible you might not have been able to upgrade with miles anyway. But seemingly it wasn't ..... so you can save your miles and no doubt enjoy a decent enough flight in J

Have a good one ^

I wouldnt say heavily booked. J goes out full a lot - F is patchy. Often F goes out full on EK17 on a Friday, and sometimes EK18 is busy.

May and June are pretty quiet months.

Upgrade given: Y - J
Upgrade location: OLCI
Route: AMS-DXB
Flight number: EK 148
Type of ticket: Saver
Date of travel: 30/05/2014
Tier status: Blue ( Downgraded very recently )
Tier miles: 21k
Skywards miles balance: 35k
Number of pax on the same PNR: 1
First letter of your surname: R

Old habit,OLCI at T-24, boom..:D:D. I didnt receive any upgrade email either. Very surprised, the last time I had this was about 2 years before. Ofcourse no chauffeur nor access to partner lounge in AMS ( worth a miss anyway :td: ).

I prefer to fly EK and status running to get to Platnum. I am BNE/AKL based, but had business to do in both the USA and China.

I was on two PNR's - BNE-LAX return with a DXB-PVG return thrown in the mix, however in hindsight should have booked it as LAX-PVG return for the $200 more with triple status credits and miles.

Upgrade given: J - F

Upgrade location: Gate

Route: DXB-DEL

Flight number: EK 510

Type of ticket:Flex

Date of travel: 10-Jun-14

Tier status: Platinum

Number of pax on the same PNR: 1

This is my first EK trip in 4 months, a welcome change from BA and OS post my relocation to London.

Upgrade given: J - F

Upgrade location: Gate

Route: BOM-DXB

Flight number: EK 505

Type of ticket:Flex

Date of travel: 14-Jun-14

Tier status: Platinum

Number of pax on the same PNR: 1

Upgrade given: Y - J

Upgrade location: Lounge

Route: CMB-DXB

Flight number: EK 651

Type of ticket: Saver

Date of travel: 14-Jun-14

Tier status: Gold

Number of pax on the same PNR: 1

What were you doing in Y?!! :eek:

Good question, not sure but thankfully I didn't end up back there :)

On an upcoming flight F has 2 seats booked and J is also 1/2 full. I have a refundable J ticket and I am a silver almost gold. Should I wait it out or use points to get the F seat.

What route and when would give posters a better chance to assess the situation.

When you say "F has 2 seats booked", where did you get that information? If it's from the seat map then that means nothing as 2 seats are blocked by EK, and people may have booked but not reserved a seat.

Half full J could also mean 38 seats available or 14, subject to the same conditions.

I suppose the answer is how much you care about the extras such as chauffeur drive, perhaps 10kg if it's the first sector and if ex-DXB, F lounge access. If you are only after the seat, you can wait until you are on board - if you don't get the op-up you can then use points to upgrade as you are a silver: assuming F isn't full already. If you absolutely must guarantee it, then by all means use the miles.

Additionally, are you going to want to use the points any other time, for a redemption or other sector, or is this a one off trip?

Depending on the route he'd also have a pretty slim chance of an op up as a solver member. There are usually tens of golds on every flight in j.