Long time forum lurker , sitting in the EK B terminal at 04:30 (In transit HKG – NCL) considering saying goodbye to EK and thought I’d share a few thoughts.

Does anyone remember the days when a single bizz return ticket to DXB from the UK would nearly get you a GOLD card?  (Its true! And it was not that long ago) these days it all seems to have changed though, I do at least two long haul routes a month ( NCL – HKG / CGK / SYD , all in the back of the bus ) so this month have just hit the 100,000 tier mile mark (only 2 months left , no chance of hitting the 150).

I don’t have a say in the ticket type I travel on regretfully, standard policy says it must be the cheapest, full stop. But strangely, what I do have is the freedom to pick the route/airline (how does that make sense? i.e. EK is Ł600 quid to CGK and BA/SQ is 1200 quid, hey ho that’s corporate policy for you).

Anyhow let me get back on track here. As a previous platinum flying blue and Gold BA card holder, several years ago I made a conscious decision to abandon these chaps in favour of EK. It was an easy decision at the time, lovely new terminal with great lounge, ICE system was/is marvellous, skywards program was great! Upgrade with your air miles when you got on the plane!!! The old dears on BA would have had a heart attack and called an immediate strike (yet again). So it was a no brainer really , and I never regretted the move, have been a EK Gold card holder now for coming up on 5 years and believe it was the best thing I ever did (airline wise that is). However it now seems to have all changed, the terminals are a pain in the butt IMHO, if I am in Dubai I need to get to the airport earlier now as I have no idea what terminal I will be departing from, & I seem to be cursed on never landing in the same terminal that I am departing from while in transit, and don’t start me on the immigration queues at midnight (I have a story about the EK Gold card access, but another time).

So all that and now the most important bit, upgrades and flight loads “and before anyone kicks off , off course I do not have a god given right to an upgrade, but with a GOLD card and a first and second name both beginning with a B it was certainly great fun for a long time ” . However it has been months now since I received an OP-UP , which is disappointing but is not the real problem. The main issue is that for the last couple of months it has also not been possible to upgrade even with air miles. I guess it is summer and the routes I am taking these days are busy, but it is a bit of a bummer. And let me initiate a right stinker here, I hate the new terminal A lounge / lounges, I find them cold inhospitable and uncomfortable, could be because my backside has worn a comfortable patch in the B lounge and it’s difficult to teach an old dog new tricks . Anyway, the price you have to pay if you select EK as your carrier is the stopover in Dubai, it never really bothered me that much as the rest of the perks easily made up for it, but now the perks seem to be disappearing rapidly, so wasting away my life in the EK lounge in Duabi is becoming less and less attractive, I don’t know if the new platinum tier has impacted / contributed to this , I don’t think so, it has been heading downhill for a while I think.

Anyway, while scribbling this I have made up my mind , off to SYD next week and I think for the first time in many years I will be on BA metal (I still have a silver with them from the few European flights I do, and suspect I will ramp up to gold quick enough). Give me a month or two and I’ll report back on my findings (although I am dubious, I left BA a couple of years ago because they were atrocious , constant flight delays, rude staff, jaded old 747’s (and that was when I always flew up the front of the plane). However the Emirate summer is drawing to a close so time to move on.

Rgds From a weary traveller
BB

Firstly, welcome bbar2000 to the EK forum. What's taken you so long?

I can sympathise with you. And my own tune has changed towards EK probably for a lot of the same reasons as you outline. For one, I hate transiting via DXB and in my humble opinion, the DXB experience is only going to get worse as organic growth continues, not to mention the runway work which is going to start next year.

Its clear that EK are becoming far more aggressive with their program (and perhaps more educated) - ie witness the changes post the QF partnership.

But so too are other programs (ie the ones I am familiar with in the US). Dont be surprised if EK transition towards a revenue based system - whereby status will be earned by not only sectors/miles flown but also dollars spent.

EK are a business and I have no problem with them running their airline as efficiently as possible. I just dont think their loyalty program is competitive for a whole lot of reasons. Is it as bad as SQ's? Or even BA's? Probably not, but you can be sure that EK will re-align Skywards where we will see YQ charges increase, award inventory decrease and miles required for an award to continue to head north.

That's their prerogative. But so too is mine to choose the best program for me at this time. Star Alliance and OW are getting all my business at present and I'm still happy with their earn and burn rates and redemption availability.

I can but agree.

Welcome to FT and the EK forum.
I sympathise and hope the last leg of your trip home has been OK (too much to hope for an ironic op-up?).
I recognise much of what you say but feel it applies to pretty much all programs and airlines now. Yield management has become much more subtle and effective and in general records systems more accurate (for several yeares I flew with one * Alliance carrier upgrding with miles and then receiving miles credited for the upgraded cabin flown). All the groups here on FT are full of complaints about reward availability and deteriorating earn / burn ratios.
I am less bothered now about earning miles but choose my carrier based on schedule, price and in-flight experience. At the moment EK does pretty well on thiose parameters but not as well as it did.
Good luck with BA. My recent experience is that the crews can be really great or really quite poor, schedules are good from London but planes and lounges get less good and dirtier with every month.

Probably one of the most sensible and intelligent comments I have read on FT.

I think the problem when you hang out in this "tribe" is that we sometimes set our expectations too high. I know have. And perhaps still do.

You sort of think, well, I did X miles on your airline last year (or Y million in the last Z years) so why cant I expect something different to the average Joe? Why doesn't the program treat me/reward me/acknowledge my existence? Why am I not greeted by scantily clad women/men (take your pick) who pander to my every need and scatter rose petals in front of my freshly manicured feet

Loyalty programs aren't designed to reward those at the fringes. They are designed to reward those in the middle. I came to realize not so long ago especially as far as EK goes, that we are simply a number in their database.

More than any other airline I know of, EK follow a set of rules. There's this inherent fear of Big Brother in Dubai - so very few employees are prepared to step outside these boundaries. Perhaps thats how you achieve consistency of service. But I have been on enough EK flights to know that consistency is not what they are known for. Perhaps the management excuse is that the only way you manage explosive growth is to enforce these rules. I'm not so sure.

I have become far more pragmatic now that I have moved to the US - and its why I maintain status in both the majors. Because at this point in time, price, schedule, ability to redeem and upgrade is what counts. And pricing ex US for EK is not floating my boat.

I still have a huge affinity for EK. I think their product is excellent. But in my very humble opinion, this militant determination to stick to the single hub operation is going to bit them in the bum (and sooner rather than later). And their inability to reward those who exceed the program limits and their dogmatic approach to customer service is ultimately going to hurt them.

Flying is still a highly emotive experience for many. Whether you are a hard core road warrior or a once a year leisure traveller. No airline is perfect, no hotel chain is perfect. But those who understand the 80/20 rule are the ones in my view who nail it.

Wow - a couple of OTT posts here IMO.

I was thinking the OP was a one post wonder who we'll never see or hear from again and should just be ignored - after all the other 40 million passengers a year haven't moaned like that.

Maybe we should all realise that no airline is in the game for anyone but themselves and their share holders. As the "victims" maybe we should accept that and make the most of it. Yes, I dislike many things about the EK experience and think their IT offering, Y class support, inflexibility and many other things could be improved, but from my standpoint they're still on a par with the others out there.

Just have a wander about FT to get a feel for what other airlines' pax have to put up with.

+1

I gave up on EK at the turn of this year - am now OW and *A focussed. In fact, I actively avoid EK (e.g. choosing to fly indirect to enjoy better metal and cheaper pricing). Example being Cathay from DXB via HKG to Vietnam - biz class for me and partner being 1/3 of the cost of EK and with a better product and service.

I will remain Gold with EK through to July '14 albeit having given up flying EK at the turn of the year due to the complete erosion of any discernible benefit in the Skywards programme and also the continued lack of development in customer service. I am also tired of being told by Emirates how good Emirates are when IMHO they still have an inferior product to others and don't even get me started on the horror that is DXB airport....

Vote with your dollars/pounds/dirhams, I say.

I must also say that EK pricing is particularly unfavorable if you happen to be dubai-based and the breadth of some of the FF program alliances makes building status and consolidating reward mileage increasingly easier out of DXB on something other than EK.

I've pretty much jumped ship too, but I fail to see the criticisms of DXB. It is a fantastic airport provided you have lounge access which everyone above would appear to have. I've never experienced horrible queues despite arriving and departing at various times of day. The lounges now concourse a is open are spacious and the service excellent. Perhaps this is because I've only ever been in transit and never had to exit the airport.

I'm flying less EK these days due to fares increasing. But I'm still frequently in DXB, and there's nothing wrong with the airport unless you don't have lounge access. If you can use F/J check in, there are rarely queues longer than a minute or two, ticketing desks have always been available when I've needed them, F/J security is efficient (occasionally transfer security can be backed up, but walk a bit further down the terminal to a different screening area where there may not be as many flights just arrived) and the lounges are pretty good.

Yes it's a big airport, but I timed the journey from the B lounge to the far end of A once - I've forgotten the time, but it was perfectly reasonable.

It's far from excellent in Y class and in C/J class it's not that great with the extra seat squeezed into each row. And earning/using points is rather poor (note that I am lifetime Plat with UA, which is far far better in this regard).

I've been looking at a trip to Baku later this year, but EK just isn't competitive these days, so I'll either not go or go Star/Oneworld.

I think you need to be a little more forthright, Simon.

Poor Simon - it seems he is asked to be more forthright after there being a suggestion he was OTT? Rock and a hard place springs to mind.

I recently flew EK CGK DXB(J) IAH in paid F. The service for only 5 of us on the morning departure was poor, very poor. The FA's spent more time talking in the galley then serving. This was my 1st ever EK flight. So not so good.

DXB airport inbound was dead at 1130AM. No Q at immigration none. Outbound was a zoo. I did find the F lounge but thought the concourse was way to narrow for the amount of people.

EK F about the only thing they beat Cathay or SQ on was the wines. While it is a good F product, IMHO not even close to Cathay or SQ.

I'm with you and will stick with OW.

Good decision.. I dumped EK long ago and it's been a great decision.. BA is a great choice too.. I opted for airlines that serve me better (and that have an immature FF program which I can manipulate, e.g SV and GF ��). QR proved to be less generous than EK and I am very disappointed with it. However, I can at least be treated well on BA (i just moved to UK) too since they are in one alliance.

BA!