Flex VS Saver
Oct 18, 2013 | 5:48 am
#31
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Melbourne
Programs: EK, QF, VA
Posts: 73
Ek are supposed to be currently developing a lot of different ticket types similar to ba some you may not even be able to upgrade at all. Upgrades will then be done on ticket type as well as tier miles and status. Apparently golds at 75 will be gold plus plus and first in line behind plats and Io when the bus is oversold...
Lots of IT work required apparently so looking at 2014 some time.
Lots of IT work required apparently so looking at 2014 some time.
Oct 18, 2013 | 6:18 am
#32
Join Date: May 2010
Location: BOM
Programs: EK Plat, HHonors Gold
Posts: 3,000
Oct 18, 2013 | 7:37 am
#33
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: MAN DXB ✈️
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 6,931
A bit depressing if that is the case....but surely it's occurred to EK that if they go down that route, then the people who gain a lot of their miles from partner sources, especially the credit card ones, will simply abandon their credit card scheme, thus depriving Skywards of what is a significant income stream......or in other words, if you pay peanuts, the monkeys will start eating somewhere else.
I'm not sure it's another tier just criteria which is quite frankly fair.
Oct 18, 2013 | 8:11 am
#34
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Exec Club, SIA KrisFlyer, Qantas FF, Emirates Skywards
Posts: 1,893
Have looked into this closely. If you buy a 'super-saver' fare, meaning one of the heavily discounted ones that they offer in their promotional emails, you won't be able to upgrade with points until 24 hours prior to the flight...BUT, if you buy a standard saver, you won't have the 24 hour restriction, but you may well have no ability to upgrade until about 14 days prior to the flight.
Most importantly, there appears to be no advantage to buying flex instead of saver, other than the increased number of tier miles, as the upgrades for flex and saver both come out of the 'D' fare bucket.
Most importantly, there appears to be no advantage to buying flex instead of saver, other than the increased number of tier miles, as the upgrades for flex and saver both come out of the 'D' fare bucket.
Oct 18, 2013 | 10:05 pm
#35
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Melbourne
Programs: EK, QF, VA
Posts: 73
I was well aware of the 'super-saver' rule change for miles upgrades, and don't have a problem with it. The old system of being able to buy an ultra-cheap super-saver ticket and then use my miles to upgrade to J was brilliant value while it lasted though. I assumed paying for an ordinary saver would give me the same upgrade capability I was used to, but it didn't. Serves me right for not checking on EF first. I phoned the EK office here in Melb but the staff were a bit evasive, and the web support staff in Dubai were even worse, beyond stating the rule changes had nothing to do with the EK/QF alliance, which most Aus Skywards members view as a win for QF FF, and a loss for us. In short, nobody at EK was willing to talk about how the new changes affected ordinary saver bookings, so I decided to do some sleuthing.
I created a spreadsheet for all inbound and outbound flights on the MEL-AKL sector from Sept 30 to Dec 31, and used EF to load it up with the values for the number of J seats available and the corresponding number of seats in the D bucket on each day. I then go back and recheck the values every 8-10 days (well, my PA does..lol). This is how I found that on both legs of this route there are always D bucket seats available (usually 5 of them) in the 14-15 days prior to departure. I say 14 or 15 because I'm not sure whether EK are releasing them based on the time in Melb or the time in Dubai. Beyond the 14-15 day mark I haven't managed to decipher the pattern yet. Some days have D bucket seats available (almost always 7 seats), while other days have none. There's no inbetween, and little correlation between the number of unsold J seats and those available from the D bucket. Beyond about 6 weeks, D bucket seats disappear altogether, but this result may be skewed by the Xmas break which comes into play around then.
I'll post again about this when I have another 2-3 weeks of data, and hopefully a better idea of what's going on now.
Oct 19, 2013 | 12:47 am
#37
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Exec Club, SIA KrisFlyer, Qantas FF, Emirates Skywards
Posts: 1,893
I got curious about this after the 15th July changes. I travel the MEL-AKL route every few weeks for business, usually in J, and have never had a problem getting an instantaneous miles upgrade since they put an A380 on that route...until July 15 of course.
I was well aware of the 'super-saver' rule change for miles upgrades, and don't have a problem with it. The old system of being able to buy an ultra-cheap super-saver ticket and then use my miles to upgrade to J was brilliant value while it lasted though. I assumed paying for an ordinary saver would give me the same upgrade capability I was used to, but it didn't. Serves me right for not checking on EF first. I phoned the EK office here in Melb but the staff were a bit evasive, and the web support staff in Dubai were even worse, beyond stating the rule changes had nothing to do with the EK/QF alliance, which most Aus Skywards members view as a win for QF FF, and a loss for us. In short, nobody at EK was willing to talk about how the new changes affected ordinary saver bookings, so I decided to do some sleuthing.
I created a spreadsheet for all inbound and outbound flights on the MEL-AKL sector from Sept 30 to Dec 31, and used EF to load it up with the values for the number of J seats available and the corresponding number of seats in the D bucket on each day. I then go back and recheck the values every 8-10 days (well, my PA does..lol). This is how I found that on both legs of this route there are always D bucket seats available (usually 5 of them) in the 14-15 days prior to departure. I say 14 or 15 because I'm not sure whether EK are releasing them based on the time in Melb or the time in Dubai. Beyond the 14-15 day mark I haven't managed to decipher the pattern yet. Some days have D bucket seats available (almost always 7 seats), while other days have none. There's no inbetween, and little correlation between the number of unsold J seats and those available from the D bucket. Beyond about 6 weeks, D bucket seats disappear altogether, but this result may be skewed by the Xmas break which comes into play around then.
I'll post again about this when I have another 2-3 weeks of data, and hopefully a better idea of what's going on now.
I was well aware of the 'super-saver' rule change for miles upgrades, and don't have a problem with it. The old system of being able to buy an ultra-cheap super-saver ticket and then use my miles to upgrade to J was brilliant value while it lasted though. I assumed paying for an ordinary saver would give me the same upgrade capability I was used to, but it didn't. Serves me right for not checking on EF first. I phoned the EK office here in Melb but the staff were a bit evasive, and the web support staff in Dubai were even worse, beyond stating the rule changes had nothing to do with the EK/QF alliance, which most Aus Skywards members view as a win for QF FF, and a loss for us. In short, nobody at EK was willing to talk about how the new changes affected ordinary saver bookings, so I decided to do some sleuthing.
I created a spreadsheet for all inbound and outbound flights on the MEL-AKL sector from Sept 30 to Dec 31, and used EF to load it up with the values for the number of J seats available and the corresponding number of seats in the D bucket on each day. I then go back and recheck the values every 8-10 days (well, my PA does..lol). This is how I found that on both legs of this route there are always D bucket seats available (usually 5 of them) in the 14-15 days prior to departure. I say 14 or 15 because I'm not sure whether EK are releasing them based on the time in Melb or the time in Dubai. Beyond the 14-15 day mark I haven't managed to decipher the pattern yet. Some days have D bucket seats available (almost always 7 seats), while other days have none. There's no inbetween, and little correlation between the number of unsold J seats and those available from the D bucket. Beyond about 6 weeks, D bucket seats disappear altogether, but this result may be skewed by the Xmas break which comes into play around then.
I'll post again about this when I have another 2-3 weeks of data, and hopefully a better idea of what's going on now.
Oct 19, 2013 | 2:54 am
#38
Join Date: May 2010
Location: BOM
Programs: EK Plat, HHonors Gold
Posts: 3,000
Not sure if you'll find a pattern except that EK will start to release upgrade inventory closer to the travel date. Best is to plan in advance. I've usually been always successful in getting the family upgraded - I look at the upgrade availability and then plan our trip. Usually 3-4 months in advance and sometimes even earlier.
Oct 19, 2013 | 4:47 am
#39
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Melbourne
Programs: EK, QF, VA
Posts: 73
I'm in the same boat as you on that one, but for early next year. The direct flight (407) is really hard to get miles upgrades on as it appears to be status heavy, but the stopover flights via KL or SIN are easier if you don't mind having the tedious transit process.
Last edited by evilbrian; Oct 19, 2013 at 4:48 am Reason: grammar
Oct 19, 2013 | 8:57 am
#40
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Exec Club, SIA KrisFlyer, Qantas FF, Emirates Skywards
Posts: 1,893
Yeh I have purposely booked on the flight through KL because it's the 3.35am flight and I've been told it's the least popular of the three daily flights. I'm hoping that a seat will open up soon.....