First Emirates flight EK202
 

Hey all,

Going on a bike trip to SE Asia in early January. Flying from JFK to BKK via DXB. Has anyone flown on this same route and can review the experience? Is it a busy route from JFK to DXB or should some empty seats be expected? Im flying on January 5th. Only checked baggage will be my bike which Emirates apparently takes for free.

Please bear in mind that it will count towards your free baggage allowance, it is not in addition to it.

http://www.emirates.com/us/english/h...x?faqId=214958

My bike box was about 130 USD flat fee for ZRH-DXB-DAC, irrespective of weight.

Edit: Checked ft101's link above. Seems this has changed. My only experience was 3 years ago.

JFK-DXB is typically a very busy route for Emirates.

The Jan 5 EK 202 flight is currently showing pretty full right now (on expertflyer.com).

As a regular on JFK DXB, I can confirm that this route, especially 202 is a very busy route in J. It is one of the very few routes where J routinely sells out before Y. So yes, you should expect a full flight. For a better J experience, try 204, as all you'll do after getting on the flight is to go off to sleep.

202/201 are busy routes especially this time of year as its peak season. Last time I flew on 201 flight was oversold and I am very sure there were over 500 pax.

204/203 is busy as well, especially since EK started going dual A380s. I think 204 was a little quieter when it was a 77W.

If traveling in J, try going with 204 if you can. If you are one that can get sleep on a long flight, both are fine. But with 204, you eat, fall asleep, wake up and eat a meal before landing and it's morning time in DXB. It seems a bit easier to adjust to. Just a bit. :)

It looks as though there are no more economy seats being sold. Is this a good indicator that the flight may be overbooked? Even though this is my first EK flight I have applied for Skywards membership. Any chance of getting an upgrade during check in at the airport? I have tried looking into purchasing an upgrade but the system says that since I booked through a travel agent (ebookers) I cant buy upgrade online.

- It is a good indicator the flight is overbooked in Y

- JFK-DXB and DXB-BKK will (generally!) have quite a few Skywards members of various tiers, who (allegedly) will more likely be upgraded before you. The chance is not 0% though! But I don't think you should get your hopes up for an op-up

- Have you tried calling EK to process a cash upgrade over the phone?

You can pretty much rule out the complementary op-up as this route is a fairly elite heave route with a couple of Plats in Y as well. See if you can get a paid upgrade.