sydtogla

No, you should be eligible for Sydney CD and on the other side in DXB. The CD widget is known to be buggy, just give EK a call.

flying_pig

Over the summer (late July or early August I believe) EK terminated the agreement with their prior CD provider in Italy. They now have a partnership with Blacklane Corporate. Notifications are pretty good. You get an email a couple of days before confirming the booking, another email on the same day with the same confirmation, an email and text a couple of hours before pickup with the driver's contact details, and an email and text when the driver has arrived.

I was curious to hear whether any driver enrolled with Blacklane can bid for EK pickup jobs, but was told that the Corporate accounts work differently and Blacklane's contract stipulates that they assign the EK jobs to a couple of pre-approved big fleet CD providers.

Only difference perhaps is that I consistently got S-class in Italy before (in First) and last time under the new provider it was an E-class (brand new, perfectly comfortable, so I don't mind).

ukdoctor

Got an SMS last night that Blacklane will be in charge of EK chauffeur drive in India from 1st October.

Starting 1 October, our Chauffeur-drive provider will change in India to Blacklane. Eligible customers can book their chauffer service on www.emirates.com/managemybooking and travel in style for free with up to 80 driven kms of complimentary mileage coverage.

ukdoctor

Black lane in India seems to be more proactive than the previous EK chauffeur partner.

They have just sent me an email for my pickup from DEL airport tomorrow.

So far IMHO the Indian partner (Carzonrent ) only used to contact me for the pickup from my home to the airport and not the other way around.


Will post the experience tomorrow at DEL.

ukdoctor

It is BMW 5 series at DEL from now on. 😀

As I mentioned in the earlier post Blacklane are more meticulous.

Was sent an email with driver contact number just as I landed landed at DEL.

678flyer

Just experienced a Blacklane drop in Bangalore. What I gathered -

1. No calling, everything is through email and text messaging
2. Car will usually show up an hour before the pickup time for the drop to the airport
3. Modification possible up to an hour before the pick up time but it has to be through your Blacklane account online or the app (my confirmation emails showed customer service numbers only in the US, UK and Germany, nothing in India)

I didn't get a Blacklane car on arrival into Bangalore. They had run short and another vendor was brought in for augmenting capacity.

skywardhunter

Which car was it? Was it ok?

678flyer

Brand new BMW 5 series, around 2200 kms on the odometer. All the Blacklane cars used for Emirates have electronic speed governors limiting speed to a maximum of 80 kmph. The annoying part was the proximity warning sensors - in typical Bangalore traffic, the car was making a racket every few minutes until we got closer to the airport.

skywardhunter

Nice. BMWs are ridiculously expensive in India because of the heavy import duties on luxury vehicles. Price wise that's equivalent to a 7 series with all extras in most European countries

ukdoctor

Yesterday at DEL we got 2 cars a BMW 5 Series and a SUV ( didnt check as it was very dark)

( We were entitled to 2 cars as me and mrs.ukdoctor were travelling. I had only booked one car but they sent 2 anyway )

The SUV was used for luggage and we travelled in the 5 series.

I have to agree with the proximity sensors. Bit annoying in the DEL traffic as well.

Another difference with the previous provider was that I remember having to sign after reaching the destination.

Also no phonecalls either.It was email the day before and an SMS with driver details a few hours before ( could be because it was a UK number )

Blacklane does not.require a signature..

At the DEL lounge the EK lounge attendant asked for feedback about the cars. I gave good feedback.


PS: One thing I have noticed about EK is that if 2 pax are travelling everything is put in the name of the person who is higher up in the alphabetical order ( if surnames are different).

This is fine for luggage etc but can be an issue if you are the lead passenger and all messages go to the other passenger.

I had an indian number as contact for EK chauffeur drive but all messages emails went to Mrs .UK doctor. She had a UK mobile which was luckily on roaming .

Matthova1

I have an upcoming reservation and originally when I booked, I was booked for pick up at Abu Dhabi airport and being driven to my hotel in Dubai. Today, I received a call and the agent said they don't have rights to pick up at the airport and recommended a hotel just outside the main terminal for pick up, which I accepted. Has anyone heard of this? Any idea what type of cars they are using in Dubai/AbuDhabi?

skywardhunter

Yes it's in the T&C's you cannot be picked up or dropped to an airport terminal

Matthova1

skywardhunter

At the terminal entrance for the dedicated J&F Check-in area

DYKWIA

I don't understand this... you're definitely on Emirates? How can you be picked up at Abu Dhabi airport and get driven to your hotel?