So I know the official policy when using Partner miles (in my case, AS) to book first class on EK is not to include the chauffeur service, but I remember reading somewhere that "savvy travelers" know how to work around this limitation. In my experience, this seems to be where most savvy EK travelers congregate, so I was wondering: do any of you have experience in getting the chauffeur service with a reward flight? It's not a huge deal, but I'd really prefer a decent car over some cramped bus on my ride into Dubai and Milan.

Unfortunately they are taking the discretion out of it and really moving to a "computer says yes/no" basis. If you are unable to reserve one online, then an agent is not able to override this for partner issued tickets.

At Dubai this is no big deal however - taxis (and Uber) are plentiful, of good quality. If it must be a saloon, there are also luxury taxis

Cheap and plentiful... unless you were going to Abu Dhabi! (Well, still cheap, but not nearly as cheap as intra-Dubai)

I don't know what the secret is, or if there is even one at all, but my take is that if I am booking EK flights with partner miles, the vast difference in miles cost more than pays for the car services. Therefore I would just ignore the fact that they offer chauffeur drive to others, and make my way to/from the airport as usual.

^

On the one hand, OP gets no car for booking through AS, on the other he is not paying 1.5k USD for the privilege of an ex-USA J/F Skywards redemption

That, in addition to the difference in miles - for a LAX-DXB-SIN, 100k AS miles + no YQ, or 197k EK miles + $$$$ YQ.

Chauffeur drive what now?

I think it just goes to show the marketing power of "free" - just look at all the drama about amenity kits, lounge food, wifi to name a few!

Not cool.

The phrase "Not seeing the wood for the trees" comes to mind.

Wi-fi is a strange one. EK have made it useless by making it practically free, whereas wi-fi has always been a fairly pleasant experience on EY who charge the normal T-Mobile rates. Perhaps EK should look at offering tiered speeds, such that those willing to pay more can get a usable connection?

Frankly it's EK's redemption levels which are horribly out of whack, rather than AS being particularly cheap. The fact that EK insist on the fuel surcharges is very much their own issue as well.

And of course one mile on any program is not equivalent to a mile on any other program. It depends on the earn rate either via flying or ancillary sources such as credit cards as well as the redemption rate, which of course varies from person to person.

For instance, I can earn 1 mile for 0.40-0.8 USD on a Skywards credit card , but AS miles earn at 1 mile per 1 USD on their credit card. Also AS generally awards miles on actual miles flown + class bonuses, whereas EK have fixed earning zones. Then you have to see which routes you can redeem via various partners (i.e. AS miles I think can only be redeemed ex-USA)

Not to say that it eventually washes out to be equivalent in the end because I don't think that's true, it's only that it's no different to airlines offering different pricing and services depending on which area in the world you are from (c.f. ex-DXB fares).

I think the wi-fi situation is a gamble by EK - I think the rationale is that if we offer it for free, it becomes a marketing point to everyone who flies it who can add to the image that EK has a very modern product which is a draw for many travellers - especially once a year VFR travellers. In the same way that EK pioneered in-seat entertainment with ICE perhaps in an attempt to both mollify customers ("sit down and be entertained!") as well as show-up other carriers for being behind the time, I think this is exactly in the same vein.

The gamble is making sure satellite providers start to bring more capacity online more quickly - I think they have been caught a bit on the back foot by this. After all, if you went back five years ago and said to say, Inmarsat, we need massive north pole broadband internet coverage, on the order of 100+meg, they would laugh in your face and tell you, who needs all that?! But that is what we are talking about now, with ME-USA routes flying over the poles in large numbers.

The usability of the system is a secondary concern at the moment - the primary motivation is to position the airline in consumer minds. By making it free or close to free makes people accept the fact that it is generally slow and intermittent (even when it only has say, one person using it) and not think too negatively of the airline. This gives the infrastructure providers time (and a business case) to deploy satellites into orbit by building a base of demand. Give it 5 years for additional satellite coverage and I think service will be acceptably fast to the point that EK has now forced all legacy carriers to offer it in their planes ("if EK can get me online on an A380 over the north pole, why can't BA get me online flying over the Alps!"), crimping their margins by making them spend more on cap-ex, increasing prices and therefore directing more business to EK. A long shot perhaps, but I think it is rational if you take the view that wi-fi on planes isn't being done directly for the travel experience.

I've always found the quality of internet connection on EK perfectly satisfactory and better than at my work and home. I can be more productive on EK than in my office! Shows how bad the ISPs are that I use day to day!

On AS miles do you at least get the free hotel through the Dubai Connect program on overnights in DXB?

Unfortunately not - one of Dubai Connect's many conditions is that the ticket must be issued on EK or QF ticket stock (176 or 081).

edited for the truth.