EK788

Hi all

I have a flight coming up next week booked in Y where I'm offered a STPC. Last month I took this same route but upgraded my entire trip to J with miles, and as such I was put in Le Meridien. Before this I was under the impression that regardless of any upgrades, if you buy your ticket in Y you get a Y hotel.

So my question is does anyone know what leg of the journey I'd have to upgrade to get Le Meridien again? Should it be my flight getting in to DXB or my flight ex-DXB? Would I only get the J hotel if I upgrade my entire journey?

Thanks guys.

Smartlife987

Hi

In one of my trips I was Y to DXB and J (by upgrade) out of DXB and they gave me a Y hotel so i assume unless whole trip is in J they would give you a Y hotel. Regards

subject2load

If your decision as to whether or not to upgrade hinges (in part at least ?) on the quality of your included stopover accom, I would imagine it will be much more cost-effective to pay for your own choice of hotel, but stick with the cheaper cabin for the flight itself !

Where there is a financial need to decide between one or the other, many (indeed the majority ...?) of folk would be inclined to attach more importance to the quality of their hotel room & facilities than the relatively few hours 'endured' onboard an aircraft.

EK788

To be perfectly honest, I didn't want to upgrade any of my flights at all. However I am going to be given a STPC and I would rather stay in the lounge for 13 hours instead of being put up in the Arabian Park hotel. That's why I'd rather spend a few miles to upgrade a leg if it means I'm guaranteed a semi decent hotel.

I'd gladly pay for a good hotel for the night, however I need a UAE visa and this trip came up last minute so I haven't had any time to apply.

skywardhunter

If you book the stopover with Emirates (paid) they'll get the visa, takes 2-3 days all online. I believe it's the same visa process you need to go through anyway for the STPC.

subject2load

Well I can understand your point EK788 ......that Arabian Park must be really grim if you'd seriously rather spend 13 hours in a lounge
Personally I never enjoy hanging around voluntarily in lounges - even the F one in DXB - for more than around three or fours maximum (except in the case of wholly unforeseen circumstances of course), but preferably two is enough.

Hope it all works out in the end ^

eternaltransit

29k Skywards miles for one night at the JW Marriotts in Dubai if you really don't want to upgrade and don't want to spend cash on a better hotel

*depending on your upgrade cost, of course, don't do this, as it's a poor use of miles...(in general)

EK788

Got a great rate at the Oberoi so I'm going to take the visa they give me via the STPC and just head to the taxi stand instead of the STPC hotel counter. ^

Smartlife987

EK788 Arabian park hotel is usually a secondary option as Copthorne hotel is the primary option with EK. I agree Arabian park rooms are not that good at all but copthorne hotel rooms are quite decent and I would not mind copthorne.

EK788

http://i.emlfiles1.com/cmpdoc/1/7/9/...ent-oct-15.pdf

Managed to get a hold of this PDF which breaks down STPC rules very simply. According to this I'm not supposed to have been given Le Meridien, despite the fact that I upgraded my entire journey with miles. It may have been a one-off fluke.

ioto1902

Many thanks EK788 for this doc.

Interesting to note that Dubai Connect is only for 'HV pax' (page 3), and you are 'HV or not' depending on paid fare (page 5).

I had previously two misunderstandings :
1) I thought that anybody was eligible as long as shortest connection was more than 6/8 hours (Y/JF).
2) I thought that 'HV' was related to skywards status.

I'll try my first voluntary Dubai connect in March.

Kiwi Flyer

Thanks. Rule 1 is interesting - more generous than I understood to be the case.

EK788

I had the exact same thought when I read it. I've not heard of anyone that's been able to use that ±3 hour leeway though.

EK788

Just a quick follow up, I just got back from another trip and I had a chat with the guys at the STPC counter. Apparently regardless of the class of travel you purchased the ticket with, as long as you are flying J on both legs (coming into DXB and flying out) through a mileage upgrade, you get the J class hotel.

HelloKittysMum

Bit of a weird one thus. How big are the rooms in the airside hotel? My parents are flying back from Cape Town and having an overnight in the airside hotel (so they have daytime flights on both legs). By chance I will be flying back from Lusaka to Manchester and 7am DXB MAN leaves about 10 mins after LUN DXB arrives I'll have about 7 hours in the airport. I had planned to eat, sleep and then shower in the Bus lounge (I'm silver) but my dad said to come and sleep in their hotel room. I'm not sure how feasible this is from a size of room perespective. A real bed and the security of not worrying about my hand luggage is an attraction but it's not worth paying for a z bed for a few hours compared to the lounge (which I've done before).