Bobdh13

Hi all,

So tomorrow I am flying DXB-BKK in Y and my flight is heavily oversold in Y (already for the past days) but there are still a few seats left in J.

Therefore, I am hoping to increase my chances at either an upgrade to J or to be given some compensation for volunteering to take a later flight (since I live in Dubai and its vacation). The question is thus:

Is it better to arrive early to check in (e.g. 3 or more hours before my flight) or to try and arrive very late (of course with some room to spare )?

I am EK Gold so I guess that might help and checked in online 24 hours before the flight.

Hopefully some of you can share some experiences with EK on this. Thanks!^

kuroko

in my experience no difference if you are 3h or 1.5h bef departure there.

should receive anyway the upgrade as a gold, economy at this time normally oversold by 20-40 passenger.

safe flight!

hay

Hi!

I am flying to BKK tomorrow too, but I don't think we are on the same flight. Mine is EK 376 and I still see some seats. I just became a Gold member and am flying Y. I get upgraded about 75 percent of the flights I take (as a Silver) and it is always DUS-DXB-BKK. You stand a very good chance of being upgraded as a Gold. Since I don't fly out from Dubai, I don't know how early you have to be at the check in. I normally get upgraded about three hours before the flight time. Sometimes I haven't even left the house and I see the upgrade when I print out my boarding pass. I am curious if I will get upgraded this time but I don't really mind if I get the upgrade or not. I want to check out the new A380 upper deck Economy Class.

If we are on the same flight, please come say hi . I offered to guest someone in to the Lounge but no takers as of this time. I plan to be in Terminal A lounge. I always have a red jacket (my travelling jacket!).

Hope you get the upgrade. If we are on the same flight and if I do get the upgrade, you can have my seat. I will send you a message. Happy and safe flight!

hay

I just want to add - I don't think when you check in or when you get to the airport doesn't really matter. I have been early and I have been late - there were a couple of times I nearly missed the flight due to the long queues at the immigration and I still got the upgrades.

eternaltransit

As kuroko says - doesn't matter what time you arrive, either you'll get one or you won't depending on loads, not your check-in time.

Although you have a good chance, it's best not to overthink things, because you never know what might happen (last minute J bookings, group misconnects) and you don't want to get your hopes up only to be disappointed!

groundops

I have never been upgraded on EK and I am Gold. CX and AF have always upgraded me on every flight I hAve every tajen. BA and LH so so (around 50%)...

I may never fly EK again. I have spent 10s of 1000s and never one upgrade...

Shame AF and CX don't fly where I need them...

m3red

It's not a Devine right to be upgraded - EK has lots of flights and lots of status pax and does it for operational reasons only no freebies (unless you are io). You should book thr class you want to fly in a and be happy with that - anything else is a bonus. EK golds are also in the 10's of thousands with over 50 or even 100 on some flights...

eternaltransit

As m3red states, it's not a right nor should it be an expectation that you get an upgrade just because you are EK Gold or you spend x amount of money. You need to fly routes that are more busy

After all, EK doesn't care about your 10s of 1000s (which currency?) - to put it into perspective, EKs revenue last year was 23.9 billion USD.

I do need to ask though, if you have that kind of spend, how on earth are you only Gold - Platinum only costs around 18-40k USD max (the upper range is only if you are based in DXB)?

m3red

Back to topic upgrades are often done in the 2 hours before departure, sometimes earlier depending on how overbooked the flight is. I've not been upgraded in a while but they've mostly been at the gate nit check in.

hay

I agree with eternaltransit. I think it depends on the routes. I have always been upgraded from DXB to BKK but hardly the other way round. I was only a Silver and not even a Gold. I have only been upgraded twice in my life with other airlines so I am really grateful to Emirates for all the upgrades I had (and hopefully will get in the future).

Bobdh13

Hehe thanks for all the inputs and even a generous offer (#goHay). I appreciate it!

A quick update: I am now sitting in the lounge before my EK374 flight. I arrived at DXB a bit over 3 hours before my flight and unfortunately both F and J were 100% full so no upgrade for me (yet), they even requested for volunteers with some free hotel/food and complimentary return trip to Asia... but I declined as the timings were not so good and I don't know how long ill stay in Dubai (since thats where the free trip would start)

Heres to hoping some J/F pax do not show up and with a stroke of luck I score my first upgrade in EK (im 0/6 now since qualifying for gold)!

hay

A quick update from me too - I was upgraded from DUS to DXB 4.5 hours before the departure time. I don't know how long since it was done, but when I printed out my boarding pass at home, I found I was upgraded. It was nearly five hours before departure time.

I am not yet upgraded for my second flight which is EK 376 (sorry Bobdh13 we are on different flights). As far as I know the flight is not full.

When do you fly back to DXB? From my experience, it is harder to be upgraded from BKK to DXB. Out of 6 times I flew out last year, I was upgraded only twice (ok maybe three. My memory is a bit fussy.) , but from DUS to DXB I was upgraded every time. I fly out from BKK on the 10th (I think EK 55 or 56. It is the one at one in the morning.) and if we happen to be on the same flight, my offer still stands (provided I get upgraded of course). Enjoy Bangkok!

kuroko

it is ek385 at 01:05am

high chance for an upgrade as most people who are flying bkk-eu take that flight to get a morning connection from dxb to EU and a A380 from bkk