BumpMeVoucherMeATL

Hello All! I had a question and was hoping someone might be able to help me figure it out.

I've ticketed a First Class award ticket from JFK-DXB-MLE-DXB-JFK with the following segments confirmed in the highest award class of service available for our flights in May 2016.

JFK-DXB First (Z) - A380
DXB-MLE Business (D) - 777-300ER 3 Cabin Service
MLE-DXB Coach (N) - 777-300ER 3 Cabin Service
DXB-JFK First (Z) - A380

For some reason there's zero Business and First Class award inventory for the MLE-DXB segment on EK 657 no matter what dates I choose (looked at dates in March, April, May, June). Am I missing something here? I called Emirates and they're saying they have the majority of the business and first class cabin unsold at this time (T - 65 DAYS before departure).

Has anyone else noticed Business and Coach inventory heavily restricted for this flight / route?

What hope do I have of getting upgraded from coach to business class the day of departure since all of our other segments are First of Business?

Any help or thoughts are really appreciated!

skywardhunter

Zero hope based on your class of travel in other segments. EK upgrades only for operational reasons.

m3red

I think the op means getting d or z so he can reticket. This should be possible at check in time but not sure how you'd do it - you have to call EK to reprocess the whole upgrade or you'll be charged a lot of miles for that segment.

Mle is very popular and lots if j and f bookings happen last minute - not sure when you are going but thurs 5th may might be a public holiday so if it is a fair few people from the gulf will book to go.

skywardhunter

the wording implies a causal relationship, but perhaps OP could clarify

Oztravellerleeds

I have flown this flight many times, my last flight was in August 2015, I have never seen a first class compartment on any of the flights. Business yes but never first.

In August last year this flight was almost empty in Economy and business , I believe there were only around 50 passengers.

BumpMeVoucherMeATL

UPDATE:

The RevManagement and Airline Inventory gods have smiled upon me! I set an alert on Expert Flyer to alert me the moment Business - Saver Award & Upgrade (D) inventory opened up for 2 or more people, and this morning at T - 60 days until departure apparently the inventory was made available! I was able to call and get us re-ticketed into the new cabin of service with no problem!

Apparently T-60 days (for that leg of the trip) was the magic spot on the time line for fresh business class inventory to open up!

glocklt4

Did you book this with EK miles, or AS?

bgriff

It's worthwhile to keep checking and/or set an EF alert for first as well. EK rarely makes more than 1 first class award seat available in advance on 777 routes, but will often release 2 award seats about a week before departure if the flights are lightly booked, at which point you could potentially upgrade further.

BumpMeVoucherMeATL

Used Alaska Airlines Miles

glocklt4

Thanks. This is great to hear. I'm on DFW-DXB-SEZ on AS F award and stuck in Y on DXB-SEZ portion. Wife is in J. Apparently there was only one seat when we booked from separate mileage accounts. I've been checking back frequently for half a year. Still have another 5mo to go. I have EF and AwardNexus checks setup for AS. QF shows partner availability but for some reason AS cannot get to it, even with manual NN confirm attempts many times. Crossing fingers that at T-60 I might see a seat finally on AS website.

I also got SOOO lucky to be i nthe 6mo time where DFW-DXB has been switched from A380 to 773, so also alerts and checking LAX/SFO/JFK/IAD to switch to there.

Fun...

BumpMeVoucherMeATL

Update: First Class inventory finally opened on on the DXB-MLE at the T - 5 Days mark before departure. Just upgraded from business to first since we paid the first class price anyway redeeming via Alaska. Not bad considering coach was the only thing available for the last 45 days or so.

paladin732

@BumpMeVoucherMeATL

How did you do that? My understanding is that Emirates marries the segments, so you would have to change the whole thing, not just one leg