Upgrade Options.

I have currently 17,500 miles, I am flying 4 flights in J with the 4 flights earning me 21,000 miles.

I was looking at opting up to F for my last flight, by then I should have earned enough miles to get me through the 30,000 miles needed for the opt up.

2 Questions:
How quickly is the miles added to your account during or after the flight segment?

and can I opt up during in transit in Dubai or at the gate before the flight?

Miles don't get added on a per segment basis, they get added when you complete an outbound or inbound or stopover depending on how the fare is composed.

You can op-up in transit - go to the transfer desk or at lounge reception: you will be eligible for F lounge access if you upgrade at the airport for miles.

Just a note that operational upgrades (op-ups) are at the airline's discretion due to overbooking generally and you can't choose to be op-upped. You can opt for an upgrade with miles if you have miles and the airline has space available.

As et mentioned, miles are added per sector, which can comprise multiple flights, e.g. you mention 4 flights, which is probably AAA - DXB - BBB / BBB - DXB - AAA. In this case you have two segments, and each will be credited once flown usually within 4-8 hours after arrival, so if you require the 3rd flight (1st of the 2ng segment) to upgrade you won't yet have been credited with the miles for that flight, also as you earn miles for BBB - AAA not BBB-DXB AND DXB-AAA separately, though in the case of EK it works out to the same.

Assuming your outbound and inbound are earning equally at 10,500 miles each, when you are on your return journey you will only have 28,000 miles in your account and won't be able to upgrade. After you land back at "home", you'll get credited the other 10,500 for the reasons given above.

If your outbound is earning more than your inbound, then you should be OK and yes, you can do this at the airport. The lounge might be the best bet.

Can the OP buy a few miles (how embarrassing that I don't know the answer to this). But if it's yes, it may be worth it to OP if he only needs a few miles

Yes in 1,000 mile increments at 40$ a pop up to (I think) 25k a year

Yes you can - or at least you used to be able to. When I flew back from BLR to LHR via DXB at the end of 2104 as I was upgrading at the airport (Y to J) I had to do the two legs separately.

On arrival in DXB at the transit desk I was told I was short a number of miles to book the DXB-LHR leg but could buy them. Which I did. It was a bit of a nerve wracking experience as at the start of the process they said "there's a seat currently available but by the time we finish it may have gone...." As it turned out it hadn't and it was the best Christmas present I ever bought myself.

After my recent experience of looking at buying the miles to upgrade, I would be very wary and enquire first how much it would be to upgrade to the next cabin with cash only.

I can see the sense if you may only be a couple of thousand miles short but if you have to buy the max miles then always best to check first.

To emphasise the point, my experience was as follows:

PEK-DXB-GLA J Class. Currently have 12,500 miles. To get enough miles to for an upgrade to F on the DXB-GLA leg only, I would have needed another 26,500 miles. Maximium you can buy in 1 year is 25,000. I would have looked at other ways to get the 1500 I would have been short.

To buy the 25,000 miles, it would have cost me �700.

Cue phonecall to the EK Call Centre. They had to do a fare re-calculation as the original ticket was a TA ticket (J Saver).

Call Centre called me back within 20 minutes with price difference to upgrade to F on the PEK-DXB-GLA. Price difference was �412 for not one leg of the itinerary but both legs.

I know it won't always work out as good as that with the dark arts of revenue management but it may pay off making that quick phone call to check.

Safe & Happy Travels

S

Thanks all, so worst case it will cost me 120$ for an upgrade from Business to First on the A380.

Worth it>?

Your route isn't mentioned but I would say yes if >3 hours, or if you've never been in the EK A380 F then definitely if >2 hours so you can have a shower and enjoy the seat. for 30k upgrade it's probably a 5-6 hour flight one a J Flex ticket or a 3 hour on a J Saver, very roughly speaking?

Also if you earn 10500 on the outbound you will have 28,000 miles so 2,000 additional mile swill cost you 80$ if you need 30k to upgrade.

I am flying PRG-DXB-SIN and back KUL-DXB-PRG, current miles after rechecking are 17250, so would need buy 3000 miles.

The KUL-DXB is a night flight so i guess no so worth it, in terms of not much service. SO opting for the early morning flight from DXB-PRG (6hours).

We'll some might prefer the upgraded seat for sleeping

I am having trouble understanding this issue. We are new members so don't have any points as such but will get 5.000 miles when booking economy tickets to either Madrid or Barcelona from Sydney. So on the day of our flight can I enquiry about upgrading to business class and pay for the miles or does the upgrade availability only apply to people who have lots of points.
Does this work out cheaper than booking a business class ticket originally.
I could have misunderstood the whole topic and would be grateful for clarification.

There is a Skywards desk at the lounge in Dubai where I believe on can purchase miles on the spot. One can also purchase miles over the phone while trying to upgrade. I don't think you can purchase miles at outstation airports.

Given you would earn just 5000 miles for that routing I'd guess you're in a Saver ticket? Those tickets require a lot of miles to upgrade and the maximum you can purchase per year is 25,000 at a cost of 25x40 = 1000 usd. Which will get you to 30k miles, probably still not enough for a single upgrade from Madrid to Dubai (let alone to Sydney). Unfortunately what they don't tell you is how many times we have to suffer through Economy for that one time we can upgrade with miles

Unless you have access TO a Skywards credit card (or Amex in a qualifying country) which can help you earn miles faster.

Thank you skywardhunter. Yes the fare will be the saver. Oh well economy it is. Rather go business class as I would love to do it once in my life. However $3,000 -$3,500 economy for the two of us or $15.0000 sadly economy wins. I will just wait for the lotto win lol.
Regards