Emirates changes Operational Upgrade procedure
 

As today I was told by a senior staff member of Emirates they changed their upgrade policy. Before it was as per membership and Tier miles. Starting 14.08.16 its per ticket price. Hence those paid a higher fare will be upgraded first.

This was being discussed a few days ago:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emira...l#post27062166

As ft101 mentioned, discussed in the other thread. My understanding is it was previously ordered first by status, then fare type, now it will be the other way around, not necessarily by the nominal value of the fare paid, but the type.

E.g. before it might have been

Plat Flex Plus
Plat Flex
Gold Flex
Gold Saver
Gold Saver
Silver Flex Plus
Silver Saver
Silver Saver

and now it would be

Plat Flex Plus
Silver Flex Plus
Plat Flex
Gold Flex
Gold Saver
Gold Saver
Silver Saver
Silver Saver

any time a silver gets an op up over a plat is a joke.

And what about Blues and non status pax?

Surely bottom of the pile?

By the above logic a non member on a flex would get an op up over a plat who is a saver...

I hope this does not start a new industry trend and other FF programs adopt this philosophy.

This is more two fingers from Emirates to DXB- based flyers. We already pay upto 50% more for fares than those transiting through Dubai and those who buy tickets ex other destinations. A saver fare ex-DXB to London will likely be paying more for a saver fare than a flex fare from CMB to London for example.

Unfortunately not - non-members on Flex Plus fares will be upgraded before Plats on Savers.

I find that extremely hard to believe.....a first time flyer who purchased a Flux(Plus) has dibs over a seasoned Plat flyer who purchased a saver/flex? That's not loyalty, that a kick on the behind....

To add, a Flex(Plus) may be cheaper than a Saver in some instances...

Loyalty? In the airline industry? HA HA HA.

I'm afraid what customers believe and what companies do are two different things sometimes ;)

They are rewarding profit margin, not perceived loyalty. Those who regularly purchase high margin tickets will not be impacted. Those who regularly purchase low margin tickets often may feel spurned but revenue management is a fickle lover - one day all they want are miles the next cold hard cash.

The price of a flex plus/flex/saver is irrelevant to the airline. What matters is the profit margin - and a flex plus will always have more profit margin than a saver, by design. Those who are hub captives are screwed anyway - the logic being they are paying for direct flights/no need to offer extra incentives to fly them :D

It remains to be seen whether the pax profile changes - especially as op-ups are not an entitlement to anyone and EK have always had full discretion to upgrade or downgrade anyone they want.

Have EK recently employed a swathe of ex-BA managers?

S

This is a valid point, best to find creative routings etc.

I always thought it was done on ticket type within tier status, however as has been pointed out a j saver ex uk will be more expensive than a j flex ex Cmb...

+1 ^

Actually this is the same as in Lufthansa? (ticket type above tier level).

But, was it always in different way?
It looks like " EK have always had full discretion to upgrade or downgrade anyone they want" is true.

Once I was on DXB-KUL flight with Y ticket upgraded by miles to J and I've got additional op. upgrade to F. I was Blue. I'm not sure if there really were no other pax with higher status in J.
So it was always not so "clear" ?