Not impressed
 

So EK is coming down to EY policies now. EY have been selling premium seats for a while. As a Plat with EK, EY and LH (SEN right now) I must say that only LH lives up to my expectations, seat selection wise. At LH, as a SEN or HON you can select even emergency row seats during the booking process, free of charge.

I always asked EK - in those days when they did not charge for any seats yet - why they would not allow Plats to pre-select emergency row seats. It would help status recognition and probably improve safety on flights (for sure on some Middle Eastern regional flights where I regularly see often clueless first time flyers in those seats). The answer I uniformly got from customer service and CI agents was that they would need to see the traveler in person "for safety reasons". Strangely enough LH allows pre-booking and does not have any such safety concerns (yet would simply reseat unfit travelers).

But now, that EK starts charging for being seated in emergency row seats, such safety considerations have apparently vanished (if they ever were real). Go figure.

Not on LGT fares, they don't.

No, they'll just do as LH does and reseat unfit travellers (or those that do not qualify for any other reason).

From a customer relations point of view, that's very tricky.

When you select exit seats, is there any notice warning you that you may be reseated ? Or a notice listing the conditions of being eligible to this particular seat ? I'd be very interested to know.

If you are reseated, do you get a refund ? Or, is it the same BS as US carriers, saying that the fee doesn't guarantee you the preferred seat ?

That's very strange change...

We are travelling BHX-DXB-BKK in Y next March and I was going to buy 2 seats at A380 upper deck (it was supposed to be £20 each), but now I can't even select it, as all upper deck shows as unavailable for me. The only seats I can buy is Extra Legroom for £75 each leg (so £150 total lol), or some regular seats at the back of lower deck for £20 each. And window seats at row 68 are now Extra Legroom for £75 (was £20 before that change).

Now I just curious how can I choose seats at the upper deck?

The eligibility is spelt out here

https://www.emirates.com/uk/english/...seat-selection

although how many will read it is another matter. I know (years ago) on BA a pop up box appeared if you selected an exit row seat listing the requirements and there's something similar on easyJet.

It should be easy enough to do, but that means nothing to EK IT.

They've probably not opened up the upper deck yet. If the lower deck is getting full, then they'll open the upper deck for purchase.

On our DXB-BKK flight last week, only the first cabin on the upper deck was used.

Loads to BKK must be dropping, as they are now switching some A380 flights to B777.

Thanks a lot ft101.
EK should definitively add a popup with a confirmation tick-box before pax pays for these seats. (if it's not the case)
I don't know if there is any IT safeguard to prevent families with teenagers to select them ...

I've checked DXB-BKK seat maps on Expert Flyer for next couple days, and they all look almost filled up.

Anyway, on our flight there are 6 seats already selected at the upper deck (I guess people bought them before that change, when upper deck was available), but now all other seats show as blocked.

So I wonder will I be able to select it at check in? And how actually this check in works with connecting flights? Lets say, I check in for our first flight (BXH-DXB) 48h before flight, will I be able to check in/select seats on our second flight (DXB-BKK), which is 10 hours later than our first flight (and it will be more than 48h)? Or will I need to check in twice - 48h before first flight, and then 48h before second flight?

One check-in at T-48h before first flight

If you select emergency exit row (extra legroom seat) there is a popup window with confirmation tick box.

I was surprised how lax the crew on EK 151 was the other day. None of the emergency exit seats were taken, and the crew was like "There is more legroom here. You can just switch seats if you like"

I know these seats do not count as a PE class, but is it actually allowed for the crew to tell people that they can sit there, when they have not paid for it?

Well given anyone can request them for free at check-in, why not? You're paying for an assignment, so that if the flight is full you get a guaranteed exit row (reluctant to use the word guarantee since a seat assignment is never guaranteed but you get the idea)

But by roughly the end of the year, all except EK418/419 are on 2 Class A380's. Strange.

Yes, sales stop 6 hours before departure at which point they are anybody's seat for free.