Hi guys,

I have tried to search the forum, but could not find an answer (perhaps there is not set answer).

I am currently a Blue member on a business saver ticket Amsterdam/Dubai with enough miles to upgrade to first class. Upgrade to first class was available, but then closed before I could upgrade to it.

Does anyone have an idea when it will open up again? I've called Emirates they said it will open up, but could not tell me when.

Thanks,
Norman

There's no predictable system, and it varies on each route. Best is to set an alert on ExpertFlyer ($10 a month subscription, good value) and check regularly. It might open up, it might now. Depends on whether EK sells (or thinks they can sell) F seats.

If you're flexible you may want to check availability on earlier/later flights and see if EK can switch you and upgrade you in one phone call and maybe waive the change fee if you ask nicely.

Dear Skywardhunter,

Thanks for the info, unfortunately I can only travel on this date.
So I guess I just have to sit tight.

Thanks,
Norman

I've found seats start to open up around 30 days before flying but the last time I only was informed of availability two weeks ahead. Just keep checking regularly.

Hi, it's been a while since my last post. Hope you are doing well! Good to see a lot of familiar names still around.

Question: I'm trying to find EK award flights in F from Dubai to Sydney next yr Feb. I see plenty of J available but no F, at all. Any reason for that? Gold dust? I do see paid tix available in F so still a 3 class flight...

Are they already gone or don't they open up availability for award?

Thanks,

S.

One of the most controlled routes in terms of redemption availability. EK releases seats a month of so ahead but only when availability in paid fare buckets is wide open.

hi all, i am travelling on EK779 CPT-DXB 3 October in business (flex) and just checked expert flyer to see seats available in F and all seats look available but in manage my booking no miles upgrade option is available, is it still a little early for reward seats to be available?

Look available as in how? Seat map? Some pax don't select seats in advance. Also F seats sell at short notice, EK has high premium yields to CPT and may be confident it will be able to sell them. They might release a seat at any time as well, one never quite knows.

Just looked on expertflyer to confirm. There are no Z bucket available for your date right now. Keep checking, you never know if one will open up. Better yet, you can set an alert on expertflyer to let you know if it does open up. Some people have had good luck with the Emirates auto-upgrade feature also. Good luck.

As skywardhunter very accurately points out, available seat does not mean availability to upgrade.

thanks both, ill keep checking

This is the closest I found to an Upgrades thread in this forum, so I wanted to report my experience. A few months ago, I grabbed a great revenue fare for my partner and me: one way Business Flex ATH-EWR for ~$1,600 pp, flying tomorrow 15 Oct.

I have American Express points that I was ready to move over if I could upgrade to F but there was no availability at time of booking. I couldn’t waitlist without having the miles in my Emirates account, so I signed up for Emirates to notify me of F upgrade availability. I also set an ExpertFlyer alert. On Wed 11 Oct at 11am Greek time, I got an EF alert of at least 1 F seat available. Turns out there were 3. I upgraded our two seats after transferring the requisite 60,000 Amex points to Emirates (instant). Interestingly, the Emirates alert of F upgrade availability came 3 hours after the EF alert.

Sounds like a good deal. Enjoy

I always upgrade to F on the AKL-DXB no stop route and I could always do it just after buying the ticket.

But only if there is upgrade award space available. I'm thinking availability may be reduced once the none stop is the only AKL service.

This has been a common experience for me too. Usually I have a bit of space between booking and flying but Almost consistently I'll get my EF alert before anything from EK. A really valuable thing on the usually packed ex-AUS routes.