Dec 28, 2017, 12:45 pm
Last edit by: Zol
Please post your 2018 Operational Upgrade Experiences in this thread.
Around the middle of 2016, Emirates modified their Operational Upgrade Policy favouring type of ticket over status holders, giving non status passengers on Flex and Flex Plus tickets an advantage over (for example) Silver members on a Saver ticket. During the latter half of 2016, less Op Ups were reported but we would still like to hear when they happen.
Link to the 2017 thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emir...ost-here.html#
Please use the following format for ease of reading and of course, discussion is still welcome.
Example:
Upgrade given: Y - J
Upgrade location: Gate
Route: BKK-DXB
Flight number: EK385
Type of ticket: Saver
Date of travel: 040115
Tier status: Gold
Tier miles to date: 18,000
Skywards miles balance: 80,000
Number of pax on the same PNR (Including OP): 1
Number of pax upgraded: 1
Safe & Happy Travels and May The Upgrade Gods Look Upon You.
Saltire74
Around the middle of 2016, Emirates modified their Operational Upgrade Policy favouring type of ticket over status holders, giving non status passengers on Flex and Flex Plus tickets an advantage over (for example) Silver members on a Saver ticket. During the latter half of 2016, less Op Ups were reported but we would still like to hear when they happen.
Link to the 2017 thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emir...ost-here.html#
Please use the following format for ease of reading and of course, discussion is still welcome.
Example:
Upgrade given: Y - J
Upgrade location: Gate
Route: BKK-DXB
Flight number: EK385
Type of ticket: Saver
Date of travel: 040115
Tier status: Gold
Tier miles to date: 18,000
Skywards miles balance: 80,000
Number of pax on the same PNR (Including OP): 1
Number of pax upgraded: 1
Safe & Happy Travels and May The Upgrade Gods Look Upon You.
Saltire74
Your Operational Upgrades Experience 2018 - Please Post Here
Apr 4, 2018 | 3:16 am
#46
Join Date: Sep 2016
Programs: Emirates Skywards Silver
Posts: 18
Upgrade given: Y - J
Upgrade location: Gate/Mobile App t-45 mins
Route: BKK - DXB
Flight number: EK371
Type of ticket: ECONOMY FLEXPLUS
Date of travel: 3rd April 2018
Tier status: Silver
Tier miles to date: c.37k
Skywards miles balance: c.60k
Had to re-book my return trip BKK-NCL at great expense 4 days before departure (c. 390 fare difference) from Y Flex to Y Flexplus. Used miles to upgrade DXB-NCL as knew I would be exhausted after a frantic couple of weeks in the LoS. Realising BKK-DXB is a busy route and EK371 is a 77W it would be a busy flight (last flight of the "night" picking up many stragglers who have missed EK377/385 etc. I was told is always busy). Had checked loads and was showing full from -2 days. Was tired and all prepared for 6.5 hours in Y (fairly easy) however I was in the AF lounge at BKK (lowly Silver) and happened to refresh the App - now showing 3E from 11A. Boarding pass swap at gate - was a happy bunny after the initial expense of changing flights.
Middle seat in J on the 77W - still OK for an op-up but wouldn't want to pay/use miles to sit there. It is quite private though, although there was massive confusion by the crew of who was supposed to be serving me - multiple double food/drinks order requests and double hot towels - not totally a bad thing..! You do feel a bit hemmed in though. Poor food offering on this late night/early morning flight.
Upgrade location: Gate/Mobile App t-45 mins
Route: BKK - DXB
Flight number: EK371
Type of ticket: ECONOMY FLEXPLUS
Date of travel: 3rd April 2018
Tier status: Silver
Tier miles to date: c.37k
Skywards miles balance: c.60k
Had to re-book my return trip BKK-NCL at great expense 4 days before departure (c. 390 fare difference) from Y Flex to Y Flexplus. Used miles to upgrade DXB-NCL as knew I would be exhausted after a frantic couple of weeks in the LoS. Realising BKK-DXB is a busy route and EK371 is a 77W it would be a busy flight (last flight of the "night" picking up many stragglers who have missed EK377/385 etc. I was told is always busy). Had checked loads and was showing full from -2 days. Was tired and all prepared for 6.5 hours in Y (fairly easy) however I was in the AF lounge at BKK (lowly Silver) and happened to refresh the App - now showing 3E from 11A. Boarding pass swap at gate - was a happy bunny after the initial expense of changing flights.
Middle seat in J on the 77W - still OK for an op-up but wouldn't want to pay/use miles to sit there. It is quite private though, although there was massive confusion by the crew of who was supposed to be serving me - multiple double food/drinks order requests and double hot towels - not totally a bad thing..! You do feel a bit hemmed in though. Poor food offering on this late night/early morning flight.
Apr 5, 2018 | 1:35 am
#47
Join Date: Sep 2016
Programs: Emirates Skywards Silver
Posts: 18
Upgrade given: Y - J
Upgrade location: Gate/Mobile App (30 mins pre-boarding)
Route: BKK-DXB
Flight number: EK371 (77W)
Type of ticket: Y Flex+
Date of travel: 3rd April 2018
Tier status: Silver
Tier miles to date: 38k
Showing full in Y from 48 hours prior. Had changed flight at considerable expense so softened the blow. Full flight minus 1 J seat.
Upgrade location: Gate/Mobile App (30 mins pre-boarding)
Route: BKK-DXB
Flight number: EK371 (77W)
Type of ticket: Y Flex+
Date of travel: 3rd April 2018
Tier status: Silver
Tier miles to date: 38k
Showing full in Y from 48 hours prior. Had changed flight at considerable expense so softened the blow. Full flight minus 1 J seat.
Last edited by KillaPowa; Jul 30, 2018 at 2:01 am Reason: Double posted
Apr 11, 2018 | 3:27 am
#48
Join Date: Sep 2016
Programs: Emirates Skywards Silver
Posts: 18
Ek371 03/04/18
Upgrade Given: Y to J
Upgrade Location: Emirates App @ 45 mins to departure (new boarding pass at gate)
Route: BKK-DXB
Flight: EK371
Type of Ticket: Economy Flexplus
Tier status: Silver
Travel Date: 03 April
Playing with App around 45 mins to schedule departure, noticed seat change from 11A to 3E (middle....) still a welcome gift at 2am! Full flight minus one seat in J.
Upgrade Location: Emirates App @ 45 mins to departure (new boarding pass at gate)
Route: BKK-DXB
Flight: EK371
Type of Ticket: Economy Flexplus
Tier status: Silver
Travel Date: 03 April
Playing with App around 45 mins to schedule departure, noticed seat change from 11A to 3E (middle....) still a welcome gift at 2am! Full flight minus one seat in J.
Apr 30, 2018 | 11:05 am
#49
Join Date: Nov 2014
Programs: Skywards, FlyingBlue
Posts: 19
Upgrade given: Y - J
Upgrade location: Gate
Route: DXB-COK
Flight number: EK530
Type of ticket: Flex
Date of travel: 04302018
Tier status: Blue (all pax)
Tier miles to date: one of us had lik 12000 (mine was 0)
Skywards miles balance: 18k (mine was 8k)
Number of pax on the same PNR (Including OP): 3
Number of pax upgraded: 3
Upgrade location: Gate
Route: DXB-COK
Flight number: EK530
Type of ticket: Flex
Date of travel: 04302018
Tier status: Blue (all pax)
Tier miles to date: one of us had lik 12000 (mine was 0)
Skywards miles balance: 18k (mine was 8k)
Number of pax on the same PNR (Including OP): 3
Number of pax upgraded: 3
Last edited by missal; May 8, 2018 at 10:43 am
Jul 27, 2018 | 7:21 am
#50
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 10,063
Upgrade given: Y - J
Upgrade location: Lounge
Route: GLA-DXB
Flight number: EK28
Type of ticket: Economy Flex
Date of travel: 26/7/18
Tier status: Gold
Tier miles to date: 71,000
Skywards miles balance: 12,000
Number of pax on the same PNR (Including OP): 1
Number of pax upgraded: 1
As mentioned elsewhere, they were asking at check in for volunteers to take the next flight. I stuck it out and was 4th in line for an upgrade when I got to the lounge. A few seats appeared and quickly disappeared before I saw my seat number change to 7J (best seat in J IMO). I'd been joking with the lounge staff and when I went to reception they mentioned they'd seen it change too, but weren't allowed to print me a new boarding pass until they got the go head from downstairs. This came about an hour before departure.
Upgrade location: Lounge
Route: GLA-DXB
Flight number: EK28
Type of ticket: Economy Flex
Date of travel: 26/7/18
Tier status: Gold
Tier miles to date: 71,000
Skywards miles balance: 12,000
Number of pax on the same PNR (Including OP): 1
Number of pax upgraded: 1
As mentioned elsewhere, they were asking at check in for volunteers to take the next flight. I stuck it out and was 4th in line for an upgrade when I got to the lounge. A few seats appeared and quickly disappeared before I saw my seat number change to 7J (best seat in J IMO). I'd been joking with the lounge staff and when I went to reception they mentioned they'd seen it change too, but weren't allowed to print me a new boarding pass until they got the go head from downstairs. This came about an hour before departure.
Jul 27, 2018 | 7:26 am
#51
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 10,063
Upgrade given: Y - J
Upgrade location: Lounge in GLA (waiting on the flight before this one)
Route: DXB-BKK
Flight number: EK376
Type of ticket: Economy Flex
Date of travel: 27/7/18
Tier status: Gold
Tier miles to date: 71,000
Skywards miles balance: 12,000
Number of pax on the same PNR (Including OP): 1
Number of pax upgraded: 1
My seat allocation changed to Business Class before the GLA-DXB flight above did - probably about 12 hours before flight departure time. Received a new boarding pass at the lounge down at Gate C9 in DXB. What a mess Concourse C is. Both these flights went out full in all 3 classes.
Upgrade location: Lounge in GLA (waiting on the flight before this one)
Route: DXB-BKK
Flight number: EK376
Type of ticket: Economy Flex
Date of travel: 27/7/18
Tier status: Gold
Tier miles to date: 71,000
Skywards miles balance: 12,000
Number of pax on the same PNR (Including OP): 1
Number of pax upgraded: 1
My seat allocation changed to Business Class before the GLA-DXB flight above did - probably about 12 hours before flight departure time. Received a new boarding pass at the lounge down at Gate C9 in DXB. What a mess Concourse C is. Both these flights went out full in all 3 classes.
Jul 29, 2018 | 3:54 am
#52
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Dubai
Posts: 65
Upgrade given: Y - J
Upgrade location: Check-in at DXB
Route: DXB-BCN
Flight number: EK185
Type of ticket: Economy Flex
Date of travel: 21/7/18
Tier status: Silver
Tier miles to date: ~27000
Skywards miles balance: ~67000
Number of pax on the same PNR (Including OP): 1
Number of pax upgraded: 1
Not to me, but happened to my partner. She lost her seat assignment the previous night. Was late to the airport and asked for an exit row (her original seat), however flight was full in Y. After a 5 minute wait was handed new BP with the upgrade. First op-up in 2 years as silver!
Upgrade location: Check-in at DXB
Route: DXB-BCN
Flight number: EK185
Type of ticket: Economy Flex
Date of travel: 21/7/18
Tier status: Silver
Tier miles to date: ~27000
Skywards miles balance: ~67000
Number of pax on the same PNR (Including OP): 1
Number of pax upgraded: 1
Not to me, but happened to my partner. She lost her seat assignment the previous night. Was late to the airport and asked for an exit row (her original seat), however flight was full in Y. After a 5 minute wait was handed new BP with the upgrade. First op-up in 2 years as silver!
Jul 30, 2018 | 2:21 am
#53
Join Date: Sep 2016
Programs: Emirates Skywards Silver
Posts: 18
Upgrade given: Y - J
Upgrade location: Lounge (120 mins pre-boarding)
Route: DXB-BKK
Flight number: EK376 (A380)
Type of ticket: Y Flex
Date of travel: 29th June 2018
Tier status: Silver
Had an absolute hoot in the onboard lounge with an F passenger. Great flight.
Upgrade location: Lounge (120 mins pre-boarding)
Route: DXB-BKK
Flight number: EK376 (A380)
Type of ticket: Y Flex
Date of travel: 29th June 2018
Tier status: Silver
Had an absolute hoot in the onboard lounge with an F passenger. Great flight.
Aug 4, 2018 | 3:22 pm
#54
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: UAE
Programs: EK Platinum
Posts: 47
Upgrade given: J-F
Upgrade location: Gate
Route: DXB-IAD
Flight number: EK231
Type of ticket: Business Flex Plus
Date of travel: 05.08.2018
Tier status: Gold
Tier miles to date: 0 (just renewed @95000)
Skywards miles balance: 148,000
Number of pax on the same PNR (Including OP): 1
Number of pax upgraded: 1
Spoke to someone at the lounge. I was No 6 on the list with 1 over in Y and 3 over in J. So very little chance. 1:10 hrs before dep I checked the Emirates App. Could not see my BP as I am always SSSS (why dont know) but when I checked my seat, saw assignment to 1F. After long long time finally upgraded. On a 14 hours flight a big difference.
Aug 26, 2018 | 7:43 pm
#55
Join Date: May 2013
Programs: SQ Gold; QF Gold; QR Gold; VA Gold; QH First; Accor Gold; IHG Gold; Hilton Gold; Shangri-la Jade
Posts: 7
If this posting delights the many golds out there... youre welcome! 😉
Recently on a CDG-DXB (A380) in Y (sadly my default location), as passengers boarded it appeared there was an over-allocation in Y by one (passenger list was apparently incorrect).
I was on the front exit row and listened to a full conversation between purser and the section supervisor - as there was two seats available in J, the purser said she will be upgrading one passenger to balance things in Y. The supervisor asked who and the purser gave the seat number of the lucky recipient (row behind me), stated his name, followed by Gold. I caught sight of the passengers gold status on his ticket as he gleefully gathered his luggage and relocated upstairs.
Let me be clear, Im not disgruntled and certainly wont lose any sleep over this as I believe if you pay for Y you get Y etc, but I am curious on the current criteria for op-ups as I am Platinum, was on a Flex-Plus ticket, travelling alone, sat in exit row. Im taking a wild, wild guess that it may have been my exit row seat that prevented what would have been a most welcome promotion?
Ive further noticed that in 9 months as Platinum I have not had a single op-up compared to a previous near 30-40% hit-rate as gold. I typically fly on EK 4-8 times a month and several of those have been full (in Y at least).
Any explainable insight on current policy? Was this just one of those days when the upgrade fairies were having a bad day or am I somehow blacklisted? 🤷🏻.♂️
Recently on a CDG-DXB (A380) in Y (sadly my default location), as passengers boarded it appeared there was an over-allocation in Y by one (passenger list was apparently incorrect).
I was on the front exit row and listened to a full conversation between purser and the section supervisor - as there was two seats available in J, the purser said she will be upgrading one passenger to balance things in Y. The supervisor asked who and the purser gave the seat number of the lucky recipient (row behind me), stated his name, followed by Gold. I caught sight of the passengers gold status on his ticket as he gleefully gathered his luggage and relocated upstairs.
Let me be clear, Im not disgruntled and certainly wont lose any sleep over this as I believe if you pay for Y you get Y etc, but I am curious on the current criteria for op-ups as I am Platinum, was on a Flex-Plus ticket, travelling alone, sat in exit row. Im taking a wild, wild guess that it may have been my exit row seat that prevented what would have been a most welcome promotion?
Ive further noticed that in 9 months as Platinum I have not had a single op-up compared to a previous near 30-40% hit-rate as gold. I typically fly on EK 4-8 times a month and several of those have been full (in Y at least).
Any explainable insight on current policy? Was this just one of those days when the upgrade fairies were having a bad day or am I somehow blacklisted? 🤷🏻.♂️
Aug 27, 2018 | 1:06 am
#56
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: MAN DXB ✈️
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 6,932
As you may be aware, the UPGR policy is purely based on fare class now (excluding EK Platinum). People think that travel history and patterns, tier miles, overall loyalty etc. have an impact, but they don't. The system generates a priority list based on fare class only. This is a relatively common situation, where boarding goes ahead on an oversold flight, but maybe a seat is INOP or there is some other issue that arises last minute. Generally, they will then locate the next person on the UPGR list and manually upgrade. This was most likely what happened!
Aug 27, 2018 | 1:09 am
#57
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 199
As you may be aware, the UPGR policy is purely based on fare class now (excluding EK Platinum). People think that travel history and patterns, tier miles, overall loyalty etc. have an impact, but they don't. The system generates a priority list based on fare class only. This is a relatively common situation, where boarding goes ahead on an oversold flight, but maybe a seat is INOP or there is some other issue that arises last minute. Generally, they will then locate the next person on the UPGR list and manually upgrade. This was most likely what happened!
Aug 27, 2018 | 1:24 am
#58
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,791
It's all Plats, then fare type sub-divided by status, there've not been any reports to kndicind this has changed. The last change was the all Plats now go ahead regardless of their fare type.
Aug 27, 2018 | 1:34 am
#59
Ambassador, Emirates
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: LGW / AMS / CPT
Programs: SA KL BA EK
Posts: 4,848
As you may be aware, the UPGR policy is purely based on fare class now (excluding EK Platinum). People think that travel history and patterns, tier miles, overall loyalty etc. have an impact, but they don't. The system generates a priority list based on fare class only. This is a relatively common situation, where boarding goes ahead on an oversold flight, but maybe a seat is INOP or there is some other issue that arises last minute. Generally, they will then locate the next person on the UPGR list and manually upgrade. This was most likely what happened!
Aug 27, 2018 | 1:45 am
#60
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,791