Saver Bucket Blocked to book for OTAs
 

Right now I am trying to book a flight for 2 from Lagos (LOS) to Singapore (SIN). The saver bucket shows up on the Emirates website, but not on OTAs. Does anyone know if this happens often? Or if they will eventually release saver availability?

Try checking more OTAs .
It's not unknown for this to happen.Possibly it happens in some countries more than others.
Intl airlines have for long been sensitive about their sales and ticketing in Nigeria hence possibly their preference to sell directly.
EK may eventually release saver IF still available...that's a considerable risk ex LOS,because flights have high load factor.

Unless you can purchase at very significant savings, it is better to purchase directly from the carrier. In this case, it is cheaper to purchase through the carrier. Purchase through the carrier before the inventory is gone. Put simply, do not wait.

Yes, sorry. The reason is I want to book using Chase Ultimate Rewards, but they use Expedia's interface. Therefore the flight costs $1200 from EK website and $1700 through Chase portal. I already booked 5 relatives on an EK flight and trying to put the other 2 on the same flight. If Chase hadn't fubared their bonus system I would have gotten the points a month ago and booked all 7 without issue at that time, but Chase is going down the tubes and made me wait an extra month for no reason to receive my bonus points.

Just to close out this thread. Emirates reopened the economy saver fare bucket today to OTA's. I was able to book using Chase Ultimate Rewards at a $500 savings vs if I'd booked over the weekend. So sometimes patience does pay when booking holiday flights under certain circumstances. The key is knowing how much flights usually cost and not overpaying or jumping too early.