baz2277

depends when? any time between xmas and new year is unlikely.

zero difference in upgrading except the flight itself.

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Not quite sure what the above means? I did say anytime in January or February. It wouldn't be Christmas or even early new year - as soon as the kids are back is good for me - any date!

Also the upgrade from business to first is obviously different (apart from the start of the journey - where the chauffeur picks you up).

I just wondered if anyone had experience of upgrading 'on the spot' at check in at Manchester. I'm trying to be as flex as poss re the flight times, and have also considered heathrow, but as I live in the midlands, you're spending more money to get to London / possibly needing a hotel overnight on outbound/return journey/ plus with train strikes at the moment it's a bit risky!!

m3red

you can upgrade at man of course if there are seats - i’d recommend arriving at check in when it opens.

afmiami

Data point: flying JFK to MXP, award ticket in J. Plenty of empty seats in F on the day of departure. At check-in in JFK I asked for an upgrade to F using miles, and I was told that my ticket was not upgradeable. I insisted, they made me go to the ticketing desk: same story.. I went to the lounge, asked to the front desk lady in Emirates uniform, and she upgraded me right away, using 30k miles in my account. So I thanked her and I asked for an explanation, for future reference. She told me that the check-in employees at JFK are not Emirates employees, and they are not authorized to upgrade award tickets. She told me to always look for employees in Emirates uniform (she said there is always at least one in every outstation) and, if there is room available, they will take care of the upgrade. Good to know for the future!

baz2277

Thanks for the info - I may need to try this approach, so frustrating not being able to know you can actually upgrade before committing to the flight. I appreciate they want to sell as many seats for ££ as possible but do other airlines do this? Virgin apparently say on their website not to call the call centre re availability as it is shown during the search online.

baz2277

Hi all, can anyone give me recent success stories in upgrading from Business to First? I've been religiously checking the EK site for any upgrade opportunities on MAN-DXB, MAN-SIN, MAN-SEZ (any of these are fine for me!), for a whole range of dates in January 2023 but all i'm getting is 'no availability' - i've also messaged EK every few weeks and they keep coming back to me saying nothing is available, yet checking some of the flights on expertflyer some of the first class cabins appear nearly empty. (Anything from LHR is also an option)

Has anyone got recent experience? I'm just looking to get away for a week/ten days after Christmas to any of those destinations...in style!!! If there's an 'easier' destination to get upgrades for, post them here too!!

thijsseh

A week to ten days after Christmas is still very much high season. Quite unlikely that you’ll find any upgrades to F at this stage.

baz2277

Hi sorry, i meant I wanted a total break time of 7-10 days.....any date in January is good for me!!

Cheers

thijsseh

Have you tried ex AMS in the second half of January? I have often found availability from AMS much better than from UK airports. And cheaper too as the APD is substantially less. The APD savings may well pay for the short positioning flight. Not sure what options there are ex MAN, I have a LGW/AMS plus AMS/DXB/XXX in January (although in J and not in F). Using 9000 and a bit Avios plus £0.50 for the LGW/AMS flight.

omaralt

I have booked an award ticket (business flex plus) JFK- DXB round trip and was wondering what i should expect if there is first class upgrade availability? would they offer at the airport? how much should i expect to pay (miles or money) thanks

paterwdb

I’d be grateful for any advice for a couple of questions. I’m booked on two separate award flights in J, no status, JFK-MXP MXP-JFK.

I’m currently set to auto upgrade on both with the points in my account.

1. with auto upgrade set, is there any sense that maybe it will fail and I should be checking several times a day to see if a seat opens and I need to manually select it?

2. If auto upgrade never clears, is there a magic window of time when watching/calling 72-36 hours close to departure might be more successful?

3. is there any reason to avoid checking in for the flight, when T-48? I understand the auto upgrade cancels at that point.

4. I will be at JFK about five hours before the flight, is the lounge the best place to request help with an upgrade or the ticket counter?

5. if all that fails, when I board J do I just ask as I board about on plane upgrades?

thanks all - the Emirates world is new to me with upgrades. I’ve only flown them when I could book F in advance.

thijsseh

Just a few quick answers:

1. Yes, auto upgrade is unreliable. Check regularly and phone the call centre.
2. As far as I understand, auto upgrade cancels at T-72. It is very unlikely that from then onward ‘normal’ upgrades will be available (maybe even impossible).
3. It seems that OLCI makes no difference.
4. My strategy has always been to ask at the check in desk AND in the lounge. They will record your request at the check in desk but most likely tell you that they will give you the result ‘later’. I have been given a new BP on leaving the lounge or at the gate. If there are more requests for space available upgrades than are available seats, status comes into play.
5. Yes, at that stage you board as J and tell the crew at the door that you want to upgrade using your miles. They’ll inform the purser. You might only get told about your new seat (and collected to be taken there) when you are already in your J seat. Or they might tell you at the door that F is full.

A4K

ATH - EWR last week, was able to upgrade J to F award online about 10 hours before departure. Showed on manage booking page as upgrade available, clicked through and was confirmed in F in 15 seconds.

So it is possible between 72 hours and the airport, although my guess is this is unlikely in most instances.

thijsseh

Thank you for reporting this, it's a useful extra datapoint! I doubt that it will happen often, but it suggests it is worth keeping checking after T-72 (or T-48) contrary to what many of us thought previously! Did you have an alert set or was it a 'self initiated' check?

baz2277

Update, i've found some flights! I dont understand thought why if I do a 'multi city' search (returning to the same airport) nothing shows up, but if doing 2 seperate one way booking there is availability. It means making 2 bookings rather than one?!

Hi again, change of tack now.. if I book a standard Economy ticket (with upgrade availability showing), and I upgrade using miles, does this still qualify me for chauffeur and lounge access?

Can't see it shown anywhere on the dummy booking i've done or anywhere on the website, van anyone help?

thijsseh

Lounge access yes, chauffeur drive no (on Y to J upgrades or J award tickets)