Hi,

Booked a Economy ticket with Skywards and cash from BHX to DXB. At the time of booking there was no Business redemption availability however they had J x 2 tickets available showing on Flyer Expert.

No upgrades were available in the app and no offers came via email.

At check-in I asked to upgrade and the Check-In Desk said yes! You can do this for miles plus �90, great!

However she couldn�t get this to apply and eventually said she�d �soft block� the seat whilst I rang Emirates Skywards.

Emirates Skywards said it doesn�t matter if there are J class seats available if they aren�t marked as available for redemption then the only people who could get these upgrades would be full paying customers. Is this right?

It seems ridiculous that a few hours before the flight and they�ll not release these tickets for those paying with Skywards and will fly with the seats empty.

I thought I�d done a ton of research into this and I�m wondering where I�ve missed that this is the case ie If business isn�t available for skywards when you book it doesn�t matter how many seats are showing as available you�ll never get access to them.

Correct?

thanks!

Try once you get onboard. You'll also not have to pay the �90 if you do it onboard.

sounds like your not eligible to upgrade if you have purchased your original ticket with cash+miles.
only cash buyers can upgrade with miles later (not with miles and miles) if that made sense