US routes have definitely gotten more expensive in the past year.
My normal route is HYD-JFK RT in F.
Prior to COVID, I could get this for just under $7k. Years ago I think it was even cheaper, closer to $6k!
Now it’s consistently a little over $10k. Hoping it dips back down but who knows when that will happen.

A bit late now but EK20, could have had a FT bar buddy!

I’m not seeing the new award and fuel charge rates that bloggers (namely Ben at One Mile at a Time) are talking about. Checked several dates in 2023. Want to book a trip but scared to transfer over points and having the prices change as I check out.

Call and have them make the reservation and hold the award. It is a pain because you need to call back to ticket but worth it to not transfer and then have issues.

I don’t get how people here can say they’re not seeing it yet he keeps pushing out articles with the updated cost. What’s going on???

https://onemileatatime.com/insights/...uation-absurd/

I could be wrong but It looks like One Mile at a Time May have put in two adults instead of one. I picked a random date round trip JFK-MXP and it was 145,000 miles in business class.

OMAAT is not the most reliable source for basically anything EK related. Possibly for other airlines as well, but I have no experience with that so it would be unfair to make a blanket statement.

I consider myself a loyal EK flyer. I've been 11 consecutive years a Gold member with Skywards. Mostly Economy, but increasingly buying J tickets as I'm getting older and more tired of flying (ok, ok the real reason is that I'm getting heavier too ;)). I remember the times Platinum didn't exist and gaining 10k miles in Y for a long haul was normal. I remember the OpUps being prioritised based on status rather than ticket price. Over the recent years, I've negotiated with myself - and convinced myself - many times to pay the premium for Emirates compared to other airlines. Living in Dubai that's not an easy thing to do.

But that changes in 2023... 50k miles for a Y flex upgrade to West-Europe is a 25% increase compared to 2022. For a ticket that costs 4000 AED (return) instead of 3500 (2020) or 2700 (2016). I've just booked 3 flights of 3700 AED in Premium Economy with Air France for my travel to Europe in Q1 2023. And I booked a flight to Mexico in Business Class for 16,000 AED (against 26,500 AED for EK). That makes me Gold with Flying Blue.

Sorry for the rant. I know Flying Blue isn't ideal and AF/KL have their own issues, but the attitude of EK is just getting at Mount Everest levels and even I cannot justify to myself to continue paying such fares for insignificant benefits. All airlines are in the business of making money, and people are clearly willing to spend huge amounts on airline tickets after COVID, but EK's changes are "too far too fast" in my opinion to keep me loyal.

I have an F award itinerary booked and want to do a date change. Does anyone know if this will trigger a price increase?

call and ask but i’m guessing yes they’ll want additional miles.

According to many bloggers, it seems like EK have sent them a press statement saying changes to awards will be made gradually over the next few weeks till 31 January 2023. I haven't seen the statement from EK on their site officially, and I'm by no means saying this is what is happening, but I see no reason to think that these claims aren't true.

In any case, personally, I will continue to do my own research and see what the actual miles/taxes are through a search on the EK site.

That's certainly what I am doing. The mileage calculator is your friend, and as I normally use miles for J -> F upgrades, taxes are not as crucial as miles are to me.

You can't put # of adults into the calculator, it only shows amounts for 1 passenger.

What he was reporting was while actual bookings were showing the current (lower) redemption amounts, when you went to the mileage calculator it was showing the increases.

I had checked it when he first wrote this and he was correct the calculator was showing higher, but now if you use the calculator it shows the current (lower) redemptions.

Cynically you have to think they accidently updated the calculator but were not ready to update the actual bookings, and that the change is coming and it is just a matter of when. It is possible it was just a mistake, but from what we saw on the EU - DXB bookings and the communication the bloggers received I doubt it.

I don't see why they'd need to "stagger" the devaluation. The EU changes were implemented overnight, so sure why they wouldn't just do it all at once. But, we'll see soon enough.

It gets weirder and weirder and now I'm really confused! I just got offered (through MMB) an AMS/DXB J->F upgrade for the 'old' mileage rate! Double checked the calculator and it's true.
I was not planning to upgrade, it's not that attractive a sector to do so but now I am tempted..... Almost like I'm getting a signal to do it.

Edit: Taken it. Charged me the 'old' rate! 'Saved' 10K miles (not really as I was not going to spend them, but you get my drift.....)

Can’t speak for others thijsseh, but I myself certainly DO get your drift :D

Like you, I myself would have been conflicted to a degree, mainly because (as you say) it’s not the best of sectors for F ….plus, J class would be wholly satisfactory of course, given we’re talking EK after all. And like you, I prob would have ended up being tempted by the perceived (ahem!) ‘saving’. Safe travels :tu:

I expect a significant portion of the change in cost of your tickets between 2016, 2020, and now amounts to inflation.

Yeah - and 90k Saver. Matches the Miles Calculator (which was wrong for a while). So... no change at all for MXP-JFK.

………. at least until the next time they start doing bad things with the redemption miles (and surcharges masquerading as taxes) requirements 😡

Best post I have seen in a long while.

Yep, I have been a loyal EK flyer since 1998 and I also remember how much simpler it was in the old days. There was more predictability and we felt more appreciated.

There is a cold wind blowing through the EK offices now, where loyal flyers can be treated quite badly and ignored. It has always been about cash, it's an airline after all. But back then it was definitely more civilised and friendly. They tried to help you, not dismiss you. Being platinum for almost 10 years, I do notice a change in attitude which has affected all levels of membership. I guess it is born of a need to survive financially after tough times.

Understandable maybe, but I don't like it at all.

As they say: ”If you want loyalty, get a dog’. Sad but true.

EK bookings now possible through Aeroplan's website. DXB-STN in J is 87K + £360 of fees through EK or 45K + £51 through Aeroplan...

Has anyone settled on the best use for orphan Skywards miles yet?

Wonder how long Aeroplan's sweet spot will last

I've got a couple of mates who don't post on these forums who are Skywards Platinum and have over a million skywards points and said they will be looking to change airlines now and no longer fly with emirates apart from finding good award seats to burn through what they have left of their miles.

Good. The more people that do that, the sooner Emirates will realise they can't keep just putting prices up and reducing benefits. There's a limit.

I understand that airlines are in the business to make money, that miles are a currency and that the Skywards division should be profitable. But they're moving the "loyalty" out of the "loyalty programme". Loyalty is about giving back to your customer base, many of which have been doing business for extended periods of time of their life with Emirates. They could have announced the change (purely out of respect for their members) and they could have tried to 'sweeten the deal' with some "free" perks in return (I know, there's no such thing as a free meal): keeping Y seats next to Gold/Plat free until the last moment, an access pass to the F lounge in DXB, a free airport pick-up/drop off in DXB, offer a pillow from J class, a glass of champagne, etc. Small, little things that don't cost them, but show that the company still cares about loyalty.

Oh wait, they did sweeten the deal: Flex+ gets a few % more miles now :-)

And we are not talking about J. Try to visit friends in Dubai in early May - LH £306 via FRA - BA £454 direct - EK £584 if going from LHR.

Travelling alone and have plenty of time, LH won.

I remember I was booking EK flights to DXB and back for £350 return max before Covid...

Y prices have come down then :) They were ~ £700 a few months ago :D

Market is right in this case in my opinion and those prices reflect that.

We just cancelled 2 Emirates credit cards and gave the program changes as reasons.

The timing is not the best either. A LOT of fairly frequent fliers will have something of a clean sheet thanks to covid. Lots of miles expiring, status needs attention, etc. When you're rolling with a program you tend to experience the (untrue) boiling frog thing. But there will be a lot of people whose flying is just picking up who will be thinking "do I want to stick with Emirates, or is there better available?"

Great point about the timing actually. I can see many people who have been loyal to EK will see this as a kick in the guts because finding award availability is extremely difficult these days and this is like another gut punch where miles requirements go up as do taxes/fees.

Unfortunately it is just a case of supply and demand. Ek and now selling ‘Premium Economy’ seats at previous business class prices. Economy prices are crazy and business class has more than doubled on my route. Yet, the planes are full… the lounges are busier than ever…

Maybe they are banking on new customers who don’t know any better… it wasn’t that long ago you used to get CD on miles upgrades/reward bookings but this is now a distant memory and to some they won’t even know this used to be a thing.

Around 2015 I paid 1300 for a business class flight to BKK from LHR, which I know is an extreme example but you can’t even buy Y flex+ for that price anymore!

That’s exactly how I see it. The market allows it and therefore they ‘get away with it’. They are a business and not a benevolent society for their frequent fliers. I have the feeling that when the pent up ‘post Covid’ demand reduces, prices will come down (a bit) because the supply / demand ratio changes. May well be wishful thinking. I too long for the days that a J flex fare was two thirds of what a J saver is now. And don’t remind me of the days that there were F savers, sometimes at less than J Flex+. Sigh….

EK should absolutely make hay whilst the sun shines, but I’m not sure it’s clear the market does allow them to ‘get away with it’ yet. They are making a change which will play out over the next 12-24 months and we’ll see if they decide it was a mistake or not.

The other thing I don’t see discussed is that EK and QR (even more so than EK) carved out a niche for themselves during COVID as the airlines that kept flying when no one else did. As the reward for that, they recently found they could charge direct J prices for connecting flights given there was limited or no direct competition. Are all those high value customers still going to fly EK and, e.g., pay £6K to fly LHR-DXB-JNB rather than LHR-JNB direct as BA and VS ramp back up? Somehow I doubt they’ll keep a lot of them which will be a driver of EK fares coming slightly more back to earth along with a downturn.

Agreed, whilst I think some of these fares are extortionate, I wouldn’t like to bet against EKs revenue management team!

Unless they all got laid off…

is a 30% devaluation realistic or is the cheapest fare I once saw late Dec-22 not available?

Sorry, I don't understand the question. 'Fare' suggest a cash ticket, the devaluation is about Skywards miles.