aceboy44

I purchased a Y-Flex Plus fare to avoid any change fees but was screwed by Emirates! on my return journey (SIN - DXB - KWI) I was unable to change my SIN - DXB flight unless I also change my DXB - KWI, which is killing the point of the Flex Plus fare, despite having seats available on both flights (I was able to make the changes I wanted if this was a new booking!)

As I needed to urgently change my flight to an earlier flight I accepted this bitter consequence and changed my late evening DXB - KWI flight to an early 7:40 AM flight from DXB - KWI (yes! Emirates ruined my layover in Dubai) just to get an earlier flight for SIN - DXB. I was also not able to pick my seats for both of my flights.....despite this being a Flex Plus fare!!! I was disappointed with my seats during check-in..... I was told that new bookings are treated different than existing bookings!!!!

Thank you for ruining my experience Emirates but rest assured that this will be my last time paying a Flex Plus fare........ Happy to buy saver fares for my future trips (no more revenues from me for Flex Plus fare ) Oh and did I mention that I was also a Skywards+ member? (Yes I expect special treatment for the money I pour into a business. Why else would I pay money if I wont get something in return?)

Now putting that aside I had great experiences with Emirates (as usual) and will happily continue to fly them .

qraec777

hello there Aceboy, off topic but I must say it was a delight for me to read your KU reviews several years ago on airliners.net haha. rare to see fellow FT-er or airliners.net blogger from KWI!

Mwenenzi

EK?
We thought you gave up on EK years ago

DYKWIA

Thanks for the reminder... that has given me a chuckle

thijsseh

This is a most confusing story and therefore it is difficult to comment. We (mrs t especially) quite often book Flex+ tickets because it allows unlimited date and / or time changes. It has never failed us. And we have always een able to choose seats. So you ay have done something 'wrong'.
Skywards+ gives you certain benefits, which are dependent on the level of the programme you have chosen and are clearly listed. To expect any 'special treatment' because you subscribe to the programme is in my opinion a bit naive.

aceboy44

Thank you I'm pleased to know that you enjoyed my trip reports.
It is quite sad to see Airliners.net remove my exclusive reviews on KU, the private terminal in KWI via FlyDubai, and Royal Jordanian 787 and that was one of my main reasons of stopping doing trip reports.....

Well, I was unable to choose my seats prior to check-in (and some of my flights did not allow me to check-in unless I had 12 hours to go for the flight, so paying a premium fare while not being allowed to choose my seats is unacceptable.) Also, there were seats available on the previous SIN - DXB flight so why did the system force me to change my DXB - KWI flight to get the earlier SIN - DXB flight?

I have taken notes on your Skywards+ comment, but my point still stands, the more I pay to the airline the better service I expect (it is common sense and any one in my shoes would've been disappointed for the price he paid.) Why else would I pay for a Flex+ fare instead of saver fare?

DYKWIA

Did you actually phone EK? I'm guessing this was just an IT issue that moved your flights to the best connection rather than leave you in Dubai all day (even though you wanted that). If you'd have phoned, they should have been able to just change the SIN-DXB leg, and also get your seats confirmed.

KU104

Don't be surprised. We exist We just don't post that much

aceboy44

Yes I phoned EK three times and was forced to switch my DXB - KWI flight to get the earlier flight from SIN, one of the agents herself told me that new bookings are treated different than existing bookings (as I previously mentioned in my post.)

Also, my reservation was like this:

Leg 1: KWI - DXB - SIN
Leg 2: SIN - DXB
Leg 3: DXB - KWI

The system/agents had no right to force me to switch my DXB - KWI flight to an earlier flight..... My DXB - KWI was changed from late evening to the early 7:40 AM flight..... I did not have time to neither have my breakfast nor enjoy my hotel experience.....

On my DXB - KWI flight the cabin luggage was full so the crew stored my luggage like 8 rows behind me and promised me to give it back to me before landing. I had to remind her (and even insisted) that she give me back my luggage prior to landing. I had to keep my luggage on my laps during landing which was an uncomfortable experience for a Y+ fare......

thijsseh

I can only guess that if the clarity of your requests to the agent is of the same standard as your description of the problem on this forum, the agent may struggle to fulfill your requirement.
Do you currently have any status with Emirates? You will be pleased to hear that agents dealing with Gold (and presumably above) Skywards members tend to have a bit more experience.

Will08

Maybe your original flight (DXB-KWI) was oversold? EK were prepared to still sell seats for that flight to gain more revenue but the system would not allow for you to 'move' to that flight. Whilst you already had a seat on the flight when you came to change the system may not have been able to recognise this.

Not being able to choose a seat when changing a flight close to departure is normal online but usually not a problem for the call centre to fix.

You get instances where a flight is oversold in Y but wide open in J. Even if you are intending to move to this flight in Y to upgrade to J the call centre are unable to process it - point I am making is that its a limitation within the system rather than the airline being awkward.

flying_pig

The only instances where something like this happens to me, is when one of the sectors (in this case DXB-KWI) is zeroed out and the two sectors are ticketed as a connection (vs a stopover, so with transit <24hrs). You won't be able to make a change to the previous sector if the second is zeroed out, as the airline needs to issue a new ticket for both (in this case they would have had to reissue as SIN-DXB-KWI; one cannot just keep DXB-KWI in place as it's ticketed is SIN-DXB-KWI). The system won't let reissue unless there is availability on all sectors.

Things start get messy as the airline may be prepared to sell certain flights through their website even when they are zeroed out through the standard platform (s) (ie: they oversell through their own ticketing channel). Not uncommon.

By the way, all the above happens with many airlines, so I wouldn't blame EK specifically.

aceboy44

Thanks for the clarity. That's what I also think the problem is but as I previously mentioned I have booked 3 different legs instead of 2 legs, so why did EK mark SIN-DXB-KWI as one sector when I asked to stay in Dubai for 1 - 2 days? I just don't like this and would've happily paid extra for the DXB - KWI (assuming I kept my original late evening flight.)

On a note though, on my SIN - DXB flight I was able to collect my luggage upon arrival in Dubai, so yeah...... I didn't like how EK dealt with this issue, especially on a Flex+ fare.....