Upgrade sequence on an overbooked flight with Premium
 

I am quite sure that on an overbooked Economy Class flight with a(n almost) full Business Class, some passengers in Business will be moved to First and then the higher tier from Economy to Business.

On a flight that also offers Premium, I guess in this situation that Premium passengers will go to Business and Economy to Premium. If true, then the chances of ever getting a free upgrade from Economy to Business will soon be history.

Upgrade priority:
1. IO passengers
2. Platinum passagers (Flex Plus, Flex, Saver, Special)
3. Flex Plus passengers (Gold, Silver)
4. Flex passengers (Gold, Silver)
5. Saver passengers (Gold, Silver)
So it's mainly based on highest priced tickets rather than status to the dismal of many frequent flyers.

Other than that, yes, you are right: Eco > Prem; Prem > Bus; Bus > First.

Are you sure about this? I was upgraded from Economy Flex to First Class twice already this year. The second time, I asked the lounge supervisor who had upgraded me why. He told me I was a grade one gold member. I never knew what that meant, and I still don’t even though I posted about this a few months ago..

You’ve said it before, but you (and one other person who said something similar but slightly different) appear to be the only people with that experience.

There’s another whole and holding body of evidence that suggests it is as quoted by gorba (staff saying so, and anecdotal evidence over years on this site). Certainly amongst my team at the office (a handful of plats maybe two dozen golds), the iO>plats>flex+>flex>saver rule seems to hold.

Is there any anecdotal evidence of Y pax being upgraded to PE and not J? I am unable to sleep in PE seats so have been buying J/ F tickets only but am seriously considering Y given the recent fare increases. Getting upgraded to PE would just defeat the whole purpose.

Pardon my ignorance, but what's a grade one gold member?

Data points:

- Sept: upgraded from Y to PE (overbooked Y)

- June: upgraded from Y to F (Y at 60-70%). I was travelling with a friend who was in paid F and who was designated by EK as a VIP but no status. Separate PNRs but we checked in together and entered the lounge together so possibly someone noticed we were travelling together? I was surprised by the upgrade and the agent in the lounge could not explain it but I only asked in passing.

Just made a mental note to myself - do not book Y on a route that offers PE; you may need need an appointment with a chiropractor post flight.

Is it that bad?
I can’t sleep sitting up, which is the main reason I don’t find PE appealing: even with an empty seat next to you, you can’t ‘use’ it.
I flew Y for the first time in 6 years a while ago. Although I had three seats to myself on the first leg and even 4 seats on the second (on a A380) and therefore could lie down, I still could not sleep. Just too uncomfortable with all the bumps, plus too much going on around me.
Fortunately I don’t fly that much anymore so I can still fly J or F (the latter occasionally).

Very poor back support and I just can't seem to find a comfortable sleeping position or a comfortable recline position. The footrest makes it even more awkward.
I am able to manage ultra long haul flights sitting in the Y seats. For some reason I do not find the seat contours/ bumps to be intrusive in the 4 seaters on the A380 and have managed to get some good sleep on the occasions I have had them all to myself. And of course, in the PE seats you do not get any additional benefit when the seat next to you is empty. So paying a premium fare to be in PE just does not cut it for me.

We have PE Flex Plus tickets ex LHR for a Dubai holiday later this year booked through Emirates Holidays and we've just been upgraded to Business on the outbound EK8 in a couple of weeks. No lounge access allowed, though. I'm a Skywards Blue with no status, so I'm guessing Y and PE are full.

On my only overnight EK flight in PE last year, I found the seat far too hard to sleep on, maybe because it was new. Virgin 787 PE seat is the the best IMO. YMMV.

I am quite confident that they will not downgrade passengers easily, so yes, PE must have been full, but more importantly, I think Flex Plus does the trick here. Emirates really seems to reward those that overpay more than those that fly frequently.

When they still offered way more miles on Y Flex or Y Flex Plus, I would often purposely overpay, but not anymore

I often book my return leg in YFlex+ (even when I have booked the outbound in J). I need the flexibility to change my flight date / time and with YFlex+ I can do that at no cost once I know for sure when I want to return. Then I pay to upgrade to the J Flex (if available) that only costs the fare difference.
I agree that the miles now attached to Y travel are too insignificant to justify booking in Flex (let alone in Flex+).