EK Aircraft Bait-and-Switch
 

EK is notorious for advertising new aircraft for a particular flight on their website, and then switching to an old, uncomfortable aircraft. This has happened to me several times this year, including one downgrade from a FC suite, despite being booked in 'Suite Class''. The latest example was last night on a flight from Colombo to Dubai - it was advertised as a sky cruiser seat, which is why I booked it - the only way you have a chance of catching any sleep on the 6 hour flight. Low and behold, they probably sold more FC tickets from Male to Dubai than they had space for, so they instead substituted with the ancient 777-300 (which has 50% more seats in FC in the same space).

In this day and age, those seats would be embarassing for an airline in biz class on an overnight flight. They are downright ridiculous when sold as first class!!

What make me the most angry, though, is that every time I've complained, I usually get the "we reserve the right to change planes for operational reasons" answer. No apology, no compensation, no nothing. Can't they understand that if I pay money to fly on a flat-bed seat, it is completely inappropriate to force-downgrade me to a seat that is sub-business class? It's just not OK. At a minimum, I would expect an automatic apology and an upgrade on a future flight.

Has anyone else had bait-and-switch experience with old aircraft?

I've had bait and switch the other way around; typically BEY-DXB that gets up'd to a 77W in peak times, so we'd get a much much better F seat. But of course, being an oversold leg, I would be bumped down to economy grrr.

Typical example of a person who has no idea of the airline industry, every airline in the world does it depending on the load and it is the T&c of the ticket. I somewhat agree with you that its not fair but there are lots of things in this world which are not fair. Sorry mate but that how it works..

If i dont like an airline i dont fly with them, dont comlain stop flying if u dont like it, no 1 is forcing u 2 fly EK.

I think OP has a valid point. When you buy a premium class ticket you expect certain conveniences and have a right to complain when it is changed in the last moment. EK kas one of the highest rates of equipment switching and even Expert Flyer cannot keep track of it. You do not fly an airline because you are forces to, but due to a number of other factors such as Frequent flyer loyalty, fare, shedule etc. Knowledge of the airline industry is not widely available to most flyers.

The OP is perfectly entitled to expect that Emirates, who have the most inconsistent J and F products of any airline in the sky, should make some kind of effort to compensate passengers left short-changed by their lottery of a cabin policy. You are right in one respect, which is that the OP has a choice, and for sure EK will, and do, lose passenger loyalty through this.

Wise up mate, most airlines bend over backwards to ensure premium customer loyalty. BA will give you compo miles if your IFE isn't functioning properly. Can you imagine Emirates doing the same? When instead of a lie-flat bed you get the egg-shaped armchair with a VCR player slot???:confused:

Well, I think this statement applies to you, fasi111. Most professional airlines are reliable regarding the aircraft they employ on certain routes. E.g., when LH introduced their new business class, they had their own webpage reporting on the progress by route. And they lived up to their promise.

I am not surprised that EK plays this bait-and-switch game. I have never understood why EK is praised that much. The majority of their aircraft are sub-standard, and the crews often less than polite. I avoid them whenever I can.

Fasi, I get your point that operationally, at times, it requires an aircraft switch.

Nevertheless, we are assessing the customer experience and not the wise logic of operations of EK. Therefore, if a customer (and we are not talking about any Y-Pax) choses an airline, pays the fare for what it has been advertised and on which he made the decision when purchasing the ticket, it is perfectly understandable, that the customer experience is limited. Very.

This bad customer experience which apparently occurs quite often, has to be compensated. The threadopener is not even asking for a refund but rather for a future upgrade and some pampering words.

OP have you tried to dispute a portion of the ticket with your CC?

BA did something very similar with their business class, announcing when all aircraft serving it had the new type, and that was for an incremental improvement. With BA, LH and other responsible airlines you get some good faith effort to give customers what they expect. With EK you get three-card monte.

Sorry, but I agree with the above OP. Paying premium fares and not receiving specific, accomodations isn't one one of those things, "mate."

Agree - In many aircrafts, EK still runs middle seats in F. Completely unacceptable for flights running long distances of over 5 hours.

Typical example of a person who has never paid for premium class travel themselves. When you pay a premium for a certain seat, you expect it to show up. As we are all well-travelled, we DO understand that once in a while aircraft substitutions do need to happen. But when it happens, at least an apology is in order. If it happens too often, this is a sign of an inferior airline.

What's with the tone, m8?
Since you're so well-informed on the inner workings of the airline industry, perhaps you would care to justify why EK frequently does this on many routes, going from 77Ws to 773s etc. They do this sometimes due to maintenance but usually because of loads and overselling cabins.

I know this is way off topic, but fasi's reply reminded me of a location manager at work, who sided with the company for a fine I was served because I had no choice but park in the disabled car spot.

The same rules that were there to protect me, were used to fine me, even though the actual outsiders who were parked in my original spot were not fined (and they still do it till today).

Anyhow, the manager said to me something along the same lines of fasi. That this is the world we live in, and that no one forced me to park there etc etc Total disregard to the circumstances and expectations I had of the officers who were supposed to protect me instead of fining me.

I would say, use the same TnC to fight back. They always have loopholes (reflective of some people's mentality)

And completely wrong... no EK aircraft have middle seats in F.

Cheers,
Rick