guys, i need some advice from those who travel frequently on emirates & earn miles in the skywards program....

my father has been flying emirates for years & has been accruing miles all this while without ever spending them....the situation he is faced with now is that he has close to 500k miles expiring at the end of the month....i'm trying to figure out how best to use them....i know next to nothing about the program as i don't fly emirates at all but the little research i have done seems to point in the direction that emirates charges a ridiculous amount of fees & taxes for all flights originating out of india....before i head over to the emirates forum i thought i would ask here to see if any of you use the program & know some tricks or routes that might be feasible without spending an insane amount on yq....

Tickets ex-HKG have no YQ component.

They used to have a 15k miles anywhere to anywhere return ticket within India scheme ~2k INR taxes with 9W. I think that scheme is over... plus wouldn't help you spend 500k miles.

The next option is to book with partners - Alaska, JAL, ANA etc. But booking those is hugely painful. See if you can do it by calling the call centers... you most probably will have to do it filling up online request forms! Plus I'm not 100% sure about if YQ is charged on these airlines.

Finally you can look at doing hotel bookings through Rocketmiles. It's not the best value but you can do all points bookings.

Or offer the miles on coupon connections in return for something you could use: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/coupon-connection-373/

Does EK now allow one-way Awards at half price?

that's one of the first things i found out....but going to hkg & coming back would pretty much end up being the same as paying the yq....

this seems like a good idea if there is no or less yq....can anyone confirm if partner airlines would charge yq????

i saw that on their website & am considering this as the last option in case i can't find anything else....

thanks for the suggestion....but my 2 experiences with coupon connection haven't been the best....i'll still take a look though....

The only way to justify the YQ charges is to book F awards. Typically the YQ component between J and F is very similar.

HELLO
fLYING ai j LATE nOV FROM auh- bom. cOMING OFF A CRUISE SHIP EARLY am. fLIGHT AT 1.30 am . in J

How early can we check in ?
What lounge does AI pax use ?
Good Indian restaurants in AUH ?
Thanks.

It looks like AI doesn't have a lounge arrangement in AUH: Abu Dhabi - Air India

I had a friend fly thru AUH (J) on AI and he was offered a lounge pass to Al Dhabi Lounge by Plaza Premium in T1.

Quick question. Anyway to get a 24hr visa for UK resident wanting to travel to Dubai on a Indian passport? Lots of companies offering it online but charge $200+. If they apply via emirates MMB? What are the chances?

Thanks for the AI lounge responses. Have Priority pass also....

Q How early can we check in to AI? Have a whole day in Abu Dhabi to kill ( will have completed the tourist sites as the cruise ship spends two nights in Abu Dhabi....).
One choice is to get a day room hotel around AUH. Any other suggestions please ?