Originally Posted by harryhv

Wine bargains - in CMB the arrivals duty-free shop has some bargains, as you approach the escalator down to the baggage hall check out the last room on the left. Some Premier Cru prices so low you wonder if the wine is genuine, but the ones we bought were the real thing.

Originally Posted by harryhv

[*] was worth calling the EY office in AUH during UAE business hours to get the ticket unlocked ("OK to Fly") and get back the deleted seat-assignments...

Originally Posted by Jestner

Not sure why you had to pay a visa fee - if you are in the country for 2 days or less (and in some Sri Lankan .gov info it says 48 hours or less) and had continuing travel documentation, transit visa should be $0. Perhaps you asked for a received a tourist visa due to your flight setup?

Originally Posted by harryhv

I called about a week ahead and specifically asked for the e-ticket status of every sector to be changed from "confirmed", which is apparently worthless, to "OK to Fly"

And yes I need to go back to CMB, let's hope I got the right visa

Originally Posted by jona970318

Another datapoint:
Since I was planning on dumping my last AUH-CMB segment and fly straight home from HKG, I called EY to make changes/book chauffeurs. The Manchester based agent was one of the nicer ones that I've encountered. After hearing that I have "a meeting" in Dubai that night and that I didn't want to no show, she said that "changes and stopover are permitted free of charge, however, you will be subjected to any fare difference." I thought to myself, oh crap, it's one of those junk talks again.

EF was showing J0 Y0 for the AUH-CMB flight and I told the agent that "I don't want to be holding on to a seat that could otherwise be sold to someone else." At this point she offered to "set the segment to 'open' and you can call back later to confirm the exact date."

This was ultimately the result I had hoped for, so I figured that I may as well get her to book the chauffeur for me as well while I'm on the phone. I gave her the address of Dubai airport, but she said that inter-airport transfers are not allowed; which is interesting given that they should allow anywhere in the UAE. She said that she'll put it in anyway and see whether it gets confirmed. At that point she asked to put me on hold for about 2 minutes while she waited for the confirmation to bounce back. A little while later, she came back and said that I wouldn't be eligible for chauffeur at AUH since I'll still technically be transiting, the only one I'm eligible at is JFK(managed to make a change/stopover earlier a JFK). I checked on virtuallythere and saw the following message for the chauffeur: "Chauffeur service Unconfirmed for j - UNABLE TO CONFIRM CHAUFFEUR FARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR SERVICE EY100 19DEC NN1"

My guess is that EY is trying to not honor chauffeurs since it noted that it is the fare that's not eligible. I guess...time for DOT?

To be honest, I think I've been pretty lucky with the fare overall in terms of changes and all the benefits compared to some of us here. Although I've had bad agents too both over the phone and at JFK(both male, and also female over the phone) that had flat out told me that I can't make changes since I've booked a mistake fare; I think I've also tried to push it a little bit too changing the DFW-JFK to creat a stopover, moving the JFK-AUH a day earlier, and making the open segments AUH-CMB. If I can manage to get the chauffeur, I would have no complaint

Originally Posted by jona970318

UPDATE: I tried to book the chauffeur for after arriving in AUH to catch my connecting flight in DXB, the system bounced the request back as unconfirmed. So I called up EY today, the agent spoke to the supervisor, and said that what happened was that although the AUH-CMB segment was set to open, the system still thinks that I'll be connecting in AUH so it won't let me book chauffeur. He said that the only fix to this is to make the booking on a confirmed date. That sounded easy enough

Long story short, I was able to successfully change the reservation. Again.

I don't think the agent was aware of anything abnormal with the ticket and I was able to make changes without paying any fees after about 5 minutes while he processes it.

When I then tried to book the chauffeur, he said that they would need a physical address and that an airport is not acceptable. I find that quite unbelievable as I'm sure many premium passengers transiting in UAE might as well.

I guess I'm not really allowed to complain am I?

Originally Posted by Wozza2404

Book it to Le Meridien and then tell the driver to take you to DXB instead when you're approaching Dubai. I've never had an issue with this.

Originally Posted by ben63

I just received the sri lankan transit VISA (ETA) confirmation. I hope they made a mistake, as it sounds stupid that you cannot enter the country on a transit ETA (valid for up to 2 days).

We are pleased to inform you that your application for ETA has been approved.

Validity of ETA (DD/MM/YYYY): Valid 2 days ONLY. (Use before 19/05/2015)

Purpose of Travel: Transit - Transiting through Sri Lanka
(You are NOT permitted to use this ETA for any other purpose. )

This ETA allows ONLY you to transiting through Sri Lanka and you will not be permitted to enter Sri Lanka. Please produce your passport together with return air ticket and proof of sufficient funds to the Immigration officer at the port of entry to Sri Lanka.

Originally Posted by SFO777

Don't worry. Ambiguous language notwithstanding, you will be permitted to enter the country on the transit visa. You will have to provided name of hotel or driver (if it's just a day tour). I've done it twice without any problem.

Originally Posted by SFO777

Don't worry. Ambiguous language notwithstanding, you will be permitted to enter the country on the transit visa. You will have to provided name of hotel or driver (if it's just a day tour). I've done it twice without any problem.

Originally Posted by harryhv

Back in the EY premium lounge waiting for a hotel voucher after a misconnect ex Paris to the last leg back to CMB

DFW - Paris
a) the EY b*stards again blocked the ticket and i had to call to get it unblocked, just to be able to check in at DFW
b) There's 6 seats across in biz on the AA 767, very cramped, UA has 5 across
c) there's no 110v power just a 12v car-cigarette-lighter-socket
d) Food was awful and not properly heated

Arrived Paris 40 min early, lucky cos
a) no gate at CDG, remote stand, 20 min wait for stairs & bus, lots of Gallic shrugs, eventually bus appears
b) bus drop-off is 300 yards walk to transfer-security
c) you then need to get the GA to re-issue the BP and verify the luggage-tag

Departing to AUH
a) it was again a bus at CDG
b) there's a special biz/first bus departs about 10.30 for the 10.40 flight
c) So don't rush to get aboard at 10am
d) Very nice EY F service

Arriving at AUH for transfer to CMB
a) flight from Paris arrived about 15 min late but..
b) again a bus, from the furthest part of the airport
c) got to the transfer desk about 1 hour after landing
(well I dawdled a bit, was happy to miss the red-eye)
d) Went to the lounge to get rebooked for tomorrow afternoon, free hotel etc