No upgrades

Dalescott · Jul 10, 2011

The wife and I are trying to use some of our skywards points to upgrade her sister from Economy to Business, so she can be in business with their 82 year old father. But EK is telling us that they cannot do it, there are seats available. We have tried to explain to EK but it is like talking to a brick wall. Is it because we have 255,000, and have not used them for a year that they are playing games and wasting time, so as to expire the point. Or is it EK just being ****h..ds, as we now use only Skyteam airlines.
Would love to know if others are having problems with EK on any level.

trooper · Jul 10, 2011

The big question... When you say there "are seats available".. do you mean there are seats available for purchase on that flight? If not, if you have in fact been able to check redemption/upgrade availability then I don't know what the problem us...

If that IS the case however then you are likely to be disapointed. Availability for redemption/upgrade is only marginally related to seats available for sale (on any airline)....

rechoboam · Jul 10, 2011

I just did it online, took seconds, instantly confirmed and didn't speak to anyone...did you try online and if so what happened?

clifford · Jul 11, 2011

rechoboam said:
I just did it online, took seconds, instantly confirmed and didn't speak to anyone...did you try online and if so what happened?

Well that's a very interesting comment.

I'm sure you didn't upgrade on the same flights as the OP wanted. EK, like virtually every other airline, has capacity controls on upgrades and award seats, which vary from flight to flight. Typically, the more popular flights are harder to upgrade, but as it gets closer to the flight time, upgrades may be opened up if there are seats available.

As for the OP, I would suggest patience and checking on a regular basis until much closer to the flight.

In fact, if the OP has 255,000 unexpired Skywards miles, he/she could just go ahead and book a flex award ticket in First or business class and not fuss around trying to upgrade a Y class tix. So why isn't this being done, I wonder?

rechoboam · Jul 11, 2011

clifford said:
Well that's a very interesting comment.

I'm sure you didn't upgrade on the same flights as the OP wanted. EK, like virtually every other airline, has capacity controls on upgrades and award seats, which vary from flight to flight. Typically, the more popular flights are harder to upgrade, but as it gets closer to the flight time, upgrades may be opened up if there are seats available.

As for the OP, I would suggest patience and checking on a regular basis until much closer to the flight.

In fact, if the OP has 255,000 unexpired Skywards miles, he/she could just go ahead and book a flex award ticket in First or business class and not fuss around trying to upgrade a Y class tix. So why isn't this being done, I wonder?

Oh I'm not claiming expert knowledge. At the time though I couldn't believe it could be so easy, having been an NB with QF and having to book award flights a year in advance. Actually it was only central Europe to Dubai, lie-flat J seats, and it was empty except for two of us. I slept the whole way. I upgraded two days before (my TA had SMSed me to do it)

Dalescott · Jul 11, 2011

All we want to do is upgrade my sister in law. I like her, but not that much.

Sprucegoose · Jul 12, 2011

Dalescott said:
All we want to do is upgrade my sister in law. I like her, but not that much.

What route, flight number and date?

Dalescott · Jul 12, 2011

Dubai to Melb EK 408 15th Nov and EK407 Melb Dubai 30th Nov
I hope you can help me with this, I would be most gratiful.

Sprucegoose · Jul 12, 2011

[TABLE="class: rowFinal"]
[TR="class: row"]
[TD="class: col colFlight"]EK 408 [/TD]
[TD="class: col colStops"] 1 [/TD]
[TD="class: col colDepart"] DXB
15/11/11
3:00 [/TD]
[TD="class: col colArrive"] MEL
16/11/11
2:05 [/TD]
[TD="class: col colEquipment"] 77W
[/TD]
[TD="class: col colFrequency"] Daily
NA / NA [/TD]
[TD="class: col colClasses"] [TABLE="class: bc bcA hasAvailability"]
[TR="class: rowAvailClasses"]
[TD="class: col colDescription"] First - Flex Award [/TD]
[TD="class: col colCode"] A [/TD]
[TD="class: col colSeats"] 4 [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

[TABLE="class: bc bcC hasAvailability"]
[TR="class: rowAvailClasses"]
[TD="class: col colDescription"] Business - Flex Award [/TD]
[TD="class: col colCode"] C [/TD]
[TD="class: col colSeats"] 7
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

[TABLE="class: rowFinal"]
[TR="class: row"]
[TD="class: col colFlight"]EK 407 [/TD]
[TD="class: col colStops"] 0 [/TD]
[TD="class: col colDepart"] MEL
30/11/11
22:25 [/TD]
[TD="class: col colArrive"] DXB
01/12/11
5:40 [/TD]
[TD="class: col colEquipment"] 77W
[/TD]
[TD="class: col colFrequency"] Daily
89% / 34m [/TD]
[TD="class: col colClasses"] [TABLE="class: bc bcA hasAvailability"]
[TR="class: rowAvailClasses"]
[TD="class: col colDescription"] First - Flex Award [/TD]
[TD="class: col colCode"] A [/TD]
[TD="class: col colSeats"] 4a[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

[TABLE="class: bc bcC hasAvailability"]
[TR="class: rowAvailClasses"]
[TD="class: col colDescription"] Business - Flex Award [/TD]
[TD="class: col colCode"] C [/TD]
[TD="class: col colSeats"] 7 [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

poorly presented as I am no expert,but expert flyer is showing 4 F awards and 7 J Flex awards. Does this help you. So from what i can tell there are award seats.

NDiddy · Aug 2, 2011

First time poster but long time lurker. I have a similar question to the OP that I'm hoping someone can help me out with.

My fiancee and I both have just over 30000 skywards mile and wanted to book a one way economy flex upgrade to business class on EK 409 departing Melb - KUL on the 16th of Jan.

Would anyone be able to tell me how many seats are available in Bus class for this type of upgrade? Tried calling Skywards on Sunday but the operator was having some issues with the system and couldn't help us with the request at the time of calling.

Much appreciated.

stryker · Aug 2, 2011

NDiddy said:
First time poster but long time lurker. I have a similar question to the OP that I'm hoping someone can help me out with.

My fiancee and I both have just over 30000 skywards mile and wanted to book a one way economy flex upgrade to business class on EK 409 departing Melb - KUL on the 16th of Jan.

Would anyone be able to tell me how many seats are available in Bus class for this type of upgrade? Tried calling Skywards on Sunday but the operator was having some issues with the system and couldn't help us with the request at the time of calling.

Much appreciated.

Just checked Expert Flyer.

Showing NO availability.

NDiddy · Aug 2, 2011

stryker said:
Just checked Expert Flyer.

Showing NO availability.

Ah that's a real bugger. Thanks for the help stryker, I'll have to chase up to see if there is availability for the 17th or 18th. Thanks again for your help!

stryker · Aug 3, 2011

NDiddy said:
Ah that's a real bugger. Thanks for the help stryker, I'll have to chase up to see if there is availability for the 17th or 18th. Thanks again for your help!

Just checked.

17 Jan is wide open for upgrades (EK409), but 18 Jan has no availability.

NDiddy · Aug 3, 2011

stryker said:
Just checked.

17 Jan is wide open for upgrades (EK409), but 18 Jan has no availability.

Thanks again stryker. Apparently 17th and 19th are good but 16th and 18th are no go. Must be something to do with even numbers

Cheers again for your help.

NDiddy · Aug 5, 2011

NDiddy said:
Thanks again stryker. Apparently 17th and 19th are good but 16th and 18th are no go. Must be something to do with even numbers

Cheers again for your help.

All booked for the 17th

Thanks again for your help stryker. Just out of curiosity how many points are required to purchase a business saver seat one way MEL to KUL (whats the cheapest going rate)? I tried doing a search but it seems that if you don't have enough points it wont show you how much it is.

stryker · Aug 5, 2011

NDiddy said:
All booked for the 17th Thanks again for your help stryker. Just out of curiosity how many points are required to purchase a business saver seat one way MEL to KUL (whats the cheapest going rate)? I tried doing a search but it seems that if you don't have enough points it wont show you how much it is.

I really don't know either.

The EK website tends to be a bit obscure. However you can always ring the EK call centre.

You'd probably be better off purchasing a Y class ticket and upgrading.

NDiddy · Aug 5, 2011

stryker said:
I really don't know either.

The EK website tends to be a bit obscure. However you can always ring the EK call centre.

You'd probably be better off purchasing a Y class ticket and upgrading.

Which is exactly what I did so no complaints but was just curious.

You're right about the EK website being obscure, oh well, bring on the chauffeur and lounge access

stryker · Aug 5, 2011

NDiddy said:
Which is exactly what I did so no complaints but was just curious.

You're right about the EK website being obscure, oh well, bring on the chauffeur and lounge access

Well, enjoy the champagne.

It's Veuve Clicot in SIN, dunno what it is in MEL, but probably the same.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll have a great time.

NDiddy · Aug 5, 2011

stryker said:
Well, enjoy the champagne.

It's Veuve Clicot in SIN, dunno what it is in MEL, but probably the same.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll have a great time.

Nice, can't wait. Mrs doesnt know that we're travelling Bus so that should be a great little surprise for her

No upgrades

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