Dubai Connect

[SOPOOR]

Not sure if this is common knowledge but ive been trying to look for flights that are elgibile for dubai connect
it seems the staff are not even sure about what is eligible and not

have spent 3 x 45 mins on hold and finally, ive got an answer ,

I was looking at a flight via redemption and the shortest stopover was 12 hours, and it should be eligible,
I was trying to get the staff to book it, some said they cant see if dubai connect is applicable, some were saying it is

however once I booked, I got told that its showing up as incorrectly inelgibile , however after another 30 mins on hold
ive been told that even if there are no available flights using points, if you can buy with cash, then you are not eligibile!

Feel a bit jibbed, but what can you do!

 

[RooFlyer]

Common story. My TA says basically 'Australian flights aren't eligible'.

 

[SOPOOR]

Common story. My TA says basically 'Australian flights aren't eligible'.

i didnt know that, in regards to dubai connect, the australian staff seem to be very misinformed

one said "rewards redemptions arent elgiible"
one said "i havent done one for 3 years"
one said "whats dubai connect"

however , theyve all been very polite and helpful with other stuff, which is a pleasant surprise

 

[MEL_Traveller]

You are eligible for dubai connect provided you meet the terms and conditions stated on the EK website. It's as simple as that. Call centre agents are good at working out fares and ticketing. They aren't so good at hotels, visas, baggage allowances, FF points issues, lounge access or a range of other stuff that isn't directly related to the fare and ticketing.

In general... to be eligible for dubai connect your stopover must be longer than 6 hours in F or J, and more than 8 hours in Y. You must also be on the first available connection.

 

[pauly7]

I got it flying Budapest - Dubai - Melbourne this year on a QF codeshare.

 

[SOPOOR]

You are eligible for dubai connect provided you meet the terms and conditions stated on the EK website. It's as simple as that. Call centre agents are good at working out fares and ticketing. They aren't so good at hotels, visas, baggage allowances, FF points issues, lounge access or a range of other stuff that isn't directly related to the fare and ticketing.

In general... to be eligible for dubai connect your stopover must be longer than 6 hours in F or J, and more than 8 hours in Y. You must also be on the first available connection.

to be honest, the terms and conditions are pretty vague, I read through them and thought I understood them,

however, one of the staff told me redemption awards are not included (this was not mentioned in the T/C)
also I got told that if its aviaiable via cash but not redemption, its not valid either, this is not mentioned anywhere in the T/C
sometimes its easier/safer to call and ask

Terms and conditions | Emirates Dubai Connect | Dubai International | Emirates Australia

If you have a long connection time in Dubai between flights, find out if you’re eligible for Dubai Connect, and receive free accommodation, meals, and visas.

www.emirates.com

ive read this 3 times, while I was on hold to them

 

[RooFlyer]

You are eligible for dubai connect provided you meet the terms and conditions stated on the EK website. It's as simple as that.

Not in my experience!! Several times I've booked a route/ connection that's is 'obviously' qualifying, only to be told some excuse that is not.

 

[kelvedon]

In March this year I had a j award with a “designed” connection of 14 hrs LHR/SYD. EK website showed no DC eligibility, but QF MMB did. On check in at LHR EK staff confirmed it was in the booking and it was available on arrival at DXB.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

to be honest, the terms and conditions are pretty vague, I read through them and thought I understood them,

however, one of the staff told me redemption awards are not included (this was not mentioned in the T/C)
also I got told that if its aviaiable via cash but not redemption, its not valid either, this is not mentioned anywhere in the T/C
sometimes its easier/safer to call and ask

Terms and conditions | Emirates Dubai Connect | Dubai International | Emirates Australia

If you have a long connection time in Dubai between flights, find out if you’re eligible for Dubai Connect, and receive free accommodation, meals, and visas.

www.emirates.com

ive read this 3 times, while I was on hold to them

I'm not seeing the Ts and Cs being vague, but maybe it's becuase I haven't had to go through your experience withthe call centre

The only reports I'm seeing are that certain economy class fares aren't eligible for Dubai Connect. No reports that F and J are bieng refused (provided they meet the criteria). Chauffeured cars have been withdrawn for award ticket holders, so maybe it's possible call centre agents are getting confused.

I guess the decision for you is whether you want the flights, or not. And if the hotel is a secondary consideration?

 

[SOPOOR]

I'm not seeing the Ts and Cs being vague, but maybe it's becuase I haven't had to go through your experience withthe call centre

The only reports I'm seeing are that certain economy class fares aren't eligible for Dubai Connect. No reports that F and J are bieng refused (provided they meet the criteria). Chauffeured cars have been withdrawn for award ticket holders, so maybe it's possible call centre agents are getting confused.

I guess the decision for you is whether you want the flights, or not. And if the hotel is a secondary consideration?

one thing maybe people may not know is that apparently that when you make the booking over the phone (or a mock booking) their system shows up whether dubai connect is eligible or not

im not sure if its written explicitly, but I looked on a certain date, and there was only one flight avail with a 17hr stop over, apparently, I didnt qualify because on the following day there was a "better" flight, fair enough

but I tried another date, i made sure there was no the better flight and I got told because there was a cash flight, its not valid, and the system says "not applicable for dubai connect", I cant find that in the T/Cs

at the end of the day, ive booked some OK flights, but im trying to book my preferred ones since I have free cancelation,

just a long tedious process you need to get through for first timers and to get your perfect dates/times/flights

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So at the moment are you booked on the best available connecting flight on the day you are intending to travel? This would be the best available connection based on your departure from HKG.

It may be that EK is interpreting this that the connection must be the best available, irrespective of award availability. While that hasn't necessarily been a requirement in the past (at least when booking Ek flights though QF), it's not an unreasonable interpretation.

Does your flight show up in the Qantas manage booking portal? Does QF offer Dubai connect?

 

[SOPOOR]

So at the moment are you booked on the best available connecting flight on the day you are intending to travel? This would be the best available connection based on your departure from HKG.

yes at the moment, I am booked HKG 750-1150, DXB 16:20-20:25
with a 4 hour stop over,
if I login into the emirates site, I took the last seat so not aviaialbe
the only one avaiailbe is on the previous day 19:10-23:15 DXB 16:20-20:25
which means I should qualify in terms of stopover, the call centre did say if cash tickets had sold out I would be elgiibel

It may be that EK is interpreting this that the connection must be the best available, irrespective of award availability. While that hasn't necessarily been a requirement in the past (at least when booking Ek flights though QF), it's not an unreasonable interpretation.

im not arguing with them or the policy at all, it is what it is, its a benefit that I wasnt expecting but it would be great to have it, but i will keep on trying

So at the moment are you booked on the best available connecting flight on the day you are intending to travel? This would be the best available connection based on your departure from HKG.

It may be that EK is interpreting this that the connection must be the best available, irrespective of award availability. While that hasn't necessarily been a requirement in the past (at least when booking Ek flights though QF), it's not an unreasonable interpretation.

Does your flight show up in the Qantas manage booking portal? Does QF offer Dubai connect?

ive jsut checked and its not there, but I made the booking via emirates website and call centre so I dont see how they could link my QFF account to this booking
am I missing something? eg a linking process

 

[MEL_Traveller]

yes at the moment, I am booked HKG 750-1150, DXB 16:20-20:25
with a 4 hour stop over,
if I login into the emirates site, I took the last seat so not aviaialbe
the only one avaiailbe is on the previous day 19:10-23:15 DXB 16:20-20:25
which means I should qualify in terms of stopover, the call centre did say if cash tickets had sold out I would be elgiibel

im not arguing with them or the policy at all, it is what it is, its a benefit that I wasnt expecting but it would be great to have it, but i will keep on trying

ive jsut checked and its not there, but I made the booking via emirates website and call centre so I dont see how they could link my QFF account to this booking
am I missing something? eg a linking process

Can you try going in to your QFFF account and go to 'manage booking'. There should be an option for you to retireve a booking not already shown on the QF site. This is where you'd add in your emirates booking reference. That might bring it up on the qantas site.

Your current itinerary of course doesn't qualify. There is a 1050-1500 DXB-ATH. Now if award seats aren't available on that to connect with yuor flight from HGK the previous night (19-102315) then one onterpretation of the EK Ts and Cs is that you wouldn't be eligible because you are not on the first connection. You are on the second (at 1620).

Booking through QF (on EK flights), it probably would let you book Dubai connect as the QF site is quite generous ion allowing you Dubai connect based on award avaiability IME.

 

[SOPOOR]

Can you try going in to your QFFF account and go to 'manage booking'. There should be an option for you to retireve a booking not already shown on the QF site. This is where you'd add in your emirates booking reference. That might bring it up on the qantas site.

Your current itinerary of course doesn't qualify. There is a 1050-1500 DXB-ATH. Now if award seats aren't available on that to connect with yuor flight from HGK the previous night (19-102315) then one onterpretation of the EK Ts and Cs is that you wouldn't be eligible because you are not on the first connection. You are on the second (at 1620).

Booking through QF (on EK flights), it probably would let you book Dubai connect as the QF site is quite generous ion allowing you Dubai connect based on award avaiability IME.

wow, i didnt know of that feature,

but its coming up as
It looks like something went wrong there

• You can try again now or come back later.

and yes you are right i didnt even know of the 1050-1500 DXB-ATH as It never came up as a redemption award

so it looks like if the T/Cs do exclude cash flights, then the chances of me getting Dubai connect are low

it also says "After you have completed your online booking, you can book the Dubai Connect service online, by logging on to ‘Manage a Booking "

I didnt book online as well, so maybe its just not meant to be

I will try to "Mannage the booking again later in case the QFF site is down

 

[MEL_Traveller]

wow, i didnt know of that feature,

but its coming up as
It looks like something went wrong there

• You can try again now or come back later.

and yes you are right i didnt even know of the 1050-1500 DXB-ATH as It never came up as a redemption award

so it looks like if the T/Cs do exclude cash flights, then the chances of me getting Dubai connect are low

it also says "After you have completed your online booking, you can book the Dubai Connect service online, by logging on to ‘Manage a Booking "

I didnt book online as well, so maybe its just not meant to be

I will try to "Mannage the booking again later in case the QFF site is down

Dubai connect doesn't exclude cash fares, only some of the low economy cash fares. 9I wonder if some of the new 'ultra low' business fares are also excluded? The ones that don't come with lounge access and cars etc).

What they might be exlcuding in your case is that you aren't on the best available connection. If the best available connection is available for sale (cash fare) then you aren't on the best connection. you are on the seond best connection because you have selected flights with award availability.

TBH, your current flights with a nice four hour stopover are probably the way to go. The lounges are nice. You will have 2-3 hours to enjoy them. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to book a longer stopover just for the hotel. If you want the longer stop for sightseeing... well by the time you get to your hotel it will be 1am or so. Then you head out at 9am? You'll only have a few hours before needing to get back to the airport at 2 for the flight to ATH. Is it worth it?

 

[SOPOOR]

Dubai connect doesn't exclude cash fares, only some of the low economy cash fares. 9I wonder if some of the new 'ultra low' business fares are also excluded? The ones that don't come with lounge access and cars etc).

What they might be exlcuding in your case is that you aren't on the best available connection. If the best available connection is available for sale (cash fare) then you aren't on the best connection. you are on the seond best connection because you have selected flights with award availability.

TBH, your current flights with a nice four hour stopover are probably the way to go. The lounges are nice. You will have 2-3 hours to enjoy them. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to book a longer stopover just for the hotel. If you want the longer stop for sightseeing... well by the time you get to your hotel it will be 1am or so. Then you head out at 9am? You'll only have a few hours before needing to get back to the airport at 2 for the flight to ATH. Is it worth it?

totally agree, its not worth just extending the stop over to 12 -17 hours just to get a free hotel , when the current one is a 4hr stop over,
the 4 hr stop over is a 777 flight so I prefer a a380, so its a first world problem

also, ive just checked a one way 1050-1500 flight, is not coming up as avaiaible on the emirates site, that means its sold out for redemption, which means I should elgiibe for connect, according to MEL-Traveller

Last night I called and asked for the dubai connect eligiblity for a different booking and it was then I was told it was not eligible according to the system due to the cash fare,
would it be better just to book it, link it to QFF and then try and book the connect?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

... which means I should elgiibe for connect, according to MEL-Traveller

not necessarily. Just because the best connection is not available for an award doesn't mean that you now have the best available connection! You don't. There is a better connection available, just you are not on it because there aren't any award seats. If the flight was actually full... no cash fares and no award fares, then you might be considered to be on the best available connection.

QF does however treat it differently if you book an EK award using QFFF points. QF will allow Dubai connect (or at least they did a few months ago for my booking) where they based it on the best available connection dependiong on award availability only. There was an earlier flight, but no award seats. So they gave me dubai connect.

It seems - at least in some cases - EK may not be as generous.

I would try anr retireve your existing booking on the QF site first. maybe it can't be done? (I don't know for EK as I've never booked a skywards award and tried to bring it up on QF). I know I could being up my QFFF award on the Ek site however.

 

[SOPOOR]

not necessarily. Just because the best connection is not available for an award doesn't mean that you now have the best available connection! You don't. There is a better connection available, just you are not on it because there aren't any award seats. If the flight was actually full... no cash fares and no award fares, then you might be considered to be on the best available connection.

QF does however treat it differently if you book an EK award using QFFF points. QF will allow Dubai connect (or at least they did a few months ago for my booking) where they based it on the best available connection dependiong on award availability only. There was an earlier flight, but no award seats. So they gave me dubai connect.

It seems - at least in some cases - EK may not be as generous.

I would try anr retireve your existing booking on the QF site first. maybe it can't be done? (I don't know for EK as I've never booked a skywards award and tried to bring it up on QF). I know I could being up my QFFF award on the Ek site however.

ok, im a bit confuse,havent you contractdicted yourself in the first statement?
when I login to emirates page, I choose redemption only, and it should show me evyerthing thats avaiaible, you said that cash fare aviaiblity is irrelevant,
so in my case, ive looked searched for the flight and it only brought up the
19:10-23:15 (6th July 2020) DXB on the previous day,
and the next day 7th July 2020 it brings up 16:20-20:25 ONLY

that to me shows that there are no F flights via redemption avaiaible except those two flights,

however, if I do them individually, more flights popup on 6th july but not th july, so I cant see a redemeption flight, if cash flights are irreleveant

hope im making sense

 

[MEL_Traveller]

ok, im a bit confuse,havent you contractdicted yourself in the first statement?
when I login to emirates page, I choose redemption only, and it should show me evyerthing thats avaiaible, you said that cash fare aviaiblity is irrelevant,
so in my case, ive looked searched for the flight and it only brought up the
19:10-23:15 (6th July 2020) DXB on the previous day,
and the next day 7th July 2020 it brings up 16:20-20:25 ONLY

that to me shows that there are no F flights via redemption avaiaible except those two flights,

however, if I do them individually, more flights popup on 6th july but not th july, so I cant see a redemeption flight, if cash flights are irreleveant

hope im making sense

Are you on the best connection? It depends on the criteria EK are using.

If looking solely at award availability on your chosen dates then you would be on the best available connection. But what EK is telling you is that there is an earlier flight, which has seats available (even though those seats are for cash), and therefore they have deemed you are NOT on the best available connection.

They seem to be indicating also that is the earlier flight was totally sold out, cash and awards, they would then allow you to take the later connection and deem it the 'best available'. because in that case it would be the best available.

Right now, the only reason you can;t take the 1050am flight is because award seats aren't available. EK is telling you 'too bad'. Try another day.

 

[SOPOOR]

Are you on the best connection? It depends on the criteria EK are using.

If looking solely at award availability on your chosen dates then you would be on the best available connection. But what EK is telling you is that there is an earlier flight, which has seats available (even though those seats are for cash), and therefore they have deemed you are NOT on the best available connection.

They seem to be indicating also that is the earlier flight was totally sold out, cash and awards, they would then allow you to take the later connection and deem it the 'best available'. because in that case it would be the best available.

Right now, the only reason you can;t take the 1050am flight is because award seats aren't available. EK is telling you 'too bad'. Try another day.

ok, understand, I recall someone saying earlier in the thread that it shouldnt matter if there is another better flight however if its only avaiable via cash and not rewards, it shouldnt matter,
once again, it goes back to my point that the T/Cs are vague

if it must be the best connection flight avaialbe via points and cash combined, then im fine with that,

I cant see my flights being booked out for cash for another 6-9 months so I guess I can try again if I had booked these flights