Emirates (EK) Exit Row: First-come, First-serve or for your mates

[legroom]

Hi AFFers,

Most of you may know of EK's rule on their exit row seats.

"First-come, First-serve on airport check in" they would tell you when you request to pre-select or offer to purchase it (cf. Qantas).

I am disappointed to report to AFF my experience there.

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They were available this morning when I checked on EF.

6 hrs later they are all now shown as ALLOCATED - a full 52 hours before departure.

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I had booked the chauffer transfer early to angle for one of those seats.

Now, it looks like it will be a waste of time showing up early.

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It appears that EK has one rule for the public, but another for its mates.

How else could you explain this discrepancy ?

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If this is the way EK runs its op, I - for one - would not touch it with the proverbial barge pole.

It's one thing to have a policy, but its seemingly slimy / underhand execution portends poor (i.e. unethical) customer service.

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I may reconsider my current confirmed F booking with EK unless it could come up with a clean explanation for what happened.

They are not worth my $$$ if this thing is allowed to proceed without a satisfactory reply IMHO.

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Anyone has the contact name / email / phone of someone in EK office (SYD/MEL) where I could send in a letter ?

Has Barry Brown (EK VP in Oz) been back from the US Masters yet ?

Thanks

 

[elbarto]

How do you know they weren't allocated to high value passengers or they weren't simply blocked?

 

[legroom]

How do you know they weren't allocated to high value passengers or they weren't simply blocked?

Unlike QF, plenty of posts on here and FT stated that status has zip with EK exit row seats.

EK call centre will confirm that to you in an instant (as they did to me when I enquired about them last month).

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I have an EF subscription which could tell the difference between blocked vs allocated seats.

Further, EK call centre confirmed to me they had been allocated when I called them up as the result of the above.

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FWIW, the call centre operator also expressed surprise at this occurrence and did send off an email to SYD asking for an explanation.

He stated to me "This is odd. This should not be happening"

Whether or not SYD replies is another matter, so is the content of any such reply.

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As I indicated, that left a very poor taste.

Unless there is a very good explanation, I will proceed to cancel my confirmed F ticket with them as they - as a corporate - does not deserve my patronage.

Thank you

 

[ozmille]

which flight/class are you travelling?

 

[moa999]

Threatening to cancel an F ticket because you did not get your seat selection on another flight... wow.

There are probably heaps of others on that flight that would also like those seats.

Could well be an EK hidden benefit. Who knows. I would be happy just to avoid a middle seat.

 

[legroom]

which flight/class are you travelling?

Exit rows on EK means Y (EK has no PE and J/F has no 'exit row' seating).

I am in J but the other pax in my group is in Y.

Further, here is the link to the FT post where an EK Platinum member (and an EK Ambassador on FT) stated that "...They will allocate on a first come, first served basis (and status counts for zip)..." (my emphasis)


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And this is EK's own policy as stated on its website:

".... Emergency exit seating is only assigned at check-in at the discretion of our airport staff. These seats cannot be pre-requested or reserved at any time before arrival at the airport...." (my emphasis)

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I do not mind if they had a policy of assigning these seats to anyone with a surname starting with Z.

Neither will I object if they stated publicly that the check-in agents have the rights to allocate to anyone with a crooked front tooth.

But I do mind if they state one thing and proceed to do the opposite.

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To assist with the previous poster's question, here are some images that would help.

67 & 80 BC / HJ as well as 68 & 81 AK are shown as blocked this morning (SYD 0900).

Now, all of those seats are confirmed ALLOCATED 52 hours prior to boarding (SYD 1500)

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Were I to arrive at the airport 3 hrs before boarding, I could (and will) cop this.

But 52 hours before departure time ?????

My mind wonders what actually happened there.

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Thank you.


n.b.: the first image (blocked seats) is representative, not of the actual booked flight. The 2nd image is from the actual booked flight. It was my OCD that led me to know about this change of status.

 

[legroom]

Threatening to cancel an F ticket because you did not get your seat selection on another flight... wow.

There are probably heaps of others on that flight that would also like those seats.

Could well be an EK hidden benefit. Who knows. I would be happy just to avoid a middle seat.

I agreed "who knows"

It would be a better contribution if we all know about EK's stated policy to start with.

Please see my most recent post above.

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I think you had misunderstood the reason for my thread.

Firstly, I have never claimed to have the right to those exit seats. As you rightly stated, others would like to have those too.

Secondly, AFAIK there should be no "hidden" benefits from any public organisation.

We all know about the exploits of Sir Lunchalot in NSW when "hidden benefits" were discussed over some good red and prime cuts of tender beef.

What concerns me is the ethics of a public company which does not apply its stated policy which then creates the reality (more than a perception) of favouritism.

Once favouritism is allowed to fester, it will be a matter of time before corrupt conduct follows.

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You may be happy to accept someone "bending" the rules, but why should anyone else ?

We might as well expect "no rules".

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I come to this position having acquainted with EK's publicly stated policy as confirmed by other regular EK flyers.

 

[stewiejp]

Have never flown EK, but will be interested in the reply from Sydney. Is there a chance they allocated the seats to someone with a medical condition, or something similar?


I am in J but the other pax in my group is in Y.

- Reminds me of my last flight with the Good Lady, when at first we were only offered one upgrade... awkward.

 

[opusman]

Are you sure it's not just EF misreporting the fact that they are blocked - i.e. unavailable for selection?

 

[legroom]

Have never flown EK, but will be interested in the reply from Sydney. Is there a chance they allocated the seats to someone with a medical condition, or something similar?


I am in J but the other pax in my group is in Y.

- Reminds me of my last flight with the Good Lady, when at first we were only offered one upgrade... awkward.

So am I!

Very interested to find out how not one, but all, exit row seats suddenly became 'allocated' at the same time - and at 52 hrs before departure.

This would be, like many of us here in Oz, my first EK experience.

And, please don't flame me for 'not getting the seat I want'.

That would be missing the point completely.

Their policy is in the open, so a gross deviation like this deserves some scrutiny from an ordinary punter.

It might be - just - that 'allocation' means airport control until it is given to pax at check in.

Could that be an explanation ?

I hope so for Joe the average guy.

 

[legroom]

Are you sure it's not just EF misreporting the fact that they are blocked - i.e. unavailable for selection?

True

I did consider that possibility and called EK up.

However, EK call centre confirmed to me (1) they had been allocated and (2) they themselves could not explain why it should be like that.

 

[markis10]

Maybe it's an undocumented benefit for WPs.

 

[legroom]

Maybe it's an undocumented benefit for WPs.

Markis10

Eightblack on FT (an EK Platinum) does not think so (see my earlier link above).

He should know his stuff; He is the EK Ambassador on FT.

 

[markis10]

Markis10

Eightblack on FT (an EK Platinum) does not think so (see my earlier link above).

He should know his stuff; He is the EK Ambassador on FT.

Given WP is such a new level, benefits may still be fluid, short of a yes or no from EK anything is possible.

 

[pshepvic]

Have never flown EK, but will be interested in the reply from Sydney. Is there a chance they allocated the seats to someone with a medical condition, or something similar?


I am in J but the other pax in my group is in Y.

- Reminds me of my last flight with the Good Lady, when at first we were only offered one upgrade... awkward.

Very unlikely to be pax with a medical condition. Firstly, what are the odds of 12 seats being required for this? Secondly, medical conditions would indicate that the pax may not be able to assist in event of an emergency, so also unlikely. Finally, if there was medical equipment required it would not be allowed in the exit.

 

[legroom]

Given WP is such a new level, benefits may still be fluid, short of a yes or no from EK anything is possible.

I agree that is a possible "hidden" WP benefit from EK, giving them the benefit of the doubts.

But, who wants to be fed mushrooms nowadays, Markis10 ?

As I wrote before, I am happy with whatever EK chooses to do - as long as Joe the punter knows the game plan.

You can (should) not state in writing as official policy "not at any time" apart from checking in and then have another unpublished policy which remains ... unpublished.

Their published WP benefits schedule, FWIW, does not mention this at all.

I am happy if EK says only John / Julia could ask for an exit row seat on Tuesday; Mark on Wednesday etc....

But having a policy while not really having any policy is weird at the very least, and also insulting to the travelling public.

You would agree, Markis10, that the absence of a rule - or its enforcement (see the QF Premium Boarding thread) - would foster a scrum mentality which is not pleasant at all.

BTW, SYD chose not to reply to EK call centre enquiry, my follow up with them revealed.

Is this the standard of our QF's new partner that we should just shrug and "cop it sweet" ?????

I am glad there are worthy competitors in the market to earn my cash & loyalty.

 

[Bjet]

Strange... last time, I asked a transit staff to give me a window seat. She said okay and gave me two boarding pass with 2 different seat numbers. Both of them were in exit row. However, I'm not a high EK status and do not have a frequent flyer. Maybe I paid more than other pax as I booked it in the last minutes before departure.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

EK may not pre-allocate the exit rows ahead of time via reservations but generally speaking the airport staff for most airlines would be able to pre-allocate seats about 48 hours prior to departure when the pax names cutover from reservations. It's really up to the discretion of the local airport staff. Maybe there was a request in the diary that a sporting group wanted them so they may have been pre-allocated the day prior by an airport checkin supervisor.

 

[markis10]

I agree that is a possible "hidden" WP benefit from EK, giving them the benefit of the doubts.

But, who wants to be fed mushrooms nowadays, Markis10 ?

As I wrote before, I am happy with whatever EK chooses to do - as long as Joe the punter knows the game plan.

You can (should) not state in writing as official policy "not at any time" apart from checking in and then have another unpublished policy which remains ... unpublished.

Their published WP benefits schedule, FWIW, does not mention this at all.

I am happy if EK says only John / Julia could ask for an exit row seat on Tuesday; Mark on Wednesday etc....

But having a policy while not really having any policy is weird at the very least, and also insulting to the travelling public.

You would agree, Markis10, that the absence of a rule - or its enforcement (see the QF Premium Boarding thread) - would foster a scrum mentality which is not pleasant at all.

BTW, SYD chose not to reply to EK call centre enquiry, my follow up with them revealed.

Is this the standard of our QF's new partner that we should just shrug and "cop it sweet" ?????

I am glad there are worthy competitors in the market to earn my cash & loyalty.

Puzzled why you think Joe the punter has a right to know how an airline runs its own affairs, where does it say first in first served for the public when it comes to exit rows????? An airline can do what it wants with seating, you bought a seat, not a right!

 

[legroom]

Puzzled why you think Joe the punter has a right to know how an airline runs its own affairs, where does it say first in first served for the public when it comes to exit rows????? An airline can do what it wants with seating, you bought a seat, not a right!

Nobody ever claimed a / any 'right' to an exit row seat!

You are mistaken there, I'm afraid.

Show me a sentence where I claimed such right and I will desist.

Joe the punter just wishes to compare EK's published policy with what happened on the ground.

Too much to ask for, Markis10 ???

Numerous reports on FT and EK call centre would confirm this policy (link provided upthread).

Have you ever called EK up to ask for an exit row seat in Y ?

I have.

The official EK policy has been linked to for reference on more than two separate occasions upthread which stated those seats are to be allocated ONLY at the time of checking in - at the airport.

I'd be grateful if the debate carries some reference and not just inferred deductions which are patently not accurate.

Above all, it would be helpful to refer to (1) stated EK policy (linked earlier) [FACT] and (2) what happened 52 hrs before departure - as confirmed by EK call centre & EF [FACT].

Maybe both EK call centre and EF do not know what they are babbling about.

Maybe we just 'accept' airlines could do what they want regardless of what they promise in writing.

I wonder why so many of us got so worked up over the broken promise of QF Premium Boarding then.

Perhaps we had not been aware of Markis10's dictum: airlines can do what they like regardless of their promises.

EDIT:

Hypothetically, you study hard aiming to get 99.95 in the HSC and > 90% in the UMAT hoping to score, as you should (being in the top 1% of the school leavers), an interview to a medical school as they are the two published criteria for admission.

Lo and behold, one month before your UMAT results, you find out that all allocated 'seats' had been taken up.

Just 'move on' in your worldview ?

An untruthful exaggeration, I'd admit but the analogy is there.

Not a 'right' but an expectation that an even playing field is set for Joe and everyone else.