Emirates halve the rewards mileage

[benjamin1]

Very quietly most of Emirates Economy fares have now become flex saver tickets and therefore only attract half of the Skywards mileage and Tier miles (used to progress from blue to silver to gold skywards status). Before now only a very small portion of tickets were flex saver. Effectively a person will need to travel twice the mileage to obtain or maintain Silver and Gold status..... as well as for redemptions. Why they are putting the boot into their loyalest of customers is beyond my comprehension.

 

[clifford]

Well, there are several reasons.

One is that they have too many Golds, who used to be able take their travelling companions into the EK lounges with them. This made the lounges full and unpleasant (according to EK), so they have banned all Y-pax non-Golds from their lounges. Get rid of more Golds and the problem goes away.

Two is that Y-pax Golds are like lice in EK's view. They contribute very little to EK's profit, when compared with C/J class pax, who don't need to be Gold to enjoy all the privileges. So Golds are dead ducks.

There are also others (PM me if you really don't know).

As for me, I'm EK Gold until 12/12 (on flights already booked), then goodbye EK. Why, indeed, would you pay more to get 50% less?

 

[dajop]

These saver fares come and go all the time, it does seem rather random. Sometimes flex fares are cheaper than saver fares, it just depends on whether a "sale" is underway or not.

But the offerings of EK's competitors aren't always better. Take the AU-Europe routes. It will take 6 returns on QF to achieve Gold in discount economy (initially anyway). 6 saver returns on Emirates also gets Gold. 6 deeply discounted economy returns flights (comparable to EK saver fares) on SQ or TG will in all likelihood get no points or no status. However If travelling in business class though, EK's saver fares are very much at a disadvantage to their competitors in terms of status and miles.

For awards, in the example of return from Australia to Europe, obviously QF will get an award on the same route a lot quicker, as QF earns 100% miles, but then their fares are often higher than EK saver fares, so it isn't necessarily a simple equation which program leaves you better off. It may indeed be more lucrative to pocket savings on cheaper fares than trying to get awards. (not too mention fuel fines, a return "award" ticket to London will set you back $850 in taxes/fuel fines at the moment on QF vs $260 on EK).

 

[stryker]

(not too mention fuel fines, a return "award" ticket to London will set you back $850 in taxes/fuel fines at the moment on QF vs $260 on EK).

It's worth noting that EK say they have now dropped all fuel surcharges (but have maybe increased basic fares?).

As for the Saver vs Flex fares issue, have you checked out the discussion on Flyertalk? It seems you may not have picked up the point that you can pretty well no longer book a Flex fare online. If you disagree, I'd be very happy to be made aware of Flex fares that can be booked online at a reasonable cost.

And, on the basis that you quote, it would cost approx AUD 12,000 to become Gold on EK. As I'm sure you're aware, it can cost quite a bit less to become Gold on QF.

So, I'm not really sure what your point is.

 

[dajop]

It's worth noting that EK say they have now dropped all fuel surcharges (but have maybe increased basic fares?).

Irrelevant to award bookings, as IIRC even when EK introduced fuel surcharges they didn't apply to award bookings.

And, on the basis that you quote, it would cost approx AUD 12,000 to become Gold on EK. As I'm sure you're aware, it can cost quite a bit less to become Gold on QF.

I am sure there are examples where you can get EK Gold for less than that to (eg SIN-MEL/BNE returns for AUD 8,000 on savers). But for Australian based travellers, many would use EK to get to/from Europe so the comparison with QF on this basis would be valid.

So, I'm not really sure what your point is.

My point is that even on saver fares EK/Skywards can be quite competitive with other options/FF programs in the market place, which is probably one reason they made the changes in the first place. It's certainly not a simple equation. One thing is sure however, EK are following the number one law of loyalty programmes ("Thou shalt devalue the program over time")

 

[benjamin1]

Well, there are several reasons.

One is that they have too many Golds, who used to be able take their travelling companions into the EK lounges with them. This made the lounges full and unpleasant (according to EK), so they have banned all Y-pax non-Golds from their lounges. Get rid of more Golds and the problem goes away.

Two is that Y-pax Golds are like lice in EK's view. They contribute very little to EK's profit, when compared with C/J class pax, who don't need to be Gold to enjoy all the privileges. So Golds are dead ducks.

There are also others (PM me if you really don't know).

As for me, I'm EK Gold until 12/12 (on flights already booked), then goodbye EK. Why, indeed, would you pay more to get 50% less?

Well put and I agree with your sentiments. I am Gold until Mid 2012, but I am taking alternative airlines rather than going out of my way to go with Emirates. Emirates have lost the plot as far as frequent flyer loyalty etc is concerned, and they will wonder why their aircraft are no longer filling up. And an indirect result will be no more upgrades for Skywards members. With the lounge access situation, I have never seen more than 8 people in Sydney E. Lounge, and the same in Bangkok E. Lounge. Although Sydney E Lounge is very professionally run, in the Bangkok lounge the staff eat a lot more than the customers. They even come out into the customer area and obtain victuals!! Very Unprofessional.

 

[Dalescott]

We dropped EK last year, over a number of issue with . Poor cabin service, old plane (out of Mel), scheduling problems, cost of fare (increases in price). We have justed returned from UK and have used China Eastern Airlines (trip report soon) which was very interesting. We are know silver Skywards, and we will only be using EK as a last resort!!!!!

 

[oldenglishwhitemga]

Dropped EK, burned up all the points with a Bus. Class to BKK out of Sydney. No status left, no points left. Don't care!
Lounges are a dreadful pastiche of Pommie/Arabian high street bad taste.
What about all that beige fake leather, tatty brass trim and mock polished timber and twee Chinese marble decoration?
All looking like a bad 60's version of a potentates lounge room. Too twee for words.
Just showing that a lot of dollars slashed around doesnt buy good taste .
And DON'T get me started on the "multi-national" flight staff.

 

[clifford]

Dropped EK, burned up all the points with a Bus. Class to BKK out of Sydney. No status left, no points left. Don't care!
Lounges are a dreadful pastiche of Pommie/Arabian high street bad taste.
What about all that beige fake leather, tatty brass trim and mock polished timber and twee Chinese marble decoration?
All looking like a bad 60's version of a potentates lounge room. Too twee for words.
Just showing that a lot of dollars slashed around doesnt buy good taste .
And DON'T get me started on the "multi-national" flight staff.

It's obviously what Middle Eastern people like, otherwise they wouln't do it that way. But they do have quite a nice selection of alcohol. I couldn't care less about the decor when I'm sipping the odd Veuve Clicot or three.

In any case, IMO EK is much better than any US or Europe-based airline and is better than the likes of SQ. Chacun à son goût.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

In any case, IMO EK is much better than any US or Europe-based airline and is better than the likes of SQ. Chacun à son goût.

^ Your your quote above.....
EK much better than any US carrier
EK much better than any Europe based carrier
EK better than the likes or SQ

LOL....
So, who is left to fly with?
QF?

 

[moa999]

still yet to try ek longhaul, only chc-syd in y, plus some flights on srilankan when they owned it

based on this maybe i wont put it on the list!