Upgrade EK - Business Class

SW17

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

They don't need to be full business class fares, but anyone looking to upgrade from a full economy fare will generally be given a price for full business unless they specify otherwise

I have no idea what fare class the OP has booked into, and seemingly neither do they, but there are plenty of fare rules out there that won't allow any changes so upgrading wouldn't even be an option.

I understood from the below post by the OP that EK would allow them to cancel the existing economy booking for £100 per person and they could then make a new booking in Business. In this event it's not an upgrade, it's a cancel/rebook and fare classes don't matter (except for the cancellation charges).

MasterPoo wrote: »

Emirates would charge me £100 per person to cancel/refund, which I really don't mind.

Maybe I've misunderstood, in which case it would be a very expensive exercise, but I did try to be clear that it would only work if the existing booking could be cancelled with minimal penalty. Also, as Callum9999 points out, it relies on being able to book the fare from ITA Matrix. Hopefully that will be possible using the fare codes that come from the search result, but it's not foolproof.

MasterPoo

SW17 wrote: »

I understood from the below post by the OP that EK would allow them to cancel the existing economy booking for £100 per person and they could then make a new booking in Business. In this event it's not an upgrade, it's a cancel/rebook and fare classes don't matter (except for the cancellation charges).



Maybe I've misunderstood, in which case it would be a very expensive exercise, but I did try to be clear that it would only work if the existing booking could be cancelled with minimal penalty. Also, as Callum9999 points out, it relies on being able to book the fare from ITA Matrix. Hopefully that will be possible using the fare codes that come from the search result, but it's not foolproof.

I'm basing the figures on the link SW supplied. If I have to cancel/get a refund to get the fare than that's what I will do as the £3400 difference is doable for all 3 passengers.

Price was for all 3, Business Class.

Am I missing something in assuming I can either ask for paid upgrade using ITA figures, if they say no I will ask for refund and rebook, but I will verify the £6K price before - if I am please enlighten me as I'm still none the wiser? (Yes I'll take a £100 pp knock for cancelling, something I'm fine with in the bigger scheme of things)

SW17

MasterPoo wrote: »

I'm basing the figures on the link SW supplied. If I have to cancel/get a refund to get the fare than that's what I will do as the £3400 difference is doable for all 3 passengers.

Price was for all 3, Business Class.

Am I missing something in assuming I can either ask for paid upgrade using ITA figures, if they say no I will ask for refund and rebook, but I will verify the £6K price before - if I am please enlighten me as I'm still none the wiser? (Yes I'll take a £100 pp knock for cancelling, something I'm fine with in the bigger scheme of things)

To be clear (because I really want to make sure you don't lose out from this), you can try first to get EK to give you the business class seats for the difference in fare. They would still probably be doing a cancel/rebook at their end, but the benefits to you are that you only fork out the difference now and they will do all the ticketing in one go for you.

If they don't agree to do that, then you would have to book the business class fare and then cancel your economy booking, which you should only do if you are certain that you can cancel your existing booking and get a full refund, less the £100 pp charge. You would then have to pay the business class fare up front in full until you got the refund. The only thing I'm not sure about in this instance is whether EK would consider it a duplicate booking when you are briefly holding both, and whether that carries any risk.

Just bear in mind that these are non-refundable business class fares (if you get them), there's no turning back once you book them, except in a situation covered by any insurance you have.

MasterPoo

SW17 wrote: »

To be clear (because I really want to make sure you don't lose out from this), you can try first to get EK to give you the business class seats for the difference in fare. They would still probably be doing a cancel/rebook at their end, but the benefits to you are that you only fork out the difference now and they will do all the ticketing in one go for you.

If they don't agree to do that, then you would have to book the business class fare and then cancel your economy booking, which you should only do if you are certain that you can cancel your existing booking and get a full refund, less the £100 pp charge. You would then have to pay the business class fare up front in full until you got the refund. The only thing I'm not sure about in this instance is whether EK would consider it a duplicate booking when you are briefly holding both, and whether that carries any risk.

Just bear in mind that these are non-refundable business class fares (if you get them), there's no turning back once you book them, except in a situation covered by any insurance you have.

Hi SW, yes I've noted that these Business class ones non-refundable tickets, I'm still struggling with EK who are now being difficult and not wanting to search using the info from ITA. I will email travel agent and await info.

callum9999

MasterPoo wrote: »

Hi SW, yes I've noted that these Business class ones non-refundable tickets, I'm still struggling with EK who are now being difficult and not wanting to search using the info from ITA. I will email travel agent and await info.

The cheapest fares I see from BHX-BKK have a £100 change fee or £200 cancellation fee. I'd assume your flights are the same.

ITA matrix is just a "dumb" search engine. Quoting amounts from there is pointless. Find the relevant flights on the Emirates website and quote those prices to them. If you're specifically saying that you're quoting from ITA then it's not hugely surprising that they don't want to deal with the hassle of locating them!

It would also be unwise to cancel your economy flights before confirming new business flights - you don't want to lose both!

fifeken

How did you book the original flights?

If it was direct with Emirates you can price up your changes through "Manage a Booking" on the website. Look for the option "Purchase an Upgrade" down the right hand side of the screen.

You'll be able to see the price of your options before committing to any change. It will automatically include any change fees but there are reports of these getting waived if you call them.

MasterPoo

So my travel agent (flight centre) have managed to get me the following price and are now holding them for me until I've spoken to Emirates.

Business Class Price is £6433 for all 3 departing on 27 March 2015 from and back into BHX, which is a difference of £3536.26, which isn't that bad I guess...........Only gripe with the above price is that the flight on Sunday, 12 April 2015 is at 08h05 instead of 15h30 flight to BHX which is the one I REALLY want.

Urrrggghhhhhhhh.

SW17

MasterPoo wrote: »

So my travel agent (flight centre) have managed to get me the following price and are now holding them for me until I've spoken to Emirates.

Business Class Price is £6433 for all 3 departing on 27 March 2015 from and back into BHX, which is a difference of £3536.26, which isn't that bad I guess...........Only gripe with the above price is that the flight on Sunday, 12 April 2015 is at 08h05 instead of 15h30 flight to BHX which is the one I REALLY want.

Urrrggghhhhhhhh.

I'm glad you were able to find something at a budget you can accept. In the world of business class fares, just over £2k pp for that itinerary is pretty competitive ("value" is in the eye of the beholder, I'm not going to open up that debate here ).

Shame about the flight timings on 12th, but sometimes those compromises have to be considered to get the best fares, and while you'll lose a morning in DXB, it's not an ungodly hour to take a flight.

MasterPoo

SW17 wrote: »

I'm glad you were able to find something at a budget you can accept. In the world of business class fares, just over £2k pp for that itinerary is pretty competitive ("value" is in the eye of the beholder, I'm not going to open up that debate here ).

Shame about the flight timings on 12th, but sometimes those compromises have to be considered to get the best fares, and while you'll lose a morning in DXB, it's not an ungodly hour to take a flight.

I think its a great price per person, certainly within my budget. Sure I would've liked to pay less, but at £2144 pp PLUS a half day in BKK, I'm certainly not complaining:cool:

The issue I have with the morning flight is having to get to the airport 2 hours before:eek::eek:, but flying Business Class will definitely take the sting out of that........getting excited, and as per usual I will milk it for all it's worth, hahahaha, with the added bonus of free transfers. etc. need to double check what other benefits I get:T:T:T:cool::rotfl:

Thanks for all you help, much appreciated. Now to read seat guru etc. to try get the best seats in Business Class once I've found out which aircrafts fly the route *Face Palm*

fifeken

It looks like it's the flights out of Singapore that are forcing the price up on your preferred choice. The ones that you would need are showing no availability in Business Class.

Your flights to/from BHX will be on B777-300ERs, but on the 2 Class version as Emirates don't yet fly First Class there (starts later next year).

The seats are in a 2-3-2 set up and the only rows to avoid are 1 and 6. Seatmap here: http://www.emirates.com/eg/english/flying/our_fleet/seating_chart.aspx?id=77WHJY&from=195345

Your DXB-BKK is on an Airbus A380. All seats have aisle access. Service and exit is quicker from the front, but the bar and toilets are at the rear so it depends on your priorities.

Lastly, your SIN-DXB is on a 3 Class B777-300ER, again in 2-3-2 config. The cabin is split after rows 6 and 7. I always prefer this front cabin as it seems more private, however Row 6 has bassinets and Row 7 has misaligned windows which annoys some.

Seatmaps can be found on the EK website near the one above.

Other benefits are chauffeur drive at all stages (mileage limits apply), priority check in, priority boarding and pre departure drinks, lounge access, fast track passes at DXB and BKK (I don't know about SIN or BHX), possibly amenity kits (toiletries etc) and a huge baggage allowance.

I'm sure I'll have missed some as well.