Emirates Cuts Their Most Valuable Unpublished Elite Perk

Absolutely devastating news. I don't know how I'm going to cope without a shower and Dom.

I think it is a mistake.

Simply, they should avoid upsetting the customers who are more likely to know they are missing out on a benefit. That would be their regular, elite flyers as opposed to their occasional high revenue flyers who (1) may not know what their fare is or that it is a high fare and (2) may be so occasional on Emirates that they do not know they are missing out.

I understood that Emirates honored Qantas elites with the same benefit, so this should impact them as well.

Lufthansa did the same thing before but it lasted no more than a few moths..It's just not a good idea.When it comes to op-ups, status customers should have the priority..

This is basically insane, why would one than build and accrue loyalty to a carrier based far away from home, when I actually comes out to zero in perks?
For us starting in Scandinavia, we do not have the opportunity to visit the lounges, as they are contracted, and on the return from ie. DXB, the flight leaves at O´my God it is early schedules.
I sincerely hope that they change this service at once,

I applaud their decision. In the service sector, weaker service brands (we can all name them) create loyal customers with upgrades, baggage allowances, waived fees, etc. Strong brands, e.g. Four Seasons, Singapore, etc retain their best customers with consistently superior service for the room or cabin you paid for. Rightly or wrongly, Emirates believe that travelers will purchase from them because of ongoing service experience. Time will tell if they are correct.

@Jacob
Do you have to work hard at being a dickhead or does it come naturally to you?
Just don't read the blogs.

This is not right. I get the fact that money talks, but if an elite status member spends $10000 annually on an airliner, and another passenger who will only fly once or twice annually who paid for a full fair ticket gets the upgrade, this is very poor business practice to not award the elite member.

A courtesy upgrade should indeed be afforded to those with the highest spend.

Its unfortunate that the whole industry got off on a bad footing where airline programs were based on frequency of use rather than revenue.

As a business owner I assign much higher value and will jump through hoops for the occasional client that spends big amount versus someone with frequent yet trivial transactions.

Its rather comical how some get themselves all worked up about a courtesy operational upgrade.
Remember these were not upgrades you were entitled to, simply ones given out as a courtesy.
You want the premium seat, pay for it.
In the mean time EK is free to come up with whatever methodology it sees fit in upgrading passengers, and revenue is certainly a good way to do it.

Back in the day when I was a duty manager for a major European airline we almost always looked at fare code as primary drive of selecting passengers to upgrade.

I agree with James. The customer with the highest value shall be upgraded. As check in agents cannot check the customer lifetime value, the easy way to use booking class to get a proximation.

Note that Qatar has a "weird" system of upgrades: they give you 30 or 60 qcredits (based on your tier) that you can use for upgrades (beside lounge access, or extra baggage).

Hi Ben,

As an EK staff I can tell you the above is not correct. Plat/Gold/Silver members go ahead first and if no other status passenger, system will give us a list of high fares. So loyalty first, then come the high fares.

Regards

KS

This is exactly what Lufthansa did two years ago: the once in a lifetime granny flying on a short notice J fare was upgraded to F whereas the HON (600k miles in 2 years) in D class stayed in Business. They have meanwhile peddled back. Now it is a mix of status and fare. I guess EK will learn the hard way too...

Bloody mad if you ask me, but it is EK, so nothing surprises. s a business, what would you rather: Th Joe Blow who comes along once or twice a year for a ride on full fare, or The Joe Blow who is a FF member, rides regularly 6, 7, 8 or maybe 10 times a year. It's a no-brainer. But this would b a decision by decree from a Sheikh. They do that in Middle East. They treat women well too, have you heard!

I have flew Emirates only once and that was a couple of years ago. That was from LAX to LHE. It was on a discounted ticket and all the connections to and from were pretty full. On the last leg back from Dubai to LAX they bumped me to business. I was very surprised but appreciated in greatly as its along flight to sit in economy. My first taste of business class.

I think Emirates is way overrated. Sure, they get all the good press for their on-board shower in first-class but the business-class product sucks compared to American and Delta -- and even United when the Polaris business-class is on planes. On the other hand, their loyalty program is just what Delta wants Sky Miles to become. Let's hope the U.S. carriers maintain something -- I'm at 98% upgrade as a diamond this year on Delta.

@Robbo, does all your information about the Middle East come only from Fox News?

Qatar has a qcredit system that you can use for upgrades. A platinum member will earn 60 qcredit annually and that can be used for one way upgrade on a sector between Doha and western europe AND a sector between Doha and the US. Emirates does not have a similar perk and if you ask them their platinum status is nothing to aspire to. I'm still a Slywards gold member so I can rack up miles that I use sometimes to upgrade. Other than that the benefits seem to be limited (well, I only fly them J/F).

@Jacob

Setup an appointment in local massage parlor and high end restaurant. Getting reservation is more difficult than finding seats on EK, I am sure EK is no match in service quality.

Otherwise, your gym membership gives shower privileges and order DP online.

@KS thanks for the clarification. Glad to hear the existing system continues

Personally I've given up on Emirates and switched to Etihad.
Abu Dhabi airport is quieter and more peaceful than Dubai.
Emirates somehow has the feel of being on a luxury bus service. Etihad still feels like an airline.
Perhaps the only plus point is Emirates fly the A380 on more routes, but Etihad are now starting to fly the 787 on new routes.
I don't know what Etihad's policy for upgrades are yet, I've flown in both first and business but not been upgraded complimentary yet. In over fifteen years of loyalty I was only upgraded from business to first class twice for free. Not really very good if you ask me.
Still Etihad apartment against Emirates first is a no brainier, Etihad is at least three times as big, and yes I love Caviar which EK have and EY do not, but I can buy myself a tin on the ground. The far superior seat if EY has more value to me.

That is fifteen years of loyalty to Emirates. I've only recently started flying Etihad.

I am a platinum member and I don't like the fact that a non frequent flyer gets more benefits than I do - despite me having used emirates 2 times a week for the last 2 years. I now focus on using other airlines, so i can become elite member with as many as i can. Emirates definitely made a mistake here.

I am platinum and have seen this on my last several flights. It was great to be upgraded when I travel with my family, but since upgrades are no longer a perk, we are changing airlines for lower prices. I can't justify the extra cost for Emirates just for lounge access....

Thank you all for sharing , I am a gold card holders and also noticed this as well, for an upgrade you need to pay the highest economy ticket, and on the other side something new from emirates, if you buy a saver ticket which is the lowest
Fare in economy they will send you a cheap pay upgrade which is a cheaper way to get an upgrade then to pay the full flex plus , actually you are getting a better deal if you buy the cheapest ticket ticket