In this post, I’d like to take a look at the best way to score an upgrade on an Emirates flight (and no, it’s not dressing nicely and saying it’s your honeymoon). I first wrote about this several years back, though I’d like to take an updated look at the reality of this, since things…
Continue reading: The Trick To Upgrading Emirates Flights With Miles, Including To First Class
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I got lucky with confirmed J to F upgrades last June, 35K points for a 5 hour flight on 773 and 72K for DXB-JFK on a380. Usually these are not available, waitlist, etc. I doubt it'll happen again, unless there's another geopolitical event occurring during my travel dates that keeps others away.
If you upgrade from economy into business, do you need to pay any additional fees or taxes? For example, cash portion of JFK-MXP in Economy Flex
plus is $123, and for Business it is $434.
I bought a cheap economy ticket from Düsseldorf to Dubai with confirmable upgrade space to business at the time of booking for five people. I upgraded on the website straight away. On the plane the purser gave my kids a tour of first clsss an said we were able to upgrade with points if we’d like. I feel that if that works it can be a cheap way to fly first class.
I havent done this since 2022 but back then the co pay was minimal. So from Dubai to Hanoi it was cheaper to buy economy and upgrade with points then pay the co pay. Cheaper in miles and cash.
I’m curious about the “auto upgrade” feature on the Emirates site and how often that actually works and if it helps increase your chances to get an upgrade from biz to first or not? Or if I did that, would I likely still just need to wait and try at the airport in person…
Flight attendants can also upgrade passengers using miles once onboard. Due to a quirk with my full
Legal name and what the name is on my emirates account, the check in manager was unable to upgrade me to F, even though she called their help desk. She said there were many seats left and, indeed, the Manager as right. I was instantly upgraded once onboard. I had transferred the points over before boarding.
Very much a corner case but still interesting to me that FAs have the tech onboard to make this happen.
How do I upgrade from economic to business with American Express points? I already booked the flight from Dusseldorf to Dubai. Thanks
Just booked a return flight with EK in Business (saver) via Amex travel, I would like to upgrade this ticket using either cash or miles, what are my options? I see no cash offers, Can I do cash earlier or do I have to wait until t-48?