An OMAAT reader who asked to remain anonymous shared an interesting story with me, and I’m not sure what exactly the correct take is… I’m curious what others think.
In this post:
Emirates passenger learns he’s banned after booking
Several weeks back, a family from the UK (husband, wife, and baby) booked Emirates tickets for a holiday in Dubai. Then around 24 hours before the flight, Emirates canceled the traveler’s booking, and sent him an email saying he is “not welcome to travel on any Emirates flight.”
As a result, he booked travel on another airline. He flew the outbound on mid-February and is still in Dubai, and as you’d expect, the situation has changed materially, with most European carriers canceling flights to Dubai. As a result, he desperately wants to get his family home, there’s only one issue… he’s still banned from Emirates.
He reached out to Emirates to ask if he could be accommodated in light of circumstances, and was told that the ban remains in place. In writing, the airline told him “we’re unable to accept your travel with Emirates at this time,” and the airline “apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.”
The traveler is now “simply trying to understand whether the airline’s response here is proportionate and whether there’s any reasonable way to resolve it.”
So, what did the traveler get banned over in the first place? He claims that the ban happened over two separate issues that date back years, explained as follows:
The first relates to an upgrade email. Shortly before travelling, I unknowingly interacted with a website that appeared to be related to Emirates and entered my details believing it was legitimate. An email later came through referencing an upgrade. The message appeared to form part of, or closely resemble, a genuine prior Emirates email thread from 2022, which is likely why Emirates concluded it had been altered. At the time, I believed it was a genuine Emirates communication. Only later, when I was asked to enter my card details to “secure” the upgrade, did I realise something was wrong and contact Emirates. Looking back, it appears this was part of a scam.
Separately, I had submitted a Best Price claim and included a screenshot from Expedia showing a lower fare. Emirates later alleged that this screenshot had been manually amended. My position is that I submitted what was shown to me at the time. Afterward, Expedia indicated that the displayed fare was likely a temporary pricing or system issue and also confirmed that fare and tax breakdowns can vary.
I’m not sure what the right take is in this situation?
On the one hand, airlines have the right to refuse transport to passengers, and it sounds like Emirates had reason for the ban. It seems like the airline should have informed him of the ban years ago when it happened, rather than only after booking another ticket a long time later.
Now, I don’t know the traveler who is having this issue personally, so I can only share his version of events, but can’t say with certainty whether they’re true or not. Did he really unwittingly have two separate issues with Emirates tickets, and neither was intentional? It absolutely could be true, but it sure seems unlikely.
Either way, there are unique circumstances here. While I wouldn’t say Dubai is “dangerous” right now (at least in terms of the known death toll), a lot of people are definitely uncomfortable, and there are a lot of missiles that have reached the city.
Many people are voluntarily leaving Dubai now, while others insist they’re sticking around, with that sort of cringe “we know who protects us” video. So I guess the question comes down to whether the current situation rises to the level of the airline reconsidering its ban list? It’s not like there’s no way to get out, though the other options are definitely more inconvenient. For example, they could take a bus to Muscat, and then fly from there.
It seems to me like the airline should probably make a one-time exception here, in light of circumstances. However, I also understand that airlines are big corporate structures and have a lot of policies and red tape, and I imagine Tim Clark’s first order of business right now isn’t “oh, let’s temporarily unban all the travelers who have been banned.”
Bottom line
An air traveler recently found out that he was banned by Emirates, after booking a ticket. The issue reportedly dates back several years. That’s all fine and dandy, as he booked a ticket on another airline. The problem is that he’s now stranded in Dubai with his family, with limited options to get out that don’t involve Emirates.
What do you make of this situation, and do you think Emirates should make an exception?
Is Etihad, which is right down the road too good for him? Stranded? Hardly
No one is stranded. Taxis are running between cities. Even to Riyadh. Not inexpensive but doable. If someone wants to leave, they can leave.
Separately, Park Hyatt Dubai is closing May 1st for a "6 month renovation" - given developments, I'm guessing it'll be closed longer than this.
Maybe they should start those renovations sooner, since I doubt anyone’s gonna be visiting for ‘fun’ or ‘work’ anytime soon…
There is always more to the story! Airlines do not Ban you for small reasons. SCAMMING is a serious offence.
You can still get back to UK without flying emirates. And cry me a river. After you stop trying to scam.
“This is gonna ruin the tour… (what tour?) the world tour…”
If this is legitimate and he is unable to find passage via other nearby countries like Oman or Saudi, he should first contact his own Embassy and then contact UAE Foreign ministry. I am sure they would rather find a solution than a social media video going viral of being hostage considering their "Safety" video campaign.
He should also prepare never to go back there so he isn't stuck again for any other reason.
When the "victim's" side of the story kinda smells like month old fish, you know his argument sucks. Those convoluted, unlikely, stories of his. It all comes off like he's a scam artist who isn't even any good at it. EK knows this and banned him. He F'd around is is now finding out.
My sympathy for his situation is very limited.
Sounds like something he should have been cognizant of when making his travel plans in the first place. Didn't Alaska Airlines ban a state senator or something for refusing to wear a mask during covid then being abusive to staff? Awfully hard to get to Juneau for the legislative session if you can't fly AS - they said, well, sorry, guess you'll have to take the boat or fly Delta ANC-SEA-JNU when in season.
...Sounds like something he should have been cognizant of when making his travel plans in the first place. Didn't Alaska Airlines ban a state senator or something for refusing to wear a mask during covid then being abusive to staff? Awfully hard to get to Juneau for the legislative session if you can't fly AS - they said, well, sorry, guess you'll have to take the boat or fly Delta ANC-SEA-JNU when in season.
Actions have consequences and he knew he was going to somewhere that the primary means of leaving isn't welcoming. That's his risk.
What happens when any of us goes off on Hertz for something like claiming we stole a car, get banned, then find ourselves at an airport with Hertz is the only car rental agency and the one airline flight a day cancels? Well, there are other options. Not all good, not all cheap, but there are options we are left with as we rolled the dice.
If you just remain there long enough that UAE Immigration Authority will convince her colleagues at EK to let you on. Might even be free. :-)
The guy doesn't seem to be the sharpest knife in the drawer but I don't understand why he would be banned. Sounds like he may have been a victim of a phishing scam and submitted a best price claim based on Google flights search results which are often inaccurate. If that is all he did Emirates seems pretty douchy.
Glad I live on the West coast and can stick with Asian carriers going west and European and US carriers going east.
Ban should remain. Emirates may likely make an exception if there are plenty of seats to fill and no one taking them (but that is not the case right now!)
He can rent a camel.
“Sorry, we’re out of SUVs and camels, but we do have a Camry or a donkey still available…”
Actions have consequences. Is his family banned too? I'm sure he can get them out on Emirates and find an alternative routing himself.
I guess he wont be submitting fake information to anyone in the future.
The behaviour of this person seems questionable at least. If you want to evacuate your family and genuinely make sure they are at a safe place, send them home first on Emirates and handle your own transport separately, out of a different country. Surely the evacuation does not seem that urgent, if he has time to raise a request to be unbanned and wait for a response (which I can imagine might take a long...
The behaviour of this person seems questionable at least. If you want to evacuate your family and genuinely make sure they are at a safe place, send them home first on Emirates and handle your own transport separately, out of a different country. Surely the evacuation does not seem that urgent, if he has time to raise a request to be unbanned and wait for a response (which I can imagine might take a long time these days). Seems like he is trying to use the circumstance to get unbanned more than genuinely evacuate asap. Too suspicious if he is looking only for the easiest/most comfortable option to fly out of the area.
(Justified or not originally) the ban should stay in place. He's not only finding out now when trying to leave; he knew he was banned before coming into UAE - didn't attempt to resolve. Are there no other airlines flying out of UAE? Could he not bus over to AUH and take Etihad? Many people are trying to leave; space is limited; can't blame airline that he's not a priority.
He needs to do what so many others are doing and getting to Muscat, it’s a pain but plenty of options if not direct can reposition and will get home eventually.
I think the ban should be upheld, he can find transportation to Oman or Saudi Arabia. I am also curious of why he was banned from the viewpoint of Emirates.
If he needs to travel drive to Muscat and catch an Oman Air flight to Europe. Two sides to a story and we only have his.
Oh man, I mean, Oman…
While this isn't ideal, I think the best course of action for the family would be to find a way to get to Muscat, Riyadh, or Dammam via land for a reliable flight home (or fly Air Arabia out of SHJ to somewhere and book a separate ticket to the UK) Otherwise, I suppose they could just make the short trek to AUH as well and fly home on EY (but that is if there...
While this isn't ideal, I think the best course of action for the family would be to find a way to get to Muscat, Riyadh, or Dammam via land for a reliable flight home (or fly Air Arabia out of SHJ to somewhere and book a separate ticket to the UK) Otherwise, I suppose they could just make the short trek to AUH as well and fly home on EY (but that is if there are seats available). If they are desperate to get home, I think this would be the best course of action.
I do understand how the traveler's situation is frustrating though.
It's difficult to say because the reason the passenger mentions doesn't sound like justifying a ban. So either the passenger is telling nuts, or Emirates is exaggerating (or both).
On one hand, he left out the nasty details.
On other hand, this is ME3 we're talking about. Just like their shiny propaganda airline ads that bloggers and flyer praise, inside and behind the scene is rotten to its core.
ME3 is very good until something even little goes wrong.