I’M SO EXCITED!!!
I first wrote about the great first class fares that Emirates published out of Canada last night. Then just a short while ago I wrote about an even better fare, from Toronto to Milan via Dubai for ~2,900USD roundtrip (all credit goes to zoqfotpik for finding these). That’s the cheapest legitimate Emirates first class fare I’ve ever seen.
Long story short, that fare gets even better. A similar fare is available out of most airports in Canada, and you can route via the US. For ~3,170USD I just booked an Emirates first class ticket from Vancouver to Los Angeles to Dubai to Milan and back the same way — the four longhaul flights are in Emirates A380 first class, while the flights between Vancouver and Los Angeles are in WestJet economy.
For this trip I’ll be earning:
- 15,850 Membership Rewards points (5x points on airfare by paying with The Platinum Card® from American Express), which I value at ~270USD (on up to $500,000 of flight purchases per calendar year, and then 1x)
- 101,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles, which I value at ~2,020USD (I’m an MVP Gold member and am earning 450% redeemable miles)
In other words, on a ~3,170USD ticket I’m earning ~2,300USD worth of points. The way I view it, the real “cost” of this ticket is around $870. Oh, and I get to spend 45 hours in Emirates first class.
If you’re interested in booking a similar ticket, note that you can route via most US gateways, as long as you can fly WestJet from Canada to that gateway. There’s nothing the airline can do to force you to take that last segment, so if you don’t want to take that last flight back to Canada, it’s up to you.
So, how can you book this ticket? To start, you’ll need to book directly on emirates.com using the multi-city search tool. Enter each segment separately, and select economy for the segments that are operated by WestJet, and first class for the segments operated by Emirates.
Then you’ll have to select each segment individually. The key to getting this to price is that you must select the WestJet coded flight option between Canada and the US. Only select flights that are marketed and operated by WestJet. While you’ll be presented with other options, the ticket won’t price if you select them. For example, for me it showed the two below options, and it won’t price if you select the codeshare option (in this case a China Airlines codeshare operated by WestJet). This only works if you select the flight marketed and operated by WestJet. I’m saying this over and over because I think this is where a lot of people will get hung up.
After selecting all the flights, you should find the correct fare, and be able to book on Emirates’ website.
The best part is that you can book the first WestJet segment on a date prior to the rest of the trip, which means you can get that out of the way a week early (or whatever), and then start your trip from a US gateway.
The fare comes with complimentary Emirates chauffeur service at your US gateway and in Milan on both arrival and departure, so you can get quite a bit of value there. You can also score a free layover hotel if you have a long connection in Dubai.
So if you’re interested, head over to emirates.com to book.
Let me also acknowledge that on one hand I had a really hard time paying over $3,000 for a ticket. The only time I’ve ever spent that much on a ticket is when I flew the Etihad Residence. However, I’m also a numbers guy, and as much as spending that much money sucks, I’m also earning nearly 120,000 points, which is incredible. When all is said and done, my out of pocket (as I calculate it) is less than if I were flying economy from Los Angeles to Milan.
Anyone else taking advantage of these amazing Emirates first class values?
tried to book it one way would not price it
The whole deal is gone right?
Lukasz, I believe the fare has expired.
@Lukasz, fare has expired 12 hours ago.
Hey Lucky, thanks for sharing this amazing opportunity! I'm trying to book it selecting everything mannually but the price shows 53.000 CAD Can you help me? I'm selecting west jest flights
@nemme thanks! Yah not a biggie, the hotel in T3 looks just fine for a 5hr snooze. Definitely don't want to waste any inflight time napping haha
@ Mark M you won't get the free transit hotel since you're not taking the shortest connection, which is the red-eye. I stayed in the in-airport hotel a few years ago. While expensive, it was easy and a nice way to get some sleep and enjoy the first class lounge.
@Lucky, did you book the red-eye (EK92) on MXP-DXB to connect to LAX? We decided to book the mid-day flight (EK206) to enjoy the flight a bit and also get a better snooze in DXB before the flight to LA. My question is if we qualify for a transit hotel in DXB as our layover is 10hrs or so? I see the chauffeur booking capability under manage my reservation but no mention of the transit hotel...
@eduardo You can skip only the very least segment of any ticket. If the first or any other segment is skipped, the remaining segments will get canceled automatically.
Anyway the deal is dead now.
@lucky can i book everything as you said, but actually dont take the first and last flight. In other words start and end my trip in LAX
Deal appears dead.
I've been searching fares using the YVR-LAX-DXB-multiple destinations (tried HKG just now) and I'm getting the pricing error screen on anything originating in Canada. Using the multi-city tool for flights originating out of the USA to DXB and connect beyond is not generating the error.
Lucky, seeing how this deal is dead I found another interesting deal you might want to look into...you can go to Europe for around $6300 CDN tax in throughout the year. Only works for two business class tickets out of YVR in J on various airlines and needs to be 11 day min. You pick a whole bunch of cities in the EU and also do multi city. If you post it please give me...
Lucky, seeing how this deal is dead I found another interesting deal you might want to look into...you can go to Europe for around $6300 CDN tax in throughout the year. Only works for two business class tickets out of YVR in J on various airlines and needs to be 11 day min. You pick a whole bunch of cities in the EU and also do multi city. If you post it please give me credit, thanks.
Sample:
March 5th - YVR - GVA KLM
March 7th - GVA - FCO Alitalia
March 16th -BLQ - YVR KLM
LOL, clowns on FT are blaming blogs like this and people calling in for killing a deal which was live for bloody 12+ hours. Like how much longer did EK need to keep this fare posted?
Hey Lucky I’m wondering why you paid more for an ex-YVR rather than an ex-YYZ fare? Is it just because you’re West Coast based or did you do it specifically because of the longer flight times to earn more AS miles?
@ Ben -- What would bag allowance be on Leg 1? This starts a very long trip for us, and I hope we can avoid checking bags. However, if we need to or are forced to check bags, are we facing charges as coach passengers?
The best rate I am able to get is 6,033.31 CAD$. any advise on how to get your rate?
Why won’t they be honored?
Is it still up?
@Lucky : Is Alaska the best partner to credit miles for Emirates? I hear award availability on Emirates with Alaska is tough to get these days. Would it be worth crediting to Emirates or any other airline?
Yup, its slightly dead. Price just increased about 2,000 CAD, from when I booked a few hours ago, still a good deal in my opinion. I am glad I booked when I did.
I’m trying for February but keep coming up with $53,000! Bummer. Shows what a great deal you’re getting.
DEAD!
Lucky, thanks for the post. Just booked two seats out of YYZ for CAD3700. If these fares are honored, could you please do a post on how to book the free hotel included with a laaover.
Thank you very much!
Booked this earlier over July 4 with the YVR-LAX segment a week prior to get it out of the way. Absolutely fantastic.
Do you think they will honor these fares? I booked several. What a waste of time if they don't....
It’s dead. Had it priced correctly for 3 dates on yyz-dxb-mxp. Changed dates again to optmize my itinerary, and it jumped to CAD $5510. I now get that price for all dates.
Bummer.
Lucky,
I tried then with no stopover in Dubai but still 6000 CAD. Maybe it is dead, as kevincure suggests?
Even if so, it was fun to try. Enjoy your own booking.
Looks dead to me as well. 5561 for YYZ-MXP return
@Todd -- I was getting the same error earlier, but I think what you might be running into is an issue where even though the dates seem correct (i.e. they are chronological), you may not be giving enough buffer due to the time change and travel time. If you book your LA to Dubai on 4/1 as an example, the earliest you could do your Dubai to Milan would be 4/3. If you tried with...
@Todd -- I was getting the same error earlier, but I think what you might be running into is an issue where even though the dates seem correct (i.e. they are chronological), you may not be giving enough buffer due to the time change and travel time. If you book your LA to Dubai on 4/1 as an example, the earliest you could do your Dubai to Milan would be 4/3. If you tried with 4/2, you would continue to get that error since you essentially lose a day traveling east (and there are no available flights past the time you arrive on 4/2). Hopefully that helps! I just booked my trip about two hours ago.
It appears to be dead. YYZ-MAA coming in a 7600 CAD now; to MXP more in the 5700 range return. Bummer. I was playing with dates and can't get it to repopulate at the old prices anymore.
Lucky,
I tried with 8 days in Dubai on the outbound but got 6000 CAD instead of 4000. Does your fare requires no stopover in Dubai?
Thanks.
Ben, would an infant be charged at 10% of the $3k fare or the full F fare?
I’m trying to find Toronto to Milan, been trying for a while but still can’t find fare, kept saying sorry we were unable to price the requested flight, please choose different dates and try again.
I'm seeing "Frequent Flyer Number: Not Applicable" on the final screen before booking, even after giving the system my Alaska Airlines FF number. Can I trust that it'll show up later, and/or add it at the airport?
@ Willem Y Van Eck -- You should have no issues adding it later.
Wound up booking YYZ-DXB-CPT for 4400 each for late june/early july on the return. Beyond excited and its all because of you posting about this lucky so thank you!!!
@Beachfan
I'm with you.
Meh, gave up on Calgary and found a schedule through Vancouver that I liked. I never pull the trigger on these things so very happy I booked this one :)
I can't believe I just booked this, hopefully it's not a mistake fare. Going to spend two weeks in Dubai, then a week in Milan, then another two weeks in the UAE. AND FOUR segments in Emirates A380 First Class. However my fare was about $50 higher, but still well worth it. I absolutely can not wait for these flights.
Gotcha, I'll give it a try :) Cheers!
4+ hours and no confirmation email yet. Have you guys received confirms for bookings?
@ WhatWdJamesDo -- I got a confirmation email just a minute after booking. Are you sure you entered the right email? If you log into the itinerary on Emirates' website you should be able to double check.
I tried SFO and LAX, trying ORD now...
@ zymm -- WestJet doesn't fly from Calgary to SFO or ORD nonstop, so that might be the problem. Try LAX again, but make sure you leave a layover of at least one night there.
@Boco--Unlike yesterday's AF fare, a $3k+ roundtrip fare—while a really good deal— is not out of the realm of possibility. The PEN-YVR F fare from last year comes to mind.
Also, I do see a published advanced purchase fare on EF with the same terms and conditions (published 19 Dec, so yesterday) for for ~US$3700. So, my bet is that this is honored.
Can't seem to make it work for Calgary :(
Maybe just need to play around a bit more...
@ zymm -- What gateway are you trying to route through?
Couldn’t you have booked it to Brussels or Geneva for the 77w first class or does the price change
@ Jony -- The fare is only valid to Milan, and not to Brussels or Geneva. Trust me, I checked. ;)
Darn. I don’t remember if you posted but are you booked for the new first class?
@ Jony -- No new first class on the A380, unfortunately.
@lucky I take it you won’t be staying at the Galia then?
@ K4 -- I haven't decided yet, but appreciate the recommendation and will consider it. Thanks!
I could see this being rescinded, especially since this is not a publicized sale. You basically have to force feed the itinerary into the advance routing section. Having said that, hopefully Emirates doesn't pull the plug.
Any chance EK will pull this as an error fare?
Booked here too. This is a phenomenal deal considering the value of the AS miles once you get them. Even without MVP status you'll get 75,000 or so AS miles which is a one-way first class ticket on Cathay!
To wit -- an LAX-DXB first redemption by itself on Emirates would cost you 247,000 EK miles, $1600 in taxes/fees, and you'd earn no miles. Simply incredible.
To the folks that had pricing issues, I was...
Booked here too. This is a phenomenal deal considering the value of the AS miles once you get them. Even without MVP status you'll get 75,000 or so AS miles which is a one-way first class ticket on Cathay!
To wit -- an LAX-DXB first redemption by itself on Emirates would cost you 247,000 EK miles, $1600 in taxes/fees, and you'd earn no miles. Simply incredible.
To the folks that had pricing issues, I was getting them too until I realized on the last throwaway leg (LAX-YVR for me) my flight was leaving 3 hours before my previous flight from DXB arrived. This is an impossibility and an error makes sense, although the error message from the website could be clearer.
Ok, finally got one to price out.
Thanks all
I'm interested to see if this sticks. Lucky, putting in your exact itinerary but changing MXP for NCE jacks the price up to 56,000CAD. This seems dangerously close to a mistake fare. Fingers crossed for you guys though!
I'm clearly in the minority who thinks 40 hours to get from Seattle to Milan in Emirates F is worse than 12 hours on the same route in a high quality business class seat.
Lucky, can you getaway with skipping the first leg and just starting from lax? You still pay for the canadian leg but skip the first flight and start from lax. Would emirates know?
@ Gene -- Nope, your other segments will be canceled if you skip the first segment.
@Todd--Make sure that there are two days between the LAX-DXB and DXB-MXP segments. EK will give you options that are physically impossible and then give you that exact pricing error.
@Andrew - Thanks!
Just booked from YYZ (east coast based) for July!!!
@Andrew - Thanks.
I cannot, for the life of me, get anything to price out through YVR LAX.
I've done as suggested but simply cannot get past the error:
Warning:
Sorry, we were unable to price the requested flight. Please choose different dates and try again.
All segments are in chronological order and I have 7 days between outbound from LAX and the return from DXB.
@ Todd -- You're choosing economy for the WestJet segment, and it's marketed and operated by WestJet, meaning the choice you select shows the picture of a WestJet plane tail?
For a multi-airline itinerary like this, is it feasible to switch the frequent flyer number mid-itinerary? That is, could you credit the YVR-LAX WestJet flight to American/Delta, and then -- after taking that flight but before departing LAX-DXB -- update the frequent flyer on the itinerary to Alaska? (It'd be nice to credit the WestJet flight somewhere, though I wouldn't want to do so at the risk of missing the Alaska miles for the long Emirates flights.)
@ Andy -- Yes, that should be totally fine.
Just booked YYC-JFK-DXB-MXP-DXB-JFK-YYC for the July 4th weekend for $3300! Thank you, Lucky!
any idea what the rules on chauffeur service is? Would it only work in this case in YVR? Or does it work only from the EK gateway in this case LAX?
@ Stewart -- You get it at the Emirates gateways. In the case of my ticket I was offered it on arrival and departure at LAX and MXP (and that's despite the fact that I'm booked to connect same day LAX-YVR).
for those of you thinking of doing YVR...pride is Sunday 5AUG, and you can pick up the LAX-DXB-MXP flights even a month later!
@Lucky I was able to get it to price out by messing with the dates, is it only to Milan or would LHR be possible?
@ William W -- This fare is only to Milan.
@AP--Make sure your dates are correct. EK will show you options that are impossible and then you'll get a pricing error. There should be at minimum two calendar days between the LAX-DXB and DXB-MXP segments. There also needs to be 7 days between the outbound and inbound transatlantic segments.
It's an even BETTER deal if you figure that it's a completely legitimate business expense for you and for any reader with any business reason to visit Milan. Assuming you pay taxes that's a discount, off the top, of 25 to 40%!
Doesn't appear YYZ to DXB to MXP to JFK to YYC (Westjet) will work at the discounted rate. Looks like you have to fly back through Dubai.
Yea its not working...would def pay a couple bucks for some help here just to be sure
@willem no luck through SF...I tried many combo's thru SF but couldn't get any to price out; swap SFO with LAX and I was able to get the CAD$4K ($3.1K ish USD)
Anyone have luck routing this through SFO instead of LAX? Specifically around 4th of July?
Having a hard time getting it to price out, tried with Chrome and Safari, would be willing to pay a few bucks for someone to help me.
@ William W -- Are you getting an error message, or is the price just wrong?
argh keep going back and forth on this. And since the flight originates in Canada, I don't believe it's subject to the free 24 hour cancellation policy that the US gives and I don't see anywhere on Emirates' website that says they'd give 24 hours to cancel. Cancellation cost is $600 CAD so if I'md oing this, I would really have to jump all in on this.
@ Lucky- thanks for the YVR layover tip, also I was super excited to see EK publishes their schedule all the way through Thanksgiving, but the bummer is WestJet is only out through 15NOV 2018...bummer. I have marked it on my calendar to check again on 31DEC! Doubt it will last that long though!
@lucky The SPG Excecior Hotel Galia is an amazing Hotel, please try it on your way through Milan.
Also as for while you’re in Dubai, I recommend Jumeirah Al Naseem as a new place you haven’t reviewed yet.
Will it be the new first class?
@ Steve Hall -- Nope, that's only available on select flights to Brussels, Geneva, and London Stansted.
So even if I don't take the last LAX to Vancouver flight, I'll still be credited for all the emirates miles?
@ Sean -- Correct.
In for two next Feb!
@Todd @Lucky
AFAIK, there is a 7-night minimum stay from the date of the outbound transatlantic sector. So while you don't have to stay in MXP for 7 nights, you do have to make sure there are 7 days between your XXX-DXB and DXB-XXX segments.
@Lucky, have fun!
@Lucky, BOOKED! Thanks for the browser recommendation (I keep forgetting about this option)! Used firefox and the booking went through straightway, on the dates I actually preferred. No worries, not the same dates as yours (tempted as that was). Cheers again :)
@ Help -- Happy to hear, have a great trip! And for what it's worth, those weren't my real dates anyway.
So let's say you complete everything up until you land back in Los Angeles on the return. But then you decide to scrap the last flight back to Vancouver because you want to stay in LA. Will you still be credited for everything you have completed or will they wipe it?
@ Peter -- You should still be credited for everything. It's not like you could credit a WestJet flight to Alaska anyway.
If I could earn around 2300USD back I'd get on this and I'd be positioning from the UK !!
Our Amex Platinum doesn't give anywhere near as good points earning (or signups).
I'm One World Emerald (Qatar Platinum) but doubt that'd get me any status multiple on the miles either :-(
Enjoy.
Does it only price out at that rate with a week stop in MXP?
@ Todd -- Nope, you should be able to do shorter as well, best I can tell.
Gotta be careful with "rebate" math. Your out-of-pocket costs are $3K and that doesn't change. What you are getting for $3K is a nice first class journey + miles to be used on a future trip. .. but your out of pocket costs are still $3K for this trip.
@ Ryan -- You're of course right and I'm not arguing that. But for me miles are very much a currency. I've bought Alaska miles in the past at around two cents each, so this is a very real return to me, given that I put a value to just about every single mile. So yes, it's more of a "mail in rebate" discount than a straight discount at the time of purchase, but based on how I value these currencies, I feel the math is justifiable.
What am I doing wrong? Even though I follow every step of the booking as per Ben, they still cannot quote the price. Apparently my dates are wrong. Then I change the dates, and they still are unable to provide price because of the dates. Again do the exact same dates and class search as per the demo above... still nothing! Help, please...
@ Help -- Maybe try closing the browser and open a new browser and try again? There are so many steps, so it could be that you just selected one wrong flight somewhere along the way.
There's been way too many first class deals this week. I (and my wallet) are exhausted.
How many Alaska EQMs are you earning?
@ Evan -- It should be just over 30,000 Alaska EQMs.
If it can be taken before the end of the year and someone is 20,000 miles or so short of the 90K needed on partner airlines for gold 75K, there's the added bonus of 50,000 Alaska miles for reaching Gold 75.
Mileage run!
Excellent find! And you are right to figure out the real cost of the flight the way you did - and I do. I'd even say you made a profit in that 70K AS MP miles will get you a one-way QF F ticket worth about $8,000 if you start say from SEA via LAX to MEL or SYD. So, really you score $7000 to the good!
My boyfriend and I booked it for Sept and we are already excited and can’t wait. Thanks Ben for letting us know about this.
You clearly don't have a real job.
Only semi-related, but IHG is opening a nice-looking Indigo hotel in Milan that's only 30k points per night. It could be a useful redemption for anyone who wants to spend a couple days in Milan in between flights.
Enjoy.