[Anonymous]

[Capetown2k]

afternoon all

does any one have any views on spending miles on skywards, i will be building up a lot of miles can i

get seats in first on miles on a regular basis (easier than BA )

book seats in other peoples names

any other help will be gratefully received

thanks in advance

[SimonS1]

If it helps I have been Skywards Gold for some years.

It’s always been relatively easy to secure upgrades using miles, however that is clearly subject to routes, timings etc and there are no hard and fast rules. Bear in mind EK that has 8 flights daily from London, 6 of which are on A380 (or will be from March when LGW launches) so there is plenty of capacity and the good thing is with EK route network you can get pretty much anywhere to the east quite easily via Dubai.

The Middle East also has it’s own timing hotspots, for example Ramadan, Eid etc which can be challenging.

The other thing to bear in mind is EK has a tie up with Easyjet for spending miles. Always easy to get seats this way, personally it works for me as I live near LGW, rarely bother with business class in Europe and find that the EZY network and modern fleet works fine for what I need. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea however it’s fine for me.

The lounges in Dubai and LGW are good, however when things go wrong like most airlines EK can be caught out.

I’ve never tried booking on codeshares with QF, however I would imagine that’s another option.

[Capetown2k]

thank you simon

i am only 5 miles from MAN

so route would be man to dubai in first. would be after full miles tickets and the odd bus to first upgrade

can i book in other peoples names

thanks
again

[esselle]

I am also Skywards Gold and echo SimonS1’s comments.

The upgrade process using the EK website is very simple indeed, and, even if it initially tells you there is no availability, it is worth checking back the nearer I get to your date of travel, as things often change.

God luck!

[Raffles99]

Yes, you can book for anyone.

Note that Skywards is now an Amex Membership Rewards partner so you can knock up the miles quickly. 20,000 for getting free Amex Gold, 30,000 for Amex Platinum etc.

Note the quirks in Skywards.

At cheap ‘saver’ level you cannot book one way redemptions. This means you can’t mix and match EK one way with BA or Virgin the other.

‘flex’ level has outstanding availability. I got 4 Business Class on an A380 over Easter and at super-peak October half term with no issues, I could virtually have any plane. However, Flex is pricey – 500,000 miles for 4 of us and you still pay £500 per person taxes.

[Capetown2k]

thanks a lot

my trips are going to be on EK only man to dubai then cape town and hong kong so no single journeys

ive just got the EK elite Credit card so will clock up the miles

do most of the 777300ER have suites fitted in first as cape town used to be hit and miss

thanks again

[esselle]

I believe all the 773s are fitted with suites.

[SwissExPat]

I’ve even used points in the lounge to go J to F on EK…. Even though the websites said no only 30 mins before!

I have also gone F to J on the plane! I downgraded from F when I got on board since the advertised cabins were not there only a 2-2-2 config. I had checked in advance that the private cabins would be there but they were not. All very painless and I got all my points back…. Glad I was not paying cash!

[Author]

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