[Cleancabinair]

Emirates Paid Seat Selections and Equipment Changes

This might be of interest to your readers as it may have happened to a number of Emirates of passengers in recent weeks due to their policy change with regards to ‘paid’ seats and aircraft equipment changes.

FYI I am a Skywards Silver Member (until November) so my seat selection is still free after the change in policy on EK seat selection.

Recently I booked a flight for myself(one booking) and for my wife, daughter and future son-in-law (another booking) with Emirates for the following itinerary: LHR-DXB-SIN then ‘open jaw’ return BKK-DXB-LHR.
9/9/17 EK 2 LHR to DXB
11/9/17 EK 404 DXB to SIN
20/9/17 EK 377 BKK to DXB
23/9/17 EK 031 DXB to LHR
This was done in June 2017 and all confirmed as being AB 380 aircraft. Thus I selected my seats for all the flights as being 48D.

However in checking something on my booking in mid-July I noticed that the equipment had changed on EK 377 from the AB380 to B777-200 LR. I have no problem with that as airlines have to change equipment on a regular basis for ‘operational requirements’!

However it immediately posed 2 questions for me:-
1. Is the airline not obliged legally to send the passenger(s) a notice of the aircraft change as soon as they know when it occurs? (Emirates had in the week sent a notice to me that the EK2 had a changed departure time from 14.15 to 14.20?)
2. As I had pre-selected seat 49D on the AB380, I then checked the B777-300ER configuration which reflected that the seat was the last row in the aircraft next to the toilets! I cannot think of a worse seat ! So when were Emirates going to tell me that the aircraft type had changed and with it the seat position?

‘Officially’ I was not told by an Emirates official that the flight had changed until I was checking in at BKK on the 20thSept. !

As I realised the aircraft type had changed on my own research I changed my seat on the B777 to 19D to ensure that I had a decent seat.

When I complained to Customer Affairs that I had noted the equipment had changed but had not been officially informed of the change, I was a bit taken aback by their response which I have attached for your comments?

“[email protected]
Sun 06/08/2017, 06:42
You;

Dear
Thanks for your reply.
As previously informed, my colleague has also shared your feedback on notification of changes with our Customer Experience Team which will be reviewed internally.
I see that you expect us to send you notification for change in aircraft type as a courtesy, but it’s not sent to customers because the aircraft version is not guaranteed and may change anytime for operational reasons, sometimes even hours before flight departure.
Please let me know if you have any other query.
Regards,
Soumya Rajesh
Emirates Airline

The tone & attitude that seems to be reflected in this note is not one of apology for Emirates’s oversight, but rather one that I seem to be ‘entitled’ that I should expect to be told of the changes!

My wife who lost her Silver status on the 1st September, checked her seat selection a week before we flew to find that Emirates had deleted her seat requests that she originally requested as a Silver member. However Emirates did not feel obliged to send a message to her to say that her seat bookings had been removed !! Complete callous arrogance on behalf of Emirates!!

Lastly it begs the question what happens to the money that the respective passengers paid for their selected seats (under the new Emirates policy for their seats) due to any changes at the request of cabin crew for families, disabled px etc, on board at the last moment?

It seems that the usual ‘heavy handedness’ of Emirates needs to change!

The cost of reserving seats for a pax especially on multi-sector flights could be very expensive if travelling to the end of the line such as Auckland from London where the aircraft may transit or require change of aircraft in at least one if not 2 stops ! It then become an exercise to see if it is cheaper to buy the more expensive but more flexible beneficial ticket on Emirates. No doubt this is behind the revenue/marketing groups thinking in optimising revenues!

[AMcWhirter]

Some information we have published about Emirates’ policy of charging for advance seat selection.

Emirates originally introduced this policy in October 2016.

Emirates introduces extra fees for seat selection

And in August 2017 its policy was quietly extended.

Emirates extends paid-for seat selection policy

[capetonianm]

Sooner or later, and I fervently hope that it’s sooner, Emirates will fall from grace and people will stop flying with them and will see through the massive and evil confidence trick that is Emirates and Dubai.

[SimonS1]

Frustrating but EK has never been good at customer service.

Very poor that you were not advised of the change of aircraft. However re your wife’s booking I can see both sides of it – presumably she knew her silver card was expiring? EK is not the only airline to sweep reservations like that.

I don’t agree with Capetonian though, on many routes they provide a very acceptable means of transport.

[capetonianm]

on many routes they provide a very acceptable means of transport.

That’s perfectly true, and it’s ideal for people who want the cheapest possible flight and who have absolutely zero social conscience and are prepared to overlook the totally immoral and hypocritical way in which the airline and the Emirate itself are run.

From that perspective plenty of people find it one of the world’s best airlines. That’s fine because it keeps them off the airlines that I choose and prefer to travel on.

[ViajeroUK]

I have always avoided EK. I was due to fly KLM to CGK, my connecting flight from BHX to AMS was cancelled at short notice, KLM very pro-actively suggested that best option to avoid weather issues in AMS was to swap to EK for my journey to CGK. As time was limited I accepted this, both legs of the trip were 773, first leg they could not offer either of the red wines on the wine list because they “had no way to open the bottles”!! the only red they could offer was a mediocre quarter bottle from Y cabin, not impressed. Seating and angle lie flat bed were not that comfortable either.

Certainly reinforced my desire not to choose EK for any future flights, looking forward to the comfort of KLM for my return flight.

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=832287]

on many routes they provide a very acceptable means of transport.

That’s perfectly true, and it’s ideal for people who want the cheapest possible flight and who have absolutely zero social conscience and are prepared to overlook the totally immoral and hypocritical way in which the airline and the Emirate itself are run.
From that perspective plenty of people find it one of the world’s best airlines. That’s fine because it keeps them off the airlines that I choose and prefer to travel on.
[/quote]

?? I do love a good rant. I suppose I could use BA or SAA but I’m not that desperate…

[capetonianm]

Rant? You think that’s a rant! Don’t get me started.

I’d have to be really desperate to travel on Emirates. SA or BA, inconsistent and patchy as they both are, are infinitely preferable. As it is, I normally use KL, LH, LX, WK and sometimes BA as logistically it is sometimes the best choice and when I get a cheap C class, or even W, fare on BA I grin and bear it.

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=832380]Rant? You think that’s a rant! Don’t get me started.
[/quote]

Don’t worry. I knew I only had to dangle the carrot.

The Dubai thing was done to death on another thread only a couple of weeks ago so no need for you to give us the chorus this time.

[Ekond222]

SimonS1 – very funny – that certainly made me chuckle…

[MartynSinclair]

Are there any airlines that email passengers when an aircraft change causes a seat change?

[LuganoPirate]

[quote quote=832469]Are there any airlines that email passengers when an aircraft change causes a seat change?
[/quote]

Not an aircraft change, but flying Swiss economy in Europe, I’d booked two rows behind business class. I was moved as they increased the number of rows in Business class and I received a text the morning of the flight informing me.

[capetonianm]

EasyJet always email when there’s an equipment change which may affect seating, even though it’s normally only the last few rows which may be affected.

[CathayLoyalist2]

Any business doesn’t have to do anything beyond providing the basic product or service they purport to do. Customer Service in some companies is in fact lip service
because the company commands a place in the market where say a cheap fare/price overrides the moral indignation of employees treated badly or a lack of service. The recent Ryanair debacle will see some short term pain but people will fly come back to them again and again. Other companies go to great lengths to raise the customer bar continually the Amex Plat Card customer service team being a case in point. Ultimately it is the person in the CEO chair who is either customer orientated or is not. In today’s technology age an email advising any change is easily done if they can be bothered.

[LuganoPirate]

As a mater of principle, I think if you had status allowing you to choose seats for free, and that status expires before the flight itself, then the airline should honour the seat choice, as they should know when the status expires and could have refused it at the time of booking.

[Author]

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