Emirates Got To Be Kidding

[freitag1]

I just wanted to extend my half year ticket to a full year and they asked me to pay 450 Euro. I will be even better off if I just forget about this flight and buy a new ticket to Europe and back here in Bangkok. Is that normal? I just want to extend my current half year ticket to a full year ticket and they quote me such prices?

[ovenman]

Is that normal?

It's not uncommon for any airline to do this. There is a fare difference between six-month and one-year tickets. You'll have to pay at least this difference in fares and perhaps a service charge for making changes on top of that.

[freitag1]

I understand that they charge something but the ticket itself was 720 Euro from Munich to BKK and back. Now they basically charge as much as I would pay for a one way ticket and if I would buy a round trip ticket I would actually save money. The cost just seems way too high. A friend did the same and just paid 1000THB to Singapore Airlines for extending the ticket for a year.

[ovenman]

The cost just seems way too high. A friend did the same and just paid 1000THB to Singapore Airlines for extending the ticket for a year.

Are you sure that your friend's circumstances were exactly the same as yours, i.e. that he had a six-month ticket and wanted to extend it to a one-year ticket? One-year return tickets are often expensive. Airlines are hip to the idea of passengers buying a cheap short-term return ticket and then wanted to extend it to a longer period. They generally won't let a passenger "get away" with this.

That said though, it all depends on the fares rules governing the ticket and it will vary from airline to airline. A short while back, I had to walk away from the return portion of an Air France ticket for the same reasons you describe: extending the return portion of the ticket would have been prohibitively expensive and it turned out to be far cheaper to buy a one-way ticket from a consolidator as a replacement.

[freitag1]

Thanks for the info ovenman. I just spoke with an emriates customer service agent in Germany and will get another quote from them in an hour. I don't have enough informations to make an informed judgement but for me all this looks like a ripp off. Why would I have to pay that much just to fly at a later point in time? Anyway, I won't fly with emirates anymore and really get an understanding of terms and conditions of other airline companies before I book my next flight.

Edited February 25, 2008 by freitag1

[PattayaParent]

I depends on the airline policy I reckon.

I've had no problems extending the validity of a ticket on Cathay but the same on BA was a definite no-no so I cashed in the ramaining half of the ticket.

[rak sa_ngop]

I just wanted to extend my half year ticket to a full year and they asked me to pay 450 Euro. I will be even better off if I just forget about this flight and buy a new ticket to Europe and back here in Bangkok. Is that normal? I just want to extend my current half year ticket to a full year ticket and they quote me such prices?

As far as I know Emirates only sells 12 month returns to the UK now with the exception of some low season 2 month returns which were available for a limited period recently.

Expect to pay about 43K baht for your 12 month return. (42,800 on-line price)

[freitag1]

Wow I got crazy news. The guys in Germany told me that they can't reschedule my ticket because I booked it via another online service and they got to do that. So basically what the emirates crooks here in Bangkok tried to do is selling me a one way ticket for this absurd high rescheduling fee. That is pretty f#cked up. So better double check with some local offices back in your homecountry than relying on what those people try to sell you here.

[midas]

Wow I got crazy news. The guys in Germany told me that they can't reschedule my ticket because I booked it via another online service and they got to do that. So basically what the emirates crooks here in Bangkok tried to do is selling me a one way ticket for this absurd high rescheduling fee. That is pretty f#cked up. So better double check with some local offices back in your homecountry than relying on what those people try to sell you here.

I wouldn't fly Emirates if was the last airline available - reminds me of an upmarket budget carrier

[endure]

Who did you buy the ticket from originally (a bucket shop/consolidator?) and what were the terms that you bought it on? Unless it was a full price ticket there are very often charges associated with altering it.

[torrenova]

Storm in a teacup this one. Bloody obvious that you take it back to where you bought it.

As for friends getting different prices then it is all down to the fare codes.

[freitag1]

Its not bloody obvious at all. I can only speak about Germany but this is the first time I booked online and had to reschedule it where I booked it instead of doing this with the airline company directly. I'm just rescheduling my return flight as I'm already in Bangkok.