Emirates Skywards Programme......How I Use It.

theblether · July 3, 2012

Following up from the Emirates Business Class thread, I thought I would give a practical guide as to how I use the Emirates Skywards programme, with tips and tricks as to how to get the best out of it.

This will not be an exhaustive list of benefits, Skywards.com will tell you all that, however it should give some guide as to use the programme to the best benefit. For those of you that don't know, I'm Scottish, I live in Glasgow, and I travel to Asia and beyond four or five times a year.

No doubt there will be plenty of additional tips ( and moans ) from fellow travelers however the best I can do is tell you as I find it, if you get one tip out of this which assists you then it makes the topic worth it.

As in everything in life, you learn from experience, and I have made mistakes with the programme in the past.......so let's go.

Okay, go now and register for the Skywards programme, it's free, and you you can register at Skywards.com. You will be awarded Blue status.

Now first of all, the simple task of booking the flight. I've developed a cunning ruse that some of you will enjoy.

Quidco.co.uk are a voucher code company, right now the voucher code gives you 1.25% cash back on all flights, and any flight booked in the UK for July will return an additional £25.00 bonus. Just go to quidco, key in Emirates, and look for the current offer. For nationals of other countries, search your own voucher code websites. Quidco will transfer you through to Emirates, when you get to the Emirates site sign in using your Skywards number. Search the flight options and book the flight that suits you.

Okay, that gives you a nice little discount on the price, here's the cunning bit. When you book the flight, take the bank transfer payment option, don't pay by credit card or debit card. The system will tell you that you have 72 hours to pay, that is a lie. You have 14 days to pay. What's the benefit?

I have seen some seriously dramatic price fluctuations on Emirates, I was disappointed to see that the flight that suited me best ( I'm flying to Bangkok from Glasgow on the 19th of this month ), was priced at £972, however I booked it and waited, 2 days later it went to £1070 and I thought <deleted>? then I waited another three days and the price came down to £876.

I booked the flight at the £876 price, then I cancelled the £972 flight. Note, I booked the £876 price first then I cancelled the £972 flight. Why? Beware of system glitches on the Emirates website, last year I had a flight reserved to Singapore for £732, I noticed a flight at £672, I cancelled the first one, went through the booking system, then got glitched out. By the time I got through the system again, I had lost the £672 price, and the new price was £772.

That seriously offended my Scottish sensibilities, anyway, I refreshed the hell out of that website for about two hours and by good fortune the £672 price showed up again. Don't rely upon that happening, it's rare.

So tip one, book through quidco, click on the pay via bank transfer option, at this point don't pay, and keep an eye on the price for a few days, just in case you see a better offer.

What to be aware of........you will get a demand email after 3 days warning that your flight will be cancelled if you don't pay immediately. Ignore it, leave it another couple of days, and if you decide you want to proceed with the booking, do this cunning little thing. Check the flight price one more time, if you get the same offer, book it by credit card or debit card, then cancel the "bank transfer" flight.

Obviously, if the flight has shot up in price, you will have to proceed with the "bank transfer" flight, so call your local Emirates office and tell them that your bank payment has been returned. They will notify the Dubai payment processing office on your behalf, and there is no way your flight will be cancelled from under your feet. Then proceed to send the bank transfer. Clever boy huh??

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Okay, you're now a Skywards Blue member, your booking is confirmed and paid for. Sign into Emirates and click on manage your bookings. Use seatguru.com, which will give you advice on the best seat based upon the aircraft you are flying with, and select the seat best for you.

I also suggest you select a meal from the drop down list, why? If you special order a meal you will be served first, and you will be finished your meal way before the service has completed for the rest of the cabin on an averagely busy flight. Hand your tray to the attendant, or take it to the galley.

This has the benefit of allowing you to relax and not be entrapped by your tray for an hour, as can often happen in any economy class flight. It winds me up being trapped by that goddam tray, so I want it gone right away.

The right to select your own meal and seat is available to all Skywards Blue members, I say use it.

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Okay, 24 hours before your flight you can check in online, do it.

Even as a Skywards Blue member, you can skip the line at the airport and go straight to the online check in queue. This benefit is so easy to achieve, and so useful, it's crazy not to use it.

Remember, check in online, and when you get to the airport, head straight for the online check in queue.

I never, and I mean, never print off tickets for flights with Emirates, I have flown with them about 40 odd times and it's never been a problem yet. I merely hand my passport over and hey presto, the ticket is handed to me.

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I'm a Chiang Mai regular, Emirates have a code share arrangement with Thai Airways, when I check in to Glasgow it's always 26 hours before my connecting flight from BKK to CM. That creates a minor problem, what I do is I check my baggage in all the way to CM, and when I was a Skywards Blue member I would wander up to the Emirates Customer Service Desk at Dubai and get them to issue my ongoing ticket with Thai Airways. You will find a bank of customer service personnel at the terminal before you clear security in Dubai. It's never that busy at this point, so use the pre-security desk rather than the main hall desk. Now that I'm a Gold member I get the people at the Business Lounge reception to do it for me. Thai airways also have a customer service desk at Terminal 1.

The biggest single benefit? I never have to clear immigration at that mad house immigration hall at Swampy. I wander down the deserted corridors to the domestic transfer desk, normally give the girl there a heart attack as it's so quiet down there she's not used to seeing passengers, so when one turns up it's a shock development for her.

I think most of you would agree that anything that prevents you having to traverse that ( often, not always ) hell hole at Swampy Immigration is a good thing. Now that most of the low cost carriers are relocating to Don Muang, it makes it even more worthwhile doing this.

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Okay, I'm not going to go through all the benefits of the Skywards programme, that's what the website is for. I will tell you that the Skywards miles you earn are valid for 3 years, however you won't generate much of value when you are flying at the Blue level. There is a facility called "What Can I Do Today" on the Skywards website, that will tell you what, if any, flights or upgrades you can get.

As a Skywards Blue member, there are no lounge facilities available at Dubai. Dubai airport is now far too busy, and the people travelling through it have apparently signed a contract to be the noisiest and most ignorant passengers in the World. The bars are expensive, ridiculously so. There's a substantial sized MacDonalds which is fairly priced, otherwise expect to feel a bit fleeced at Dubai. Get your duty free shopping done, get fed, and get to your gate asap. I jest you not, take earplugs with you too. I have been in many airports and by far and away the noisiest is Dubai.

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Emirates allow you ( encourage you ) to take a stop over in Dubai, they won't charge you any extra for taking the stop over, if your travelling economy in particular you will find that the best prices come with the longest stop overs. Have a look at the stop over length, and work out if it would be worth your while spending an overnight in Dubai. Dubai hotels are not all expensive. You can get hotels for £30-£40 per night, so rather than hang about the airport, have a look at staying in a Dubai hotel and go have a look a the sights.

The free stop over is only available on one leg of the flight, if you want to stop over both directions it will cost you extra, I believe it's £75.00.

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Okay, a brief explanation of Skywards miles, Skywards miles are like air miles, they are for spending on free flights, upgrades, on the Emirates High Street shopping portal etc. Remember you get to keep them for three years before they expire.

The key to Skywards are Tier miles, Tier Miles are the bain of my life, I am constantly balancing the amount I pay for flights with my need for maintaining tier miles. To get to Skywards Silver status you need 25,000 tier miles. That status must be achieved within one calendar year. People flying from the Americas to BKK will find that two flights within a calendar year will most likely qualify them for Silver status. Realistically you would need 3 flights a year from the UK and Europe.

Let me explain, the cheapest flights are called saver flights, they generate 6,000 tier miles from the UK to BKK. By definition, you would need to fly 5 times within any rolling 1 year period to gain Silver status. Some people do that.

If you look at the Emirates you will find that flex flights offer more tier miles, on a flex flight you can expect to generate between 9,000 to 12,000 tier miles, so obviously you need less flights to qualify for silver status. Flex flights tend to have shorter changeover times at Dubai, and for me, they have one more key benefit. I often change my return flight date, ( and I mean often ) with a flex fare that is no problem, and the fee for changing is only £75.00. If your return flight is at a higher rate then you will have to pay extra for that too. That's only happened to me once, when I had to change a flight date from Shanghai to Glasgow, it cost me the £75.00 change fee plus an extra £60.00 as I was flying back on an more expensive day.

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Let me explain the benefit of a flex fare in practical terms, I was in Chiang Mai last year with my father, he took ill, was given treatment, and the treatment didn't work. At 3.30pm he asked me to get him home, I phoned Emirates UK, they booked the next available flight for me at 01.25 hours at Swampy, and told me to pay the fee of £150.00 at Swampy, ( 2 x £75.00 ), once done, I booked an AirAsia flight to BKK, turned up at the Emirates desk, handed over my credit card, and my Dad was home in Glasgow by 12.00pm. When things go wrong, that's what you call service.

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Okay, let's go back to Silver status, when you get silver status you get priority check in, a higher baggage allowance, and a 25% on your Skywards miles. You will now start to see your miles pile up, and you can use your miles to upgrade your flight to business class. I will be addressing the upgrade tips when I come to the Gold band.

You can now use the Silver lounge at Dubai airport, it's located by gate 122, in terminal one. It's a fair walk down there, so skip away from the main concourse at Dubai airport, go down the outside channel and take the travelator. That way you avoid the people dedicated to winding you up, ie, other passengers.

Now your starting to see the benefit of the Skywards programme, all food, and alcohol, in the Silver lounge is free of charge. The seats are comfortable, there are plenty of newspapers and magazines to read, and plenty of PC's available so you can catch up. There are two levels to this lounge, if you want to rest, make your way upstairs and go as far to the left as you can. This is easily the quietest spot you will find, on a long stopover get your head down here.

There are showers available in this lounge, again also free. It's an excellent feeling to go in for a shower just before your next flight, and I never miss it. You get a basic toiletries bag with Colgate, a toothbrush, a rip your face off blade and a small Gillette shaving foam here. Take your own blade with you, otherwise it's more than adequate and a great feeling to freshen up.

On the way out of the door, don't forget to stock up with copies of Newsweek, the Economist and various other weeklies. They can be pricey in Thailand, so get then free here, and they are a handy little read.

This may sound strange, I prefer this lounge to the main business lounge in Dubai, I'll tell you why in a minute.

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My next post will deal with Valhalla, Emirates Gold Status.

theblether · July 3, 2012

Okay, Valhalla, Gold Status.

You must gain 50,000 tier miles in any given rolling 12 month period to gain Gold Status. That's what it tells you on the website, here's the first tip. You will be granted an extension of up to two months so that you can maintain your status

My 12 month Gold status lapsed on 30 April, I was granted an automatic two month extension till 30 June. Knowing that I would n't be flying again till July, I retained plenty of Skywards miles and I have booked a free upgrade to BKK from Glasgow in Business Class using the miles. That cost me 52,500 tier miles.

The way it works in my case, I need 5,000 miles before the end of July to regain Gold Status, I'll get that when I fly out on 19 July, so by the time I fly back to the UK I will revert to Gold. So I'm getting an upgrade to Business and regaining Gold status on the same flight.

Here's a little tip for you, try to upgrade on A380 flights, you can access the stand up bar in the upper deck area, and that makes your flight, well, fly in. .

Okay, outwith this flight, I never ever,never!! use my miles to upgrade to Business, I would say that I get a free upgrade about 50% of the time. In the deepest darkest recesses of Dubai airport, there is a processing department who look at the flight manifests of every flight. Gold members will be upgraded if economy overbooks. That happens a lot, much to my pleasure.

Always have your Gold card with you, even when you check in, don't worry if you are not upgraded, it may well happen to at the Gate ( I've been upgraded at the gate 3 times in the last year, including one time to First Class ). You must have your Gold card with you though for this reason.

If you get on board and the flight is busy, you can still upgrade. Ask the hostess and the Purser will do a quick check on your mileage, if you have enough and there is space in business, then you will get it. No card = no upgrade, so carry it with you.

I don't upgrade if I can get two seats to myself, I'm happy with that, that's my personal choice. I find Emirates economy, especially on the A380, to be more than adequate, especially of I have two seats. So here's the next tip.

When you get to the gate, Gold members are called forward with the Business Class passengers, get on the flight right away, get to your seat, and introduce yourself to the hostess. She knows your Gold as your on first, and she will very often re-arrange passengers to get you two seats together, or if she can see that there will be two seats together, they are yours. .

notmyself · July 3, 2012

Special meals are available to all passangers, I always choose seafood. Also, if you fly with wheelchair assistance and have a stopover of 2 hours or more you get to use a lounge though I forget which one.

theblether · July 3, 2012

So remember, always have your Gold card with you, and don't worry of you don't get an upgrade at check in.

When you get to this level, the Skywards miles pile up, and hence the ability to upgrade piles up too. Let me take you through a recent flight pattern I did.

Christmas Day, Glasgow to Dubai, free upgrade, Dubai to BKK A380 economy, two seats, three week stopover in Thailand, BKK to Christchurch via Sydney, free upgrade all the way. Return to Glasgow all the way in economy with at least two seats. Easy.

That flight earned me 21,000 tier miles, and a whopping 50% bonus Skywards miles, so 31,500 Skywards miles, which was equivalent to a business class upgrade free of charge.

When you are at Gold status you can access the Emirates lounge network worldwide, and if Emirates don't have an exclusive lounge they often have a deal with another lounge operator. As always, the food and drink in these lounges are free, as well as being more comfortable and offering access to the internet etc. It saves you trailing your laptop about with you. All Emirates exclusive lounges have the shower facility.

I mentioned earlier that I prefer the Silver lounge at gate 122 at Dubai. The main business lounge is severely over capacity, it's nowhere near as relaxing as the Silver lounge, you will often find yourself in a queue for an hour for a shower, and I don't rate the food and service as highly as the Silver lounge. Emirates are aware of the problem, and they are working on building a brand new A380 terminal with a 2200 person business lounge, which will allow some relief to the over crowding in the main lounge just now.

My mobile phoned is recognized by Emirates, when I call them I give a pin number and I'm transferred direct to the Gold travel desk. Nothing is ever a problem, and they are great at helping me through various issues such as flight changes as I mentioned in an earlier post. When you are Gold status you can check in 46 kg of baggage, and carry on 10kg. That is an immense allowance, and for those of you that have been caught out with over limit charges you can see the benefit. I bring back ornaments etc from Thailand that I couldn't justify doing otherwise.

Some people will look at the difference in cost between a saver fare and a flex fare and reckon that the difference is too high. To me. it's far from it in comparison to the benefits you get, the service you get, the extra allowances, and this next little tip.

You will receive the occasional email from Emirates offering you the chance to upgrade at a reduced price, it's usually about £270.00 from Dubai to the UK, or vice versa. When it suits me, I use it. I like to keep my miles in reserve, and I will pay Emirates £270.00 for a business class upgrade any day in the week, especially when it includes me being picked up by a limo and driven to the airport

Life is for living, I'm Scottish, I'm not tight, I'm canny, there's a big difference. I'll pay what I want to pay when I want to pay it..........I can add a fair bit more to this but I'll leave it just now. The posts are not exhaustive, but I hope they have been of help to you, and I look forward to more tips coming forward from other Skywards members.

chas39 · July 3, 2012

Well worth the blether. Thanks very much

endure · July 3, 2012

I'm in the Skywards program and before they altered it a couple of years ago I could get a free upgrade BHX-DXB every 3 years without fail. The alterations meant that with my flying pattern I'm guaranteed to never get an upgrade again. Mind you I can take an extra 10Kg of luggage. I can manage with 20Kg and would much rather have my upgrades back

theblether · July 3, 2012

Yes, apparently the programme was too generous, so they had to cut it back, I feel they cut it back too drastically for existing members such as yourself. It's hard to qualify for Gold now.....Silver can be a stretch too.

endure · July 3, 2012

I never qualified for either. I got my upgrade on blue. Emirates are like Nationwide. They used to be the best. Now they're just the least worst.

notmyself · July 3, 2012

30kg is standard if you are a member or not

endure · July 3, 2012

Before they altered the FF programme the standard in economy was 20kg. After they downgraded the FF programme they upgraded the economy baggage allowance to 30kg.

theblether · July 3, 2012

Oh gawd, I can feel the misery pouring out of that post endure. Tell you what I'll do for you, I'll gift you some miles so you can get an upgrade, let me know when you're within 10,000 miles of a upgrade from Dubai to Brum and I'll give you the rest.

endure · July 3, 2012

No, it's ok. I shall fly in a huff

I have discovered one trick which involves broken legs and walking sticks which is quite useful if rather painful

notmyself · July 3, 2012

Gotcha

theblether · July 3, 2012

Here's an interesting tip for our members who's flight times are more than 8 hours to Dubai with Emirates. Look for flights which are fully booked, then try to book it. Obviously you won't be able to, so if the next flight available results in a long stop over in Dubai, Emirates will put you up in the Millennium Hotel free of charge, and give you vouchers for all meals and snacks.

theblether had a flight time of 8 hours and 5 minutes from Shanghai to Dubai under those circumstances, and got the deal.

I was picked up at the airport by the Millennium Hotel shuttle, taken to the hotel, given 4 meal vouchers, and a room for the night. I then booked the City Tour of Dubai for US$30.00.

So I got a cracking room, shuttles, 4 meals, and a tour of the City for $30.00. I enjoyed the tour but I thought the $30.00 was too much, after all I am Scottish

ps. I pulled that one off through meeting another Emirates passenger in Shanghai, he told me all about it, it pays to talk.

pps. I just remembered he told me Emirates won't offer it to you, you have to demand it. He was right, when I got to customer service in Dubai they argued it out with me until I could prove the previous flight was full, unfortunately for them, I had an email from a Emirates UK telling me it was full so they were beaten.

I also remember the lady saying that it's normally requested by travel agents on behalf of passengers, Emirates are constantly wooing travel agents in seminars, and it's one of the off-book promotions they offer. It's one of the silent nod and wink benefits

notmyself · July 4, 2012

During my flight to the UK late last week an announcement was made promoting Skywards. Said that if people wanted to join the 'club' then they could use the flight we were on to gain the 'airmiles' after the case as it were and if anyone needed additional information they should talk to a member of the flight crew. I asked how long I had to claim and was told at least a couple of months. If anyone is considering joining Skywards and has flown Emirates in the last couple of months then try and get the miles from their previous flight added. I only do one long haul a year (BKK-LHR-BKK) which is nothing but if the miles from the previous trip started its validity period from the date of membership then it could end up as being two return flights in one year. I also plan to visit friends in CHCH very late this year from BKK which should by the sound of it add up to around the silver status. The downside is that it would only work once.... Just a thought.

Badboldie · July 4, 2012

I was a gold member with Emirate and had many free upgrades. When checking in ask if the flight is full. If she says yes, ask for a complementary upgrade, don't wait to be told get in first!

If you want to upgrade using air miles from the UK, dont do it from the airport. I think you will have to pay the extra airport Tax.

Do it on the plane and then there is no tax to pay. I have never done this but was told by staff, so check it first!

I have stopped using them now after the changes in jan 2010 but I have no complaints they were good to me. My partner was only a blue member and i was silver at time. But we both got upgraded to BC at check in at Melbourne to Dubai. I also got buffed off a flight and got a free return flight.

theblether · July 4, 2012

@notmyself, to my recollection, you have 6 months to reclaim flights after joining Skywards. You will need your booking number.

Remember that even though the tier miles fall off every year, the Skywards miles are valid for 3 years, so you can expect over three years to gain at least 18,000 miles. Now that might not sound like much, but Emirate allow you to purchase up to 25,000 miles a year, 25,000 costs US$625. The full cost chart is on Skywards.com.

So even if you have fallen a little short of an upgrade, you can purchase the extra miles and get the benefit of the one's you have accrued. Better that than losing them altogether.

theblether · July 4, 2012

Good point, if you request the upgrade you have to pay the tax, which I believe is £85.00 flying from the UK to Dubai. If you are bumped up by Emirates, you don't pay. That's another nice little saving, and another reason why you let them do the bumping up.

notmyself · July 4, 2012

Just tried to register and the form is buggered. Refuses to accept UK postcode and demands a phone number but no place to enter it.

[Edit] found phone number section

[Edit] left out the space and worked.

dezy1801 · July 4, 2012

When you are coming in to land in Bangkok I always ask for a fast track pass (if they don't give you first) so if there is a queue as more often than not there is at the immigration just proceed to the fast track and breeze through with the pass. From the time the door opens on the plane to the time I'm in the Taxi is normally 15 minutes as I only have hand luggage.

I am a gold card holder and have been for 3 years now and was upgraded to business on my way travel back to Thailand for one year and the travel from Bangkok to Dubai on the way back to work 6 times. This is the time of year the upgrades start to become more frequent with the holidays starting so fingers crossed for free upgrade this Thursday/Friday.

For me by far the best airline frequent flyer programm is Emirates and was previously with KLM and was Platinum with them I think I got about 5 free upgrades in 4 years but have lost count with Emirates.

You can also be upgraded on the plane I have been sitting in my seat when another passenger also has the same seat number, then I have the misfortune of having to gather my belongings to move up to Business class greeted with a nice glass of champagne.

dezy1801 · July 4, 2012

Try the UK site.

notmyself · July 4, 2012

Try wheelchair assistance. Golf cart to immigration then the first desk, any desk, is mine.

notmyself · July 4, 2012

Cheers, sorted now. I have an invite to do a lecture in TX at some stage with all flights paid for. If I time it right I could get a years worth of gold for close to nothing.

timbershifter · July 4, 2012

Thank's for the tips Blether

Cheers

exeter · July 4, 2012

To the blether, you should write a book on this! Well explained but my head hurts

theblether · July 4, 2012

That brings us to another point about Emirates, not Skywards related though.

I flew on the Glasgow-Dubai-Sri Lanka-Singapore route last July. I've pointed out already that Emirates will allow you a free stop over in Dubai on either your outward or return leg. If you want to, you can also stop over in Sri Lanka at a cost of £75.00.

It's a cheap way of getting a multi-centre holiday. Emirates have a few routes you can that with transiting through BKK, I know that they fly through to Hong Kong from BKK, as well as Australia, and from Australia, on to New Zealand.

So my Christmas route this year was fly through to BKK, stopped off there for three weeks, cost of stop over £75.00, then moved through to New Zealand hopping through Sydney, on the way back I stopped off in Sydney for two weeks, another £75.00 stop over fee, then flew home. I think that is good value.

On a side note, Emirates allow you to cancel your flight up to 6 hours before departure, the cancellation fee is £100.00, however it takes about 8 weeks to get your money back. I think that policy is fair enough, there are plenty of airlines that are far more harsh on cancellation policies than that.

marstons · July 4, 2012

I have been using Emirates for about 10 years and have yet to find booking direct anywhere near as chaep as using the sites like Opodo, Kayak etc. i do use skywards as i like to book seats and now use soley the BKK Manchester route as its A380 both legs. book seats 3-4 rows from the front, no engine nosie and a decent area to stretch legs near the stairs. Always by cheapest Emirates flight going and as i have done today changed the date and its £75 if i use it on the 21st. They have gone from being amongst the best to now also ran in cattle class, not even in top ten on Skytrax list. Dubai worst airport ever, hardly any seating, this time 3 hour connection will check into the VIP lounge free with banks credit card being shown. returning air france/klm from birmingham, 1 short flight then 1 long one which i prefer, Emirates lost the edge they had for me.

theblether · July 4, 2012

@marstons, fair comment, I think they have suffered from expanding too fast. The cabin crews can range from the excellent to the dire too. To be fair they tend to be excellent more often than dire.

If your not happy with any aspect of your service on an Emirates flight, as for the customer survey form on board, and tick that you want a response. A friend of mine did that and received an upgrade on his next flight.

No guarantee that will always work, but I can only report as found.

endure · July 4, 2012

I always found that too until this year. I booked a flight through kayak in May and have had an email offer since from Emirates for the same flight which would have saved me £40

theblether · July 4, 2012

Emirates have a best price guarantee.

http://www.emirates.com/uk/english/plan_book/emirates_best_price_guarantee/emirates_best_price_guarantee.aspx

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