Emirates hikes up carrier charges on reward seats

[SOPOOR]

Have we stopped commenting because we have given up? Methinks so.

The game is well and truly over !!
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That's a lot of points to burn
I've been tooo annoyed to work out what to do with my points
Whether I should bite the bullet and treat it like a bucke list first/ last time I'll ever fly in F long haul a380 with emirates

 

[Duffa]

That's a lot of points to burn
I've been tooo annoyed to work out what to do with my points
Whether I should bite the bullet and treat it like a bucke list first/ last time I'll ever fly in F long haul a380 with emirates

Funny that! I did exactly what you said in Feb 2022 and flew to CDG for 10 days on a380 F Emirates with Mrs D. A bit of messing around with tests and vaccine passes but I had seen the writing on the wall with Covid enforced hoarding. I've burnt close to two million in past 6 months. FMD, I might even buy toasters!

 

[Pele]

Funny that! I did exactly what you said in Feb 2022 and flew to CDG for 10 days on a380 F Emirates with Mrs D. A bit of messing around with tests and vaccine passes but I had seen the writing on the wall with Covid enforced hoarding. I've burnt close to two million in past 6 months. FMD, I might even buy toasters!

Also funny for me cause i did the same thing late last year. Burnt almost 1.5 million points on two overseas trips that should occur between October- December 2022. Hoping Japan opens up soon otherwise i will be getting a big refund of worthless points!

 

[sudoer]

Hoping Japan opens up soon otherwise i will be getting a big refund of worthless points!

I have about 1m points riding on 6 x J returns to Japan in October... I feel your pain.

 

[Mattg]

AUD2,218 in taxes & charges on LHR-PER, one-way! What a joke...

 

[Duffa]

Someone needs to take them to court under the trade practices act. There cannot possibly be any terms and conditions that would justify such increases.

 

[jase05]

Someone needs to take them to court under the trade practices act. There cannot possibly be any terms and conditions that would justify such increases.

I don’t like the hike but surely they are entitled to charge whatever they want.
It would probably cost you $10k plus if you wanted to purchase that flight so still a substantial savings

 

[SOPOOR]

I have 400,000 emirates miles that I booked in 2000 that has been refunded

does any one have any suggestions/ideas on spending them without getting completely ripped off

after the first round of increases i was going to blow it on one big flight and just suck up the extra costs as a bucket list experience, but now its getting a silly

I origianlly had HK to DUBAI to EU Return in F on the A380

 

[aikman]

Availability remains low so there's obviously enough people out there that don't mind paying these charges.

Hopefully not but other airlines might be looking on with envy and could follow suit.

 

[jase05]

I have 400,000 emirates miles that I booked in 2000 that has been refunded

does any one have any suggestions/ideas on spending them without getting completely ripped off

after the first round of increases i was going to blow it on one big flight and just suck up the extra costs as a bucket list experience, but now its getting a silly

I origianlly had HK to DUBAI to EU Return in F on the A380

Just do it if it’s on your bucket list. Might be a bit of pain but I’d be more annoyed if I missed the opportunity

 

[Mattg]

Availability remains low so there's obviously enough people out there that don't mind paying these charges.

Hopefully not but other airlines might be looking on with envy and could follow suit.

I don’t think that’s an obvious conclusion. It’s also quite likely that Emirates has been stingy with not releasing seats.

 

[Duffa]

I don’t like the hike but surely they are entitled to charge whatever they want.
It would probably cost you $10k plus if you wanted to purchase that flight so still a substantial savings

I'm all with you on free market but when a company increases it prices by 500% for something their customers have purchased in advance, there might be a learned judge, in some court somewhere, who would look at it?
Petrol retailers for example aren't allowed to charge whatever they want when the ACCC comes sniffing. Similarly with price gouging on Covid tests.
As I said earlier, I'm not too bothered as I spent my points when F taxes were 'only' $450 odd

 

[levelnine]

Petrol retailers for example aren't allowed to charge whatever they want when the ACCC comes sniffing. Similarly with price gouging on Covid tests.

The only reason petrol and COVID tests get any attention from the regulatory authorities is that they are essential items. First class tickets are not.

As I've said many times before, airlines will be watching EK very closely to see how this goes. If EK is still flying full planes, expect others to follow suit.

It really is a genius move from Emirates. Instead of devaluing the part of the airline ticket that is highly visible (the points cost), they devalue the part that is highly invisible because there is no chart of taxes.

I can see this prompting Qatar to hike their taxes even higher, especially because they have a superior J product into/out of Australia, and Qantas being tempted because the market is flooded with points and demand for redemptions is sky high.

 

[jase05]

I'm all with you on free market but when a company increases it prices by 500% for something their customers have purchased in advance, there might be a learned judge, in some court somewhere, who would look at it?
Petrol retailers for example aren't allowed to charge whatever they want when the ACCC comes sniffing. Similarly with price gouging on Covid tests.
As I said earlier, I'm not too bothered as I spent my points when F taxes were 'only' $450 odd

Whilst I don’t like it and I just can’t see how any legal action would even be possible. It’s a very smart move by EK IMO and they will argue that loads are still good. I guess we will see if people start voting with their feet but I suspect I already know the answer to that. Other airlines will be taking note unfortunately

 

[Matt_01]

It’s a very smart move by EK IMO and they will argue that loads are still good. I guess we will see if people start voting with their feet but I suspect I already know the answer to that. Other airlines will be taking note unfortunately

I can see QF jumping on this bandwagon like a rat up a drain pipe. I cannot see how people can really start voting with their feet as once you have points in a particular program you are at the programs mercy.

 

[jase05]

I can see QF jumping on this bandwagon like a rat up a drain pipe. I cannot see how people can really start voting with their feet as once you have points in a particular program you are at the programs mercy.

Going forward I guess I will probably just try to keep my points saved for partners like MH and AY that have far smaller carrier charges

 

[Matt_01]

Going forward I guess I will probably just try to keep my points saved for partners like MH and AY that have far smaller carrier charges

100% agree, travelling on the partner's requires a few more points but this is often offset by the lower taxes/ fuel fines. I have more QF points than I can use in the short term and am happy to use them with the likes of MH and AY. Although the EK taxes/ fuel fines have increased I would most likely travel with them and pony up the extra cash.

 

[SOPOOR]

I noticed that before devaluation , it was 1.33 amex point for 1 mile, after deval or as of today its 2 amex point for 1 mile

i guess now these are virtually worhtless

 

[RooFlyer]

Someone needs to take them to court under the trade practices act. There cannot possibly be any terms and conditions that would justify such increases.

Availability remains low so there's obviously enough people out there that don't mind paying these charges.

Hopefully not but other airlines might be looking on with envy and could follow suit.

Wouldn’t thinking be: “we can still just about fill all of our revenue seats, therefore we don’t have to make award seats available but will give ‘em a few and they can choose to pay through the nose for the privilege, so we don’t actually lose that much.”

I can see QF jumping on this bandwagon like a rat up a drain pipe. I cannot see how people can really start voting with their feet as once you have points in a particular program you are at the programs mercy.

Absolutely. I dare say the only thing holding them back is the **** storm surrounding the airline on all the other fronts at the moment. I’ve got half my Qantas points booking a number of domestic J flights over the rest of this year ( hand luggage only and taking my own meals!) and the others won’t be far behind.

 

[sqrt()]

Yeah the OMAAT article and comments show that it's worldwide. Some EK fifth freedom flights from the US haven't changed apprently.

I think the taxes have increased, but not to a crazy extent. I just booked BOS-JFK-MXP in Y(AA) and F(EK) in November for 115 700 QF points + 123.30USD.