My experience trying to upgrade to Emirates business class at check-in using Skywards miles
Quick summary
I regularly hear friends and family say they would like to use their points and miles to upgrade to business class, but believe it or not, I have never used my airline points and miles this way. This is because there is usually little guarantee you will be able to secure the seat you actually want.
Some airlines, such as Qantas, operate an upgrade lottery, where you submit your request in advance and may or may not be successful right up until you board the flight. Other airlines may not allow you to upgrade even if there are multiple empty seats in the higher cabin flying out empty.
I remember a frustrating walk through the half-full business-class cabin on a Singapore Airlines flight to my premium economy seat having tried to upgrade numerous times but being repeatedly told there was no availability. Since then, I much prefer to book a confirmed seat outright with points and miles instead of hoping the upgrade gods are smiling at me when I check-in.
Related: How to decide whether to use cash or miles for airline tickets
I recently booked a flight in Emirates economy from London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Dubai International Airport (DXB). With Emirates Skywards miles in my account ready to be redeemed, I decided to do my homework and try to upgrade to business class.
Emirates does provide an option to auto-upgrade some tickets with miles, which you will see in the "Manage My Booking" section of your account. As I understand it, when you choose this option and have sufficient miles in your account, you can select to have your upgrade request automatically processed when a seat becomes available. Unfortunately, my ticket was not eligible for this because additional fees and taxes from the United Kingdom's frustrating Air Passenger Duty (along with the Skywards miles) would be payable if I upgraded.
Related: Flying from the UK is about to get more expensive because of Air Passenger Duty increase
Unable to go the traditional auto-upgrade route, I considered my options for a manual upgrade. No award seats were available in business class for my flight when I booked, before my flight, when I went to check-in or even at the airport when I arrived. If seats had been available, I would have immediately called Skywards to see if the upgrade could be processed on the phone and then paid the miles plus extra taxes on the spot.
From my research, I understand Emirates is very generous in offering every available seat for miles upgrades at airport check-in right through to when the aircraft doors are closed. If a seat is free even when all passengers have boarded, you can seemingly upgrade to it with miles, even on board. I was hoping to be able to confirm an upgrade as early as possible, and my research suggested the best way to do this was to arrive for check-in early and ask staff straight away.
Emirates charges different amounts of Skywards miles to upgrade, depending on which fare class you have purchased. I was flying on a more expensive Flex Plus fare, meaning I would need just 39,000 Skywards miles to upgrade to business class in the A380, which includes fully flat seats, direct aisle access and, most importantly, the elusive Emirates onboard bar that I had still never experienced. This seemed like a great deal.
I monitored the flight loads carefully in the days leading up to the flight using ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG's parent company, Red Ventures). After all, if the flight was full, there wouldn't be any seats to upgrade to.
The flight was showing J5 several days before the flight, meaning there were at least five business-class seats still for sale. The closer it got to the departure date, the more changes began occurring with regard to the number of available seats. The day before the flight, it went down to J2 before ultimately moving back up to J5 as I headed to the airport to check in, which was promising. However, it still showed no regular award seats were available.
Related: How ExpertFlyer helped me score a first class experience of a lifetime
While checking in at Heathrow, I asked politely if it was possible to upgrade with Skywards miles. The friendly agent checked my booking and account and confirmed that while I was eligible to upgrade the fare and had the miles in my account, there was only one business-class seat available for a mileage upgrade, so they would need to wait until the flight closed because that seat needed to remain for sale in the (unlikely) event someone wished to purchase it with cash at the last minute.
With my fingers crossed, I passed through security and positioned myself near the gate, constantly refreshing ExpertFlyer. It showed the flight now at J1 with that one seat still for sale just before the flight closed. I also looked at the seat map a few minutes before the flight closed and could see one unallocated seat on the seat map near the front of the cabin.
In an effort to increase my odds, I asked the desk staff at the Emirates lounge right next to the gate if they could process upgrades. Unfortunately, they insisted it needed to be handled by the gate staff, so I arrived at the gate just as the flight closed 60 minutes before departure. As the agent scanned my boarding pass and checked my passport, I again asked if it was possible to upgrade. He checked his screen, then told me the words I did not want to hear: "I'm sorry, sir. There are 14 first-class seats with 14 passengers checked in, and 76 business-class seats with all 76 passengers checked in. There are no seats free for anyone to upgrade."
So, I boarded the flight and completed the journey in economy. The flight was fine — flying economy on Emirates is decent, and I had a free seat next to me, which made the failed upgrade attempt slightly easier to stomach.
Related: Best ways to redeem Emirates Skywards miles for maximum value
Bottom line
I don't have elite status with Emirates, so I can only assume that the sole upgrade seat I was hoping to grab at the gate was snagged by someone with higher status — or perhaps someone paid cash to upgrade at the last minute.
Looking at the loads for the flight I took over several days, it appeared to consistently hover around J5 but with no award seats available on the day of departure. Ideally, if you can find a flight that has O-class availability consistently available in advance, you should have a much easier experience upgrading than I did.
This was a disappointing but not completely surprising outcome to my upgrade attempt and reinforced my earlier belief that it is much better to book a seat with miles outright in advance instead of praying you'll get lucky with an upgrade. I won't give up on upgrading with Skywards miles again, given I have miles to use, but I'll be much more strategic about how I go about it next time.