Emirates flight seats

[janieb1962]

Hi

we are on E905a flying Manchester to Dubai. I went to cruise personalise today thinking that maybe seat bookings would be available. Surprised to be informed by P&O that we won’t be able to choose seats until 30days before flying . I know from previous emirates bookings (direct) that you can choose seats at time of booking free of charge . Seems a bit unfair we have to wait until 30 days before flying in my opinion.

I’ve asked P&O if we will be able to do this free of charge when available as you can when booking emirates flights direct.  Anyone else had experience of flight seat bookings  with emirates via  P&O

[zoe sproodle]

I'm afraid I can't answer your question but have been wondering the same thing. I'd be grateful if you could share your experiences once you get it sorted.

[janieb1962]

P&O say it’s their contract with emirates that our seat booking available 30 days prior to flying . It also appears Emirates now charge for booking seats. So looks like we will have to pay if it’s worth it for the seats that are left 

[brian1]

Last year on LGW to Delhi,we were early in the check in queue.We asked for extra legroom and got it on both legs,free of charge.We were lucky maybe.

[zoe sproodle]

14 hours ago, janieb1962 said:

P&O say it’s their contract with emirates that our seat booking available 30 days prior to flying . It also appears Emirates now charge for booking seats. So looks like we will have to pay if it’s worth it for the seats that are left 

Mmm....the cynic in me wonders if P & O are somehow making something from that. As you say we might see if it's worth it, given that we'll probably be asleep for most of the flight anyway.

Incidentally, have you received any information on transfers from the airport to the ship, P & O were rather vague when I asked about them?

[Pet]

We are flying Emirates LGW to DBX (then on to Auckland) to pick up a cruise which we arranged ourselves. Economy seats can be booked in advance for £60pp through Emirates if you have a booking reference. Its worth it for the Gatwick/Dubai element of the flight because their A380s now use the upper deck as economy seats and are only two abreast. I cannot swear to it but I think the cruise companies block book a group of seats to fly their cruisers out at a cheaper rate and if this is what P&O have done then your options will be limited - unless you want to bump it up to business class!  

[Haworth]

I fly Emirates a great deal and I think you will find that the upper deck on the A380's are configured as first and business only, seat guru will show you seating maps

[Pet]

Fully agree that seat guru is an excellent site for proving seat configuration and other useful information and where it states that  Emirates have three versions of the A380-800, one of which (the 388 2 class) uses the upper deck partly for economy flights from UK to DXB. Whether they only fly from LGW I wouldn't know. Afraid that doesn't help jabie much as obviously they are flying from Manchester.

[pennib]

Reports above are right and wrong!!! Emirates morning flight from Manchester (EK19)? does not have the economy upstairs but their flight back does. Confused??? We are on Oceana at the end of January 2019 but have booked cruise only as we are in Dubai for a few days before so have booked our own flights. We are downstairs going and upstairs coming back !!

[bee-ess]

Just an update to this - just got my flight locator for travel to Dubai on 19th Feb. Once I got into Manage a flight with my locator and ticket number it says that seats cannot be changed or not available for purchase, upgrades are not available and luggage allowance cannot be changed. This implies that the seats are already allocated or maybe we can choose at online checkin.

[zoe sproodle]

Bee-ess, did you get your flight locator from P & O via their customer services number? I was wondering how easy this is to achieve.

[bee-ess]

On 1/25/2019 at 1:52 PM, zoe sproodle said:

Bee-ess, did you get your flight locator from P & O via their customer services number? I was wondering how easy this is to achieve.

Sorry Zoe, I've only just seen this.

Yes, I called the normal P&O number 08000 523840  chose option 3 for flights and they gave me the locator and ticket numbers which allows you to logon to Emirates website.

[janieb1962]

My specialist cruise agent chose my seats for me (I wasn’t able to) but I had expressed my preference for location and it seems to have worked fine (in the end) 

[A UKCRUISER]

Hi If you get your flight locator and ticket number from P&O then call Emirates they will book your seats for you, we chose upstairs economy and they cost £60 each, seats are 2-4-2 upper and 3-4-3 lower I think lower rear seats are free. We are on the Birmingham flight on the 19th Feb.

[tring]

We have just returned from a trip to SE Asia flying with Emirates from Manchester, booked direct on their website.  Yes they charge for booking seats ahead if you are not a high ranking loyalty club member and their costs are quite high, but we do it to ensure aisle seats which are well worthwhile on long haul in our opinion.

 

The cost of booking the seats ahead depends on where they are on the plane, even if all are economy seats.  For instance the economy seats upstairs and ones which are only two seats together at the back of the plane (do not think the later exists on flights to Dubai), will cost more and of course emergency exit seats cost more.

 

Holiday companies like Kuoni, (so will presumably include cruise companies), do not firmly book  the flights in your name until about a month before, but will have made a booking for that flight so you will definitely get on the flight.  That is part of the deal they have with the airline which gets them a good reduction (sadly not passed on as far as I can see), but means any wish to upgrade will cost you a whole lot more than a passenger booked directly.  That is likely to be why you cannot book seats until a month before.  However if you want to cancel with your holiday company you may only loose your deposit if cancel well before the flight, though booking direct at the best price means paying up front and the flight is not refundable if you cancel.  So basically you pay your money and take your choice.  

 

I think P&O include the flights so not much you can do about that, but with Fred for instance, it is far cheaper to book flights yourself and you can choose the timings with perhaps a hotel stay as well, so worth looking into.  Agents can often put packages together with flights and extra hotel nights though will charge you a bit for it.

 

Emirates A380's used to Dubai are very good planes with a good bit of room and also overhead luggage space.  They usually have 30 kgs luggage allowance for economy and two pieces of hand luggage (can also take a laptop type bag or hand bag) but if booked with a holiday/cruise company that may not be the the same, depending on the deal which has been negotiated with Emirates.

 

Enjoy the  holiday.

Edited February 2, 2019 by tring

[Cathygh]

On Cruise Personaliser it says seats can be booked 14 weeks in advance. I am surprised P&O don't send an email to customers know when seat booking opens for their flight!

As I go in 4 weeks, I will now sort out flight seats asap, thanks to the help on this board

Cathy