This was going to be a fun week on Live And Let’s Fly, but instead of experiencing the heat of India and Dubai, I’m experiencing an unseasonably warm heat wave that is hitting Los Angeles. My first class trip on Emirates went up in smoke…an Iranian plume, if you will.
Why I Pulled The Plug On My Emirates First Class Trip
Almost a year ago I booked an Emirates First Class award from India to Europe via Dubai using Skywards miles. I built an entire trip around those two Emirates flights, which included flights on a new SWISS A350 and Air India A350, plus an Air France A350 in business class and a Eurostar train segment. I was also going to fly Air India First Class from Delhi to Mumbai and check out the beautiful new Air India lounge in DEL.
It was going to be one of those fun little review trips with a a few days in India…quick, but a good chance to review a couple hotels and check out Taj Mahal after more than 15 years.
But then the U.S. and Israel decided to strike Iran and as I’ve covered here over the last couple weeks, the situation has changed from bad to worse, particularly for the United Arab Emirates.
I love traveling in the Islamic world during Ramadan and despite the Iranian breaches of UAE air defenses, I had no safety qualms flying through Dubai on Emirates.
But it’s hard to take a trip to the Middle East when even Emirates is being forced to cancel flights and as my trip rapidly approached and airspace was gyrating between open and closed, I made the difficult decision to pull the plug on trip….well, suspend it.
It’s an ultimate first word problem to have and I did think about how unique it would be to fly through Dubai now, in the midst of all this, just as I flew around the world during the pandemic or flew to Ukraine early in the war with Russia.
But it’s also not an opportune time with my other work and with my family, so the decision was not difficult. Yes, I got hit with cancelation fees for all these tickets, except the Emirates ticket, which I rebooked for the future (and had to pay an extra 280 USD in taxes because the USD has weakened so much over the last year), but 100 CAD plus 70 EUR is not bad and hopefully when I finally take this trip it will be an even greater adventure.
CONCLUSION
While I could have proceeded with my planned trip to Dubai and India, the timing did not feel right. I’m not afraid of traveling to conflict zones and I think much of the panicked “get me out of here” traffic has already departed Dubai. In fact, I bet I would have enjoyed very empty flights. But I’m needed here in the USA and have to carefully balance my many obligations…
As it turned out, my original flight was cancelled, so I may have been able to save the Emirates add-collect in taxes/fees had I waited longer, but at least I had the peace of mind of knowing that my Emirates First Class trip is not lost…just postponed.
You tell us that “you’re not afraid of traveling to conflict zones.” Well, as someone much older than you, I would kindly suggest that you always exercise caution. Moreover, considering that you are a healthy and highly successful family man.
Agreed. Matt made the right decision here.
Trips currently booked via Gulf countries are not going up in Iranian anything. At fault is Criminal Trump and his side kick and equally guilty of war crimes mate, Netanyahu.
I look forward to seeing both in The Hague charged with their war crimes and then them spending the remainder of their lives in prison where both belong.
Exactly! That just the bald unvarnished TRUTH of it all
I won’t even disagree with you, but it’s not US bombs hitting Dubai Airport…
The US bombs are only hitting Iranian schools full of cbildren
So, you’re okay with Iran publicly executing 19-year-old Olympic wrestler Saleh Mohammadi this week and the tens of thousands of other protesters exterminated earlier this year? Why are so many Iranian immigrants in the US and abroad celebrating the US and Israeli attacks on Iran’s barbaric leaders and its war efforts?
Are they celebrating the dead school kids and other civilains and toxic rain as well?
No this was not a “first world problem . This war is a real world problem. Unfortunate that you didn’t get to go and I hope you can recover any financial loss.
I would support you either way my friend
If your Emirates flight was cancelled within 2 weeks of departure you may be able to claim 600 Euros compensation under EU261.
Huge fan of EU261, but that’s a difficult claim to make; first, Matt canceled, not the airline; second, if EK canceled, they’d likely claim ‘extraordinary circumstances,’ so likely no compensation, but, still option of refund or re-routing. Wish we had better consumer protections for the USA.
A Mumbai – Dubai – Brussels itinerary on EK isn’t covered by EU261
In any case, I voluntarily cancelled it.
Exactly! That just the bald unvarnished TRUTH of it all
Out of curiosity, could you shed any light as to how you accumulated the Skywards Miles in the first place, given that you don’t seem to fly with them often? They’ve never struck me as being the most useful of points, given the lack of alliance or cross pollination with other rewards, but happy to be better informed. In any case, looking forward to your eventual review!
Hey Matt,
Quick question. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I thought the Dinar was pegged to the dollar. Why, in that case would the taxes now be more?
Sorry about your trip. Even more sorry and embarrassed the this administration misguidedly dragged us into a no win conflict with so many unnecessary civilian casualties.
Maybe EK just inflated the YQ again?
AED is in fact pegged to USD, USD is doing historically well against the Rupee, and USD/EUR is back up to 0.87, so I think it’s likely YQ. If there’s one thing that’s good about $110 barrels of crude, it’s that it keeps the Dollar strong, despite Trump’s stated desire of devaluing it.
Feel for you. This is really hard.