Why is emirates so cheap

Primera Air: 0. IndiGo Airlines: 0. Etihad: 0. Rynair: 0. Qantas: 0. WOW air: 0. Virgin Australia: 0. Oman Air: 0. Jet Airways: 0. Air India Limited: 0. SriLankan Airlines: 0.

Qatar Airways: 0. Hainan: 0. Kuwait Airways: 0. AirAsia Philippines: 0. Royal Brunei Airlines: 0. China Southern Airlines: 0. Lion Mentari Airlines: 0. Jetstar: 0. Gulf Air Bahrain: 0. Cebu Pacific: 0. Emirates: 0. Thai Lion Mentari: 0. Pakistan International: 0. China Airlines: 0. Singapore Airlines: 0. It's maddeningly difficult to find any Special fares on the Emirates website, and if you're thinking of flying aboard Emirates on a Special fare from Australia, tough luck, "At this stage, the special fares are to be confirmed for Australia," according to an Emirates spokesperson.

And that comes with the full suite of Qatar's business class goodies. See also: World's best airlines for named as Qantas soars into top It's all about the seat then, and Emirates is betting there are enough economy and premium economy flyers who place a sufficiently high value on comfort that they're prepared to shell out for one of the best business class seats in the air — but they're not prepared to offer that seat at a lowball fare. One reason that Emirates might be treading cautiously is that the airline is planning to introduce premium economy seats on its As in There's a big leap in comfort, food, status recognition and personal service between premium economy and business class.

Emirates would not want to jinx its premium economy seats by having them compete with their Special fare business seats, and therefore the relatively high price of those seats. It's a low-risk option. Emirates can vary the number of these Special seats to offer more on routes and times when higher cost business class seats with the full complement of bells and whistles are unlikely to sell out.

In peak season, on a route where the airline is assured of a high number of business class bookings, you can bet Emirates won't be offering any Special business class fares. Emirates is in new territory with its unbundled business class seat. For a comparison you might look at a low-cost carrier that offers a similarly shorn service, and AirAsia's Premium Flatbed is a likely candidate. Baggage allowance for Premium Flatbed flyers is 40 kilograms, you get a complimentary meal — although don't expect it to be within coo-ee of an Emirates business class meal.

You get to pick a seat, priority boarding and priority baggage handling. So much for the frills, but it's the seat that really matters. It's a lie-flat seat rather than a full-flat bed, which means there's a slight downward tilt toward the feet. The shell-type seat has a pitch of cm, extending to cm in full-recline mode. So far so good, although in terms of storage compartments and privacy the Emirates business class seat puts it in the shade. In common with many low-cost airlines there are no seat-back screens.

The inflight entertainment feeds to a dedicated AirAsia Xcite Tablet device and Sony noise-cancelling headphones, one free perk that separates AirAsia's Premium Flatbed passengers from their economy flyers.

Configuration in the dedicated Premium Flatbed cabin on the Airbus A is See also: Airline review: AirAsia X premium flatbed. Emirates is not the only player tinkering with its business class, but while that airline is looking to unbundle its business class, Lufthansa is heading in the other direction, "upbundling". Check carefully in the "About Us" or "Contact Us" or similar page of the website to check that the company is based in the same country of departure. The Third Party Fare must be bookable online.

Any Third Party Fare that can be viewed but cannot be booked and paid online will be excluded from Best Price. To qualify for a refund you must fill out the online claim form in English and Emirates must receive your claim form by midnight of the same day you booked your Purchased Fare using the time zone of your departure country. You need to retain a screenshot or a printout which shows the final price inclusive of all taxes, fees and surcharges of the Third Party Fare.

Emirates may request to see this screenshot to help verify your claim. Emirates will independently confirm the legitimacy of the screen shot and will verify any request that it believes, in its sole discretion, is the result of a printing or other error or is made fraudulently or not in good faith. Any incomplete claim forms or any other form of claim will not be accepted.

Emirates will verify that your Third Party Fare meets all the criteria set out in these terms and conditions and you will be notified whether or not you have qualified for a refund within 72 hours of submitting your claim form. Emirates will endeavor to complete the refund within 15 working days of notification that you have qualified for a refund. If the booking originates from India, the refund will be processed within 30 working days.

Emirates' decision will be final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into.