Emirates discriminate against packaged tour passengersSeveral records were broken for me as a flight passenger on Emirates in 2 days. First I was separated from my wife of 35 years and then despite my plea of a stiff shoulder I was given a window seat in all my 42 years of flying.Emirates seem to treat its tour group passengers as 2nd class passengers without any rights.My wife and I flew to Spain and Portugal from Singapore on a packaged tour with a travel group. On our return flights first from Madrid to Dubai on EK142 on 9 Oct 2023 and from Dubai to Singapore on EK 354 on 10 Oct 2023, my wife and I were placed on window seats on the opposite sides of the aircraft. When I enquired at the check in counter for an aisle seat for the 2 flights as I am a tall bloke with a stiff shoulder (which has been affecting me for the past 5 years), the staff gave me an aisle seat further back and my wife in a window seat 6 rows ahead. She said she tried but could not see the connecting flight seating plan from Dubai to Singapore and advised me to approach the boarding gate in Dubai for help. When we reached Dubai, the tour manager, my wife and I, another another couple who had been in opposite ends of the aircraft made a beeline for the connecting help desk close to B18 boarding gate.The guard refused to let us into the queue even though there was no one queuing and the 2 counter staff were helping a couple of the passengers at the counter. He told us to use the self-help kiosk computer even though we said we needed help with changing the seats. The computer did not do the latter and directed back to the counter. The guard was still reluctant and finally allowed my wife and I in the queue. However, our tour manager and the couple were kept outside the line even though they had legitimate business to speak to someone at the counter. There was a couple talking to a group of the staff outside the counter near the queue and the man was gesticulating wildly in a heated discussion with the staff. Eventually one of the staff involved in the 'conversation' told the guard to admit all of us and 'royally allowed' us to talk to him behind the counter. He told us in no uncertain terms that we were given our seats as 'non-paying' passengers and it was tough luck that we had to be separated. Our tour manager protested that the tour passenger list with familial/partnering connections was given to the airline beforehand but he said we were given a block of seats from rows 81 to 83 and he could not help in any way. My question to the airline is this: if the passenger list has been provided with the different familial/partnering groupings could it not be more accommodating and doing a slipshod job of seating willy nilly without regard for the families and couples travelling together. What happens if there are families with young children? Furthermore if the airline has given a block of seats (say rows 61 to 63 or 81 to 83 and not all window seats or not all middle seats) in advance why can't it have the good sense to pass them on the tour manager beforehand so the tour manager can help to allocate the seats according to the passengers' preference and needs? Even in times of profit squeeze when corporations try to extract every cent from its passengers, how much money can you make to justify discriminating/alienating your passengers just because the 25 of them are travelling as part of a package tour? Would it make more sense to block up say 3 rows of seats when the tour company has booked and confirmed with the airline if the tour is going ahead (package tours are usually confirmed 2 weeks ahead of departure). Why make packaged tour passengers scramble for seats and create all that unhappiness for them against the airline?I am really disappointed with Emirates as I used to fly Emirates between Australia and Singapore. As much I deem its cabin crew to be on par with the best in the industry, its booking and check in handling do leave such a bad taste that I feel like a sub passenger to want to boycott the airline.
