Getting 120 Qantas status credit before March 31

Hi Corinna, there is no segmenting of First status credit earn by fare bucket (unlike Business or Economy) - it's all just First. The Qantas calculator can be reached by clicking on the Frequent Flyer in the red ribbon bar, then clicking on the underlined calculators word. Just remember, the airline box uses the flight code prefix - so even if you are travelling on an Emirates aircraft, if it's booked as a Qantas codeshare (that is the flight number has a prefix of QF, not EK) then you need to put QF not EK.

It looks to me like I wouldn't be earning any status credits if flying on an Emirates flight in March? If looking at the flight calculator on qantas, I would earn points, but not status credits - which is the very thing I'm after. Am I looking at this incorrectly? First class one way would get the required 120 points at a reasonable price and then just return on whatever is the absolute cheapest ticket back.

You may have not changed the flight tag to QF codeshare with emirates and may still be as an Ek branded flight.

As Tom has said you need to make sure you're booking it with the QF code. 

Have a play around with dates, but I find that 99% of the time the cheaper route in First is AKL-MEL rather than the reverse. That said, the Qantas First lounge in MEL is better than either the Qantas First or Emirates lounges in AKL.

The Qantas First lounge at AKL is a sad one, and not worth bothering with. The Emirates lounge at AKL is far superior, although not in the same league as the SYD or MEL Qantas First Lounge.

As per Qantas' website page on the Qantas & Emirates partnership:

Where could the Qantas and Emirates partnership take you? 

Our partnership with Emirates means more flights and more choice for every Qantas Frequent Flyer. You can earn and use points when flying on the joint Qantas and Emirates network.

You'll also earn Status credits on many Emirates flights, as long as you have a QF flight number on your ticket. Eligible members can use Emirates Lounges across Australia, Europe, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.

You can book flights with points right now using Points Plus Pay and Any Seat Award as well as Classic Awards on Emirates flights across the globe.

Find out more about our Frequent Flyer partnership with Emirates. 

You could also consider taking one-way JQ7 Melbourne to Singapore in 'Business Class' (which is pretty much like QF Premium Economy) with the Max Bundle. It would give you exactly 120sc and normally cost just under $900. This will also give you flexiblily with the return flight, QF, JQ, EK, or even SQ/VA if you're doing Velocity too. Normally a one-way Singapore-Melbourne would be just under $600 with QF. 

Don't forget Monday March the 9th is Moomba in Melbourne, so a public holiday long weekend.