Do Qantas/Emirates release award seats closer to departure?
8 replies
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Do Qantas/Emirates release award seats closer to departure?
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Do Qantas/Emirates release award seats closer to departure?
caromcdonald
caromcdonald
Member since 14 Apr 2018
Total posts 1
Hi All,
rk1
rk1
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 19 Oct 2015
Total posts 31
Emirates I havnt seen released later, usually Cathay or Qatar come later. Emirates you need to get A year out- I’ve done that twice for first class awards.
moreardon
moreardon
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 02 Jan 2016
Total posts 2
Worth checking every day as seats become available when people change dates or cancel. It took me over 2 months to get a refund for a cancelled QA/EM flight & seat wasn't released as available for 2 months.
moreardon
moreardon
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 02 Jan 2016
Total posts 2
Be quick though as seats get rebooked very quickly!
RT
RT
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 17 Aug 2017
Total posts 4
We did exactly this with Emirates, 2 weeks ago. Watching close to our flight date, they were releasing seats around (but not exactly) 72 hours before. Jagged a direct First class BNE-DXB on Emirates A380, was absolutely amazing.
And the cabin was half full, and there were no seats available 300+ days out when we booked.
Edit - no award seats left when we first booked, business or first.
gazza48
gazza48
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 10 Jun 2016
Total posts 9
most definitely keep checking, particularly if you have a refundable tkt. I was overseas in Ireland and grabbed a J FF seat 3 weeks before coming back. Also same situation ex ZRH, FCL FF seats released a few weeks prior. On that flight we were the only two people in First Class!!
ekla
ekla
Etihad - Etihad Guest
Member since 10 Oct 2018
Total posts 3
On EK there’s also an auto-upgrade function in manage my booking that will transact as soon as seats are available if you have enough points. Saves constantly checking!
thenagrom
thenagrom
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 25 Jan 2016
Total posts 3
Sometimes they do. You can also book a lower class and then pay the pts/fees difference to upgrade if it becomes available.
AfricaTraveller
AfricaTraveller
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
Member since 20 Jan 2018
Total posts 15
Be aware there are consistent reports that the EK auto upgrade system is flaky at best, not working at worst. From my experience, nothing beats actually calling and checking if upgrade seats are available