How to book Emirates flights with Qantas Frequent Flyer points
By Chris C., April 14 2016
The alliance between Qantas and Emirates not only lets you earn Qantas Points on Emirates flights – you can also use your Qantas Points to book a business or economy seat or even a first class suite on Emirates.
Here's how.
Finding your flight
Head to the Qantas website, login to your frequent flyer account, enter the route you’d like to travel on in the search box and be sure to tick ‘Search Classic Flight Rewards’ at the bottom:
It also pays to check the ‘flexible with dates’ option to browse what’s available – you’ll then see a travel calendar on the next screen, and where a blue seat appears, there are economy flights available for booking with frequent flyer points that can get you to your destination:
[Click any of the images in this article to enlarge them.]
Those won’t necessarily be Emirates flights: they could indeed be on other partners like Cathay Pacific or Qatar Airways, but to get the full picture, look to the top and check ‘premium economy’, ‘business’ and ‘first’…
… and hit ‘go’ to update the calendar:
You can use this to better-determine your exact travel dates. For example, we can see that only economy and business class tickets are available on Sunday February 5 2017 when using frequent flyer points, yet one day later on February 6, premium economy and first class options are also available.
Sure enough, the next screen returns a one-stop Emirates journey to Paris…
… with frequent flyer bookings possible in economy, in business class with fully-flat beds and a cocktail bar and also in first class with the inflight ‘shower spas’ at your disposal on the A380:
In each direction, you’d need 60,000 Qantas Points for an economy ticket on this route, 128,000 Qantas Points for Emirates business class and 192,000 Qantas Points in first class, per person: the same number of points as you’d need to fly with Qantas from Sydney to London, for example.
From there it’s as simple as entering in your name and personal details and paying an amount to cover government fees, taxes and also additional charges imposed by Qantas Frequent Flyer and Emirates.
These vary from route to route and range from anything as low as a few hundred dollars on longer return flights in economy through to $1,000+ at the pointy end of the plane to Europe and back.
That cost is somewhat offset through Emirates’ complimentary chauffeur service at each end of the journey for business and first class passengers – which you can book via the Qantas or Emirates website after your booking has been finalised – and amounts to four free transfers on one return trip to Europe.
Down the back of the bus, be mindful that Emirates flights booked using frequent flyer points use the Emirates EK flight number, not a Qantas QF flight number – so if you’re a Qantas Club member and were hoping to use a lounge pre-flight, you’ll be out of luck.
(Qantas Gold and Platinum frequent flyers can, however, access Qantas and Emirates lounges before Emirates flights, regardless of whether a QF or EK flight number is booked.)
Also read: How to maximise Qantas frequent flyers points, status credits on Emirates
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Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Nov 2011
Total posts 359
Have RTW next month with EK in F and J using points for 2 pax. I have certainly found that once you get out of Australia, availability is very good with EK. One very welcome benefit of the alliance.
17 Feb 2016
Total posts 21
Hi Russell, May I ask how many points you used for two people around the world ? I have quite a lot ... Thank you !
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1563
Chris, sorry to be sarcastic, but I better to see article “How to book international Qantas award flights without flying Emirates” – there are more Emirates flights in search engine than Qantas ones.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2424
Doesn't need an entire article - follow the exact same steps above and click on one of the Qantas options where available.
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1563
Great, but reality is that I have very little choice of QF metal - in fact I do not even remember when I seen them last time! – while Emitares flights abundant. So why we need dedicated article for something that actually more difficult to rid off than get and not vise verse? NB I am not talking economy here.
10 Aug 2015
Total posts 113
Just to confirm, when using the QFF portal to book the reward flights there is no way to deselect mixed class options? It's the annoying aspect where the first screen shows a business SYD - LHR seat but when selecting it says "SYD - HKG will be in business, HKG - LHR will be in economy"
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1563
Could be even “better” – MEL-SYD is business while SYD-LHR in economy! It is really stupid engine.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2424
Not easily, Looking - if you're seeing that and you keep finding that one leg is easier to get in a premium cabin than another, try searching only for that leg (eg HK-London) to get a better idea of when the non-stop first/business/PE flights are available, and then search for Australia-London around that same time - you'll then hopefully be able to pair an AU-HKG and HKG-LHR flight under the one award, and avoids clicking into each date to see what's appearing. :)
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 May 2011
Total posts 2
We've just used this process to book 'J' class PER to LHR return for later this year & combined this with a paid ($$) fare. Works well but it's sometimes hard to match up the same $$ & points fare. Also any Cathay/Qatar etc. flights are NOT availed to buy with $$ via the normal Q booking engine (have to go through Oneworld). Tip: With the $$ fare if u want Q status credits make sure you always select flights with a QF flight number. Overall purchasing with points works really well & we use it every year for long haul 'J' class flights via DXB. Remember though to book early & have flexibility in when you want to travel or don't mind a longer transit in DXB occasionally (you do get a free hotel stay if transit is over 8-10 hrs, compliments of EK). Happy flying!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
22 Apr 2016
Total posts 1
Chris
I'll be trying to snag 2 x First Class Emirates awards for May 2017. They seem to be released 333 days ahead, however this seems to have stopped about a week ago on the route I was looking at. Is this usual?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2424
Hi Greg, award availability can vary from flight to flight, and can differ during times of peak demand.
Even if you've observed that an airline typically releases seats on a certain day/time, this can change in line with forecast demand. Best to just keep searching! :)
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
07 Jul 2015
Total posts 41
Hi all - is this method only for flights departing Australia? For example, when attempting a search from Sao Paulo (GRU) to Dubai (DXB) I receive an error message "The trip you have selected is not available through Qantas. Please try a different itinerary to continue."
09 Sep 2014
Total posts 3
Hi Chris, tried to book two Qantas Classic Reward business class to KL for September 2017 on Emirates, but my search did not show any Emirates flights, only QF and Jetstar. Has Qantas stop codeshare with Emirates to KL
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2424
Hi Pchung, this article was published in April 2016, while Emirates cancelled its Melbourne-Kuala Lumpur route at the end of October in the same year. You could use your Qantas Points to fly with Malaysia Airlines from Melbourne to KL but would need to call Qantas to book as this can't be done online.
09 Sep 2014
Total posts 3
Many thanks Chris
12 Apr 2018
Total posts 1
Is there a reason that the points for the flights have gone up significantly? Most of the points are double or triple what you stated. Am I not looking in the right place?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2424
You need to search for Classic Flight Rewards, not 'pay with points'.
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