Qantas adds Emirates Premium Economy Redemptions

Qantas Frequent Flyer members are finally able to redeem their points for Emirates Premium Economy Classic Reward seats!

Emirates Premium Economy availability has started appearing on the Qantas website as of mid-April 2026.

A long-awaited redemption

Emirates Premium Economy Classic Rewards have been a long time coming. Although the Emirates Classic Flight Reward table on the Qantas website has listed Premium Economy pricing for some time, it wasn’t actually possible to redeem flights using Qantas points.

AFF speculated in January that this might change after higher Emirates reward pricing came into effect on 31 March. 3 – 2 – 1 … voilà!

Emirates was a late entrant to the Premium Economy party among major carriers. The slick cabin first took flight in January 2021 and is now available on a growing number of the airline’s Airbus A380, A350 and Boeing 777 aircraft, serving roughly 80 destinations.

However, Emirates’ own Skywards loyalty program only unlocked Premium Economy rewards in September 2025.

Partner programs have taken longer still. For now, Qantas Frequent Flyer joins Emirates Skywards as the only other program where you can actually book Premium Economy rewards with points. Other go-to programs for Emirates redemptions such as Air Canada Aeroplan or JAL Milage Bank don’t yet show any evidence of adding Premium Economy availability.

How to search and book

The new Qantas Flight Reward Finder offers the quickest way to scan for availability. Just look for pink quadrants on circles that surrounding dates in the calendar when searching between destinations.

For flights between Australia and Dubai, Perth and Melbourne appear to have better availability than other capitals. The Flight Reward Finder also shows Emirates availability onwards from Dubai and across its global network.

Given the current tensions in the Gulf region, some passengers may be hesitant to transit via Dubai. This is where Emirates’ extensive fifth freedom route network offers opportunities. For example, I was able to find availability between New York and Milan.

What does it cost?

As Matt flagged in his January article on the Qantas–Emirates devaluation, Premium Economy pricing on the new Emirates award table is only marginally lower than Business Class in every distance zone. At face value this isn’t a great use of points.

Taxes and carrier charges are one small consolation, however. Premium Economy redemptions attract fees at Economy Class rates rather than the eye-watering surcharges applied to Business and First Class redemptions. The cost can still be quite high though.

By way of comparison, Perth to London Heathrow in Premium Economy would cost 220,400 points + $938. In Business Class, the same flight costs 231,200 points + $1,771, or 273,400 + $1,771 in First Class.

Are there any sweet spots?

I personally don’t think there are any sweet spots in the redemption tables in terms of remarkable value. But there are a few cases where I wouldn’t altogether dismiss Emirates Premium Economy reward redemptions via Qantas.

In the New York to Milan example above, Emirates was offering the only non-stop flight available for points redemption. Premium Economy costs 81,000 Qantas points plus USD123. Business Class wasn’t available on this particular flight. Instead I could opt for British Airways on the same date for 90,000 points and USD1,426 (!!) in taxes and carrier charges. This would also involve a transfer at Heathrow with the onward connection to Milan in “Euro Business” on a narrow-body aircraft. If my dates were fixed and this was my only choice, the Emirates value proposition would be compelling enough to consider.

Another viable case might be on Emirates’ daily flight between Sydney and Christchurch. Premium Economy on an Emirates A380 costs 41,000 points plus $174, compared to Qantas Business class Classic Rewards priced at 43,600 plus $164. Both the soft and hard product on Emirates Premium Economy are comparable, if not superior to the Qantas trans-Tasman Boeing 737 Business Class offering.

What do you think? Will you consider redeeming Qantas points for a Premium Economy flight on Emirates?