Emirates restricts first class awards to elite members only

[cambriamarsh]

Good move by Emirates.

Why's that?

 

[jimmy hutspah]

I can see some F availability early next year, but nothing originating in AU.

I booked a Syd-ChCh earlier this morning for Nov. there was heaps available in March too. Usually only single seats though.

 

[MELso]

Why's that?

Should improve F availability for elites.

I was looking at rebooking my MEL-NRT-SEA flight in early October on JL in J to be PER-DXB-SEA on EK in F, but the $2.6k in carrier charges - of which only about $130 is actual taxes - quickly put the kibosh on that idea. The reality is that the carrier charges are getting to the point that even F awards are starting to be hard to justify on EK.

I'll book a quick CHC-SYD-MEL jaunt instead...

 

[henrus]

A380?

Yep A380 indeed, I needed to get back from Europe to Dubai (for an onward flight back to AU) and my searching had 3 requirements 1. EK First reward, 2. A380 and 3. early afternoon departure and DXB midnight arrival to enjoy the onboard service (safe to say I won't be sleeping).

Flights from the UK were out due to the high APD, many ports use a 777 or A350 on the afternoon 2pm ish departure or didn't have award space so it left Madrid or Amsterdam. Will be second time flying EK F as I did GVA-LGW-DXB a couple of years ago and if this holds true and QF is locked out of the EK F awards then possibly my last!

 

[AIRwin]

enjoy the onboard service (safe to say I won't be sleeping)

Shower in the A380 from MAD - the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plane

 

[masco131]

Should improve F availability for elites.

Hmmm they already have so many first class flights and do not think that’s always the case!
I think the biggest problem with emirates is that the gap from first class to business class is so wild and everyone wants first class because of that. They need to take a look at Qatar and possibly replicate same thing.
Both hard and soft product in business class is totally unacceptable for a reputable brand like them.



Drops mic, rant over

 

[am0985]

Still holding out hope that QFF isn't included and this is just a Skywards specific thing (not that likely I know) but I guess we'll find this out for sure very soon.

They'd probably be within their right to restrict QF members though given QF preferences its own elite members.

 

[anat0l]

How many partners does EK have who can redeem their awards, aside from QF? And how many of them are churnable?

Apparently there are native EK credit cards in the USA, plus transfer partners (Amex, for one). At least one of the credit cards gives EK status after a certain spend (viz. Silver or Gold), so it would seem, for the savvy types, this isn't a huge road block.

I wonder if, but unlikely, they might say, "only QF Platinum can redeem F awards".

 

[am0985]

How many partners does EK have who can redeem their awards, aside from QF? And how many of them are churnable?

Apparently there are native EK credit cards in the USA, plus transfer partners (Amex, for one). At least one of the credit cards gives EK status after a certain spend (viz. Silver or Gold), so it would seem, for the savvy types, this isn't a huge road block.

I wonder if, but unlikely, they might say, "only QF Platinum can redeem F awards".

Aeroplan was the only other one which had access to F awards, usually huge amounts of points for this but much lower carrier charges.

I'm not even sure there's the mechanism for them to restrict availability to QF elite members, QFF is set up so only QF inventory is limited by status. Everyone else can see everything equally so would be a pretty big change in the system at short notice

 

[lovestotravel]

I've been watching the availability of EK J and F awards through QFF for the last few months as I have booked a few already and need to book a trip for next Easter, April 2026.

About a week ago, anything in/out of DXB from Europe or the UK wouldn't load, this lasted for a few days.

Then early this week it started working again, however with very much reduced availability on many routes. You used to be able to get 1 x F and 3 x J on many routes such as MEL-DXB and LHR-DXB

Now every other day or third day will have 1 x F and maybe 1 x J

This just devalues QFF even further sadly

 

[elanshin]

We'll see how it affects Aeroplan and QFF but i suspect part of the reason is they don't want US CC transfer and booking F anymore. Iirc its 1:1 for AMEX MR to Skyward.

 

[am0985]

We'll see how it affects Aeroplan and QFF but i suspect part of the reason is they don't want US CC transfer and booking F anymore. Iirc its 1:1 for AMEX MR to Skyward.

Sadly Aeroplan and QFF are US Amex transfer partners too I'm pretty sure.

All those TikTok influencers have killed the game, yet again

 

[levelnine]

If the goal is to stop US credit card churners from scooping up all the EK F awards, EK has to ban QF as well because QF is a transfer partner of Amex, Capital One, Citi, etc.

Qantas were already extremely hard to use for trips to Europe. This will make it even harder.

 

[anat0l]

We'll see how it affects Aeroplan and QFF but i suspect part of the reason is they don't want US CC transfer and booking F anymore. Iirc its 1:1 for AMEX MR to Skyward.

OMAAT says there are credit cards that can allow you to earn Skywards status (either instantly and/or via spend): WOW: Emirates Restricts First Class Awards To Skywards Elite Members

So if they're trying to stop those in the US who can churn miles (either via direct signup bonuses, or sweeping from favourable credit cards), it might not be a bit obstacle to get over. For example, you could apply for the Barclay's card, get Silver status (for $99), and once that's cleared, just sweep over your MR points as usual.

At least, that's how I read it. Guess EK makes gains in more credit card signups, so if their goal was to try and give more emphasis and benefits to their own Skywards members, it's still being achieved.