Qantas - Emirates Award flight Discussion

[MonteCristo]

Dumb question alert for the brains trust: Is it possible to make a standalone Qantas classic rewards booking with Emirates from Malta to Larnaca (Cyprus)? Either by calling Qantas, or somehow online.

I can't get Malta to appear as a destination unless I start with a multi-city first leg in Rome FCO, but the routing is bad (from Rome, to London, then on to Malta), and charges don't make it worth it.

 

[k1s3k1]

It isn't a blanket ban on Emirates Aus-Europe
View attachment 463901
And it isn't a blanket ban on Emirates Europe-Aus

View attachment 463902

It seems far more likely to be a website issue than the conspiracy theories posted here.

You are searching Europe to Aus.

The affected routes are Europe to Dubai and vice versa.

More info:

Qantas Actively Blocking Some Emirates First Class Awards?

Since the Qantas devaluation, certain Emirates First Class award seats have vanished.

flighthacks.com.au

For example, during our research we could see award space available from Rome to Perth via Dubai in First Class with Emirates, but when searching for the same flight from Rome to Dubai, only Business Class would show.

 

[JohnM]

I received reply from customer care on the same day afternoon after I filling in the complaint form. The same person also replied me for my followed up email, so they are pretty prompt during weekdays I guess.

If it was anything like my replies, they happened almost so instantly (within minutes) and were so 'perfectly' written that it was clearly AI-generated. An agent's name was simply added to the bottom.

 

[k1s3k1]

Got a reply from Qantas.

Thank you for contacting Qantas Customer Care Team and for bringing this to our attention. We understand how valuable your Qantas Points are and how important it is to be able to use them for premium travel experiences, including Emirates First Class.

We sincerely apologise for any frustration caused by the recent lack of Emirates First Class reward seat availability on the Qantas website since 5 August 2025. We appreciate your observations and understand that this has impacted many Frequent Flyers.

To clarify, when using Qantas Points to book flights with our partner Emirates, the availability of reward seats is determined by Emirates. They provide a limited number of seats for redemption through Qantas Frequent Flyer, and this allocation may differ significantly from what is available through other airline loyalty programs or booking platforms, such as Aeroplan.

Reward seat availability is always subject to change and may vary depending on demand, route, travel dates, and Emirates’ own inventory management. While we strive to offer access to premium cabins, we are only able to display and book seats that Emirates has made available to us for points redemption.

If you require assistance booking Classic Flight Reward seats, our Reservations team is available on 13 13 13 and will be happy to help—please note that all bookings remain subject to availability..Alternatively, if you are looking for guaranteed access to Emirates First Class, we recommend booking a commercial fare directly with Emirates.

We appreciate your understanding and thank you for your continued loyalty.

Kind Regards,

Mere
Qantas Customer Care Team

 

[badbed]

Got a reply from Qantas.

Here is what I got last week. I believe you need to be more specific to point out the Emirates was moved from Partner table to Qantas table, which causes every single rewards seat (Economy, Business and First class) for every single day are not appearing if the flight without a sharecode with Qantas. They won't give it a second thought if you are only saying there is no F seat available, which lets them to give a BS excuse.

Thank you for contacting the Qantas Customer Care team and for bringing this issue to our attention. We understand your concern regarding the recent update to the Classic Flight Reward table on 5 August 2025, and the subsequent impact on Emirates reward seat visibility.

Following the change that moved Emirates from the Partner table to the Qantas table, we are aware that only codeshare flights between Emirates and Qantas are currently appearing in the Classic Flight Reward search results. We acknowledge that this significantly limits redemption options and may be preventing access to a large number of Emirates-operated reward seats.

We appreciate your feedback and can confirm that this matter has been escalated to our IT and Frequent Flyer teams for investigation. While we are unable to provide a resolution timeframe at this stage, please be assured that we are treating this as a priority and working to restore full visibility of eligible Emirates reward inventory. If you have specific routes or dates where availability is missing, feel free to share them with our Reservations team for further assistance. You can contact them on 13 13 13.

Thank you again for your patience and for highlighting this issue.

 

[lovestotravel]

Here is what I got last week. I believe you need to be more specific to point out the Emirates was moved from Partner table to Qantas table, which causes every single rewards seat (Economy, Business and First class) for every single day are not appearing if the flight without a sharecode with Qantas. They won't give it a second thought if you are only saying there is no F seat available, which lets them to give a BS excuse.

I asked and gave them 4 specific routes/questions

No reply

 

[Noah Count]

I will just chime in again, I rang the EK 1300 number and as I already have F rewards via QF getting through to the EK F team is immediate. I asked about my second leg and what F seats maybe available to HND, NRT, HKG or any port in AU (mid June 2026). I was put through to the Skywards specialist team and was advised by the EK specialist that EK has not released any F seats at this point (June 2026 onwards) to their own members let alone partners. I cannot check this information on the EK site as I have no status and EK F will not appear in my search.

 

[Noah Count]

I also forgot to mention, when I was talking to the the Skywards specialist team I had asked why I could see EK F inventory but it has now vanished. I was informed all rewards seats for Skywards Members and Partners is managed by the sales team (EK) and they can just remove availability without notice. I cannot confirm this as I do not work for EK but it does seem reasonable.

 

[k1s3k1]

I also forgot to mention, when I was talking to the the Skywards specialist team I had asked why I could see EK F inventory but it has now vanished. I was informed all rewards seats for Skywards Members and Partners is managed by the sales team (EK) and they can just remove availability without notice. I cannot confirm this as I do not work for EK but it does seem reasonable.

it's just strange it happened coincidentally at the same time as the qantas devaluation.

 

[robolb]

it's just strange it happened coincidentally at the same time as the qantas devaluation.

I was trying to find seats for 2-3 weeks before that. I was hoping the change on 5 August might reveal some seats. Nada........