Big Devaluation for Qantas Rewards on Emirates First Class from February 18.

[Ansett Nostalgic]

Yes indeed. EK cash payments are intentionally in your face. I'd rather pay a similar amount and get decent busines class on another airline. And who wants to fly EK's old clapped out business class?

Correct, EK J is quite overrated especially on overnight flights when you want to sleep.

ACCC should cancel the QF/EK JV as a result of this change.

 

[Willpanzer]

This was always going to happen after Emirates started limiting First Class reward bookings for their own base-tier members.


Honestly, I’m just grateful I’ve already had the chance to experience Emirates First on both the A380 and the 777 Game Changer — those were genuinely bucket-list flights.


Big reminder that points aren’t something to hoard forever. They’re basically a depreciating asset, and airlines will always find ways to quietly devalue them over time.


Best strategy is simple: when a great redemption opportunity comes up, take it.

 

[J-P]

Having frequent flyer award flights restricted to people who frequently fly with the airline or partner seems incredibly uncontroversial and sensible.

The points increases are a bit disappointing but also pretty in-line with other program devaluations..

 

[mviy]

Glad I have LifeTime Silver on QF. So until the QF/EK partnership gets devalued again/terminated I will retain access to Emirates First reward seats even if I drop down to my lifetime tier.

The points increase is disappointing, but if availability improves that will make a big difference for me. I have plenty of points to fly return to LHR, but I need availability to be able to book it.

 

[mviy]

Given there will be limited Project Sunrise F seats, I would not be surprised if QF copied this move by Emirates and restricted which tiers can get F reward seats on that, but still leave it open for all members to upgrade to it subject to availability.

Those with no status are likely not doing much flying in revenue J/F seats. Every time I fly long haul Y I am reminded that lie flat J seats are luxury in comparison.

 

[fletty]

Given there will be limited Project Sunrise F seats, I would not be surprised if QF copied this move by Emirates and restricted which tiers can get F reward seats on that, but still leave it open for all members to upgrade to it subject to availability.

Those with no status are likely not doing much flying in revenue J/F seats. Every time I fly long haul Y I am reminded that lie flat J seats are luxury in comparison.

They'll probably manage them like other premium routes where it's impossible to get F without having WP to call up anyway.

 

[justinbrett]

ACCC should cancel the QF/EK JV as a result of this change.

A bit strong?

They're just moving the redemption rate to the general table instead of the inner circle table (QF/JQ/FJ/AA).

I could take or leave the EK JV. Plenty of ways to get to Europe on oneworld (generally speaking if I'm going to Europe it's on a DONE4 or OWA these days).

Given there will be limited Project Sunrise F seats, I would not be surprised if QF copied this move by Emirates and restricted which tiers can get F reward seats on that, but still leave it open for all members to upgrade to it subject to availability.

Those with no status are likely not doing much flying in revenue J/F seats. Every time I fly long haul Y I am reminded that lie flat J seats are luxury in comparison.

I'm personally sceptical we'll be able to book J as a DONE4, let alone J reward seats - let alone F!

Not for the first few years at least while the novelty is high.

 

[muppet]

Given there will be limited Project Sunrise F seats, I would not be surprised if QF copied this move by Emirates and restricted which tiers can get F reward seats on that, but still leave it open for all members to upgrade to it subject to availability.

Those with no status are likely not doing much flying in revenue J/F seats. Every time I fly long haul Y I am reminded that lie flat J seats are luxury in comparison.

With only 6 F seats on sunrise, I’ll be amazed if any are ever released even to WP1.

 

[drcam]

As it stands I have a F redemption from HND-DXB-AMS on 31st May.

I want to change it to a bit earlier in the month, but there are no seats available from anywhere in Asia to Europe for months on end.

I should count my blessings I got a redemption at all. I have never flown on any class higher than whY in Emirates, although my family have flown cash fares in business.

 

[moa999]

And who wants to fly EK's old clapped out business class?

773ER upgrades have finally started

 

[serfty]

I have long eschewed QFF redemptions on EK.

It seems to me such award bookings generally provide little or no saving in nett cost against comparative revenue bookings on the same routes., maybe on other carriers,

 

[SYD]

I have long eschewed QFF redemptions on EK.

It seems to me such award bookings generally provide little or no saving in nett cost against comparative revenue bookings, maybe on other carriers, on the same routes.

Certainly since they imposed the ridiculous carrier surcharges (which are the same for J and F).

Some might see an F redemption as worthwhile since the $ component for an award (while high) is still much less than a revenue fare. But I’d rather pay for part of an J Oz-Euro trip than waste the QF points on EK.

 

[Human]

It used to be that Emirates' Fifth Freedom flights didn't have the ridiculous $ charges, but I think they've closed that loophole now for most, if not all, of their Fifth Freedom flights.

I'm so glad that twice I was able to redeem Qantas points for Emirates' SIN-MEL flight in F when it existed. Happy memories! But never again...

 

[ChrisFlyer]

It'll be interesting to see if F reward seat availability increases to QFF once the status restriction comes into play. There's been a lot less EK F seats available through QFF lately, even on short flights from Dubai where they're usually quite plentiful. Perhaps, with the same restrictions as Skywards, we might hopefully see things return to what was 'normal' before. That's wishful thinking, of course.

 

[dajop]

With the points and co-pay required IMHO if EK F is on your bucket list it can be had for similar return cost (valuing QFF at 1c per point) using cash out of some Asian ports without the availability lottery.

 

[Spizz]

With the points and co-pay required IMHO if EK F is on your bucket list it can be had for similar return cost (valuing QFF at 1c per point) using cash out of some Asian ports without the availability lottery.

Can you give an example please?

 

[dajop]

Can you give an example please?

TBH it varies from time to time which city pairs and which origin ports. But from memory origins like Jakarta, KL etc sometimes have good deals into Europe and perhaps even US (such as New York). It’s a matter of playing around with your preferred flight search engine (eg Google flights, Skyscanner, kayak).

 

[elanshin]

Given there will be limited Project Sunrise F seats, I would not be surprised if QF copied this move by Emirates and restricted which tiers can get F reward seats on that, but still leave it open for all members to upgrade to it subject to availability.

Those with no status are likely not doing much flying in revenue J/F seats. Every time I fly long haul Y I am reminded that lie flat J seats are luxury in comparison.

They already do. And not just with F, they do it with all levels.

Its why you'll see reward flights being different for different tier members.

 

[Melburnian1]

I price QFF points at a notional 1cpp. When combined with taxes and charges in the $2k-$2.5k ballpark, this means a return trip to Europe in EK F will cost somewhere in the ballpark of $11k. This is objectively speaking a lot of money to spend on airfares when decent J options start around $6k.

Your words above are a classic example as to how airlines hold all the aces with increasingly devalued or time-limited FF schemes, not you and I.

My comment doesn't always apply to those who travel for business or are government employees able to retain FF points for their own use, but for leisure travellers, it's vastly preferable to simply search for a BFOD or of the month if able to be more flexible with a date.

Then pick an airline that appeals.

Using two PNRs for separate return fares Australia-Manila (preferably) or Jakarta then on to UK or Europe is a winning strategy to bring the cost of J class fares down, and importantly delivers a reasonable choice of airlines. But watch out for coughpy Emirates or Qatar seat configurations: use Aerolopa to research these by aircraft type, Expert Flyer to find which version of an aircraft type is likely on the flight and ITA Matrix for fares.

FF schemes are very poor value for most leisure travellers whose everyday expenses are moderate, especially given how banks are often excluding government transactions such as tax bills from earning FF points.

 

[elanshin]

Your words above are a classic example as to how airlines hold all the aces with increasingly devalued or time-limited FF schemes, not you and I.

My comment doesn't always apply to those who travel for business or are government employees able to retain FF points for their own use, but for leisure travellers, it's vastly preferable to simply search for a BFOD or of the month if able to be more flexible with a date.

Then pick an airline that appeals.

Using two PNRs for separate return fares Australia-Manila (preferably) or Jakarta then on to UK or Europe is a winning strategy to bring the cost of J class fares down, and importantly delivers a reasonable choice of airlines. But watch out for coughpy Emirates or Qatar seat configurations: use Aerolopa to research these by aircraft type, Expert Flyer to find which version of an aircraft type is likely on the flight and ITA Matrix for fares.

FF schemes are very poor value for most leisure travellers whose everyday expenses are moderate, especially given how banks are often excluding government transactions such as tax bills from earning FF points.

That is only the case now that churning has been severely limited. A couple of years ago they were still reasonable earn rates.

I suspect the golden age of churning is behind us, but that doesn't mean things are evolving.

Some of the smarter industry analysts feel that right now its all in the airlines favor because of a big imbalance between surging demand and lack of resources (new planes, staff, infrastructure etc) to keep up with the demand. But if the demqnd softens we might see the pendulum start swinging the other way again.

There are also new entrants to the market that might want to push and muscle for market share from other airlines. Perhaps once Riyadh gets going there might be some sweeteners. India is also evolving as is south east asia beyond just Singapore. They all realise that a strong airline is also a good way to bring in tourists.