Emirates restricts first class awards to elite members only

[justinbrett]

Simple solution would be for EK to withhold F seats on US routes. No great loss to an Aus based QF member but will stop the influx of Americans using QFF.

 

[Matt_01]

I have stayed out of this one and the confirmation that QF will still get access is of no surprise. Although I have never seen the contract after years of booking flights (rewards and revenue) with EK the QF/EK agreement seems to be quite unique.

 

[wannabeinvestmentbanker]

Just through Syd domestic and they are promoting the QF EK partnership on the big screen above security so would be a little disingenuous if they remove this benefit.

 

[am0985]

The one thing that did give me hope was the fact Emirates were relatively broad with which members they kept it open to - if it was just the top elites then QFF would have no chance.

Still...what remains to be seen is whether availability will be as good to QFF even if it's possible to book. We'll find out soon!

Post automatically merged: Today at 3:40 PM

Just through Syd domestic and they are promoting the QF EK partnership on the big screen above security so would be a little disingenuous if they remove this benefit.

This wouldn't affect the vast, vast majority of passengers who use the QF/EK partnership in some way even if F was no longer bookable.

It's really quite niche, most people I talk to don't know you can do this without too much difficulty.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Interesting scenario that will transpire now....

Brokered seats via QF on EK F will increase.
QF booked redemptions can't be touched by EK.

EK is fantastic at identifying broken seats and cancelling tickets at the airport for maximum disruption (as they should).
QF... less so, although they're improving.

So either EK will be calling QF a lot more to apply pressure to cancel tickets, or QF will need to pony up the cash to:
- Pay EK more for F seats
- Manpower to identify brokered tix

My bet is the the financial burden becomes too great for QF (versus points income), and the cost for EK redemptions in F goes up.

Safe to assume that when the current QF/EK agreement expires, things will change.

 

[elanshin]

Also, showing availability on Aeroplan (that award pricing is ridiculous!)
View attachment 443212

Less ridiculous when you look at their surcharge costs compared to qantas'

 

[justinbrett]

That seems pretty definitive to me, and how it's been interpreted by other FF news sites.

Why does the AFF article suggest this is still in question?

 

[AFF Editor]

Emirates has just sent us the following statement:

“As part of our regular business review, Emirates Skywards has revised the criteria for Classic Rewards. Starting from 12 May, Classic Rewards for First Class will exclusively be available for Platinum, Gold, and Silver Tier members only. This change has been implemented to provide our premium and loyal members with more rewards, exclusive benefits, and greater access to Emirates’ renowned First Class travel experience.

Emirates Skywards Blue Tier members can still redeem Miles for upgrades prior to flight departure (from Business Class to First Class) and use Cash+Miles to save on First Class tickets. Members based in the UAE, KSA, India and US can also sign up and enjoy immediate Silver Tier membership status with the loyalty programme’s cobranded credit cards including Emirates NBD, Emirates Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, SAB, ICICI Bank, Barclays, and HSBC.

Members of airlines which partner with Emirates Skywards are not impacted by this change.

We remain committed to providing our 35 million members worldwide with more opportunities to fast-track Tier status, world-class privileges, and the best loyalty experiences in the air and on-ground.

For more information on earning and spending Skywards Miles and to view the Miles calculator, please visit emirates.com/skywards.”

So, good news for Qantas Frequent Flyer members. @Human here's your confirmation as well that Skywards upgrades aren't affected.

 

[AFF Editor]

That seems pretty definitive to me, and how it's been interpreted by other FF news sites.

Why does the AFF article suggest this is still in question?

Because neither Qantas nor Emirates, until now, had provided an official comment or statement. Despite this we did update the article earlier, and we're updating the article again now.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Also ET

https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/emirates-first-class-qantas-points

And yet, earlier today the same site was saying the polar opposite, lol...

 

[justinbrett]

Because neither Qantas nor Emirates, until now, had provided us with an official comment or statement. We're updating the article now.

Apologies, I saw it had "For now, it looks like Qantas members will continue to have access to these seats" which I'm pretty sure wasn't there when I first read the article last night.

Out of curiosity, what made you say that if it wasn't the QF statement? Off the record sources?

 

[anat0l]

Alright, now that's cleared up, we can all stop panicking and go back to normal now.

(Except for the upcoming QF rewards cost changes that were announced some time ago, but that should go in another thread)

 

[Doctore1003]

If Emirates’ goal is to give elites “greater access to Emirates’ renowned First Class travel experience”, and the problem is American points hackers using Skywards, and these people will now simply switch to using QFF, then isn’t the writing on the wall for QFF access to first class seats??

 

[mviy]

If Emirates’ goal is to give elites “greater access to Emirates’ renowned First Class travel experience”, and the problem is American points hackers using Skywards, and these people will now simply switch to using QFF, then isn’t the writing on the wall for QFF access to first class seats??

If they restricted access to QFF to itineraries that include Australia/New Zealand that would probably limit that considerably.

 

[SAB]

Was planning to use my 650k plus QF points on EK. Let's see if there's anything left in March/April 2026.

 

[am0985]

It's likely led to a temporary worsening of F availability due to a bunch of YOLO redemptions.

Overall this is actually quite good news for Australians though. Somewhat less competition for EK F seats is always a good thing.

I do wonder whether limiting QFF access would breach the JV contract which expires in 2028? That would be the only logical explanation for this and maybe EK had a similar deal with Aeroplan. Other partners were cut off from F a little while ago.

Maybe we have a few more years before things get renegotiated. Though QFF might try and negotiate to keep it if the JV is renewed again - quite a lot of advertisements for QF branded credit cards have pictures of EK F.

Will also be interested to see how this gets reported (and commented on) in the US blogs eg OMAAT, TPG etc

 

[anat0l]

these people will now simply switch to using QFF, then isn’t the writing on the wall for QFF access to first class seats??

QFF has hardly ever set the world on fire with redemptions, so why would US churners start now? Not sure what kind of redemptions are good to/from the US with QFF points, let alone those that a credit card churn (single one) can access.

Also, as I surmised before, you only need EK status to access EK F redemptions, and it's quite easy to get EK Silver straight away via a seemingly cheap credit card (even Emirates seems to suggest this so). So this is kind of a non-event in a way, especially for churners that EK would seemingly want to stop.