Qantas - Emirates Award flight Discussion

[lovestotravel]

Oh and getting F out of DXB for that matter

I managed to book MEL-DXB in Game changer F and then I've paid for Y DXB-CDG

But I want to book a few more while I still can..... (before Feb changes to Silver and above)

 

[Lozzzzzaaaaa]

So now that F is back, is there a way to actually book LHR-DXB-MEL in F ?

I can get DXB-MEL easily, but as mentioned somewhere in this thread TO DXB from EU/LHR seems to never work. I get an error every time

Either "It looks like something went wrong there

• We can’t find any flights for that search. Change your departure or arrival city and try again. (#9207)"

OR

HTTP Status 400 – Bad Request"​

Does not seem like it at the moment unfortunately. However you can book other routes to Dubai from Europe like Milan-DXB-MEL, and Rome-DXB-MEL all in F if you search them as married segments and not by their individual legs, just to name a couple of options.

 

[lovestotravel]

Does not seem like it at the moment unfortunately. However you can book other routes to Dubai from Europe like Milan-DXB-MEL, and Rome-DXB-MEL all in F if you search them as married segments and not by their individual legs, just to name a couple of options.

Thanks

Have tried many dates and i get told we cant find any flights


Have you got 1 date i can try for an example please

 

[FF98]

Thanks

Have tried many dates and i get told we cant find any flights


Have you got 1 date i can try for an example please

try looking at AMS-MEL. Plenty of F availability for 2 up till May

 

[Flyfrequently]

try looking at AMS-MEL. Plenty of F availability for 2 up till May

@lovestotravel try 17 May - good luck!

 

[SCM]

The business class redemptions were already of horrendous value, and to me not really with it, in very old aged A380 cabins with 3.5k fees for a return trip to Europe.

First class was really the only valuable thing EK offered on a trip to Europe (and pretty much never possible from Australian cities anyway), now even that's become more expensive and gatekept by silver.

And why bother getting silver given that F class has disappeared from reward bookings? I haven't seen it in many months on any route I search.

The points game is really getting absurdly bad now.

 

[lovestotravel]

The business class redemptions were already of horrendous value, and to me not really with it, in very old aged A380 cabins with 3.5k fees for a return trip to Europe.

First class was really the only valuable thing EK offered on a trip to Europe (and pretty much never possible from Australian cities anyway), now even that's become more expensive and gatekept by silver.

And why bother getting silver given that F class has disappeared from reward bookings? I haven't seen it in many months on any route I search.

The points game is really getting absurdly bad now.

A380's are being refurbished and to/from Australia are the refurbished ones

Agree that taxes on J redemtoions are too high

First class was possible easily prior to August this year.

Now first class is back, but limited to/from EU/LHR from DXB

If I can still pick up F MEL-DXB and then J DXB-CDG etc I'll be happy

Silver on QF will cost me about $1,200 with a DSC offer and I'm not that far off LTS anyways

But yes the points games sucks now

@lovestotravel try 17 May - good luck!
View attachment 493860

Thanks
AMS seems to be the best with scattered F up to Dec

I'm looking for seats back towards end of Jan which I am about to book on SQ J in savers, but happy to burn some QF points while I still can

 

[mviy]

I have plenty of points to book MEL-LHR return in F if they make it available for when I am able to travel. I have wanted to try EK F for a long time.

It will be interesting to see what happens to availability.

 

[SCM]

A380's are being refurbished and to/from Australia are the refurbished ones

That's true, but again due to the lack of redemption opportunities, it's usually another port, not in AU.

 

[lovestotravel]

That's true, but again due to the lack of redemption opportunities, it's usually another port, not in AU.

Plus the 30% increase in F redemptions coming end of March

 

[am0985]

I think I'll just fly 7.5-8k AUD EK F return out of Jakarta to Europe as a treat every couple of years or so.

It's the same as a lot of J fares out of Australia to Europe and I can fly to Bali for a couple of days to sleep off the jetlag on the way home.

 

[lovestotravel]

I think I'll just fly 7.5-8k AUD EK F return out of Jakarta to Europe as a treat every couple of years or so.

It's the same as a lot of J fares out of Australia to Europe and I can fly to Bali for a couple of days to sleep off the jetlag on the way home.

What do you/others do for the Aus to Jakarta flights ? Y or J ?

 

[im.daniel]

What do you/others do for the Aus to Jakarta flights ? Y or J ?

I've often booked QF SYD-CGK return in Y. Daytime flight to CGK in Y is easy. Red-eye flight back to SYD is definitely harder. With WP, I've always (fortunately) managed to clear my upgrades.

I agree with @am0985. I will also be booking F ex CGK in the future should the occasion arise. I have previously flown a few of my EU/Eastern US trips ex CGK already due to the solid prices..

 

[lovestotravel]

I've often booked QF SYD-CGK return in Y. Daytime flight to CGK in Y is easy. Red-eye flight back to SYD is definitely harder. With WP, I've always (fortunately) managed to clear my upgrades.

I agree with @am0985. I will also be booking F ex CGK in the future should the occasion arise. I have previously flown a few of my EU/Eastern US trips ex CGK already due to the solid prices..

Thanks - For now my plan is MEL-DXB in EK F, and then DXB-EU/LHR in Y and either wait for a paid upgrade to J or just slum it in Y. We have PP lounge access in DXB anyway

 

[am0985]

What do you/others do for the Aus to Jakarta flights ? Y or J ?

Options if you want to fly to CGK in J on awards:

1. QFF awards aren't too bad on this route at all. Maybe the best international J route to get award seats on (except short haul destinations). Nowhere near as many Indonesians in Australia as Filipinos so demand isn't nearly as bad as to MNL.

2. Singapore Airlines: either via KrisFlyer, Velocity or Aeroplan points (bought when on offer). Availability can vary though even between the programmes - recently I got SQ J tickets on Aeroplan when they weren't available at Saver level on SQ.

3. Garuda: bookable via QR Avios, transferrable from Amex. 40k to DPS or 60k straight to CGK. Availability is usually pretty good.

Jakarta isn't a great city but you can get top quality 5* hotels for 300-350 AUD a night there. Book with either Amex FHR or a Virtuoso advisor and you can get 100 USD hotel credit, upgrade, 4pm check out, free breakfast etc. I've stayed at Mandarin Oriental and the Four Seasons there which were both good. Got upgraded to a huge suite at the MO!

 

[SYD]

Options if you want to fly to CGK in J on awards:

1. QFF awards aren't too bad on this route at all. Maybe the best international J route to get award seats on (except short haul destinations). Nowhere near as many Indonesians in Australia as Filipinos so demand isn't nearly as bad as to MNL.

They’re also less points than MNL, SIN, BKK and HKG (at least ex SYD).

But they all earn 48 SCs for PC/PC+ members.

Jakarta isn't a great city

Correct

but you can get top quality 5* hotels for 300-350 AUD a night there.

Decent airport hotels start around A$50.

We’ve been using the Ibis Styles. Quite functional. There’s a free airport shuttle - easy getting back but more coughbersome getting from the airport. As ALL Gold, they give me a 4pm checkout. Occasionally a private pickup from the airport - otherwise use Grab.

Note that you need an Indonesian visa to transit. So A$50 each way on top of hotel, but overall still much less than paying the Oz tax for a J or F fare!

 

[jase05]

Options if you want to fly to CGK in J on awards:

1. QFF awards aren't too bad on this route at all. Maybe the best international J route to get award seats on (except short haul destinations). Nowhere near as many Indonesians in Australia as Filipinos so demand isn't nearly as bad as to MNL.

2. Singapore Airlines: either via KrisFlyer, Velocity or Aeroplan points (bought when on offer). Availability can vary though even between the programmes - recently I got SQ J tickets on Aeroplan when they weren't available at Saver level on SQ.

3. Garuda: bookable via QR Avios, transferrable from Amex. 40k to DPS or 60k straight to CGK. Availability is usually pretty good.

Jakarta isn't a great city but you can get top quality 5* hotels for 300-350 AUD a night there. Book with either Amex FHR or a Virtuoso advisor and you can get 100 USD hotel credit, upgrade, 4pm check out, free breakfast etc. I've stayed at Mandarin Oriental and the Four Seasons there which were both good. Got upgraded to a huge suite at the MO!

I’ve also flown MEL-BKK-CGK J on TG with Aeroplan a couple of times and that actually suits us the best but their awards seem to have dried up.
We have also used VS miles to book GA too.
When we fly with Qf to CGK it’s usually out of SYD but for our next trip to Bali in May only MEL-CGK was available so that will do. We will stay a couple of nights at Raffles again, cheapest Raffles in the world and as Diamonds they treat us like absolute royalty every time. Jakarta isn’t the best city but has some decent shopping and we use it more as a relax and unwind

 

[lovestotravel]

Either lots of people are booking EK F again from SYD/MEL-DXB or availability has been halved

Sadly I feel they have pulled lots of seats

Was good while it lasted, I got one MEL-DXB in gamechanger F in and was about to book another but it's gone

Now hope that the 777 stays as a gamechanger as it gets subbed out for the standard F about once every few weeks

Will only know about 18 hours before my flight I guess

 

[Lozzzzzaaaaa]

Either lots of people are booking EK F again from SYD/MEL-DXB or availability has been halved

Sadly I feel they have pulled lots of seats

Was good while it lasted, I got one MEL-DXB in gamechanger F in and was about to book another but it's gone

Now hope that the 777 stays as a gamechanger as it gets subbed out for the standard F about once every few weeks

Will only know about 18 hours before my flight I guess

Yes I noticed all of this too :-(
got excited too early

 

[iamsuperandrew]

Anyone with Silver or above, have redemptions returned with more options? eg. DXB to EU / Asia?