Qantas - Emirates shady award flight availability?!

RedSMS

Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2018
Posts
268
Alright.

So, I'm half thinking of heading to Dubai early next year.

QFF no status, but with enough points to book 2 X classic reward legs from MEL-DXB return in J.

Qantas is using EK metal for these scam redemptions, and no matter how hard I try, (on QF website), the system will force feed me a return leg that's 137,000 points + $1300 (as opposed to 119,200 +$1245 for MEL-DXB) and fly me home via SYD, and then plop me on a JQ flight to MEL !!!!!!!

They do the exact same thing if you were to try and book SYD-DXB return (whether as a round trip), or as a one way redemption.

EK operates 3 flights a day to/from MEL-DXB, SYD-DXB (and I would presume vice versa), but they slap you in the face for trying to use your points. As if the $1300 isn't bad enough!!!!

By the way, I checked for multiple dates the availability of direct flights (if you were to book them as standalone flights), and QF do offer direct classic reward redemptions!!!!

Surely there has to be a workaround here?

Because if there isn't, Qantas is technically showing classic reward flight bookings for legs (direct) that can't actually be booked?

Or, do I take the chance and booking one leg at a time???

This just seems like a pretty shady practice to me to be perfectly honest.


It's almost as if they are ghost flights!


SURELY, there is some way to bypass this endless scam that is QF Frequent Flyer!!!
 
Last edited:
Search as Multi-City (flexible dates) AND make sure to sort by duration.

The QF website will sometimes favour any itinerary with a QF or JQ flight above others - even if it's a worse itinerary.

The multi-city search is older and I find it to be more robust
 
Search as Multi-City (flexible dates) AND make sure to sort by duration.

The QF website will sometimes favour any itinerary with a QF or JQ flight above others - even if it's a worse itinerary.

The multi-city search is older and I find it to be more robust
It actually seems to have improved as well.

A couple of recent searches haven’t displayed those annoying “(i) Your long haul flight ABC-DEF will be in Economy” results when searching Biz seats.

EK operates 3 flights a day to/from MEL-DXB, SYD-DXB (and I would presume vice versa), but they slap you in the face for trying to use your points. As if the $1300 isn't bad enough!!!!
EK imposes the excessive carrier surcharge - there’s a thread / article or three on it…
 
Search as Multi-City (flexible dates) AND make sure to sort by duration.

The QF website will sometimes favour any itinerary with a QF or JQ flight above others - even if it's a worse itinerary.

The multi-city search is older and I find it to be more robust
Thanks, but it doesn't allow you to search for award bookings does it?
 
Elevate your business spending to first-class rewards! Sign up today with code AFF10 and process over $10,000 in business expenses within your first 30 days to unlock 10,000 Bonus PayRewards Points.
Join 30,000+ savvy business owners who:

✅ Pay suppliers who don’t accept Amex
✅ Max out credit card rewards—even on government payments
✅ Earn & transfer PayRewards Points to 10+ airline & hotel partners

Start earning today!
- Pay suppliers who don’t take Amex
- Max out credit card rewards—even on government payments
- Earn & Transfer PayRewards Points to 8+ top airline & hotel partners

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

Become an AFF member!

Join Australian Frequent Flyer (AFF) for free and unlock insider tips, exclusive deals, and global meetups with 65,000+ frequent flyers.

AFF members can also access our Frequent Flyer Training courses, and upgrade to Fast-track your way to expert traveller status and unlock even more exclusive discounts!

AFF forum abbreviations

Wondering about Y, J or any of the other abbreviations used on our forum?

Check out our guide to common AFF acronyms & abbreviations.
Back
Top