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Qantas points can be used to book Emirates flights to destinations all over the world! Most Emirates flights start or end in Dubai, but Emirates also has many useful fifth-freedom routes. From Australia, Emirates flies a range of useful fifth-freedom routes including Sydney-Christchurch, Melbourne-Singapore, Brisbane-Singapore and Sydney-Bangkok. These are just a few of the many unusual Emirates routes around the world.
Emirates fifth-freedom routes are extremely useful if you want to use your Qantas points to fly somewhere that is not well-served by a Qantas partner airline. Even on routes that are served by other partner airlines, they also open more options. Emirates operates both Business and First class on most of their fifth-freedom flights, and award availability using Qantas points is typically excellent!
Naturally, you can also use Emirates Skywards miles to book any of these flights.
Unfortunately the additional fuel surcharges on Emirates flights are quite high. But Emirates’ fantastic product and availability goes some way to make up for it. Note that the taxes & charges quoted in this article are for Business & First class; Economy charges are lower.
Here are 10 other unusual Emirates routes to keep an eye out for…
1. Auckland to Bali
Emirates begins daily Auckland-Denpasar flights on 14 June 2018. The Boeing 777-300ER flights have 8 First class suites, and award seats are available almost every day! The Auckland-Denpasar sector is a day flight, departing in the afternoon and arriving in Bali in the evening – perfect timing to enjoy 8 hours of pampering in First class! The return flight to Auckland operates overnight. A First class seat will cost you 90,000 Qantas points + $204 worth of taxes, fees & carrier charges. If you’re using Qantas points to book a seat, you can book directly on the Qantas website.
(There are also 42 Business seats, but Emirates’ Boeing 777 Business seats are not lie-flat and there’s even a middle seat in the 2-3-2 layout.)
2. Bangkok to Hong Kong
Emirates flies daily between Bangkok and Hong Kong using an A380. There is no First class on this aircraft, but a Business class seat will cost you just 24,000 Qantas points + $32. And being an A380, you’ll have access to the in-flight bar!
3. Athens to New York
Athens-Newark is one of two Emirates routes between Europe and the USA (the other being Milan-New York JFK). Flights are daily and many dates have both Business and First seats available! A First class seat will set you back 108,000 Qantas points + $385.
4. Larnaca to Malta
The daily Boeing 777-300ER Emirates flights from Larnaca to Malta cost just 24,000 Qantas points for Business or 36,000 points in First class, plus $268. You can’t book these flights online though – call Qantas on 13 13 13 to book a seat.
5. Colombo to Male
Emirates has two fifth-freedom routes from Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo. One flight is to Male in the Maldives. The Colombo-Male flight costs 16,000 or 24,000 Qantas points in Business/First class, plus $194. (An Economy seat is just 8,000 Qantas points.) This is another route where you’ll need to call Qantas to book.
6. Colombo to Singapore
Emirates’ other Colombo tag flight links the city with Singapore, with well-timed onward connections to/from Australia. A First class seat costs 54,000 Qantas points plus $333.
7. Phnom Penh to Yangon
Combine a trip to Cambodia with a visit to Myanmar! Another of the unusual Emirates routes within Asia, this flight runs daily. You would need to call Qantas to get a quote and make a booking. As a guide, a Business seat would cost 24,000 Qantas points.
8. Harare to Lusaka
Emirates is one of numerous airlines operating fifth-freedom flights between the capitals of Zimbabwe and Zambia. The flight takes barely over an hour, but both Business and First reward seats are available once again! A Business seat costs 16,000 Qantas points, respectively, but the taxes and charges on a one-way flight are an eye-watering $299.
9. Abidjan to Accra
If you ever need to fly between the capital of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire’s largest city, Emirates once again flies this route every day. Business or First class costs just 16,000 or 24,000 Qantas points, but the co-payment is an even higher $320.
10. Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires
Emirates’ first route within South America is between Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. Our tip: Book this flight from Rio to Buenos Aires, where a Business seat will set you back 36,000 Qantas points and just $41. The return flight not only attracts a whopping $305 in taxes & charges, but it arrives in Rio during the middle of the night.
Emirates also starts 5x weekly Santiago-Sao Paulo flights on 5 July 2018.
You can read a full list of fifth-freedom flights on Emirates – and all other airlines – on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: A Complete, Updated List of Fifth-Freedom Routes
Would you like help using your frequent flyer points?
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Our Frequent Flyer Concierge team can help you to find the perfect flights using your points. Just let them know how many points you have and where you would like to go, and they’ll prepare an itinerary for you.
