Since Qantas and Emirates established a joint venture in 2012, some of the best value redemptions have been on Emirates.
Combining a world class product on their Airbus A380s and an extensive route map to get you to most places in the world with a single stop made it a great option for Australian frequent flyers.
But with Qantas and Emirates rolling back their relationship somewhat over the past few years (such as reverting their flagship London flights via Singapore), you will soon need more Qantas points for the same redemptions.
In this post:
Emirates Devaluation – Moving To Partner Award Table
From September 1 2020, Emirates is moving from the Qantas award chart to the Partner award chart. I’ve previously covered the two award charts here, but essentially you’ll need more points.
Sydney to London or New York currently requires 144,600 points each way in Business Class, but on 1 September onwards it will require 159,000.
See below for a side by side comparison between the current and future Emirates chart.
First Class Award Chart
| Emirates (Until 30 Aug) | Emirates (From 1 Sep) | ||
| Zone | One-Way Miles | First | First |
| 1 | 0-600 | 27,600 | 29,000 |
| 2 | 601 – 1,200 | 41,500 | 43,500 |
| 3 | 1,201 – 2,400 | 62,200 | 64,500 |
| 4 | 2,401 – 3,600 | 85,500 | 89,800 |
| 5 | 3,601 – 4,800 | 102,600 | 107,700 |
| 6 | 4,801 – 5,800 | 123,100 | 129,300 |
| 7 | 5,801 – 7,000 | 142,300 | 149,800 |
| 8 | 7,001 – 8,400 | 162,800 | 170,800 |
| 9 | 8,401 – 9,600 | 189,800 | 199,300 |
| 10 | 9,601 – 15,000 | 216,900 | 227,500 |
Business Class Award Chart
| Emirates (Until 30 Aug) | Emirates (From 1 Sep) | ||
| Zone | One-Way Miles | Business | Business |
| 1 | 0-600 | 18,400 | 20,000 |
| 2 | 601 – 1,200 | 27,600 | 30,000 |
| 3 | 1,201 – 2,400 | 41,500 | 43,800 |
| 4 | 2,401 – 3,600 | 57,000 | 61,200 |
| 5 | 3,601 – 4,800 | 68,400 | 75,000 |
| 6 | 4,801 – 5,800 | 82,000 | 90,000 |
| 7 | 5,801 – 7,000 | 94,900 | 104,500 |
| 8 | 7,001 – 8,400 | 108,400 | 119,200 |
| 9 | 8,401 – 9,600 | 126,500 | 139,200 |
| 10 | 9,601 – 15,000 | 144,600 | 159,000 |
No More ‘Free’ Connecting Flights Between Qantas & Emirates
While the increase in points required is not ideal, the main devaluation for savvy frequent flyers is that you can’t use the Qantas network to connect to Emirates flights. Now that Qantas is in Table 1 and Emirates will be in Table 2, any redemption will be priced as two tickets.
In 2018, I couldn’t find direct flights from Sydney to New York so I used a Qantas flight to Perth to connect to onward Emirates flights to Dubai and New York. This redemption is in Zone 10 currently requires 144,800 points. From September, it will be a combination of a Zone 3 Qantas redemption (41,500 points) and Zone 10 Partner redemption (159,000 points) for a grand total of 200,500 points!
While premium award seats in Business and First Class should be easier to come by as the world economy recovers from COVID-19, this change eliminates a sweet spot in the Qantas program.
How Far Ahead Can I Book To Avoid The Devaluation?
Qantas Frequent Flyer generally releases Emirates award seats between 330 and 340 days in advance. With the devaluation kicking in on 1 September 2020, you will be able to book at current rates for travel until mid-July 2021.
Bottom Line
While moving Emirates redemptions from the Qantas to Partner award chart seems like a minor devaluation, it eliminates the option of using Qantas flights to connect to Emirates flights. It also makes it harder to execute the Premium Award Magic Trick.
