In recent times, we’ve seen major changes made to the Emirates Skywards program, ranging from worsening the transfer ratio when moving points to the program, to adding an age limit on first class redemptions, to requiring elite status in order to redeem for first class.
Emirates and Qantas have a close partnership, and with all the negative changes to Emirates Skywards, there has been somewhat of an arbitrage opportunity with using Qantas Frequent Flyer points on Emirates, especially for first class. So along those lines, there are some updates…
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Qantas Frequent Flyer redemptions on Emirates worsened
Qantas Frequent Flyer has just revealed three changes to award redemptions on Emirates. The first two changes specifically impact first class redemptions (note that existing bookings aren’t impacted):
- As of January 21, 2026, all passengers redeeming for Emirates first class must be at least nine years old
- As of February 18, 2026, Emirates first class redemptions are only available to Qantas Frequent Flyer members who hold Silver status or higher
On top of that, Qantas Frequent Flyer will be devaluing its award chart for travel on Emirates. Here’s the award chart for bookings made through March 30, 2026:
Meanwhile here’s the award chart for bookings made as of March 31, 2026:
As you can see, award costs are changing across markets and across cabins, and we’re seeing increases that are generally in the range of 10-30%, with premium cabins being hit hardest.
These redemption changes shouldn’t come as a surprise
Obviously nobody likes to see a frequent flyer program devaluation, but I think these changes shouldn’t surprise anyone.
I think it’s important to understand that Emirates doesn’t take the same approach to loyalty programs as in the United States, where airlines essentially operate as loss leaders for their loyalty programs. Instead, Skywards is viewed as being more part of the commercial organization, and is intended to drive loyalty, first and foremost.
So the changes that we’ve seen to Emirates Skywards in recent times have been made with that goal (even if I disagree with the execution). So of course the idea is also then that you need to add these restrictions for partners, since it would be counterproductive to limit first class redemptions to Skywards elite members, but then open it up to all members of some partner programs.
Bottom line
Qantas Frequent Flyer is making changes to Emirates redemptions. We’re seeing an age limit for first class redemptions, plus a status requirement, exactly matching recent changes we’ve seen with Emirates’ own Skywards program.
We’re also seeing award price increases across the board, clearly driven either by Emirates requiring higher reimbursement for these awards, or otherwise just Emirates forcing Qantas to raise prices, to avoid an arbitrage opportunity.
All these changes are logical within the context of Emirates’ strategy, so I’m not surprised to see them.
What do you make of these Qantas Frequent Flyer changes?
The higher the tier status, the greater the benefit should be. Tier status should be given greater weight with respect to Emirates first class award inventory access. Emirates/Qantas equivalent: Platinum at 12 months out, Gold at 9 months out, then Silver at 6 months out. Non-Qantas partners receive access at 3 months out.
Don't see the problem here. EK first is easily the most attainable product out there and is priced reasonably (ex-US, ofc)
Forgot that ‘/s’
You can book EK First for 14k from LHR to SYD. That's not bad for 20 hours of flying.