Earning Qantas points and status credits on Emirates flights
This simple trick lets you maximise your Qantas frequent flyer points and status credits.
By David Flynn, January 17 2023
The Qantas-Emirates partnership not only adds a score of new routes and one-stop flights via Dubai into Europe and the UK, it also lets Qantas Frequent Flyers earn points and status credits when travelling with Emirates.
But there’s a catch – and it’s a big one.
Depending on something as simple as the two letters which appear before your Emirates flight number, you could either be earning a full-sized serve of Qantas points and status credits – or less than half as many points and no status credits.
Here's what you need to know before booking your next Emirates flight to Dubai or beyond.
How the Qantas-Emirates codeshare works
Central to the Qantas-Emirates alliance is a codeshare agreement, which in plain English means that Emirates flights can carry a Qantas flight number – one that starts with the letters QF – in addition to Emirates’ own EK flight number.
The Emirates website shows flights with the airline's native EK flight number.
For example, the evening Emirates flight EK413 from Sydney to Dubai also carries the Qantas flight number of QF8413 (Qantas flight numbers in the 8xxx series are all codeshares).
The Qantas website shows Emirates flights bearing a special QF8xxx Qantas flight number.
Travellers can book onto this Emirates flight under either the EK or QF code: the former via the Emirates website, the later at the Qantas website, or both through a travel agent.
It’s the exact same flight, same service, same everything – with the exception of how many Qantas points and status credits you’ll earn if you list your Qantas Frequent Flyer number against the booking.
That said, there are some differences, such as Emirates’ chauffeur drive service for first and business class not being available to passengers travelling on a QF8xxx ticket.
And while prices can nominally be the same between airlines, some ET readers report seeing fares on the Emirates website listed much cheaper than the same flight through Qantas.
Earning Qantas points, status credits on Emirates flights
Here’s a practical example: booking an Emirates business class flight from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane to anywhere in what Qantas terms as Western Europe (a dozen countries, including the UK) under the native EK flight numbers and listing your QFF membership number will earn a baase rate of 13,125 Qantas points in business class.
However, you can forget about any pocketing any status credits, as the Emirates partnership is one where no Qantas status credits are earned on the Gulf carrier’s "own marketed" flights, unlike other Qantas partners such as Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways.
(You can check with Qantas partner airlines have the option to earn status credits by visiting the Qantas partners page and using the Filter Partners drop-down menu to select Earn Status Credits for the category of Flights.)
Here's how to see which Qantas partner airlines let you earn status credits.
But if you booked that same Emirates trip through Qantas with those QF8xxx flight numbers, you’ll earn the same number of points and status credits as if this was actually a Qantas flight.
This includes a hefty serve of 295 status credits for a one-way flight in business class, plus a substantially higher number of points than if your ticket carried that EK flight number.
So for a one-way Emirates standard business class flight from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane to say London or Paris, but booked through Qantas with QF8xxx flight numbers, you’d earn anywhere from 20,150 Qantas points as a Qantas Bronze frequent flyer to 29,450 points for Qantas Gold and 32,550 at the Qantas Platinum tier.
Compare that to just 13,125 Qantas points on the same Emirates trip under the EK flight number and you can appreciate why savvy Qantas Frequent Flyers make sure they look for and book that QF8xxx flight.
19 Dec 2022
Total posts 6
if you book through QF you won't get the emirates limo service too and from the airport anymore
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
14 Sep 2012
Total posts 381
That's because when you have QF 8xxxx series codeshare flight number, you are technically a Qantas passenger on a Qantas "flight" albeit actually operated by an Emirates aircraft and Qantas does not offer the limo service (they cancelled this back in April 2020).
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
05 Oct 2016
Total posts 96
Also, it's not always the same price. I have found situations returning from Europe where the EK flight number was cheaper than the QF one on the same date and flight.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
16 Jan 2018
Total posts 50
Lately, I find trying to find Emirates flights, with QF8XXX, is almost impossible on Qantas website. (I don't even think Emirates website will sell QF8XXXVery few, if any. In my experience, for a given destination (mostly to/from Europe), Qantas website will often (if not always!) sell (1) the QF1/2 flight to London as a transit point before reaching your final destination, so no Dubai as a stopover, hence EK flights.; or (2) the stupidly-long-and-expensive ultra-long-haul direct PER-LHR flights, again, with London as your stopover point before reaching your final destination. Even if Emirates DO FLY to those final destination (e.g. Madrid).
So, while in theory you can always book QF-flight number on EK metal, you probably have to go through a travel agent to do so? I have vested interest in this because I want to use my $ 400 Amex travel credit for my next vacation to Europe :-), which si only redeemable on QF flights.
Btw, I am not convinced that the prices will are always the same for the same flight(s).
24 Apr 2014
Total posts 271
Hi, I just did what you mentioned related to the $400 Amex travel credit on the Amex travel website. The way it worked out was QF flight numbers all the way to LHR, on QF planes (via SIN) and then home from LGW to MEL, with EK flight numbers on EK planes. Sort of like a hybrid for points and status credits. I noticed the Amex travel website has much more options than just the QF or EK websites.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
16 Mar 2020
Total posts 23
It should also be noted that not all EK flights have a QF codeshare (ie Dubai to/from Saudi Arabia) - and as pointed above there can be substantial fare differences between the EK flight and the QF codeshare, with generally the QF codeshare showing a higher fare than EK
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
03 Jun 2022
Total posts 6
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Feb 2018
Total posts 7
Hi AshCol64,
this may be down to Cathay, not Qantas. I am engaged in a months long dispute with Cathay (which is now with the Hong Kong Consumer Council) on exactly the same point. Basically, Cathay apply different fare class codes to the fare you book on a whim. In my case I booked an economy Flex fare HKG-SIN. Both the CX site and QF partner earning tables confirm that this fare class is eligible for QFF SC's. Economy sale fares for example are not. Post sale (as there is no way of checking the fare class code pre-sale on CX's website) they changed my fare class code to "S", which is economy sale. They have since stated they did this because the economy flex fare I purchased was the cheapest available. at the time (which it wasn't, but of course I can't prove that now). So in a nutshell, you can do all the research you like, there is no way of ensuring you will get the SC's you pay for with CX as the fare class codes they actually allocate do not correspond to the fare type purchased, and they refuse to be transparent about it. I don't know what fare type you purchased, but I suggest checking it (it will be on your eTicket) vs the earning categories on the QF site - I bet you they don't match. The QFF partner earning tables can be found here: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/earn-points/airline-earning-tables/earn-category-tables.html#finnair
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
12 Mar 2017
Total posts 4
If you have a QF ticket on Emirates, can you use your qantas points to get an upgrade from economy to business? Or can you only do that when you are flying Qantas metal?
21 Oct 2019
Total posts 5
I'm fairly sure that option is unavailable to those who booked using QF.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
13 Nov 2018
Total posts 109
No. Upgrades are only available on QF metal
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
19 Feb 2017
Total posts 2
Just had a quick scan of the EK and QF website as I am a bit rusty on all the rules and exceptions i used to encounter traveling on that slightly convoluted QF/EK arrangement .
I have always had to pay a lot more if I book the QF8xxx over the EK. If you are not Qantas Club member ( therefore lounge access with QF8xxx) , it might be best to work out how much those Qantas Status Credits and points are really worth (to you).
I'm assuming you have already booked QF? Otherwise you could weigh up your options with QFF SC vs potential EK Business upgrade. You should be able to upgrade, if the flight is ticketed EK, and IF you have enough skyward rewards balance!? EK site says you cant mix miles and cash for upgrade, but I assume they have a cash upgrade option as well ( or you can purchase the miles first, but not sure if this is viable economically) this will need more research. ( I gave up chasing status with EK a while back and focused on OW and SQ)
"Please note Economy Class Special fares aren’t eligible for upgrades."
Also it looks like the Chauffeur‑drive service is not available on EK skywards business upgrades. Im assuming that it is only available on upgrades from J to F or on revenue J & F, and as the article and (lateron) the first poster pointed out, there is no Limo service for QF ticketed flights anymore :(
If you are NOT holding minimum Skywards silver*/QF gold status ....OR..... Qantas club+QF8xxx, and are after the lounge access more than the J seat, then be careful about what class of business you upgrade to. "Business Class Special" fares are "paid access only" so either upgrade to minimum "Business Class Saver" or weigh up paying US$125 for 4 hours in the business lounge multiplied by how many lounges you want to go to! (US$250 First class lounge) Also another variable would be weighing up if it would benefit you ( in the long run) to pay for a Qantas club membership in conjunction with your QF8xxx ticket, if you are not already chasing gold status with QF/likely to achieve QF gold within your membership year. Just be careful to check that club membership will allow access to your frequent destination lounges, as it can be a bit clunky.
"Please note that paid access is not available at these destinations CAI, HKG, PEK, PVG & SIN"
https://www.emirates.com/au/english/help/faq-topics/emirates-skywards/
Related to your question, maybe it is only possible to upgrade QF8xxx with cash only through QF/travel agent? Might be worth a lengthy (on hold) to QFF to rule it out/in.
I recommend to get yourself a free Skywards Blue membership well before your flight anyway, you aren't obligated to credit your Miles and points to Skywards, you can enter your QFF number in to your EK/QF8xxx booking if it is more beneficial to your situation. Membership comes with benefits like free/paid wifi onboard and US$25 discount on lounge access (if you don't already have access with QF gold or Qantas club in conjunction with QF8xxx ticket). Have your membership number handy when you get on the flight, to enter in the IFE.
I hope the above is accurate, as I said, just a quick "cut and paste" for some of it, which was a (post covid) refresher for myself anyway.
Good luck, and I hope you get that J seat ( and a seat at the Moet bar in Dubai Lounge!)
*Skywards Silver is free access ONLY to Dubai lounge. *Skywards Silver is Paid access to - Auckland, Bangkok, Birmingham, Boston, Brisbane, Cape Town, Colombo, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, Johannesburg, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Manchester, Melbourne, Milan, Munich, New York John F. Kennedy, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Perth, Rome, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo Narita, and Zürich. Relax and indulge in all our lounge services for up to four hours before your flight. In Dubai, you can also upgrade your lounge eligibility to First Class.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 Apr 2016
Total posts 12
I recently booked Qantas from Bne to Athens return flying Emirates.
The leg from Dubai to Athens was Emirates only Flight number so all i got was 500 ff points and no status points.
How does that work?
21 Oct 2019
Total posts 5
As they say in the article, if it was an EK ticket then you don't get the full benefit. Emirates are not part of One World - it's just an arrangement between them and Qantas.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 May 2018
Total posts 2
So I look at these options regularly and I NEVER see the QF ticket at the same price as the EK ticket - the QF is always significantly more expensive (always thousands of dollars, and often in the order of 30% more expensive than the EK ticket). My experience is not only consistent, but up to date - I fly EK in 3 weeks on sectors where QF was offered on the EK metal, and I wasn't paying an extra $4k on a $15k ticket just so that I could get the status points (in the order of 600 points in total)
19 Jan 2023
Total posts 1
This article is plain wrong on the base principle that it'll be the same price - the prices are often different between Qantas and Emirates for seats on the same flight. There are also lots of things QF8xxx codeshare bookings miss out on:
Etihad - Etihad Guest
21 Jul 2019
Total posts 166
@dave764
Exactly! QF fares are always more expensive that Emirates on these codeshare flights. I've never seen an instance where QF was cheaper during my prolonged searches. I can go without the full serve of QF points and status credits if it means I pay a cheaper fare directly with Emirates. The savings for me are worth it.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
16 Mar 2020
Total posts 23
you can access seating, meals etc on the QF flight numbers, just use the EK booking ref on the EK website (after ticketing)
QF Gold
29 Jun 2020
Total posts 3
I am Gold QFF and have booked Premium Econ with EK MEL-CPH (which was remarkably cheaper than through QF BTW)
I will get the added benefit of lounge use with my QF status, but I can't see any way I can potentially upgrade with points or pay. Has anyone else had experience with this? I am weighing up if to keep the QF number in the booking and potentially have higher chance of an upgrade closer to the time, or do I sign up to Skywards and use that number in the booking to unlock better options?
Thanks
15 Mar 2023
Total posts 1
I'm trying to book an Emirates flight via QF website (Melb-Dubai / Dubai-Vienna) but it's not allowing me to chose the Premium Economy option for the Melb-Dubai part. Any thoughts how to make that work? I don't want to lose the Status Points by booking via Emirates :/
16 May 2023
Total posts 1
If I have booked an EK SYD-DXB return flight with a QF code, will I still get the QF status credits if I check-in online using the Emirates app? I've added the trip the to Emirates app, but have noticed that the locator code I received when I made the booking is different to the booking reference in the Emirates app.
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Earning Qantas points and status credits on Emirates flights