A lot of times, loyalty programs catch us off guard by making sudden changes. This isn't one of those times – we saw this bad news coming from a mile away.
Earlier this week, Qantas quietly made three negative changes in regards to booking Emirates' coveted first class award seats with Frequent Flyer points.
- Minimum age: As of Jan. 21, 2026, all first class passengers must be at least nine years old.
- Frequent flyer status: As of Feb. 18, 2026, only Qantas Frequent Flyers who hold Silver status or higher will be eligible to book Emirates First rewards seats.
- Price increase: As of March 31, 2026, the number of points required to book an Emirates Classic flight reward is increasing by 20%.
These changes first surfaced in the r/QantasFrequentFlyer subreddit a couple of days ago and were flagged by One Mile at a Time. So why is none of this a total shock to us?
Well … the writing has been on the wall for months now.
For starters, Qantas sent out an email to its Frequent Flyer members early last year alerting them to “program changes” (read: devaluations) that would be rolling out over the next 12 months. But perhaps the biggest signal that changes were ahead came from Emirates itself: Last year, the Dubai-based airline began blocking everyday travelers from booking first class award tickets using their own Skywards miles – instead requiring Emirates Silver status or higher to be eligible.
They followed that news up a few months later by instituting a new age restriction, banning children age eight and younger from flying first class when redeeming Skywards miles or using miles to upgrade. Around the same time, Chase announced it was dropping Emirates as a transfer partner, while Citi and American Express reduced transfer ratios. Capital One followed suit just last week with a reduced transfer ratio of its own.
Add it all up and it's pretty clear Emirates is intent on keeping the “riffraff” – travelers redeeming points and miles – out of first class. Knowing all that, it's hardly a surprise to see Emirates pressuring its partners like Qantas to raise rates and implement similar changes to their own programs.
How Bad Are These Changes?
Again, none of this comes as a shock – but that doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt.
Let's start with the changes Qantas is making to its award chart. Here's a look at the cost of Emirates awards for bookings through March 30, 2026.
Meanwhile, here's what flights will cost for bookings made from March 31, 2026, onward.
As you can see, Qantas uses a distance-based award chart where the further you fly, the higher the cost when redeeming points – no matter the cabin.
Take Emirates' popular fifth-freedom route from New York (JFK) to Milan (MXP), for example. That flight clocks in at approximately 4,000 miles in distance and currently costs 123,100 Qantas Frequent Flyer points in first class. But come March 31, the price jumps up by nearly 25,000 points to 147,800 for the same one-way flight – a 20% increase!
And it's not just first class that's affected by these changes – the cost is going up across the board, with business and economy class pricing seeing a more modest 10% jump.
Then there's the new restriction, requiring a minimum of Silver status to book first class awards, period. Honestly, this change might not even be as bad as it seems. That's because, status or no status, you'll need Emirates to release award space to partners like Qantas Frequent Flyer in order to book … and that rarely happens.
Plain and simple: Booking Emirates First Class has only gotten harder over the years. Long before the airline began mandating elite status and restricting kids from its first class cabins, finding the award availability had become a chore – particularly for more than one passenger.
We search for Emirates First Class award space day in and day out for our Thrifty Traveler Premium members. Finding availability for two passengers (bookable through partners) – like this flight to Dubai (DXB) – has become a true unicorn of a deal.
In most cases, your best bet for booking these swanky seats lately has been on Emirates' funky fifth-freedom route from Miami (MIA) to Bogota (BOG). When you stop to consider how hard these seats were to book in the first place, these changes (maybe) sting a little less than they otherwise would.
The good news is that neither of these changes has gone into effect yet: There's still time to book Emirates first class through Qantas Frequent Flyer at the current, lower rates and without status … if you can find availability.
Is There Any Other Way to Fly Emirates First With Points?
As much as these changes stink, there are still a few workarounds you could use to cross Emirates First off your bucket list using points:
- The airline's excellent option to upgrade using miles the day of your flight remains unchanged through all of this. That means you could book an Emirates business class award – using Emirates Skywards miles – then fork over another 35,000, 50,000 miles or more to upgrade all the way up front. While it'll cost you more miles than booking a first class seat from the outset, at least it's possible.
- You can still book some Emirates First Class awards through partner airline programs like Air Canada Aeroplan and Japan Airlines Mileage Bank – though award availability can be even harder to come by.
- You can get instant status from either of the airline's co-branded Barclays cards: The Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard® gets you one year of entry-level Silver status while the Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard® comes with a year of Gold status, then Silver status for as long as you keep the card open. You can extend Silver and Gold status by spending $20,000 or $40,000 on each card, respectively, each calendar year.
No airline seat in the sky gets more attention from travel influencers or their followers than Emirates First Class. If flying this boogie seat is still on your bucket list, these are your best remaining options … aside from forking over tens of thousands of dollars in cash.
Bottom Line
Qantas is tightening access to Emirates First Class awards with new age limits, elite-status requirements, and a 20% price increase. While it might seem like these changes came out of the blue, they're hardly a shock given Emirates’ broader crackdown on award bookings.
While the devaluation hurts, Emirates First was already extremely hard to book with points, limiting the real impact. A few workarounds will remain, but if flying Emirates First has been on your bucket list, you'll need to act soon if you plan to book through Qantas!
