Have you ever wanted to sip a cocktail at a bar while flying at 40,000 feet? Or enjoy a nice hot shower in the middle of a long-haul flight?

You may think these kinds of experiences are out of reach, but that’s not the case if you’re a Qantas Frequent Flyer member.

Qantas Points can be used to fly in business and first class with Emirates (which is where you’ll find such luxuries), and this is one of the best uses of Qantas Points.

Emirates is one of the most popular airlines in Australia, thanks in part to its huge international network.

In Australia, it flies from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide to its Dubai base and onward to destinations across the world.

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The Emirates Experience

Emirates’ long-haul fleet comprises Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft.

All aircraft that fly to Australia have business and first class cabins. However, some of these are older while others have been modernised and refreshed. It’s a matter of luck which version you’ll get at the moment.

I’ve reviewed Emirates’ ‘old’ business class and first class on the A380s, so you can read those posts for a detailed overview of what to expect. 

First class is excellent on both aircraft, with spacious seats and top-notch dining and service.

Business class is reliably good on the A380s, with more space, fully lie-flat seats, and direct aisle access for every passenger thanks to the 1-2-1 layout.

On the 777s, there’s an outdated 2-3-2 ‘angled-flat’ seating layout. Most 777s are now in the process of being refreshed with new seats in a 1-2-1 layout, but that process will take some time.

The onboard bar (available to both business and first class passengers) and first class shower are exclusive to the A380s. So, in short – aim for the A380s if you can!

(Elsewhere in the world, you’ll also find a 777 configuration with no first class cabin and 2-2-2 in business class, and several A380s with no first class. There’s also a small number of 777s with six fully enclosed suites in first class – which are among the best first class products in the world – but these are hard to find and book with points.)

Emirates operates an extensive lounge network. In Dubai, the lounges are huge and essentially mini terminals in their own right. First class passengers can board directly from the lounge in Dubai.

How to book with Qantas Points

You can use Qantas Points to search for and book reward seats with Emirates on the Qantas website.

You can’t use Qantas Points to upgrade a cash fare to a higher class of travel on Emirates-operated flights.

To search for reward seats, use the multi-city booking page, even if you only want to book a single route, because the search results will appear in a handy monthly calendar view (make sure to tick “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only” and “Flexible with dates for all flights”).

When you identify a seat and click through to the next page, you’ll see the flight details and points cost, and then the subsequent page will also display the additional taxes and fees payable with money.

Points costs, taxes and fees

The amount of points you’ll need is based on distance, as follows.

Emirates recently increased the additional fees payable, so they can now add up to thousands of dollars, unfortunately.

For example, you’re looking at $3000-$4000 in taxes and fees when flying Australia-Europe return in business or first class. This is disappointing and substantially reduces the value of the redemption in business class, though first class still represents a good deal.

Shorter flights will have lower fees and charges.

Reward seat availability

Sadly, Emirates has reduced the number of reward seats available on popular routes in recent years.

The airline used to reliably release seats around 330 days out on all flights, but now it’s more erratic.

It appears Emirates sometimes releases seats in batches, probably based on capacity.

The airline also often releases last minute seats (i.e. for the next few weeks), which could be an option if you have that kind of flexibility.

There’s also more availability outside Australia, e.g. from Asia. One popular trick is to make your own way to Asia for a stopover (e.g. Singapore) and then fly with Emirates to Europe, Africa and elsewhere.

Summing up

Using Qantas Points for Emirates first or business class seats is a great option for Qantas Frequent Flyers and one of the best uses of Qantas Points – despite the high taxes and fees.

Right now, seat availability is quite limited, though your chances rise the closer you get to the departure date.

You’ll enjoy comfort on board, high-quality food and drinks, and potentially the memorable experiences of the A380 onboard bar and shower. So aim for first class if you can.

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When it comes to booking Qantas reward seats, knowing a few tricks can give you a huge advantage.

That’s truer than ever in 2025, with so many Aussies collecting Qantas Points and seeking to use them for flights.

To give our readers an edge with finding the best seats, we’ve compiled a few key tips.

Want more Qantas Points? Get 50,000 bonus points + an annual $450 Qantas Travel Credit with the ultimate card for Qantas Points, rewards and benefits: the Qantas American Express Ultimate Card – ends soon!

Classic v Classic Plus reward seats

Qantas Frequent Flyer members can now access two different types of reward seats: Classic reward seats (which have been around for many years) and Classic Plus reward seats (which launched in 2024).

Classic reward seats have a fixed price based on distance and cabin class. They are issued by Qantas and partner airlines like Emirates, but availability is extremely limited.

Classic Plus seats, on the other hand, are only available on Qantas operated flights. There’s a lot more of them, but they’re also a lot more expensive.

Classic Plus seats have a flexible points price that fluctuates based on the underlying cash fare. In short: 100 Qantas Points will cover $1 of an economy fare, $1.25 of a domestic business class fare, or $1.50 of an international premium economy, business or first class fare.

Classic Plus availability is also restricted – just because cash fares can be purchased doesn’t mean Classic Plus seats are available – however they are much more plentiful than Classic reward seats.

Significant price difference for Classic and Classic Plus seats

The best time to book Classic Plus seats is when cash fares go on sale, as the number of points required will also drop.

Qantas domestic and short-haul international Classic reward seats

Qantas releases economy and business class Classic reward seats on domestic and select short-haul international (e.g. New Zealand) routes at 353 days out from departure.

These seats are available to all frequent flyer members regardless of status.

Only a small number of seats (i.e. low single digits) are released in each cabin, and once they’re snapped up, Qantas doesn’t provide any more – except in special ‘batch’ releases that occur occasionally (more on that later).

Qantas long-haul international Classic reward seats

Getting Classic reward seats on long-haul flights is the goal of most travellers.

Qantas used to automatically release seats from 353 days out from departure on most of its flights, but that is no longer reliably the case.

When it does occur, Gold and higher status holders get access first. Any seats that remain become available to Silver members at 323 days out, and Bronze members at 297 days out.

If you don’t have gold status but a close family member does, they may be able to book the seats for you as soon as they are released.

Qantas batch seat releases

For most Qantas international flights, by far the best way to book reward seats is when Qantas releases a large batch at once.

Qantas has on several occasions in recent years made thousands of seats available to all frequent flyers.

Often, these batch releases are not announced ahead of time, which makes it hard to plan. The business and first class seats are also snapped up within a few hours.

Your best bet is to monitor availability closely and be ready to book. We always alert our e-news subscribers about batch releases via email – if you want to sign up, you can do so at the bottom of this article.

Partner airlines

Qantas doesn’t control how or when partner airlines release reward seats. Those airlines are responsible for the timing and quantity of seats released, and their methods vary.

Sadly, we’ve seen a trend the last few years of partners releasing fewer and fewer reward seats, particularly in premium cabins.

Due to high demand, airlines are favouring their own loyalty program members by giving them preferential access to reward seats while restricting access by partner airlines.

That means it’s now much harder to use Qantas Points to book seats with partners at the pointy end of the plane.

When they are released, they are available to all Qantas frequent flyers. Status doesn’t matter.

The seats will show up in searches on the Qantas website.

Other things to know

Qantas seats are released at exactly midnight GMT, which is 8 am in Perth and 10 am in the east (or 11 am during daylight savings).

When searching for international seats, we recommend using the multi-city tool on Qantas’ website, even if you’re only looking at one route. The advantage is that it gives you results in a handy monthly calendar view, unlike the default search tool on Qantas’ homepage. Just make sure to select “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only” and “Flexible with dates for all flights”.

When there’s a big release of seats, we always let our readers know. If you’d like to be informed, subscribe to our e-news below.

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One of the best uses of Virgin Australia’s Velocity Points is flying business or first class with Singapore Airlines.

Passengers at the pointy end enjoy comfortable and spacious seats (or even first class luxury “suites”), as well as high quality dining and service.

The airline also has an excellent international network and is very convenient for Australians travelling to Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia are partners, and this enables Velocity Frequent Flyers to access Singapore Airlines award seats in two ways:

1. by booking the seats through Virgin Australia, or
2. by converting their Velocity Points into Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles and booking directly with Singapore Airlines. 

A number of factors will determine which is the better option. These include the points cost, the taxes and fees, and seat availability.

Step 1: Search for seats with both airlines

Sometimes, Singapore Airlines restricts partner access to award seats, so you should always check availability with both airlines to see your options.

You can search for seats online on Virgin Australia’s website (select “use Velocity Points”) and Singapore Airlines’ website (select “Redeem flights”).

If you don’t have an account already, it’s free to join Singapore Airline’s loyalty program KrisFlyer.

Singapore Airlines has two types of award seats: “Saver”, which are less expensive and are the first to get snapped up, and “Advantage”, which are more expensive but also more readily available.

Singapore Airlines releases award seats 354 days out, while Virgin Australia’s calendar only goes out to 331 days out. That means people with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles get a 23 day ‘head start’ to book seats – another factor to consider, especially if you want to travel during a peak period when seats get snapped up quickly.

If the seat you want is available through both airlines, compare the points required and the taxes and fees to work out the best deal.

Step 2: Compare the points, and taxes and fees

Both airlines price award seats based on distance, but they do this in slightly different ways.

You can view Virgin Australia’s points tables here and Singapore Airlines’ award chart here.

Velocity Points convert to KrisFlyer miles at a rate of 1.55:1, meaning 15,500 Velocity points converts to 10,000 KrisFlyer miles.

Because you ‘lose’ so many points by converting them, the actual points cost is likely to be lower by booking with Virgin Australia directly.

Of course, if the seat is only available through KrisFlyer, your only option will be to transfer the points across.

Taxes and fees vary, and are another factor to consider.

Step 3: Book your seat!

If you decide to book through Singapore Airlines, it’s free and easy to convert your points from Velocity to KrisFlyer.

Simply log into your Velocity account, then click My Velocity -> Link & Transfer to link your accounts and transfer the points.

The transfer should happen very quickly (in only a few minutes, in my experience).

As always, plan well ahead, as award seats can be snapped up quickly, especially on the most popular routes during peak travel periods.

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