Whenever I find 1st class reward flights on Emirates with Qantas Points, there appears to only ever be 1 seat available. Does anyone know how many 1st class seats are released per flight? Is it dependent on the routes and the aircraft? ie. A380 vs 777 (much smaller 1st class cabin). Would it be related to my FF Status? Any tips and hints for booking these rewards for couples would be appreciated.
Hi @jenart
If it’s flights into and out of Australia you’re talking about, I don’t know any airline that releases more than one first class reward seat in the first instance — demand is just too high. Some airlines that have a more expensive reward category (eg. Singapore Airlines’ “Advantage” awards) may release more than one seat in the more expensive category. But in the case of Emirates, your best bet is to wait until much closer to the flight when they might, if you’re lucky, release an extra seat or two if they haven’t sold the seats.
It’s a classic frequent flyer’s dilemma: the first class experience is so much more enjoyable when shared with a friend, but snaffling two first class reward seats on the one flight is just about the rarest thing that can happen in the FF world!
My other thought (and maybe @BrandonLoo could weigh into this) is that possibly first class seats from Perth are easier to come by, given Perth’s smaller population compared with the other cities Emirates flies to?
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Living in Perth does have its advantages! Right now, we’re seeing good Qatar Airways First Class availability to Doha with two reward seats available on most flights (if not already booked).
Unfortunately, Emirates First Class availability out of Australia has really dried up this year. I’ve been looking at departing even from Singapore and Istanbul, and haven’t been able to find two seats yet. It’s a stark contrast to 2021-2022 when I was able to secure two Emirates First seats out of Perth.
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Thanks for the replies. It definitely seems like availability in general has dried up massively of late. It might just be the post covid travel boom. I will keep my options open with Qatar as well. For the past 12 months Perth has been extremely difficult to find premium cabin direct flights to and from Dubai with emirates. Alternate routes via Kuala Lumpur, Singapore (less so) and Jakarta often show good availability. Hong Kong can work too but I’ve had no end of problems within Cathay Pacific continually changing flights, days of flights (as much as 2 whole days later), changing planes and classes and even cancelling entire flights!
Update…
It seems like there are definitely 2 seats available in 1st class still on Emirates flights - depending on the cities selected and the timeframe of your search. I was searching for 2 seats within the next couple of weeks and found this:
Pick your day and there it is… the holy grail… 2 First Class seats:
… and… not only that… it’s the A380-800 (instead of the 777) so you and your travel partner will have access to the on board shower as well!! 
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Hi Jenart. This is a great rundown, Thanks. I have accessed the calendar option previously, (October 2022) but all I get now is Flight options, not the calendar with available classes. I have ticked the points option and the flexible date boxes. Any suggestions/thoughts please. All the best
You have to do a multi-city search to get the calendar view.
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Thanks Warren, I always appreciate your helpful feedback. I did click the multi-city option after “Book” on the main menu. I’m also getting “error 400” message. I’ll keep trying.
The Qantas search engine is super temperamental and lack-luster. You have to keep trying or try different combinations.
What search route settings did you try?
Temperamental and lack-lustre, great description, I’d also add frustrating! The route requests are, Flight 1, BNE to DXB 24/06/23, Flt 2 DXB to ADD 25/06/23, Flt 3 ADD to DXB 03/07/23 Flt 4 DXB to BNE 09/07/23. I just tried again and received the msg “this page isn’t working at the moment”. Thanks for your help.
Hi @moorkulla,
You are going to really struggle finding anything this late to and from Brisbane direct to Dubai for these time periods. It’s Aussie school holidays, as well as northern hemisphere summer break starting. These flights have mostly been booked for months. I have a UK trip booked at the end of June for 2 weeks and it was booked in November last year, and even then I’ve had to be very creative with the itinerary to get Business class seats for 2 people - going through HK, KL, DBX, Hamburg & LHR in different combinations each way.
Having said that, you might need to look at purchasing an economy cash fare to get you in and out of Brisbane to a city in south east asia, and then try to book reward seats from there. Tenacity, creativity, patience and trial and error will be your best friends to make this work I think.
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I’d suggest searching these flights one at a time (where possible) as it only takes one wrinkle to cause the search engine to error out.
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The Qantas website is so awesome that we have articles like this one.
Hi Warren. Thanks for your suggestions and links, you really are the fountain of information. I used the dates and locations suggested by jenart as well as your tricks and they worked! I’ve renewed enthusiasm and not as much swearing. Thanks heaps.
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