How I flew Emirates first class for $600

I like to refer to 2023 as the year of flying opulently. While flight prices were soaring, I found myself on the receiving end of some good fortune.

I like to refer to 2023 as the year of flying opulently. While flight prices were soaring, I found myself on the receiving end of some good fortune.

Somehow I managed to fly in suite 3A in the Emirates’ first class cabin on the A380 twice in the span of just three months (I know, I hate myself too).

Over a period of eight and seven hours, respectively, I inhaled Dom Perignon and ate unlimited caviar off Royal Doulton fine-bone china.

I took a shower 30,000ft in the air somewhere over Africa and bagged a set of Emirates’ first class PJs and slippers. I ordered all the cheese and wine, and of course childishly played with the gadgets that control the blinds.

Here I am, champagne glass in hand and all smiles. Picture: Jenny Hewett

I would never dream of forking out the nearly A$7,000 for the one-way first-class ticket, but I discovered a little trick. I needed to book a flight from Johannesburg to Dubai, where I would be spending the summer. In the past, I would have just bought an Emirates ticket, I had never thought to search on Qantas, which is a codeshare.

So I gave it a shot: hitting the ‘Rewards’ toggle, I popped in my dates on the Qantas website, and voila. I could not believe my eyes.

My $585 first class suite. Picture: Jenny Hewett

Caviar at 30,000 feet. Yes please. Picture: Jenny Hewett

There was a First Class Reward seat available from Joburg to Dubai (a more than eight-hour flight) for just 107,000 Qantas points and A$585. I then looked at tickets on the same route with Qatar, Emirates and Etihad, and this was by far the cheapest option.

At the time, I had about 195,000 Qantas Points in the bank. Some people are points hoarders, but I prefer to live in the moment. A few months later, I had to get from Dubai to somewhere in Europe to meet a friend before flying onto Ibiza. So back I went on the Qantas site.

Having done a fair amount of research by this point, I knew that my points were best spent on Emirates-only operated flights and the A380, given the calibre of their first-class product, and so that cancelled out cities such as Paris and London, which were operated by British Airways and Air France.

I’d been wanting to tick Berlin off my list and knowing that Emirates flew to Frankfurt (this route is now operated by another airline), I typed in my dates. Boom. Another First Class Reward seat was available on Qantas, this time for around 82,000 points and A$660.

Emirates first class is like your own private plane. Picture: Jenny Hewett

While flight prices were soaring, I found myself on the receiving end of some good fortune.

It included use of the famed Emirates First Class Lounge in Dubai. It is much harder to find these rewards on busier legs, so if you want to fly first class on Emirates using Qantas points, the key is searching less popular routes and being flexible.

What was it like? Well, it’s so strangely smooth at the pointy end that I hardly noticed the take-off. It also took me a long time to figure out that I could close the doors of my suite. Unlike economy and business class, there is no overhead cabin for baggage because there is so much room, you simply just stow your luggage in your suite under the console.

There’s an abundance of snacks sitting alongside a little orchid, and an excessive amount of food and treats (in fact, almost too much food; I wasn’t overly impressed with the main, which is why I stuck to caviar and cheese on the second flight to Frankfurt). If the flight is over a certain number of hours, you can book a timeslot for the shower, which is without a doubt, the biggest novelty. As well as breakfast martinis, they offer movie snacks and serve Arabic coffee with a date as soon as you board.

It’s the most memorable flying experience of my life so far. I’m now waiting to bank enough points to try it again.

The writer travelled at her own expense.