First class. First class. The phrase conjures up ideas of luxury, the elite, a boundary between mere commoners and those in the one percent of the one percent.
And Emirates? Their First class is legendary, with the upper deck exclusively for business and first class, literally separated from the lowly ‘cattle’ class to which I’m accustomed to. There’s a bar down the back, and a shower – a SHOWER on board, for use.
So, did you know – it’s possible to experience this for as little as AUD$136.18, from Australia? Gather around, and find out how to wine and dine with the elite, in Emirates, First Class.
Total price in AUD:
The setup
In April, I needed to get to Christchurch, New Zealand from Sydney, with quite a lot of luggage and after looking at the shipping costs and balking, I started investigating first class flights, which includes 50kg of checked luggage, plus carry-on with Emirates. And I had a bunch of points that I had collected, so it was time to start searching. It turns out, there’s really good availability across the Tasman in First, and it’s on the A380s – so you even get the shower! Emirates has reduced the number of routes, so currently ONLY flies the A380 from Sydney to Christchurch.
Steps
Firstly, you’ll need to log in to your Qantas FF account. Go to book a trip, and choose a flight from Sydney to say, Christchurch.
Next, choose some dates and click search. In my example, I’ll choose a random date – February 11th. You’ll be presented with a table showing you the travel classes available on each date for the month:
As you can see, there is availability in first on the 11th, and also on several other days that month. Click Continue.
Now you can choose the flight. EK412 in this case, not the Qantas one. You’re looking for Emirates.
At this point, I was presented with 54,000 points plus a $136.18 charge for taxes (Always feel the taxes are a sneaky move by the airlines, but whatever).
NOTE: As of September 18, 2019 – Qantas overhauled their points system, so this has now increased to 62,200 points. The taxes shouldn’t have changed.
Summary
Net result: For points you can collect pretty easily even without flying, and $136.18 – you can experience:
Priority pass through the airport security in Sydney
Access to the SYD international Qantas First Class lounge
Sit down meal and drinks in the lounge, or an array of snacks & drinks
Shower, spa facilities etc
Separate boarding facilities onto the upper deck of the A380
An onboard bar
First class seats, lie-flat, and all the food, drinks and giant screens that come with this
The opportunity to have a shower on board at 39,000ft
Only concern: Once you become accustomed to which variety of champagne to sip at altitude vs on the ground to better appreciate it, it might be quite difficult to return back to economy…
