Barely a week ago, without warning, Emirates massively increased the carrier charges payable when redeeming points to book a reward seat. Unfortunately, there has now been a second major increase to Emirates carrier charges in as many weeks.

When redeeming Emirates Skywards miles or Qantas Frequent Flyer points to book a Classic Reward seat in Emirates Business or First Class from Australia to London, you could now expect to pay over $3,000 per person in additional taxes, fees & carrier charges! This is beyond a joke.

Although this change was initiated by Emirates, unfortunately, it significantly devalues the proposition of earning Qantas Frequent Flyer points to redeem for Emirates flights.

Unlike the taxes & fees on award bookings, carrier charges (sometimes known as fuel or insurance surcharges) are payable directly to the airline. They are not genuine taxes and represent pure profit for the operating carrier.

Qantas Frequent Flyers asked to shell out $3,000+ for a reward ticket to London

Last week, following the previous increase to Emirates carrier charges, a round-trip Emirates Business Class reward ticket from Perth to London would have cost 278,400 Qantas points + $2,296.70 per person.

That was already a ridiculous amount of money for what is traditionally supposed to be a “free” flight. But the same award now costs the same amount of Qantas points and $3,032.90 in taxes & carrier charges.

Of this amount, Emirates-imposed carrier charges make up $2,421.50.

Last week, the carrier charges on a round-trip Emirates Business Class booking from Australia to Europe were $1,710. So, this is an increase of more than $700 compared to last week.

Two weeks ago, the carrier charge component on this same booking would have been around $680. So, compared to two weeks ago, Emirates carrier charges on a round-trip Business or First Class ticket to Europe have increased by over $1,700. That’s roughly the cost of an Economy Class ticket from Australia to London!

It’s almost cheaper to buy a Business Class ticket on some routes

As another example, it now costs 318,000 Qantas points + €1,843.59 (~AU$2,808) to book a round-trip Business Class reward seat on Emirates from Paris to Melbourne.

Here’s a breakdown of the taxes & carrier charges on this booking…

For context, you could buy an outright Singapore Airlines Business Class ticket on the same route from around €2,361 (~AU$3,596) return.

Alternatively, if you booked a Business Class ticket on Singapore Airlines using KrisFlyer miles, it would only cost you 232,000 KrisFlyer miles and €216.88 (~AU$330) in taxes. (Business Class award seats on Singapore Airlines are also available via KrisFlyer on more dates, compared to Emirates award seats.)

Emirates may have a great Business & First Class product, but these continuing increases to carrier charges are getting ridiculous. Emirates carrier charges are now among the highest of any airline in the world.

Fuel prices are increasing at the moment, but these huge and successive price increases are disproportionate. Let’s hope Emirates at least has the decency to reduce these charges when fuel prices come down again…

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Emirates hikes up carrier charges on reward seats

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.