Emirates has introduced a new home check-in service for First Class passengers flying from Dubai. This service is available to anyone booked in Emirates First Class, including passengers on Classic Reward tickets booked using Emirates Skywards miles or Qantas points.

The optional service needs to be booked at least 24 hours in advance, with a check-in time up to six hours before the flight’s scheduled departure time. It’s available to Emirates First passengers starting their journey from any hotel, home or office in Dubai or Sharjah, but isn’t offered at airports other than Dubai (DXB).

With Emirates home check-in, a check-in agent will travel to the guest’s home or hotel to complete all check-in formalities including verifying documents, collecting the passengers’ luggage and issuing boarding passes.

Emirates First Class passengers will still have the option to drop any last-minute checked baggage at a dedicated counter after arriving at Dubai International Airport up to 90 minutes before departure, before heading directly to the Emirates First Lounge.

If you’re flying with Emirates from Dubai in First Class, this is a unique and convenient complimentary service that you can pre-book on the Emirates website.

Fiji Airways offers a similar service for its passengers in Nadi, with “resort check-in” available at the Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa on Denarau Island for anyone booked on a Fiji Airways flight from Nadi, except to destinations in the USA. This service isn’t quite the same as Emirates’ home check-in as it’s only available from the Sofitel – although it is available even to Fiji Airways passengers who aren’t staying at that particular resort.

Some airports also offer “in-town check-in” at a central location in the city.

Emirates Chauffeur Drive for First passengers

Emirates also offers a Chauffeur Drive airport transfer service to customers with paid First Class and most paid Business Class tickets at many of its destinations, including in Australia and Dubai. If you’re flying in Emirates First Class from Dubai, you can use the home check-in service in conjunction with a complimentary chauffeur pickup closer to the flight’s departure time.

However, the Emirates Chauffeur Drive service is not available if you’ve booked using frequent flyer points. Since 1 May 2022, Emirates Chauffeur Drive is also not available to Qantas customers who’ve booked an Emirates-operated codeshare flight with a Qantas (QF) flight number.

If you’re booking a paid Emirates ticket to the Middle East, Africa or Europe, you’ll only earn Qantas status credits by booking a Qantas codeshare service with a “QF” flight number. The trade-off is that you won’t get to use Emirates’ Chauffeur Drive service, even if booking a Business or First ticket.

You’ll still earn Qantas points – albeit at a reduced rate – when booking an Emirates flight with an “EK” flight number. You just won’t earn Qantas status credits when booking directly with Emirates.

Emirates award availability has dried up

The new home check-in service is a welcome addition for passengers flying in Emirates First Class from Dubai – and it’s good news that this is also available to passengers on redemption bookings. But if you’ve tried redeeming Qantas points for an Emirates flight lately, you may have noticed that the award availability is extremely limited!

This is especially the case if you wish to fly with Emirates between Australia and Dubai using Qantas points, as has been discussed recently on the AFF forum.

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum.

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.