So Qantas are short changing their regular frequent flyers by the looks of it, again.  No wonder they are going belly up.

Im not quite sure how Qantas FF's are being short changed here.....As a Qantas FF I will be able to earn SC and points on all Emirates flights with QF codeshare numbers.  Based on the announcements so far that will be all flights to/from NZ, all flights (QF and EK) to/from Australia-Asia/Dubia and >30 of Emirates onwards flights to Europe/Middle East/North Africa....That is a considerabel increase on the current codeshares with AF/CX/BA.  Even with BA's great LHR-Europe network there is currently verry little in Nth Africa.In addition to all of that any Emirates flights not carrying the codeshare QF code will offer points, but not SCs.  Currently the AF codeshare to CDG from SIN does NOT offer SCs.If Australian travellers bother here and abroad can suddenly earn FF points across a whole new network that will drive greater brand loalty.  Interesting side point, Tim Clark specifically made reference to the fact that Australians almost have a love affair with the frequent flyer point. They seem to have gone to a lot of effort to make this deal as appealing as possible to Qantas FF, our benefits are even better than that of Emirates Skywards members travelling with QF.  As Tim Clark said all the points a business traveller may earn can now be redeemed by a Melbourne Family wanting a one stop connection to the french ski fields!

Booking travel under Qantas QF flight is a joke for codeshare.  i regularly travel SYD-AKL return.  if I book Lan via Qantas it costs over $2k for the return business seat. Book direct with Lan and the same seat is $750 return plus Lan will give you the same status credits and QFF miles (less status bonus).  Even without the status credits and miles, savings of $1,250 is huge! Qantas will happily charge an outrageous premium for the same flghts if you book at qantas.com so my advice is check the other airline out before booking, Emirates flights will be no different.

There is hope, just read this on the Australian Financial Review website:

Qantas Airways Ltd has slashed the prices of flights to the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe, following preliminary clearance for the national carrier's alliance with Emirates.

........

According to Qantas’ website, return economy trips to London from the east coast of Australia will fall drop by up to 30 per cent in early April.

Let's hope we are able to book QF codeshares on EK metal in premium classes at the same prices as EK is currently offering them!

I don't get how this is going to work in terms of aligning the two frequent flyer systems. As it currently stands, Gold Skywards gives priveleges that QF platinum gives, Skywards Silver sits at the same level as QF Gold - therefore if EK introduce a Platinum tier, they cannot add many benefits and it would end up being an equivalent to Platinum One.

It is currently as if EK have no equivalent to QF Silver so how are they going to align the two systems? Does that make sense? Can someone help clear up my confusion? :)

Interesting....

So as a Skywards member you earn points on QF long haul but not domestic. Sounds to me like Qantas is more eager to preserve its domestic business and perhaps happy to gamble the loyalty of its members who fly internationally less frequently.

Doesn't sounds like it is committed to shoring up its long haul business does it?

Or to put it in another way: It is flying internationally as an extension of the travel needs of customer in the domestic operations. International operations is not an end to itself.

Does this mean if I fly Emirates I can choose to collect QFF Status points?

You will only  QF status credits if you fly Emirates as a Qantas codeshare (so QF flightnumber on your booking, but EK metal). As a Skywards member it does not matter what flightnumber your flight carries, you will always earn status tier mileage. Generally a better deal.

Example: I checked out an F class fare out of CDG and flying the same planes, the QF fare was almost twice as expensive as the EK fare. flights were all on EK metal. As QF frequent flier would miss out on sc's should book the much cheaper EK fare....