I had the exact same problem but I was booking HKG to BKK (roundtrip). I don't think there's any way around this on their website. I wound up trying their U.S. partner airlines' websites and the only one that came up with the Emirates flights I wanted was United (I hate paying Expedia and Travelocity those booking fees when I can avoid them, especially since they were going to charge me to issue a paper ticket in this case). Surprisingly, united.com was offering the same flights for $100 less per ticket than Emirates! Booking this flight has been strange all around. The Emirates flight turned out to be $200+ while Cathay and Thai Airways were both $600+. Still waiting for the paper ticket in the mail from United. I hope this all works out O.K...