Ultimate Guide To Emirates Skywards
Emirates Skywards is the frequent flyer program of Emirates, one of the world’s leading Middle Easterm airlines known for its luxurious service. Skywards offers members numerous ways to earn and redeem miles, but isn’t generally considered to be a highly valuable program. This guide will explore how to earn Skywards miles, highlight valuable redemption options, explain the program’s expiration/cancellation policies, and discuss how to earn elite status and the nuances of Emirates' award pricing.
How to Earn Skywards Miles
Flying on Emirates
Earning Skywards miles is straightforward when flying with Emirates. The miles earned are based on the distance flown, fare class, and your membership tier. Unfortunately, it is not easy to determine exactly how many miles you’ll earn just by looking at your flight. You’ll need to use the Emirates earn calculator to figure that out.
Flying On Airline Partners
Emirates is not part of the three major airline alliances, so it has a network of independent partners where you can earn miles. Mileage earning varies significantly by airline, so the best way to figure out the exacts is to look at this page, where you can see all the specific earn rates across all the Emirates partners.
Credit Card Transfer Partners
Emirates partners with several major credit card issuers worldwide, making it easy to accumulate miles through credit card point transfers.
Here are some of our favorite cards you can get to quickly get more Emirates miles:
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
| Credit Card | Annual Fee | Welcome Bonus | Application |
|---|---|---|---|
 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | $95 | Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening | Learn more |
 Capital One Venture X Credit Card | $395 | Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening | Learn more |
Buy Emirates Miles
You can purchase Emirates miles through the website. However, this is rarely a good deal, as Emirates charges a whopping $30 USD / 1,000 miles (3 cents per point).
Notably, Emirates does occasionally run point sales where you can purchase their points at a discount. This could be a good way to top off your points when you need to, but approach purchasing award flights carefully and always make sure you’re getting good value.
Do Skywards Miles Expire?
Skywards miles expire three years after they are earned, at the end of the month in which they were earned. You have the option to extend the lifetime of your miles at the small cost of $20 USD / 1,000 miles (sarcasm), and you can only reinstate up to 50,000 miles per year.
How To Earn Emirates Skywards Elite Status
Emirates Skywards offers four elite status tiers, providing various benefits to frequent flyers:
- Blue: Free
- Silver: 25,000 Tier Miles or 25 flights
- Gold: 50,000 Tier Miles or 50 flights
- Platinum: 150,000 Tier Miles
While Tier Miles are calculated at the same rate as Skywards Miles, you can earn Tier Miles only on Emirates flights, flydubai flights and codeshare flights marketed by Emirates but operated by another airline. However, you can also earn Tier Miles on everyday purchases using select U.S. co-branded Emirates Skywards credit cards.
Emirates status gives you accelerated mileage earning, priority check in, additional checked bag capacities, complimentary seat selection, lounge access, etc.
Who Are Emirates’ Partners?
Despite being an independent airline, Emirates has established a strong network of airline partners to enhance the earning and redemption opportunities for its members. Some of its major partners include:
- Air Canada
- easyJet
- Japan Airlines
- Korean Air
- Qantas
- TAP Air Portugal
- United
View more here.
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How Emirates Prices Its Award Flights
Emirates prices award flights on its own flights differently from how it prices partner airline flights. While it has a nice award chart for partner airlines, it does not have a published award chart for its own flights. The easiest way to determine the cost of an Emirate-operated award flight is through their website, which can make it a little slower/difficult to figure out the cost of an Emirate award flight.
Thankfully, the partner airline award chart is easy to work with:
Zone | One-way Flight Distance (in miles) | Economy | Business | First* |
1 | 0-250 | 8,000 | 16,000 | 24,000 |
2 | 251-500 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 30,000 |
3 | 501-1,000 | 14,000 | 28,000 | 42,000 |
4 | 1,001-2,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 | 60,000 |
5 | 2,001-3,000 | 26,000 | 52,000 | 78,000 |
6 | 3,001-4,000 | 32,000 | 64,000 | 96,000 |
7 | 4,001-5,000 | 38,000 | 76,000 | 114,000 |
8 | 5,001-6,000 | 44,000 | 88,000 | 132,000 |
9 | 6,001-7,000 | 52,000 | 104,000 | 150,000 |
10 | 7,001-15,000 | 60,000 | 120,000 | 180,000 |
Emirates Skywards Sweet Spots
Emirates Skywards offers some sweet spot redemptions that can provide exceptional value for your miles. Here are a few notable examples:
Emirates First Class: How to Upgrade
The ultra-exclusive Game Changer Suite, Emirates' fully enclosed First Class cabin, is limited to select Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. It's currently deployed on select long-haul routes:
- Chicago (ORD) ↔ Dubai (DXB)
- Tokyo Narita (NRT) ↔ Dubai
- London Heathrow (LHR) ↔ Dubai
- Paris (CDG) ↔ Dubai
- Singapore (SIN) ↔ Dubai
- Riyadh (RUH) ↔ Dubai
This means that for most U.S. residents looking to book this specific product, the non-stop Chicago (ORD) to Dubai flight remains your sole domestic departure option. To maximize your point strategy, you can book this ultra-private cabin directly using Emirates Skywards miles, or utilize partner programs like Qantas Frequent Flyer and Air Canada Aeroplan.
You can also utilize Emirates Skywards miles to upgrade paid tickets which only starts at 7,020 Skyward miles.
Majority of tickets from Emirates can be upgraded in advance. There are some exceptions to the upgrades.
EWR/IAD To Europe: 77,500 Miles One Way
Emirates is partnered with some Star Alliance carriers, which can present some unique opportunities to get good value out of your points (and may even be cheaper than booking directly with the partner itself). For instance, you can fly TAP Air Business class from EWR to Lisbon or take IAD to Frankfurt via United Airlines Polaris business class. Many such good options when leveraging partner award availability.
Emirates Award Cancellation Policy
Emirates has a semi-flexible cancellation policy for award tickets. You can cancel and redeposit your miles for a fee, which varies depending on the type of award and the class of service. Flex Rewards can be changed/canceled at anytime for no fee and full refund. However, other rewards will typically come with a $25 change fee or up to a $75 fee to reinstate your miles after cancelling.
Conclusion
The Emirates Skywards program is a decent frequent flyer program. However, it does not have a lot of high value redemption potential, so it is not typically considered among the highest value programs out there. Nevertheless, if you want to fly Emirates first class, there’s no better way to do it.
Capital One Venture X Credit Card
Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
