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Emirates first class is one of the most luxurious ways to fly — with private suites, top-shelf dining, and even onboard showers on select aircraft. Plain and simple, Emirates first class is an aspirational way to fly.
Unfortunately, these cabins are difficult to book, due to sparse award availability, Emirates' removal of some partners' access to first-class award bookings, and airfares occasionally costing more than $10,000 for a one-way flight. Thankfully, there's another way to enjoy the amenities without breaking the bank.
If you've booked an Emirates business-class ticket with cash or Skywards miles, you can upgrade your Emirates flight to first class using miles — and it's a solid deal. Here's how to do it.
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Emirates Upgrade With Miles to First Class
Emirates allows travelers to upgrade tickets booked using cash or miles — but only by one class of service. If you booked a business class ticket, you can upgrade to first class. However, you can only upgrade to business class on an economy or premium economy ticket.
The only caveat is that you'll need to book directly through Emirates to be able to upgrade. If you book your Emirates award ticket through Air Canada Aeroplan program, for example, you won't be able to upgrade your flight using Skywards miles. Instead, you'd need first class award availability to open. Then you could rebook your award using Aeroplan points.
How much does it cost to upgrade to Emirates First Class using Skywards miles?
The cost to upgrade varies depending on a couple of factors, including the fare class booked and the flight distance. Emirates has a handy tool on its website where you can plug in your intended itinerary and see what the exact upgrade cost will be.
For example, here's Emirates' fifth freedom flight between Newark (EWR) and Athens (ATH). If you wanted to book the flight in business class with Skywards miles, an award booking costs 87,000 miles one-way:
These one-way business awards code as “Flex Plus” fares. That means the cost to upgrade to Emirates first class is 39,000 Skywards miles on this route each way (if there's upgrade space in first class):
If the ticket were booked with cash, the upgrade cost would vary depending on which type of business-class ticket you booked. Cheaper, less flexible business fares could require as much as 50,700 Skywards miles to upgrade on this specific route.
As a point of comparison, here's what it would cost to upgrade a business-class award ticket to first class on a few more Emirates routes:
- Malé (MLE) to Dubai (DXB): 31,200 Skywards miles
- New York (JFK) to Milan (MXP): 39,000 Skywards miles
- London (LHR) to DXB: 39,000 Skywards miles
- Cape Town (CPT) to DXB: 46,800 Skywards miles
- Washington, D.C. (IAD) to DXB: 70,200 Skywards miles
There are no cash copays to upgrade with miles, so the price you see is the price you'll pay.
Finding upgrade availability
Business-class awards are much easier to find than first-class awards, which makes booking in business and trying to upgrade worth the time and effort if you want to try out Emirates' world-class experience in first class.
There are three primary ways to find Emirates business award availability:
- Look through Emirates' own website.
- Use a tool like Seats.aero.
- Search Air Canada Aeroplan.
If the tool you use doesn't specify whether or not first-class seats are available on your itinerary, don't worry. Emirates is notoriously stingy with its first-class award space, so you might not even see an available award seat that's bookable with miles.
If you've found business-class availability and booked it, the next step is upgrading your ticket. You're one step closer to first-class luxury.
How to upgrade with miles
There are two ways to upgrade your business class itinerary to first class. The first is jumping on the waitlist or joining the auto-upgrade queue. Unfortunately, this isn't the best option for securing an upgrade. There's no guarantee that award or upgrade seats will officially become available, in which case your upgrade won't clear.
The best upgrade option comes on the day of departure. At this point, there are no capacity controls on the seats available for upgrades. Simply put, if there are open seats, you can use your Skywards miles to upgrade. You'll be able to get an idea as to whether or not seats in first class are available on your flight by confirming with Emirates at the airport.
Alternatively, run a mock flight search on the Emirates website. If seats are still bookable with cash, there should be availability.
You can upgrade at check-in, at the departure gate, or even with the flight crew after you board the aircraft. If seats are available, all you have to do is ask, and an Emirates employee or crew member will work with you to process the upgrade.
Transferring points and miles to Emirates Skywards
To upgrade, you will need to have the appropriate number of Emirates Skywards miles in your loyalty account. One of the major perks of Skywards is that the program is a transfer partner of every major transferable point currency, which means miles are easily accessible.
In some instances, points transfer instantly, meaning you won't have to speculatively move points to Skywards before you get to the airport and ask for an upgrade. Ideally, you can transfer points to Emirates Skywards after the crew member or employee confirms availability. However, you'll want to be sure of the transfer times before waiting until the last minute.
AwardWallet's transfer times tool gives a helpful look into the average time it takes for transferable points to populate in your Emirates Skywards account.
Related: When Does It Make Sense To Buy Emirates Skywards Miles?
Is It Worth Upgrading Emirates Tickets With Miles?
If Emirates first class is something you want to experience, upgrading with miles is a convenient way to do it. Upgrading from business to first class is a much easier way to experience one of the world's best premium cabins than perusing award availability tools until a first-class seat opens up.
However, if you initially book your business-class ticket with miles and then choose to upgrade, you'll redeem more Skywards miles in the end than if you were to book a first-class ticket outright. For example, the Newark to Athens flight costs 102,000 Skywards miles in first class. If you book a business-class ticket at 87,000 Skywards miles and then redeem 39,000 more to upgrade to first class, you'll pay 126,000 miles.
Although you'll be paying more, the extra miles might be worth the time you would have otherwise spent waiting for a first-class award to Athens to become available.
Another angle to consider is booking an Emirates ticket in business class with cash and then using Skywards miles to upgrade. For some, it's worth spending the money on a business-class ticket, even with the high price tag. Compared to the sticker price of paying for first class outright, booking business class and then redeeming miles to upgrade might be a great deal.
The miles for upgrading should offset the more than $8,000 difference, assuming you're able to afford the $3,000+ for the business-class ticket to begin with.
Related: When Do Emirates Skywards Miles Expire?
Bottom Line
Emirates first class is a super premium product, and award availability can be difficult to come by. If you want to experience all of the luxury that the cabin has to offer, one of the best and most cost-effective ways to do it is by upgrading with Skywards miles.
Have you upgraded to Emirates first class with miles? Let us know about your experience in the comments.
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