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Emirates — an airline with one of the best first-class products in the world — has partnered with Jet2.com, the low-cost British airline that offers flights for £26 (~$35). If you're surprised to hear about this partnership, so are we. Here's what you need to know, including how to book flights using your Emirates Skywards miles.
Emirates Launches Partnership With Jet2.com
Thanks to a new partnership announced this week, you can now use your Emirates Skywards miles to book travel on Jet2.com, an ultra-low-cost carrier based in the U.K. The partnership allows Skywards members to access more than 75 Jet2.com destinations throughout Europe and northern Africa.
Jet2.com is a low-cost airline, so everything is an additional cost. Skywards members will be able to redeem miles for flights and add-ons, like meals, extra baggage, preferred seat selection, and more.
As part of the release, Emirates showed how the partnership could benefit members:
“Emirates Skywards members can travel with Emirates from London to Sydney via Dubai on a roundtrip Premium Economy Flex Plus ticket and earn 18,000 Miles, which can then be fully redeemed on a Jet2.com roundtrip flight ticket from London Stansted to Majorca in Spain.*”
And also:
“Emirates Skywards members can also book two roundtrip flights with Emirates from Manchester to Dubai in Business Class Flex and earn 21,000 Miles, which can then be fully redeemed on a Jet2.com roundtrip flight ticket from Manchester to Salzburg in Austria* for a ski trip.”
What Emirates charges for Jet2 redemptions
Award redemptions will start at 8,000 Skywards miles, including all fees. To redeem miles for Jet2.com flights, you'll need to go to a special partner redemption website. You can't search for flights through the main Emirates website. Here's what this might look like.
A one-way flight from London (LGW) to Málaga (AGP) would cost 15,228 Skywards miles.
Booking directly through Jet2.com would cost £92 (roughly $124), giving you an abysmal valuation of 0.8 cents per Skywards mile. Considering AwardWallet users typically redeem Emirates Skywards miles for 1.55¢ apiece, this partnership isn't off to a strong start.
Related: The Best Uses of Emirates Skywards Miles
If that wasn't bad enough, if you don't have enough Emirates Skywards miles to complete the redemption, you'll need to transfer points from a transferable point currency. And there's been a lot of bad news on that front recently.
Throughout the past six months, Citi ThankYou® Points, American Express Membership Rewards, and Capital One miles have all devalued transfers to Emirates Skywards, while Chase Ultimate Rewards dropped Emirates as a partner entirely. As of now, Bilt Rewards is the only currency that transfers to Emirates at a 1:1 ratio.
Considering the now lower 2:1.5 transfer ratio from Capital One miles to Emirates, you'd need to transfer 21,000 Capital One miles to book this award. This means you'll get a valuation of 0.59 cents per Capital One mile. At that point, you'd be better off paying for the Jet2.com ticket with your Capital One credit card and redeeming your miles against that transaction at 1 cent apiece.
Related: Complete Guide to Capital One Rewards Miles
- Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening, plus receive a $250 Capital One Travel credit in your first cardholder year
- 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles on all other purchase
- Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® (up to $120)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on all other purchases
Bottom Line
It's not often that a luxury airline partners with a low-cost airline. Although we hear that nothing beats a Jet2 holiday, the high award rates we're seeing for an award redemption at the start of this partnership make it a hard pass. Poor transfer ratios from major point currencies don't help the situation, either.
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