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Year after year, some things remain constant in the points and miles world — like the allure of flying Emirates first class. I know it was enticing to me when I first started in the hobby, finally flying the original product in 2017. And with all the marketing Emirates has done, the perception among folks — even those not “into” points and miles — is that Emirates is the way to fly.
With two first-class products in the sky, demand for the airline’s premier cabin has only grown — leading to tighter award availability in recent years. But you can still fly this luxurious first-class product if you know where to look. Plus, starting in 2027, you'll be able to brag about your experience live onboard for free via Emirates Starlink Wi-Fi!
Let's look at how to book Emirates First Class award travel in 2026.
Page Contents
Which Routes Have Emirates First Class
Emirates operates an entirely wide-body fleet, and most planes feature its First Class cabins. At present, you'll find these luxurious cabins on the following routes. Just note that the airline could swap in a plane with a different cabin at any time.
Book First Class Through Emirates Skywards
Naturally, you can use Emirates Skywards to book yourself into First Class luxury. There are two primary methods to do so. The first is more traditional, but comes at a higher price tag and requires Emirates status. The second requires some strategy and luck.
Let's break down both options.
Book an Emirates First Class award ticket using Skywards miles
A sensible first place to look for booking Emirates First Class is the airline's Skywards program. You can search for availability on the Emirates website and secure it with your Skywards miles, but you'll need Silver, Gold, or Platinum elite status to actually book.
How to get Emirates elite status
Thankfully, you can secure Emirates Silver status without flying by holding the Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard®. The card includes Silver status for your first year. After that, you’ll need to spend $20,000 each cardmember year to maintain it.
Or, if you want higher status, you can secure Gold in your first year with the Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard®. After that, you'll need to spend $40,000 in a cardmember year to retain the status.
What it costs
Emirates uses route-based pricing, though award availability can vary by route and travel date. Whether booking is easy or difficult will depend largely on your flexibility.
Here's what you can expect to pay on various one-way routes operated by First Class-equipped planes. We've seen rates increase across the board over the last year:
- New York-Kennedy (JFK) to Milan (MXP): 108,000 Skywards miles
- Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH): 108,000 Skywards miles
- Toronto (YYZ) to Dubai (DXB): 174,000 Skywards miles
- Washington, D.C. (IAD) to Dubai (DXB): 174,000 Skywards miles
- Los Angeles (LAX) to Dubai (DXB): 198,000 Skywards miles
But it's worth noting that the award taxes and fees are substantial.
Related: Our Complete Guide to Seats.aero
Upgrade to Emirates First Class using Skywards miles
An even easier (and potentially cheaper) way to First Class is by upgrading to Emirates First Class using miles, especially given the latest changes for booking the premier cabin outright. Emirates allows upgrades on tickets booked with cash or miles by one class of service. That means you can upgrade to business on an economy or premium economy ticket — or upgrade to First Class if you book a Business Class ticket.
Beware that you'll need to book directly through Emirates to upgrade. If you book your Emirates award ticket through Air Canada's Aeroplan program, for example, it's unlikely you'll be able to upgrade your flight.
When you book a Business Class award directly with Emirates Skywards, the fare is usually treated as the most flexible award fare — meaning mileage upgrade pricing is based on the lowest published cost shown in Emirates’ upgrade calculator.
Even better, there are no cash copays to upgrade with miles.
What it costs to upgrade to Emirates First Class with Skywards miles
Here's what it costs to upgrade from Business Class to First Class on the same selection of routes shown above:
- New York-Kennedy (JFK) to Milan (MXP): 39,000 Skywards miles
- Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH): 39,000 Skywards miles
- Toronto (YYZ) to Dubai (DXB): 70,200 Skywards miles
- Washington, D.C. (IAD) to Dubai (DXB): 70,200 Skywards miles
- Los Angeles (LAX) to Dubai (DXB): 81,900 Skywards miles
The process to upgrade to Emirates First Class is simple and easy to accomplish, requiring just a few steps and a bit of luck.
Earning Emirates Skywards miles
Emirates Skywards was once a transfer partner of every major transferable point currency — and generally at a 1:1 rate. Sadly, that's no longer the case. Over the last year, most major transferable currencies have reduced or even eliminated transfers to Emirates:
- Citi reduced its Emirates transfer ratio effective July 27, 2025
- Amex devalued its transfer ratio to Emirates Skywards effective September 16, 2025
- Chase eliminated Emirates as a transfer partner effective October 16, 2025
- Capital One devalued its Emirates transfer ratio effective January 13, 2026
The lone remaining major program that transfers to Emirates at a 1:1 ratio is Bilt Rewards.
If you don't have a stash of transferrable points yet, here are some options to build your balances:
- 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
- 12X – Earn 12 Points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com.
- 6X – Earn 6 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel booked on cititravel.com.
- 6X – Earn 6 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants including Restaurant Delivery Services on CitiNights℠ purchases, every Friday and Saturday from 6 PM to 6 AM ET. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent any other time.
- 1.5X – Earn 1.5 Points per $1 spent on All Other Purchases.
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year).
- Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel®.
- Earn 5X points on Fine Hotels + Resorts® and The Hotel Collection bookings.
Related: Do Emirates Skywards Miles Expire?
Book Through Air Canada Aeroplan
A still-viable way to book Emirates First Class via partners is using Air Canada Aeroplan points.
Emirates First Class availability through Aeroplan
Finding Emirates award availability through Air Canada Aeroplan can be a bit of a challenge, but that doesn’t mean First Class awards are impossible to find. The downside is that Aeroplan uses dynamic pricing for Emirates awards.
For example, I searched between San Francisco (SFO) and Dubai (DXB) and found four seats available for 745,900 Aeroplan points each:
An option is to look for award availability on Emirates directly and check if the itinerary is bookable with Aeroplan points. Emirates doesn't make every First Class award to its Canadian partner, so your mileage may vary when booking with Aeroplan points. And again, you'll need a lot of points to book these awards.
What it costs to book Emirates First Class with Aeroplan points
Air Canada employs a dedicated award chart for Emirates-operated award flights. But unlike most of Aeroplan's charts for other carriers, Emirates awards are priced in a range, making it hard to know for sure what you'll pay for an award. However, you can get a general idea of the number of points necessary for an Emirates award by taking a look at the ranges:
| Flight Distance (Miles) | Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-2,000 | 15,000-35,000 | 30,000-77,500 | 65,000-175,000 |
| 2,001-5,000 | 21,000-65,000 | 45,000-140,000 | 110,000-325,000 |
| 5,001-9,000 | 40,000-85,000 | 80,000-185,000 | 225,000-475,000 |
| 9,001-12,000 | 60,000-110,000 | 120,000-225,000 | 300,000-600,000 |
| 12,001+ | 85,000-150,000 | 180,000-300,000 | 400,000-750,000 |
Related: Here's How Much You'll Pay When Redeeming Aeroplan Points for Emirates Flights
Earning Air Canada Aeroplan points
If you get lucky and find a reasonably priced Emirates First Class award, you can transfer points from a few different credit card rewards programs to Air Canada Aeroplan, including:
Related: Do Air Canada Aeroplan Points Expire?
Book Through Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qantas has made several changes that affect how you can book Emirates First Class awards — including new eligibility requirements and higher award pricing.
- Age requirements. All passengers booked into Emirates First Class using Qantas points must be at least 9 years old.
- Elite status requirements. Members must hold at least Qantas Frequent Flyer Silver status to book Emirates First Class awards. Bronze and nonelite members will no longer be eligible to redeem Qantas points for Emirates First Class seats.
On March 31, 2026, Emirates-operated flights booked with Qantas Points will move to an Emirates-specific award chart. As part of this update, First Class award pricing will increase across multiple distance bands.
For example, one-way pricing on these popular U.S. routes will change as follows:
- New York-Kennedy (JFK) to Milan (MXP): increases from 123,100 to 147,800 Qantas Points
- Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH): increases from 147,700 to 177,300 Qantas Points
- Los Angeles (LAX) to Dubai (DXB): increases from 195,400 to 234,500 Qantas Points
These changes represent roughly a 20% increase in required points on many routes.
Even with these extraordinarily expensive rates, Emirates First Class award availability is hard to come by.
Earning Qantas Frequent Flyer points
You can build a balance of Qantas Frequent Flyer points by transferring rewards from a handful of major transferable currencies at 1:1 ratios.
Related: Do Qantas Frequent Flyer Points Expire?
Final Thoughts
Emirates First Class is one of the most memorable flights I've ever taken. And, thanks to points and miles, it's possible to travel in luxury without breaking the bank.
You can book Emirates First Class with Skywards miles or Qantas Frequent Flyer points — though both programs now require elite status to book with miles — as well as Air Canada Aeroplan points. The key is finding award availability to match travel dates, which can prove tough with the restrictions Emirates has put in place.
Just keep in mind that point transfers from Amex, Citi, and Capital One are devalued. The sole remaining 1:1 transfer partner is Bilt Rewards.
It seems booking Emirates First Class awards is only going to get more challenging, so now might be the perfect time to plan your Emirates First Class flight.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (Rates & Fees), and American Express Platinum Card® (Rates & Fees)
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