Buy Emirates Skywards Miles With Up to a 30% Bonus (2.3¢ Each)

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Emirates just launched a new promotion to buy Skywards miles with up to a 30% bonus. This applies to purchases through 11:59 p.m. GST on Friday, September 29, 2023. Please be aware that this promotion might be targeted, and it may not show up in your account. But if you are targeted, you can buy Skywards miles for as low as 2.3¢ apiece.

Just like the last promotion from Emirates, this is not a great rate per mile. But if you need to quickly buy some Emirates Skywards miles to grab a specific redemption, this promotion could be worth a look.

Here's how to get the best use of your miles — plus when buying Emirates Skywards miles might make sense.

A Note on Buying Miles

First, we need to address the elephant in the room. We never recommend buying miles speculatively. Programs can devalue at any time, long-term travel plans can change, and the last thing anybody needs is a substantial investment in a points/miles currency they can't use.

However, that doesn't mean buying miles is always a losing proposition. If you're right on the cusp of being able to book your next redemption, buying miles can be an easy (and sometimes affordable) way to get you over the line. Additionally, buying miles can sometimes be a fantastic way to book premium cabin travel at a significant discount compared to paying cash.

In the case of Emirates Skywards, the mileage purchase rate is still very high — even during a buy miles promotion. Plus, Emirates is a transfer partner of most mileage currencies. Ensure that you review all of your options before buying Skywards miles.

Emirates Buy Miles Promotion Key Terms

• Promotion is valid through September 29, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. Gulf Standard Time (3:59 p.m. EST in the U.S.)
• Emirates Skywards members can purchase a maximum of 100,000 miles (before the bonus) through this promotion.
• You must purchase a minimum of 2,000 miles (no bonus at this level).
• Purchase a minimum of 5,000 miles to unlock a 10% bonus.
• Purchase at least 26,000 miles to get the maximum 30% bonus.
• Purchased miles typically post instantly, although some purchases may take up to 48 hours.
• Purchased miles do not count toward status upgrades.
• Miles can only be bought by Skywards members who have at least one prior earning activity in the history of the account.
• Mile purchases are non-refundable.

Here are the tiers to this Emirates buy miles promotion:

• 2,000–4,000 miles: No bonus
• 5,000–15,000 miles: 10% bonus
• 16,000–25,000 miles: 20% bonus
• 26,000–100,000 miles: 30% bonus

If you buy a maximum of 100,000 Emirates Skywards miles with a 30% bonus, you'll receive 130,000 miles for $3,000. That's 2.3¢ per mile.

When Could It Make Sense to Buy Emirates Miles?

One of the interesting things about Emirates is that it doesn't belong to any major airline alliance — such as Oneworld, SkyTeam, or Star Alliance. Instead, Emirates and its Skywards program have partnerships with 16 other airlines, each with its own rules and award charts.

A few of these partner award charts present distinct opportunities for attaining outsized value for your Emirates Skywards miles. You can read more about the best uses of Skywards miles here.

Let's go through a few of these sweet spots to demonstrate how you could redeem your Emirates Skywards miles for an award redemption and save a boatload — compared to paying the cash fare.

New York — Milan in Emirates first class

Emirates first class

After a recent Emirates award chart devaluation, you now need to pay a minimum of 102,000 Skywards miles each way to fly Emirates first class from the U.S. to Europe. Still, buying Emirates miles can be a much cheaper way to book Emirates first class than paying for a cash ticket.

• Mileage rate: 204,000 miles + $246 taxes round-trip
• Typical cash price: $15,605 round-trip
• Redemption rate: 7.53¢ per mile
• Cost to buy 102,000 Skywards miles at 2.3¢ each: $2,346 each way

Washington D.C. — Dubai in Emirates first class

If you want to fly Emirates first class to Dubai, you'll need to pay at least 163,500 Skywards miles each way. Unfortunately, taxes and fees are much higher on these award redemptions:

• Mileage rate: 163,500 miles + $838 taxes one-way (327,000 miles + $1,714 round-trip)
• Typical cash price: $21,574 round-trip
• Redemption rate: 6.1¢ per mile
• Cost to buy 163,500 Skywards miles at 2.3¢ each: $3,761 each way (Note: Max of 100k+30k bonus can be purchased during this promotion)

Washington D.C. — Lisbon in TAP Portugal business class

TAP Portugal business class on the new A330 neo

• Mileage rate: 64,000 miles each way (128,000 miles round-trip)
• Typical cash price: $3,885 round-trip
• Redemption rate: 3¢ per mile
• Cost to buy 64,000 Skywards miles at 2.3¢ each: $1,472 one-way

Seattle — Tokyo with Japan Airlines (JAL) business class

Japan Airlines Business Class

• Mileage rate: 76,000 miles each way (152,000 miles round-trip)
• Typical cash price: $6,565 round-trip
• Redemption rate: 4.3¢ per mile
• Cost to buy 76,000 Skywards miles at 2.3¢ each: $1,748 each way

Booking Emirates First Class Award Travel

Emirates is continuously ranked as having one of the best first class experiences available in air travel. Comfortable seats, delicious food, gripping entertainment, and top-notch service are just a few of the benefits when flying on the Dubai-based airline.

You'll need to reach deeper into your (award) wallet when booking first class flights, due to their recent devaluation of miles — but the exquisite perks are worth it. The airline provides a flying experience that makes it feel more like a hotel in the sky than a stuffy airline cabin.

So how do you book Emirates first class award tickets? We've got you covered.

Read more: How to Book Emirates First Class Award Travel

Maximizing Your Purchase

Purchases of Emirates Skywards miles are processed by Points.com. Thus, the purchase won't qualify for any applicable travel category bonus offered on some credit cards. With that in mind, let's take a look at some options.

Emirates sells points via Points.com, so your purchase won't be coded as a hotel or travel payment. Consider using one of these cards for your purchase:

• A credit card where you're working to earn a sign-up bonus. These are the best welcome offers available right now.
• A credit card with perks you unlock via spending, such as hotel free night awards, hotel elite status, or airline elite status.
• Your best credit card for everyday spending, such as the Citi^® Double Cash Card or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

Related: Which Credit Card Should You Use to Buy Points and Miles?

Other Ways to Earn Emirates Skywards Miles

While this isn't the best offer to buy miles, you don't have to buy Emirates miles to take advantage of these sweet spots. Emirates Skywards miles are pretty easy to come by. Other than flying on cash fares or buying miles, Emirates Skywards is a transfer partner with tons of programs:

You also can earn Skywards miles with the Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard^®, thanks to its welcome bonus and everyday spending categories. Earn 60,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.

Emirates Skywards Points Pooling

Another interesting facet of Skywards is that you can pool your miles with up to eight people. Thus, you can share miles with other people to “add up to it” if you're a bit short on an award redemption.

• Each individual determines how much to contribute to the pool — from 0% to 100% of individual miles.
• Current miles are not moved, only those from future earnings after joining the pool.

This is a fantastic way to pool miles between friends and family. You won't need to worry about accounts with small numbers of miles collecting dust — or worse, expiring needlessly. Even better, when you and a partner travel together on a cash fare, you can both earn miles for the same flight and pool them together. This could reduce the need to buy miles from Emirates.

Read more: Do Emirates Skywards Miles Expire?

Bottom Line

Buying Emirates Skywards miles at 2.3¢ per mile is still a crummy deal. We've seen 100% bonuses from Emirates before, which brought the price down to 1.5¢ per mile. However, we don't know when (or if) that kind of promotion will ever return.

If you have a redemption in mind, try to transfer points from a bank partner first. If you're still short on miles, this promotion could be worth considering in rare circumstances. Buying miles could be cheaper than buying a ticket with cash — especially in premium cabins. Just be sure to do the math beforehand.

Are you going to buy Emirates Skywards miles at 2.3¢ a piece?

AwardWallet Tip of The Day

Did you know that you have a personal referral link in your AwardWallet profile? If you invite people to AwardWallet using your referral link, you will receive an AwardWallet upgrade coupon for every five members you invite. Also, if these users upgrade to AwardWallet Plus, we will credit your AwardWallet account with AwardWallet Bonus points, which can be redeemed for points and miles in your program of choice. We spend roughly 50% of the revenue we receive from those referrals to purchase those miles for you. All of this can be tracked via the Invite to AwardWallet widget in the left navigation bar on your Accounts page.
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