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Emirates holds a lot of prestige in the aviation world. When travelers think of Emirates, they think of pure luxury: gold-finished cabins, onboard showers, Dom Perignon champagne, caviar, and VIP treatment. They also think of sky-high prices.
One thing people typically don’t think about, though, is Emirates' loyalty program: Skywards Miles. That isn't surprising, as Skywards doesn't offer overly generous value. It's a prime option for booking luxurious Emirates flights — and the only reliable way to book Emirates first class using miles — but you'll pay a lot of miles and some hefty surcharges.
That being said, we think this program may have more to offer than most people realize, and there are options beyond Emirates flights to consider. In this article, we’ll show you the best uses of Emirates Skywards miles.
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Redeeming Skywards for Emirates Flights
Emirates has waffled back and forth with the surcharges tacked onto award tickets over the years. In years past, the carrier charged incredibly steep fees for premium-class awards on its own aircraft. It wasn't uncommon to see fuel surcharges well over $1,000 round-trip. Surprisingly, Emirates spontaneously cut surcharges by up to 90% in 2020. This move made Emirates awards far more attractive.
But it was not to last. Emirates fuel surcharges skyrocketed in the middle of 2022, which was followed later that year by a program devaluation. Overnight, some routes experienced a 20% increase in their award cost. This one-two punch took Emirates Skywards from a generally good program for booking Emirates flights to one where you should carefully consider which awards you want to book.
But the problem is this: If you want to book that bucket-list trip in Emirates First Class, you need to use Skywards.
Best Emirates First Class redemption options
Currently, Emirates' own Skywards program is the simplest option for Emirates fabled First Class. There used to be other options, including JAL and Alaska Airlines, but these ended over the years. It seems Emirates wants to force us to use its own program to make these bookings — though unreliable award availability can be found via Qantas, and unattractive rates are available through Aeroplan if you're even lucky enough to find one.
Related: How To Book Emirates First Class Award Travel

An aspirational trip in Emirates' First Class suite is one of the best uses of Emirates Skywards — simply for the luxury experience. But it's costly. Emirates uses a distance-based award chart for all its flights. Here are a few round-trip routes to consider flying First Class:
- New York City (JFK) to Milan (MXP) for 204,000 miles and ~$250 round-trip
- Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH) for 204,000 miles and ~$250 round-trip
- Dubai (DXB) to Cape Town (CPT) for 216,000 miles and ~$830 round-trip
- Seoul (ICN) to Dubai (DXB) for 237,000 miles and ~$870 round-trip
The last two routes get a mention due to the flight length compared to the total award cost. Routes out of the U.S. to Dubai all cost at least 327,000 miles round-trip for First class, and award space can be hard to find. You'll also pay over $1,500 in taxes, fees, and surcharges. Ouch.
But if First Class is on your radar, you can also access the gold-finished cabins by using Skywards miles to upgrade. The availability you'll find when upgrading is generally friendlier than the availability you'll find (or struggle to find) when booking a First Class award outright. Even better, the prices to upgrade are more than palatable.
Redeeming for Emirates business class
These same routes offer some the best deals for business class using Skywards:
- New York City (JFK) to Milan (MXP) for 108,000 miles and ~$250 round-trip
- Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH) for 108,000 miles and ~$250 round-trip
- Dubai (DXB) to Cape Town (CPT) for 114,000 miles and ~$830 round-trip
- Seoul (ICN) to Dubai (DXB) for 126,000 miles and ~$870 round-trip
The difficulty with business class is that the Business Saver pricing is hard to come by on many routes. I found some seats on a couple of these, but they are rare. Business-class space at the Business Flex Plus level is easy to find, but you pay a lot more miles (e.g., 174,000 miles round-trip for either JFK-MXP or EWR-ATH).
Take advantage of Emirates' fifth freedom Routes
Fifth freedom routes are passenger flights operated by an airline between two countries where neither country is the airline's home country. We've highlighted some of these routes above. A perfect example is Emirates' flight between New York and Milan. Neither of these cities is located in the United Arab Emirates — the home country of Emirates. Instead, this route is part of a longer route between New York and Dubai. The aircraft ultimately flies DXB-MXP-JFK and then returns.
These fifth freedom routes are noteworthy because they operate in highly competitive markets — typically resulting in lower prices and increased award availability. They present some of the best value for redeeming Skywards Miles.
As of this writing, Emirates operates the following fifth freedom routes at various times throughout the year:
- New York City (JFK) to/from Milan (MXP)
- Newark (EWR) to/from Athens (ATH)
- Mexico City (MEX) to/from Barcelona (BCN)
- Hong Kong (HKG) to/from Bangkok (BKK)
- Harare (HRE) to/from Lusaka (LUN)
- Dakar (DSS) to/from Conakry (CKY)
- Accra (ACC) to/from Abidjan (ABJ)
- Sydney (SYD) to/from Christchurch (CHC)
- Singapore (SIN) to/from Melbourne (MEL)
- Rio de Janeiro (GIG) to/from Buenos Aires (EZE)
- Colombo (CMB) t0/from Malé (MLE)
However, even a short route like Hong Kong to Bangkok costs 90,000 Skywards miles round-trip. A flight of just over three hours — Christchurch to Sydney — will set you back 164,400 miles round-trip. If you want to simply say you've flown Emirates First Class, this is the cheapest way to do so. But I'll argue that a four-hour flight is short of the full experience.
Some key points on Skywards rewards on Emirates flights
There are a few things you need to be aware of:
- The mileage difference between “Saver,” “Flex,” and “Flex Plus” fares is significant. This is important to note, as Emirates doesn't offer any of the cheaper fare categories for one-way trips on North American fifth-freedom routes. This means you'll likely get the best value by booking a round-trip ticket.
- Emirates operates some of its fifth freedom routes with a Boeing 777 of some variant, including the routes to EWR and JFK. In general, the premium product offerings on these aircraft are far inferior to those offered on Emirates' Airbus A380, unless you get lucky with the new B777 cabin.
Redeeming on Partner Airlines
Emirates isn't part of any major airline alliance, but it does have several individual airline partnerships. The carrier used to have unique award charts for each partner, but these were scrapped in favor of a common distance-based chart for all partners. There's far less value to be found with the new system. Here is the Emirates Skywards partner award chart for reference:
One-way distance (miles) | Economy class | Business class | First class (Qantas only) |
---|---|---|---|
0–250 | 8,000 | 17,500 | 27,500 |
251–500 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 35,000 |
501–1,000 | 14,000 | 35,000 | 50,000 |
1,001–2,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 | 72,500 |
2,001–3,000 | 26,000 | 65,000 | 95,000 |
3,001–4,000 | 32,000 | 77,500 | 115,000 |
4,001–5,000 | 38,000 | 92,500 | 135,000 |
5,001–6,000 | 44,000 | 105,000 | 160,000 |
6,001–7,000 | 52,000 | 125,000 | 190,000 |
7,001–15,000 | 60,000 | 145,000 | 220,000 |
For all partners except Qantas, you can redeem Skywards miles for economy- and business-class tickets. Qantas is the one partner where first-class bookings are allowed, but space can be difficult to find.
Emirates teased a partner award chart devaluation in October 2023, and the changes took effect on January 10, 2024. While not all is lost with the adjusted charts, the changes didn't create any new sweet spots.
At present, here are some of the best uses of Emirates Skywards for partner flights:
- Newark and Washington Dulles to various destinations in western Europe: 77,500 Skywards miles in business class
- Japan to Hawaii on Japan Airlines: 77,500 Skywards miles in business class
- Vancouver to Tokyo on Air Canada: 92,500 Skywards miles in business class
- U.S. West Coast to Tokyo: 105,000 Skywards miles in business class
- North America West Coast to Seoul on Korean Airlines: 105,000 Skywards miles in business class
- U.S. East Coast to Lisbon on TAP Portugal: 77,500 Skywards miles in business class
- Montreal to Dublin on Air Canada: 65,000 Skywards miles in business class
- Hong Kong to Mauritius on Air Mauritius: 92,500 Skywards miles in business class
- Kuala Lumpur to Sydney on Malaysia Airlines: 9,500 Skywards miles in business class
- Sydney to Singapore on Qantas: 115,000 Skywards miles in first class
The pricing isn't as friendly as it was before the January 10, 2024, devaluation, but it's still compelling when looking broadly at Emirates' new partner chart.

Searching and Booking Award Space
Booking Emirates flights
If you're looking for an Emirates-operated flight, you can use the Emirates award search tool. The Emirates website isn't the worst search experience out there, but you are limited to searching for awards in a single cabin, and Emirates will only display seven days of award availability at a time.

One annoying “feature” is that Emirates will return results for business class if you search for first class and there's no availability. Maybe this is helpful for some. It's not to me.
Booking partner flights
To book partner flights, head to the advanced search page. Unfortunately, Emirates' award search engine doesn't display all partner award availability. Thus, searching and booking partner awards takes a little creativity. Some partner awards can be booked online, including Air Canada, Condor, JAL, Qantas, and United Airlines. The website is often glitchy, however. I find it doesn't always let you enter the necessary airport codes when searching for partner award space.

For others, you'll either need to call Emirates (800-777-3999) or initiate a chat with Emirates customer service reps to search for availability. I'd recommend searching with other sites first, though. Since most partners typically have access to the same partner award space, it's safe to assume Emirates' inventory will match.
Here are some suggestions for finding award space with partner sites:
- When searching for JAL partner award availability, use American Airlines' site.
- To find Korean Air or Air Mauritius partner award availability, search on Air France's site.
- For South African partner award availability, search for South African award flights on United's website.
Make sure you confirm the availability with the phone agent before you transfer any points to your Skywards account!
Earning Emirates Skywards Miles
With any loyalty program, the first hurdle is always earning enough points or miles to do anything. Thankfully, this happens to be a strong point for Emirates Skywards. There are a lot of ways to accumulate Skywards miles, making it easy to earn enough for the redemption you want.
Earn with an Emirates credit card
Barclays issues two Emirates co-branded credit cards in the U.S.:
- Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard®
- Earn 40,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.
- $99 annual fee.
- Emirates Skywards Silver status during your first year as a cardholder.
- Earn 3X on Emirates purchases, 2X on travel, and 1X on other purchases.
- Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard®
- Earn 70,000 bonus Skywards miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.
- $499 annual fee.
- Emirates Skywards Gold status during your first year as a cardholder.
- Earn 3X on Emirates purchases, 2X on travel, and 1X on other purchases.
- 10,000 bonus miles on each cardholder anniversary.
Related: When Does It Make Sense To Buy Emirates Skywards Miles?
Transfer flexible rewards to Emirates Skywards
The fastest and most flexible way to accumulate Skywards miles is to transfer them from any of Emirates' transfer partners. Points can be transferred from the following:
Emirates has become one of the few airlines to partner with every major transferable award currency. This is one of the main reasons why you should not neglect the Skywards program. Even if award prices are slightly higher on some routes, the ease with which you can accumulate Emirates miles can more than account for the difference in award price.
Before transferring your points, you should consider three things:
- Ratio: How many Skywards miles will you receive for every point transferred?
- Transfer times: How long will it take for the points to arrive in your Skywards account?
- Bonuses: Are there any current transfer bonuses that can give you even more value?
With a favorable 1:1 ratio and immediate transfers, all options aside from Marriott Bonvoy are good choices.
With a popular card like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card that earns 2X on every purchase, you can effectively earn 2X Emirates miles on every dollar spent.
Related: How To Consolidate Transferable Points for an Award Ticket
Earn miles by flying Emirates or partner airlines
The other obvious way to accumulate Emirates miles is to purchase a ticket and fly on Emirates or one of its many partners. You'll earn miles based on the distance flown and the fare class booked. You can calculate your exact earnings by using Emirates' miles calculator.
Emirates has made it even easier to accumulate miles by giving members the ability to pool miles with family members.
Final Thoughts
The Skywards program has undergone many changes over the past few years. After rolling back fuel surcharges to attractive levels, the carrier pushed them sky-high once again. Expect to pay $400 to $800 in surcharges each way on many routes. Notable exceptions to this are the JFK–MXP and EWR–ATH routes, which still have reasonable fuel surcharges.
There is still value to be found in Emirates Skywards, though. A few of the best uses of Emirates Skywards are really attractive, including some of the airline's fifth freedom routes that can let you experience Emirates' amazing A380 and Boeing 777 First Class for a reasonable cost.
Flying Emirates’ First Class is a bucket-list endeavor for many travelers, without a doubt. But even if your goals are simply to spend the least amount of miles possible to get from A to B, the Skywards program should have a place on your radar.
Have you ever redeemed Emirates Skywards miles or found any exceptional sweet spots that I've missed? Let us know in the comments.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
I tried using 130K Emirates miles today for a flight and that only shaved $690 off my flight. 6 months ago that same number of miles shaved more that $1500 off the same flight. Do miles values typically fluctuate? I am wondering if I should hold onto the miles and try to redeem them for a future flight rather than using them now.
I joined Skywards (and other programs) from TPG/Awardwallet articles last year just to cover all bases, and it’s great to know that I can leverage Chase/Amex points for redemptions on their flights. Let’s address the elephant in the room – is it worthwhile to transfer points for redemptions on Emirates/partner flights to/from the Middle East? (For example, Dubai, Amman, etc.) Thanks for the article.
All depends on the route and your other options! For some routes, Emirates Skywards is going to be best. On other routes, other programs can provide a better deal. But, one thing that we know for sure is that it’s a lot harder to find high-value Skywards redemptions on partners than before.
Hello, so can I redeem my AA miles to buy a ticket in Emirates or only with the airlines mentioned in the note?
Unfortunately, AA and Emirates aren’t partners. But we have a comprehensive list of all of the airlines that are partners of AA here: https://awardwallet.com/blog/american-airlines-partners/
Thanks JT for the answer, great article
Hi, Great article. The request form link is broken,
Thanks for the heads up that this didn’t work. It looks like you need to be logged into your account already for that link to point the right place, so I added I note in the post about that.
Not a bad deal if you leverage it properly
It is a pity that Emirates does not yet participate in any of the major alliance companies. At least, they have partnerships with several airlines, including TAP Portugal.
I think Emirates is a great airline, but really wish they would join an alliance as it would make their frequent flyer scheme much more interesting. Ideally I would like them in Oneworld, but that obviously will never happen with Qatar in the same alliance competing in the same long haul hub market.
I did not realize what a great deal the Fifth Freedom routes options using miles with Emirates represented before. Fantastic insight!
Excellent Blog! It has very interesting information about the redeeming miles program and booking space!
Hello
The JAL Award Chart redemptions you refer to seem to have been increased significantly since your Article Date
No regional based Awards – just distance based
Award Redemption on JAL Tokyo > Sydney has increased from 85000 Return [Old Chart] to 76000 One Way
since your Article Date
Are you Aware??
No, we weren’t aware of this change. And this devaluation is a huge bummer. Thanks for pointing it out!
If you just have a few points you can use them at Dubai taxfree or to buy tickets for sports events,
I think it is one of the best airlines,
best service for what I have been told
I find Emirates loyalty program unattractive overall, but if you happen to have a stash of their points there are some niche products you can use. My personal choice would be to spend it on S7 airlines rewards.
JAL Round-trip to Australia from North America for 145k miles in business-class is phenomenal!
Thanks for posting!
I’ve flown 1st class on Cathay and will soon do so on JAL. I have a feeling that Emirates’ luxurious suites are the best ever.
Hopefully an aspirational use I can fulfill trying someday.
i like the idea of using some Skywards miles on Easyjet around Europe.
Do you mean on ‘Emirates’, not ‘Easyjet’?!
Emirates miles can be used on Easyjet, so it is an option for those living in or visiting Europe.
There was a rumor that Emirates is going to launch a credit card in the U.S.
If that becomes a reality, collecting and using Emirates miles will become easier.
I know as soon as I get to fly in a suite I’ll never be able to go back to cattle class…
This is very good insight in what Emirates awards might be able to get you.
Those fees are no joke, just took a look…
Unfortunately Alaska redemptions on Emirates are pretty steep…
good outline, shows the levels that you need to have
Our company makes the Super First Class and other products for Emirates, would love to fly in it someday.
I agree that there are a handful of nice opportunities in using Emirates Skywards miles but usually the majority of redemptions are not so cheap.
For me, the bese experience is the Emirate’s business class so far.
This is one great scheme for using their miles either on their flights or partners.
Thank you for this very detailed post.
The addition of Chase as a transfer partner is a benefit as are lower prices to/from Korea, but limited partner availability makes these changes of limited value to me. Thanks for the analysis in any case.
An excellent point. Glad they are now a UR partner though regardless.
Can get some decent value if you know where to look
Wow. A lot of excellent options.
good article, having some Emirates miles left.
Excellent Blog! It has very intresting information about the Skywards Miles program! Thankyou!
Thanks for the info! I have lots of points that transfer to Emirates, but have never done so.
This is a great write up. I didnt know their miles were so useful.
The possibility of the economy flex and upgrade to business class immediately with points is wonderful. Even better since you earn miles on the flight as well. Can you credit this paid flight to any other program than Emirates?
Almost two decades ago, you could earn MileagePlus miles on Emirates flights.
People may know them for lux but that is not the first thing that enters my mind when I see their airline name. I just don’t like some practices they have. It’s good to know and I understand equal op for using points but not me.
Some great partner airlines to use miles but the best is got to be Emirates First.
Emirates First Class via Skywards can be an excellent source for an RTW trip put together with all first class one-way awards from different FFPs.
Awesome post! I prefer pay J class tickets on 5th freedoom routes, they are quite cheap and I earn a lot of miles.
This article is very useful. Skywards program flexibility will be very convenient in future circumstances.
Thank you for this valuable information.
Thanks for highlighting the Emirates frequent flyer program. It is always good to have more options and look forward to using the program for redemptions.
I did not know about the 40K flights to Hawaii on Alaska. Great to know. Love these “best uses” articles.
They are great!
I had no idea that Emirates miles were so useful or easy to earn.
It sounds like the best use of Emirates miles in most cases is to fly partners, and not on Emirates.
This seems to be the way with a lot of airline programs!
Yes, it is somewhat ironic that such “loyalty” programs actually introduce you to and incentivize you to fly other airlines.
The problem I have faced twice with Skywards is having to waste 20,000+ miles as they could not be extended and the items in their online shop were dreadfully poor value. Ended up using the miles to enter their monthly draw. Didn’t win!! If I had done I might have a more positive comment. Cannot fault them as an airline however.
Thank you for such an understandable way! Clearly, I need to do research for my own travel needs!
Fantastic post! I hope to use this valuable information soon!
Wow. I had no idea that upgrading paid EFlex to Biz could be so advantageous. Thanks for calling that out; definitely something I’ll look for going forward!
Very thorough post
I had expiring Emirates skywards miles and ended up redeeming for Intra-US flights on Alaska. The value was not great. Upgrading from economy to Business/First would have yielded better value.
Thank you! Emirates is the best airline I have ever flown…