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\u2019ll show you the best uses of Emirates Skywards miles.<\/p>\n
Page Contents<\/p>
- Redeeming Skywards for Emirates Flights<\/a>
- Best Emirates First Class redemption options<\/a><\/li>
- Redeeming for Emirates business class<\/a><\/li>
- Take advantage of Emirates' fifth freedom Routes<\/a><\/li>
- Some key points on Skywards rewards on Emirates flights<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Redeeming on Partner Airlines<\/a><\/li>
- Searching and Booking Award Space<\/a>
- Booking Emirates flights<\/a><\/li>
- Booking partner flights<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Earning Emirates Skywards Miles<\/a>
- Earn with an Emirates credit card<\/a><\/li>
- Transfer flexible rewards to Emirates Skywards<\/a><\/li>
- Earn miles by flying Emirates or partner airlines<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Final Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n
Redeeming Skywards for Emirates Flights<\/span><\/h2>\n
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%<\/a> in 2020. This move made Emirates awards far more attractive.<\/p>\n
But it was not to last. Emirates fuel surcharges skyrocketed in the middle of 2022<\/a>, which was followed later that year by a program devaluation. Overnight, some routes experienced a 20% increase in their award cost<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n
But the problem is this: If you want to book that bucket-list trip in Emirates First Class, you need to use Skywards.<\/p>\n
Best Emirates First Class redemption options<\/span><\/h3>\n
Currently, Emirates' own Skywards program is the simplest option<\/strong> 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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
Related: How To Book Emirates First Class Award Travel<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
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Check out those virtual windows in Emirates' First Class suite! Credit: Emirates<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n An aspirational trip in Emirates' First Class suite is one of the best uses of Emirates Skywards \u2014 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:<\/p>\n
- \n
- New York City (JFK) to Milan (MXP) for 204,000 miles and ~$250 round-trip<\/li>\n
- Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH) for 204,000 miles and ~$250 round-trip<\/li>\n
- Dubai (DXB) to Cape Town (CPT) for 216,000 miles and ~$830 round-trip<\/li>\n
- Seoul (ICN) to Dubai (DXB) for 237,000 miles and ~$870 round-trip<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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.<\/p>\n
But if First Class is on your radar, you can also access the gold-finished cabins by using Skywards miles to upgrade<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n
Redeeming for Emirates business class<\/span><\/h3>\n
These same routes offer some the best deals for business class using Skywards:<\/p>\n
- \n
- New York City (JFK) to Milan (MXP) for 108,000 miles and ~$250 round-trip<\/li>\n
- Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH) for 108,000 miles and ~$250 round-trip<\/li>\n
- Dubai (DXB) to Cape Town (CPT) for 114,000 miles and ~$830 round-trip<\/li>\n
- Seoul (ICN) to Dubai (DXB) for 126,000 miles and ~$870 round-trip<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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).<\/p>\n
Take advantage of Emirates' fifth freedom Routes<\/span><\/h3>\n
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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
These fifth freedom routes are noteworthy because they operate in highly competitive markets \u2014 typically resulting in lower prices and increased award availability. They present some of the best value for redeeming Skywards Miles.<\/p>\n
As of this writing, Emirates operates the following fifth freedom routes at various times throughout the year:<\/p>\n
- \n
- New York City (JFK) to\/from Milan (MXP)<\/li>\n
- Newark (EWR) to\/from Athens (ATH)<\/li>\n
- Mexico City (MEX) to\/from Barcelona (BCN)<\/li>\n
- Hong Kong (HKG) to\/from Bangkok (BKK)<\/li>\n
- Harare (HRE) to\/from Lusaka (LUN)<\/li>\n
- Dakar (DSS) to\/from Conakry (CKY)<\/li>\n
- Accra (ACC) to\/from Abidjan (ABJ)<\/li>\n
- Sydney (SYD) to\/from Christchurch (CHC)<\/li>\n
- Singapore (SIN) to\/from Melbourne (MEL)<\/li>\n
- Rio de Janeiro (GIG) to\/from Buenos Aires (EZE)<\/li>\n
- Colombo (CMB) t0\/from Mal\u00e9 (MLE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
However, even a short route like Hong Kong to Bangkok costs 90,000 Skywards miles round-trip. A flight of just over three hours \u2014 Christchurch to Sydney \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
Some key points on Skywards rewards on Emirates flights<\/span><\/h3>\n
There are a few things you need to be aware of:<\/p>\n
- \n
- 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.<\/li>\n
- 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.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Redeeming on Partner Airlines<\/span><\/h2>\n
Emirates isn't part of any major airline alliance, but it does have several individual airline partnerships<\/a>. 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:<\/p>\n\n
- Transfer flexible rewards to Emirates Skywards<\/a><\/li>
- Booking partner flights<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Redeeming for Emirates business class<\/a><\/li>
- Best Emirates First Class redemption options<\/a><\/li>
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