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Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard
U.P. Rating
The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.
The Emirates Premium World Elite card is a premium card with premium perks and a premium price tag.
U.P. Rating
The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.
The information regarding the Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
Emirates is widely considered to be one of the most luxurious airlines in the world, so it is no wonder why the airline offers its own luxury credit card with an annual fee of $499, as well.
You might be wondering how an airline credit card alone could be worth such a high annual fee, especially one that is not a major U.S. airline. But for those who actually do fly with Emirates often, the Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard® can be the perfect option thanks to all of the benefits that the card provides.
Card Details
Card Snapshot
Welcome Bonus & Info
Earn 40,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.
Enjoy Emirates Gold tier membership during your first year, and retain your tier status by spending $40,000 each cardmembership year.
Earn 3 Skywards Miles on eligible Emirates purchases. Earn 2 Skywards Miles on eligible travel purchases and earn 1 Skywards Mile on all other purchases.
Earn 10,000 anniversary bonus Skywards Miles after spending $30,000 on purchases each cardmembership year.
The Skywards Miles you earn will not expire as long as your cardmembership account remains open.
There is no limit to the number of Skywards Miles you can earn as long as your account remains open, active, and in good standing.
Receive 25% savings when you Buy or Gift Miles. Receive a 25% savings when you Buy Skywards Miles for yourself or Gift Miles.
Priority Pass Select lounge access provides unlimited access to over 1,300 lounges worldwide for the primary cardmember and their guest(s).
Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit. Receive an automatic statement credit for the cost of one Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee every 5 years – up to $120, as of October 1, 2024.
No foreign transaction fees on international purchases.
Complimentary online access to your FICO Credit Score lets you keep an eye on your credit score and get alerts when we learn that your score has changed.
$0 Fraud Liability protection means you’re not responsible for charges you did not authorize.
Our seasoned and experienced team brings years of expertise in the credit card and travel sectors. Committed to integrity, we offer data-driven guides to help you find the card(s) that best fit your requirements. See details on our intensive editorial policies and card rating methodologies.
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Methodical “U.P. Rating
The U.P. Rating System
The ratings for these cards have been determined
by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards
as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect
our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.
” System
1088+ Expert Credit Card Guides
Great Card If
You frequently fly with Emirates
You want perks like Emirates Gold status and Priority Pass access
Don’t Get If
You don’t fly often with Emirates
You prefer a card with a lower annual fee
You want a card that earns transferable rewards
The Ideal Cardholder
The ideal cardholder of the Emirates Premium World Elite card is someone who is going to get more value out of the card than what they are paying for in the $499 annual fee and is naturally going to be someone who flies with Emirates quite often.
You’ll certainly want to be flying with Emirates often enough to take advantage of all of the benefits that the card offers, like automatic Emirates Gold status, airport lounge access, and more.
Emirates Premium World Elite Card Benefits
Automatic Skywards Gold Status
This is easily the most valuable benefit of the card and helps make the annual fee well worth it for frequent Emirates flyers. After all, Skywards Gold is the second-highest tier in the Skywards program and usually requires you to earn 50,000 Tier Miles or fly 50 flight segments to achieve it.
With it, you’ll receive benefits like:
50% bonus Skywards miles on Emirates flights
Priority check-in and boarding
Free economy class seat selection for you and your companions
Complimentary access to Emirates business-class lounges worldwide for the cardmember and a guest
Priority baggage delivery
Plus, instead of flying with Emirates often enough to extend your Gold status beyond the first year, you’ll have the option to retain your Gold status by spending $40,000 on your card each year.
Priority Pass Select Membership
Cardholders also receive a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership, giving them access to over 1,400 airport lounges and experiences worldwide. This is a welcome benefit for frequent travelers, as it gives you a space to relax and refuel before your flight.
Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Credit
With your card, you can pay the application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck and have it reimbursed. If you’re not familiar, TSA PreCheck provides you with an expedited security experience in U.S. airports, while Global Entry provides you with an expedited customs experience when returning to the U.S. from abroad.
Although, since you can pick either, we recommend you opt for Global Entry, as all Global Entry memberships also include TSA PreCheck, but TSA PreCheck memberships do not include Global Entry.
Bonus Anniversary Miles
For big spenders, you can earn 10,000 anniversary miles after spending $30,000 on your card in a card membership year. Hitting this threshold would also put you just $10,000 away from requalifying for Skywards Gold status.
Discount on Mile Purchases
When you use your Emirates Premium World Elite card to purchase Skywards miles for yourself or gift miles to another person, you’ll receive a 25% discount off the purchase price.
How To Use Emirates Miles for Max Value
Award Tickets
For the most part, your best option when it comes to redeeming your Skywards Miles will be towards award tickets with Emirates and its partners. Unfortunately, Emirates no longer publishes an award chart for its flights, but the airline does offer the Miles Calculator on its website to help give you an expected price for the route you are looking to book.
That said, award prices with Emirates will start at 15,000 miles round-trip, and will increase from there based on the distance you are flying and the cabin class you are flying in.
Cash + Miles
For those that don’t have a large enough Skywards balance for a full award ticket, Emirates offers the option to book a Cash + Miles ticket. However, you have to use at least 2,000 miles on the booking, and every 5,000 miles translates to a $40 discount, which gives you a value of 0.8 cents per mile — much lower than our 1.1 cent valuation of Skywards miles.
Flight Upgrades
Emirates also gives you the option to upgrade your cabin class using your miles. Upgrade prices start at 9,000 miles per direction and go up from there based on your route and ticket type. You should know, though, that you can only use your miles to upgrade to the next cabin class, i.e. economy to business or business to first.
From a value perspective, this is usually less valuable than just booking an award ticket in the cabin you want outright. But it could make sense in certain situations if you don’t have quite enough miles for a full award ticket.
Skywards Exclusives
You can also use your Emirates miles to purchase incredible experiences like tickets for your favorite sports team, band, or purchase world-class dining experiences. While this may seem like a neat option, you’re usually better off just paying cash as the value you receive from your miles when redeeming this way is pretty poor.
Bottom Line: From a value perspective, you’re almost always going to get the best bang for your buck by redeeming your miles for award tickets with Emirates — especially if you’re redeeming for first or business class tickets!
How To Earn More Emirates Miles
Emirates Purchases
The main bonus category of your card earns you 3x miles per $1 on all Emirates flights, so you’ll want to make this your designated card when booking those flights unless you have another card that offers a better rewards rate.
Travel Purchases
You’ll also earn 2x points per $1 on travel purchases made with the card, which includes airfare (with other airlines), hotel stays, and car rentals. This presents a great opportunity to earn extra Emirates miles on nearly all of your major travel expenses.
All Other Purchases
You’ll also earn 1x miles per $1 on all other purchases made with the card. But unless you are working towards the card’s spending thresholds that help you earn 10,000 bonus miles and requalify for Gold status, then you should probably use another card that offers a better return for these purchases.
This is a compelling option because many Amex credit cards have bonus categories that aren’t offered on the Emirates Premium World Elite card. Take the Amex Gold card that earns 4x points per $1 on all dining, including global restaurants (up to $50,000 per calendar year) and U.S. supermarket purchases — these are 2 categories where most people spend a lot of money, giving you a great opportunity to rack up more points.
Marriott Bonvoy Your World Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy Cards
Through the Emirates Skywards and Marriott Bonvoy Your World Rewards partnership, you can earn extra Skywards miles on your Marriott stays. Those with Skywards elite status, which you have automatically thanks to your card, earn 1 Skywards mile for every $1 spent at Marriott hotels. Emirates Skywards Gold and Platinum members also get benefits like complimentary in-room Wi-Fi, priority check-in, and 4 p.m. late checkout.
Better yet, you can also transfer Marriott Bonvoy points earned from your Marriott stays or Marriott Bonvoy credit cards over to Emirates at a rate of 3 Marriott points to 1 Skyward Mile. But if you transfer at least 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, you’ll receive an additional 5,000 miles — getting you 25,000 miles for the transfer instead of the expected 20,000.
Alternative Cards to the Emirates Premium World Elite Card
The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.
The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.
The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
80,000 points
$1,760
$695
See Pay Over Time APR
Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.
Good to Excellent (670-850)
Why We Like This Card
When it comes to cards that offer top-notch benefits, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better card out there than The Platinum Card® from American Express.
Make no mistake — the Amex Platinum card is a premium card with a premium price tag. With amazing benefits like best-in-class airport lounge access, hotel elite status, and tremendous value in annual statement credits, it can easily prove to be one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet year after year.
Pros & Cons
Pros
The best airport lounge access out of any card (by far) — enjoy access to over 1,400 worldwide lounges, including the luxurious Amex Centurion Lounges,Priority Pass lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, and many more!
5x points per dollar spent on flights purchased directly with the airline or with AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 per year)
5x points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels booked with AmexTravel.com
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
$200 Hotel Credit: Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings through American Express Travel using your Platinum Card®. The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay.
$240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 back in statement credits each month on eligible purchases made with your Platinum Card® on one or more of the following: Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
The American Express Global Lounge Collection® can provide an escape at the airport. With complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges across 140 countries and counting, you have more airport lounge options than any other credit card issuer on the market. As of 03/2023.
$155 Walmart+ Credit: Save on eligible delivery fees, shipping, and more with a Walmart+ membership. Use your Platinum Card® to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership and get up to $12.95 plus applicable taxes back on one membership (excluding Plus Ups) each month.
$200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Platinum Card®.
$200 Uber Cash: Platinum Card® Members can get out and about and explore their local area with $15 in Uber Cash for US rides each month, plus a bonus $20 in December. That can be up to $200 in annual Uber savings. Simply download the Uber app and add your Platinum Card® to your Uber account to get started. Available to Basic Card Member only. Effective 11/8/2024, an Amex Card must be selected as the payment method for your Uber or Uber Eats transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit.
$199 CLEAR® Plus Credit: CLEAR® Plus helps to get you to your gate faster at 50+ airports nationwide and get up to $199 back per calendar year on your Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Card. CLEARLanes are available at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues.
Receive either a $120 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card®. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
Shop Saks with Platinum: Get up to $100 in statement credits annually for purchases in Saks Fifth Avenue stores or at saks.com on your Platinum Card®. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
Unlock access to exclusive reservations and special dining experiences with Global Dining Access by Resy when you add your Platinum Card® to your Resy profile.
The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.
Earn 30,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.
30,000 miles
$99
21.24%, 25.24% or 29.99% Variable
Why We Like This Card
The Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard®might seem a bit unconventional, especially to U.S.-based flyers. But for those who fly often with the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates, or who are trying to earn as many points as possible towards an Emirates first class redemption, the Emirates World Elite card might make sense for you.
Enjoy Emirates Silver tier membership during your first year, and retain your tier status by spending $20,000 each card membership year.
Earn 30,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.
Earn 3 Skywards Miles for every $1 spent on emirates.com or at the Emirates Sales office.
Earn 2 Skywards Miles on eligible travel purchases and earn 1 Skywards Mile on all other purchases.
Financial Snapshot
APR: 21.24%, 25.24% or 29.99% Variable
Foreign Transaction Fees: $0
If you’re an Emirates loyalist but are looking for something a little more reasonable from an annual fee perspective, the Emirates World Elite card only charges a $99 annual fee and still earns 3x points per $1 on Emirates purchases and 2x points per $1 on travel purchases. Plus, it comes with perks like Skywards Silver status and free economy class seat selection.
The information regarding the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here. For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
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