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Dubai First Class Lounge
Skywards is Emirates’ loyalty program. It is popular with frequent Emirates flyers for travel benefits and upgrade options.
Instead of joining an airline alliance, Emirates has several partner airlines around the world where you can earn and redeem Skywards miles.
Joining Skywards is free and easy — just register here.
Log in to your Skywards account here.
You’ll need your email address or Skywards account number and your password.
The Skywards My Account page is a hub for all your Skywards activity.
My Statement shows your activity.
You can also manage your account profile and settings and learn about earning and redeeming miles.
Skywards miles expire after 3 years, even if you have continuing account activity.
You can get a few more months in some cases as miles don’t expire exactly 3 years from the date earned. Instead, they expire at the end of your birthday month in the calendar year 3 years from when they were earned. Every mile is good for at least 3 calendar years.
New Skywards members start at Blue Tier. They can then earn Silver, Gold, or Platinum elite status through qualifying activity.
Tier Miles are only earned on Emirates-operated flights or codeshares on other airlines that are marketed by Emirates (meaning the flight number on your tickets is an Emirates EK). Other flights operated by partners can earn redeemable miles only.
The Miles Calculator shows how many Tier Miles you will earn for each trip.
Rolling Tier means that instead of a calendar year, you have 12 to 13 months from the date you start earning Skywards miles through flights in which to meet the requirements for elite status.
When you reach an elite status tier, you then get a new 12 to 13-month clock to take enough flights that you requalify for another year (or advance to the next status tier).
Emirates Skywards Blue:
Emirates Skywards Silver:
All Blue benefits, plus:
Emirates Skywards Gold:
All Silver benefits, plus:
Emirates Skywards Platinum:
All Gold benefits, plus:
See the full chart of tier benefits for details and terms.
Emirates Skywards status is almost entirely focused on frequent Emirates flyers. Since only Emirates-marketed codeshares on partners can earn Tier Points, to earn Skywards status you need to be primarily flying Emirates.
Naturally, then, status benefits are usually only applicable to Emirates flights. If you travel to many parts of the world on various airlines, Skywards status is probably not the right target for you.
On Emirates, Silver Tier status stands out compared to Blue — it’s required just to get free advance seat assignments.
Gold Tier status provides valuable business class lounge access through the Emirates network (not just in Dubai as with Silver Tier). This alone can be worth chasing Gold Tier status.
Few travelers will amass the Tier Points necessary for Platinum Tier. Those who do will receive coveted first class lounge access and priority travel benefits.
In addition to your personal Skywards account, you can register your small business in Emirates Business Rewards.
You’ll earn 1 Business Rewards point per $1 spent when your employees travel on Emirates. There is no limit to the number of employees permitted on 1 account and no minimum spend.
Employees still earn their own Skywards miles in addition to the Business Rewards points you earn.
Skywards has many partners that expand your mileage-earning opportunities far beyond flying.
The Miles Calculator is the easiest way to determine how many miles you’ll earn on an Emirates flight.
Earning is calculated using 4 factors:
Emirates Skywards My Family allows you to pool miles that your family members earn from flying Emirates. This excludes partner flights and other ways to earn Emirates miles.
Up to 7 travelers related to the designated family head may pool their miles: husband, wife, partner, father, mother, step-father, step-mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son, step-son, daughter or step-daughter.
Each member can designate what percent of future earned miles will go to the pool: 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, 10%, or 0%. You can adjust this rate at any time for future mile earnings. Prior earned miles do not go to the pool (you can still pay for miles transfer).
Like individual miles, My Family miles expire 3 years after they are earned (the end of the month of the Family Head’s birthday).
Each Emirates Skywards partner airline is subject to its own mileage earning and award prices.
You’ll need to know the fare class of your ticket, which is not always easy to obtain. Try calling the airline.
Here’s an example for Air Mauritius:
You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, Capital One Miles, and Marriott Bonvoy points to Emirates Skywards.
Instead of a U.S.-issued Emirates credit card, you can transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, Capital One Miles, and Marriott Bonvoy to build up your Emirates Skywards Miles balance.
American Express Membership Rewards points convert to Skywards miles at a rate of 1,000 points to 1,000 Skywards miles.
Terms Apply / Rates & Fees
The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.
If you're approved and accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
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.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThis is the best card for food lovers who dine out at restaurants (worldwide), order take-out and want big rewards at U.S. supermarkets!
If you're approved and accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
The American Express® Gold Card is a game-changer.
With this card, you can earn 4x Membership Rewards points at restaurants, up to $50,000 per calendar year, and you’ll also earn 4x Membership Rewards points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year, then 1x.
There isn’t another card on the market that offers a 1-2 punch like this. Of course, there are several other benefits of the Gold Card as well, including extra monthly dining rewards and more.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThis card is ideal for business travelers who enjoy luxury travel and are looking for a card loaded with benefits!
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is a premium travel rewards card tailored toward business owners who are frequent travelers with a high number of annual expenses.
When you factor in the large number of perks that the card offers like the best airport lounge access at over 1,400 lounges, along with tons of annual credits, it’s easy to see why this card can is a top option for frequent traveling business owners.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesGet 4x points in 2 select categories where your business spends the most each month (on your first $150,000 spent each year).
The American Express® Business Gold Card is excellent at racking up rewards for your business spend.
The card earns a whopping 4x points per $1 in the 2 categories (from a list of 6) that your business spends the most money on each month. With no need to opt-in or preselect your categories, so you can focus on what matters most — running your business.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesEarn Membership Rewards for your business spending the easy way: get 2x points for the first $50,000 in purchases per year.
As a business owner, getting a credit card that maximizes each dollar you spend does not have to be complicated or expensive. Especially when you opt for The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express.
With the Amex Blue Business Plus card, you’ll earn 2x Membership Rewards points on everyday business purchases throughout the year (up to $50,000; 1x thereafter) and receive purchase protections and no-additional-charge employee cards all for no annual fee (see rates and fees).
The simple and straightforward earning structure makes it a great fit for those looking to earn flexible rewards, without having to fixate on which purchases earn the most points.
Let’s take look at all that the Amex Blue Business Plus card has to offer.
Emirates partners with Marriott Bonvoy as well and Marriott Bonvoy points convert to Skywards Miles at a 3:1 ratio. For converting 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points in a single transaction, you get a 5,000-mile bonus!
Skywards has many travel and shopping partners where you can earn miles.
See our best ways to earn lots of Emirates Skywards miles for ideas!
Hot Tip: For a full list of ideas, read our article on how you can redeem Emirates Skywards miles for maximum value.
Emirates does not publish an award chart for its flights. Instead, use the Miles Calculator on the Emirates website to price specific routes.
For travel from the U.S., Emirates divides the country into North America East and North America West. Depending on the total distance of the trip, award prices from North America West may be significantly higher than North America East.
Look out for huge cash fuel surcharges and fees on awards. Unfortunately, you must call in with specific flight details to find out how much they will cost.
Classic Awards on Emirates flights start at 15,000 miles for a round trip.
Classic Awards come in lower-price Saver and higher-priced Flex Plus levels. Only Flex Plus fares can be booked as a one-way ticket.
Cash+Miles allows members to pay for a ticket using cash and Skywards Miles. You must use a minimum of 2,000 miles on a Cash+Miles ticket, and every 5,000 miles translates to a $40 discount. In most cases, this is a low-value use of miles, so tread carefully!
You can use Emirates Skywards miles to upgrade paid tickets. Prices start at 9,000 miles and are determined by route and ticket type.
Most tickets can be upgraded in advance, and you may also have the opportunity at check-in or even upon boarding.
Exceptions are:
Emirates has some incredibly long flights…once you board and see your seat for the next 15 hours, you may be in the mood to splurge on an upgrade!
Emirates Skywards has reasonable award fees:
Each Emirates Skywards partner airline is subject to its own award prices and permitted routes. Look for partners you can book one-way awards with, such as JetBlue.
It’s only possible to book easyJet partner awards via the Emirates website. For other partners, you can call Emirates Skywards or submit the online partner award form and be contacted by Emirates.
HOT TIP:Save time searching for partner awards by checking websites of Emirates partner airlines. Checking an airline for its own award flights may be misleading, though, because more flights may be available to its own program members than to partner airlines. Instead, use Air Canada Aeroplan to check South African Airways and TAP Portugal; or British Airways to check Japan Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Qantas, and S7 Airlines.
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