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Emirates has cultivated a reputation as one of the best airlines in the world, and it is well-deserved. Let’s be honest…you’re probably here right now because of the amazing things you’ve heard!
If you’d like to see what it’s all about, the Emirates business class cabin is a great way to go. Specifically, we’re going to talk about the experience on Emirates’ Airbus A380.
With lie-flat seats, direct aisle access, and an in-flight bar, your business class experience will be the trip of a lifetime!
From the moment you step into the Emirates business class cabin, you’ll be excited to fly. For solo travelers, the window seats provide great privacy, while couples, friends, and families can enjoy each other’s company by selecting 2 seats in the middle section.
Regardless of your seat choice, you are guaranteed direct aisle access on all A380s, so you don’t have to climb over anyone to visit the in-flight bar (we’ll get to that later). Additionally, all business class seats on Emirates’ A380 are lie-flat, so you can sleep comfortably.
When booking your flight, be sure to verify that you’re flying business class in the A380. Otherwise, you might be surprised by a 2-3-2 configuration with angled flat seats and no direct aisle access!
Here are the flights that operate an A380 from North America:
| A380 Routes From North America | |
| Los Angeles (LAX) – Dubai (DXB) | San Francisco (SFO) – Dubai (DXB) |
| New York City (JFK) – Dubai (DXB) | New York City (JFK) – Milan (MXP) |
| Washington D.C. (IAD) – Dubai (DXB) | Toronto (YYZ) – Dubai (DXB) |
| Houston (IAH) – Dubai (DXB) | Boston (BOS) – Dubai (DXB) |
While you’re relaxing in your seat, you’ll enjoy great meals throughout your flight as well as your choice of beer, wine, and spirits. In fact, your flight attendant will even offer you a glass of champagne when settled in your seat before takeoff.
If you’re ready to have some fun trying the business class cabin on Emirates, let’s dive into how you can book this flight.
It may sound counter-intuitive, but we don’t always recommend using Emirates Skywards miles — we’ll explain more below, but trust us when we say you have better options.
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank is generally going to have the lowest miles price tag, but fuel surcharges on awards on Emirates in addition to the miles cost. For trips from the U.S. in Emirates business class, these can be as much as $1,716!
Learn more about these pesky fees in our ultimate guide to airline fuel surcharges (and how to avoid them)!
There are a few airports where you can start your trip and avoid these surcharges:
If you decide to book an Emirates award, then consult Japan Airlines’ distance-based chart (the longer the flight, the more Mileage Bank miles your flight will cost).
When booking, make sure you remember to calculate the distance of each segment of your itinerary and add them together. Once you have done that, you can check Japan Airlines’ partner award chart to see how many Mileage Bank miles are required.
There are some sweet spot award redemptions to be found in this chart, so play around with it and see what you can find.
You can now search for Emirates availability directly on the JAL website:
A couple of key points to remember when booking with Japan Airlines Mileage Bank miles:
Hot Tip: Learn about how to maximize stopovers and open-jaws in our comprehensive guide so you can get extra flights for free!
Using Japan Airline Mileage Bank miles is generally your best bet to book Emirates business class for the fewest miles.
Make sure you check out some of the other amazing redemption options provided by Japan Airlines.
Emirates is a transfer partner with Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou points, Capital One Miles, and Marriott Bonvoy, while JAL and Alaska are only transfer partners with Marriott.
So while JAL and Alaska don’t have many ways to rack up miles fast, Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards will definitely help you boost your point balances to book first class!
Better yet, Emirates has recently massively reduced the carrier-imposed surcharges on flights! Depending on your award ticket, you’ll be able to leverage stopovers!
Here are a few great example of routes you can take:
Here’s how you can book your award:
Even with the new surcharges, Japan Airlines may provide the best opportunity to book Emirates business class, so let’s look at a few options available for booking:
Remember, you’ll want to fly business class on Emirates’ Airbus A380 to ensure maximum comfort and fun! Plus, the A380 Dubai to Los Angeles route is one of the longest nonstop flights in the world, giving you tons of time to enjoy your luxury experience.
| Cities with Emirates A380 Service |
| Los Angeles (LAX) |
| New York City (JFK) |
| San Francisco (SFO) |
| Washington, D.C. (IAD) |
| Boston (BOS) |
| Houston (IAH) |
Emirates flies to several other U.S. airports with their Boeing 777. These routes do not have direct aisle access for all business class seats, nor do they include the lie-flat seats (which means sleeping will be less comfortable).
While Japan Airlines will require fewer miles, a round-trip business class award from the U.S. to Dubai will include up to about $1,716 in taxes and fees. Alaska will require more miles, but won’t impose fuel surcharges (which keeps the out of pocket cost lower).
Hot Tip: Check out our dedicated guide for more information on Emirates’ routing options to/from the U.S.
Alaska miles can be earned directly with their co-branded credit cards provided by Bank of America, which offers both a personal and business version of the card.
You can earn Marriott points and transfer those to Emirates at a rate of 3:1. Plus, for every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer, you’ll receive a bonus of 5,000 Skywards miles.
Emirates does not have a regular schedule for releasing business class award space to their partner airlines. However, don’t wait to search for space and book your business class award ticket.
These award tickets are popular, so start your search as soon as you know when you want to travel. As with all award searches, flexibility is your friend — the more flexible your travel dates, the easier it will be to find award space.
Also, remember to take into account the transfer time of your travel rewards cards points if you are transferring from flexible point programs. It would be a shame to miss an award because you hadn’t yet transferred your miles!
It’s probably already clear why Emirates business class should be on your list of flying experiences to try! But just in case you need some convincing, let’s dig into it a little more.
You will have access to the Emirates Business Class Lounge in Dubai. When you are flying on the Emirates Airbus A380, you will be able to board directly from the lounge.
During your stay, you will be treated to a relaxing experience complete with champagne and a great selection of food.
Emirates has lounges in many airports across the world, so you’ll have somewhere to relax before your flight when flying business class.
Right off the bat, your business class adventure will provide a buffet that includes plenty of meal options to satisfy any culinary desire. You will also have a variety of wine, beer, spirits, and champagne to pair with your meal before finishing it off with one of the many dessert options.
Of course, the fun only continues once you are in-flight. You will still have access to great food and your choice of beverages, not to mention an amazing in-flight bar.
Enjoy a drink, a snack, and the company of your fellow passengers at Emirates’ in-flight bar on the Airbus A380.
Emirates is famous for the bar at the rear of the business class cabin on their Airbus A380. Anytime you feel the urge for a snack or a drink (they’ll make you cocktails too!), you can visit the bar and mingle with your premium cabin companions.
No business class experience would be complete without an amenity kit, and Emirates excels with theirs, providing Bvlgari products to keep you refreshed throughout your flight.
Give Emirates a try; you won’t be disappointed! Using Japan Airlines miles or Alaska Airlines miles, you can book a great experience that would normally cost thousands of dollars.
Just because this is an exciting opportunity, don’t forget to make smart decisions when booking. Check for award availability before transferring points, and remember that flexibility is key to making business class on Emirates a reality for you.
This article should give you everything you need to get started, so get ready to go book your Emirates business class experience!
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Always a fan of flying, it was only natural that Spencer was drawn to finding a way to improve the travel experience.
Like many, he started this journey searching for cheap flights to take him around the world. This was fun for a while, but Spencer was intrigued by the idea of flying in business and first class!
Throwing himself into what became an extensive research project, Spencer spent 3-4 hours per night learning everything he could about frequent flyer miles over the course of several months (he thinks this is normal). He runs Straight to the Points, an award-seat alert platform.
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15 comments
Deanna
June 20, 2018
Hi this is the exact post i was looking for. This is exactly what i want to do and would love some of the stop over options but not sure how to do all of this yet. Have the points scared to mess it up. So anyone who wants to lend a hand it would be appreciated. My husband and I live in Oklahoma (yeah i know one of the worst for flying out of) We are planning on going to Nairobi mid February to the end of Feb for a mission type trip. We have to be in Nairobi from the 17th – 27th. I have no problem with positioning flights out of IAH, LAX or NYC really makes no difference we will have to go somewhere. I REALLY want the Emirates A380 and am willing to get a flight from Dubai to Africa unless someone can figure out a better idea. We can spend extra days on either end to make it work and wouldn’t mind spending a couple of days in Dubai. So any expert flyers with advice on making this a trip of a lifetime? Am I correct after reading the post that we could get roundtrip from Houston for 85000 points? How many from LA or NYC? Hoping for help. Thanks Deanna
JK
October 18, 2022
Depends on which card you are using points. I used AMEX, so you just have to create a skywards account on Emirates and transfer the points from you AMEX to the skywards. It is super easy from you AMEX account. The points show up up with a minute or so. Flying the A380 and the Emirates experience was a big motivation. I was also nervous about transferring the amount of miles then not being able to book. I did a search to book with points just before transferring to make sure there were seats available to booked with points. I live in an area that is only serviced by a small regional airport thus flying to JFK then leaving switching airlines there.
JM
December 17, 2019
I went on JAL website and there is no option JFK to DXB. Is there other way to do it?
Stephen Au
December 19, 2019
Hi JM,
You’ll need to make sure you’re selecting Emirates as the partner airline you’re looking to book on. You’ll need to visit this link which is specific for JAL partners.
https://www.ar.jal.co.jp/arl/en/jmb/award/partner/round.html
Thanks for reading!
OLEG BUDANOV
April 15, 2021
Learned a lot, shared some. Saved myself about 5K. Happy reader right here.
Thank you.
Logan
January 07, 2023
I was looking to book the business class flight from JFK to MXP. However, when I go on the Emirates website, I see the round trip flight for 145,000 miles and not the 90,000 miles mentioned in the article. Am I doing something wrong?
Jarrod West
January 09, 2023
Hi Logan,
You have to find dates where saver award space is available so it is helpful to be as flexible as possible.
Shay
March 19, 2023
Looked through months of dates and don’t see any saver award flights. How long before a flight do they open up the Saver award space?
Paul Smith
February 13, 2023
Does the JAL link no longer work?
Jarrod West
February 14, 2023
Hi Paul,
All of the JAL links seem to be working on my end, which are you referring to?
Nate
April 22, 2023
Hi Jarrod,
Is the JFK to MXP still available on Emirates at the lower miles? When I go on it is much larger mileage/surcharge.
Thanks!
Jarrod West
April 24, 2023
Hi Nate,
The saver pricing for round-trip awards on that route is now 108,000. I recommend using a tool like Seat.Aero to locate dates where saver award space is available.
Marguerite Machen
July 10, 2023
I just spoke with an agent after searching for flights from US cities on the A380, 5 different cities just one leg nonstop to Dubai and they are all over 250K RT for one person and surcharge is always the same from all airports from sfo to jfk its $1,700! What happened? I went last year and it was 180K with about $300+ tax fee. I’m sad because I wanted to fly emirates business class again but this is unreasonable.
Rob
July 25, 2023
I’d love to find any under 500k, let alone the 145k or 90k discussed. What’s the secret or have things drastically changed in the past 6 months?
Jarrod West
July 26, 2023
Hi Rob,
It is best to be as flexible as possible with either the destination you fly to or the date you travel. Emirates Business class award space is known for getting booked very quickly.
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