Founder and CEO of Upgraded Points, Alex is a leader in the industry and has earned and redeemed millions of points and miles. He frequently discusses the award travel industry with CNBC, Fox Business...
Edited by: Keri Stooksbury
With years of experience in corporate marketing and as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Keri is now Editor-in-Chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and r...
58 comments
Mirna Cicioni
September 21, 2018
I have 14,000 Emirates points expiring on 30 September. Could I use them towards an overnight stopover in Dubai in early May? Many thanks for your assistance.
Dan
December 02, 2018
I have miles expiring in late January. I’m a little confused with for example the partnership with Alaska. How can I use Skywards miles to book an in country USA flight on Alaska?
Stephen Au
December 07, 2018
Hey Dan,
You would have to find availability on Alaska Airlines using their website. Then, call Emirates and tell them which flights, dates, and times you want to book your reward flight for. You cannot perform this process online.
Zahra Shaghaghi
December 07, 2018
I would like to know why I have to pay $19.00 US for redeeming my Skywards miles? My purchase price is less than my points. Please let me know.
Christine Krzyszton
December 08, 2018
Hello Zahra. Only the base fare of the ticket is covered when you redeem your Skyward Miles. According to the Emirates web site, “Skywards Miles can be redeemed for the base ticket fare, excluding carrier-imposed charges, taxes, and fees”. Thanks for your question. If you’d like to read further, you can access the information here. https://www.emirates.com/us/english/skywards/about/spending-miles.aspx
Brad
January 25, 2019
How can I transfer emirates Skywards points to Marriott? Can I do it online?
Alex Miller
January 26, 2019
Hi Brad,
Unfortunately you can’t transfer your Emirates Skywards points to Marriott. You can transfer Marriott > Emirates, but not the other way around.
CPSinghal
March 02, 2019
Can I use Skyward miles for online merchandise purchase and/ or vouchers of Amazon India? Or for other establishments in India?
Christine Krzyszton
March 14, 2019
Hello and thank you for your question. I do not see Amazon as a retail partner for redeeming your Skywards miles. Here is a list of retail partners where you can redeem your miles: https://www.emirates.com/english/skywards/about/partners/our-partners.aspx?#life and a list of other redemption options: https://www.emirates.com/english/skywards/about/partners/our-partners.aspx?#life
I hope this helps.
Samiya
May 28, 2019
Hello, How many points do I need to upgrade economy class to business class?
Travelling from Lahore to Chicago.
Secondly, can I use my family members’ Skyward miles?
Where else can I use these points especially in shopping?
Thank you
Christine Krzyszton
June 12, 2019
Hello Samiya. It is possible to upgrade from economy to business class using Skywards miles but some classes are not eligible for upgrades. And yes, your family members’ Skywards miles can be used to upgrade. Here are the details of how to upgrade and some frequently asked questions: https://www.emirates.com/english/help/faq/1119688/can-i-combine-miles-from-two-accounts-to-claim-a-reward There are a few others ways to use your miles including hotels, tickets to events, and experiences but beware and look for good value. Here is the information on spending your miles: https://www.emirates.com/english/skywards/about/spending-miles.aspx
Sam Bodapaty
March 01, 2021
Hi Christine, I upgraded an Economy Flex paid ticket using points transferred from AmEx Membership Rewards to Business Flex, but I only see Skywards points posted at the Economy Flex rate and not the Business Flex rate. Should I not receive Skywards points based on the Business Flex rate?
Thank you for your response in advance.
Christine Krzyszton
March 01, 2021
Hi Sam. If you transferred Membership Rewards points to Skywards and then used Skywards miles to upgrade your flight, you would earn Skywards Miles based on your original purchased ticket.
Ali
July 04, 2019
Are there any credit cards in Canada that can earn skywards points or maybe convertable points to skywards?
Jarrod West
July 05, 2019
Hi Ali,
The Canadian American Express cards that earn Membership Rewards points can be transferred to the Emirates Skyward program at a rate of 3 Membership Rewards Points = 2 Skywards Miles.
Ali
July 06, 2019
Hi Jarrod.
I don’t see Emirates as a partner on Canadian American Express website. Do you have a link where it shows Emirates as a partner.
Jarrod West
July 07, 2019
Hi Ali,
I just reviewed the Canadian Membership Rewards partners page and it seems that Emirates is no longer mentioned. My apologies for the mix-up. In which case, I do not believe there are any Canadian card offers with points that can transfer to Emirates.
Farina
July 23, 2019
Hi,
Am I able to book hotels in Paris redeeming my Skywards miles?
Stephen Au
July 23, 2019
Hi Farina,
The best way to do this is by transferring Skywards Miles to one of their hotel partners such as AccorHotels. Unfortunately, the ratio isn’t favorable, but this is an option.
Rachel
August 14, 2019
Hello,
I have lots of Marriot points, and just a handful of Emirate points which will expire before I am likely to use them. Is there a way to convert the Emirates to Marriot points? I am much more likely to use hotel points.
Thanks!
Andrew Kunesh
August 14, 2019
Hey Rachel, currently there is no way to transfer Emirates Skywards miles to Marriott Bonvoy points. However, you can pay to extend the validity of your Skywards miles by 12 months. Please see Emirates’ website for more info.
Mrs Howe
November 18, 2019
Can I use my Emirates points to pay for extra luggage allowance?
Jarrod West
November 18, 2019
Hi Mrs Howe,
You cannot use Emirates points to pay for extra luggage allowance unless you use your points to upgrade to a premium cabin ticket.
Sina Aziz
November 22, 2019
I have 2500 miles which will be lost in a few days and I want to buy gifts available online.
There is no information regarding buying these gifts. NOT the Emirates stuff.
Christine Krzyszton
November 22, 2019
Hello Sina. Here is the link for redeeming your miles for merchandise and other options. https://www.emirates.com/english/skywards/about/partners/our-partners.aspx?#life
Fcflyer
November 24, 2019
Emirates awards can be booked one way and are half a round trip, correct?
I just checked JFK-CPT in first and the mileage you quote is different from the online calculator.
What am I missing? Thanks
Stephen Au
November 26, 2019
Hi FCflyer,
Emirates awards aren’t half the price of a round-trip. For example, the round-trip cost for first class from JFK to CPT via Dubai is 285,000 miles under a Flex award fare. The one-way ticket costs 178,750 miles under the Flex Plus level.
fcflyer
November 25, 2019
Is your award chart old? I’m pricing CPT-JFK in F and it’s different than the post.
Stephen Au
November 26, 2019
Hi fcflyer,
We just addressed your concerns below. The one-way cost is not half price of round-trip awards. Thanks for reading.
Akber
December 23, 2019
How many Emirates reward miles needed to travel (return – two way):
1) DFW to JED – NO Stopover
2) DFW to JED – with Stopover at BAH
3) DFW to JED – with Stopover while going to JED at BAH and back to DFW at DXB
How many Emirates reward miles & Cash needed to travel (return – two way):
1) DFW to JED – NO Stopover
2) DFW to JED – with Stopover at BAH
3) DFW to JED – with Stopover while going to JED at BAH and back to DFW at DXB
Jarrod West
December 26, 2019
Hi Akber,
You can find the exact miles needed for each of these routes, and all of Emirates’ other routes, at their website. https://www.emirates.com/account/us/english/miles-calculator/miles-calculator.aspx
Simon Drummond
January 19, 2020
The fact you haven’t included airport taxes and fuel surcharges in any of your mileage costs in this article, limits the usefulness of the information. The added fees are prohibitive (and can be paid for with Skywards miles).
Fred
May 15, 2021
Unlike many airlines, regular earning of miles does not extend mileage validity. As a last-ditch effort, you can pay to extend Skywards miles for another 12 months at a rate of $20 per 1,000 miles.
Wouldn’t it be chaeper to buy new miles?
Jarrod West
May 17, 2021
Hi Fred,
That rate you were quoted is the rate to purchase new miles, which will extend the expiration of your current miles.
Chris
May 31, 2021
When I read Emirates redemption rate for Korean Air, it says 105,000 one way but here you said round trip. Is this true?
Jarrod West
June 16, 2021
Hi Chris,
The one-way rate for flights between 4,000-5,000 miles should be 76,000, or 152,000 round-trip. So I’ve updated that in the post. You can view the rates on Emirates table here.
Donna
September 16, 2021
If I read this reply correctly, “That rate you were quoted is the rate to purchase new miles, which will extend the expiration of your current miles.”, I can buy miles and that will extend my miles that are about to expire? How many miles do I need to buy to extend my miles?
I would think that with limited flights and Covid restrictions, Emirates would extend all miles as a courtesy.
Jarrod West
September 18, 2021
Hi Donna,
You can purchase as many miles as you would like in order to extend your current miles. Although I do agree with you that it’d be nice if Emirates extended mileage expirations for all customers.
Robbie
September 19, 2021
Hi
Living in NZ and interested to know for return travel Auckland to London is better to use Emirates miles for business on Emirates flights or to use them for QF business
Thanks
Robbie
Stephen Au
September 20, 2021
Hi Robbie,
For Qantas business class, it’ll cost 120,000 Emirates miles one-way (240,000 Emirates miles round-trip). For Emirates business class, it’ll start at 256,000 Emirates miles round-trip. However, Qantas business class is harder to find availability for than Emirates.
sean donaghy
December 30, 2021
So if I purchase $20 in miles, this will extend all my existing miles which are due to expire? It reads to me as though you should purchase the same quantity of points which you are trying to extend; in which case it does not seem like good value. Would appreciate it if you could clarify this.
Jarrod West
December 30, 2021
Hi Sean,
Purchasing any amount of miles will extend your total mileage balance.
Mirian Nunes
February 20, 2022
How to transfer my Skywards miles to ALL Accor Hotels? I have more than 21,000 Skywards miles that will expire next March.
Stephen Au
February 21, 2022
You cannot transfer Skywards miles to Accor. You can only transfer Accor points to Skywards miles.
Teresa
July 05, 2022
I’m having great trouble trying to redeem MELHKG on QF business class with Skywards, called to ask about availability for May, the agent knew nothing apart from saying their end shows ‘closed’, tried searching from November all the way to May, their end shows ‘closed’ as well according to the agent. Does this mean the quota for redemption is maxed, or does this mean flights are not yet available for redemption? Scratching my head as to how to burn the 300k skywards points before they expire. Would appreciate your advice please
Jarrod West
July 11, 2022
Hi Teresa,
If it is showing as closed, then it is likely that there is no business class award availability on those dates. That said, some times available dates pop up as people cancel tickets, or resechuelde tickets, or as the airline releases more seats. So it is best to keep checking back as often as you can.
Hemanta
July 19, 2022
Can I redeem the points to India?
Jarrod West
July 19, 2022
Hi Hemanta,
Yes, you can redeem your Emirates points to fly to India.
Jean
August 06, 2022
Bkk-pnh service has stopped since pandemic and not likely to return any time soon.
However looking at the post, redeeming bkk-pnh cost 60K for round trip in 1st class for a merely 1 hrs flight, however same 60k is posted for bkk-hkg for a 3 hrs flight in first seems better deal?
Kay
August 30, 2022
Why isn’t it letting me redeem my expiring miles on JetBlue for a domestic flight?
Jarrod West
September 06, 2022
Hi Kay,
I could not say why you are having that issue. Have you tried contacting Emirates directly to see what the issue is?
Nate
April 15, 2023
Hello Jarrod,
Does the 90K miles award on Emirates NYC to MXP still exist? Your articles mention it but when I run the search I see only 285K? Do I need to have the miles in my account and run the money and miles option at the end at checkout? Didn’t want to transfer the Chase miles unless I knew it could be booked.
Thanks in advance!
Jarrod West
April 17, 2023
Hi Nate,
The price for that route is 108,000 miles now, but you need to locate Saver award space in order to book at the price. So you’ll want to be a flexible as possible with the dates you fly.
Alam, Kazi Md Saiful
November 21, 2022
Hi, I see my 2030 skywards points automatically expire in December 2022. I plan to visit Dhaka, Bangladesh with the 5 members of my family in April/May 2023. Under such a situation, I would like to request for extending my Skywards points for a period of 12 months further without incurring any cost from my side.
I look forward to seeing your kind gesture to me as a very old loyal customer of Emirates Airlines.
Kind regards, Kazi
Jarrod West
November 22, 2022
Hi Kazi,
Please be advised that we are not Emirates Airlines. We are Upgraded Points, an educational travel website. You can contact Emirates directly at 1-(800)-777-3999.
Nate
April 16, 2023
Hi Jarrod,
Did Emirates do away with the 90K miles NYC to MXP? I don’t see where you can find that mileage on the Emirates website
Thanks!
Jarrod West
April 17, 2023
Hi Nate,
Emirates recently devalued so the price for that route is now 108,000.
John Smith
May 26, 2023
JFK to MXP in economy shows a range of cost from 45,000 points to 77,500 points depending upon the date and time of year. With 77,500 being the most common cost.
Any thoughts or questions? Comment below!
Email needed if you'd like comment updates. It will NOT be published.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.