When you think about luxury flight experiences, there is a good possibility that the first class of Emirates will see your mind. As a first -class passenger in one of its Airbus A380, you can enjoy the famous bar and shower on board. And if you are in one of the new Boeing 777, you will experience the newest first class cabin with completely private suites.
Emirates even recently announced new first -class comforts available in his fleet.
However, booking these awards with the airline Skywards loyalty program has become more difficult over the years. The Mileage Bank of Japan Airlines no longer offers first class of Emirates, and Alaska Airlines and Emirates cut its association in 2021.
And to worsen things, as of May 12, you must have the elite status of Emirates to reserve these flights. Fortunately, this restriction does not apply to partner loyalty programs.
With these changes in mind, let’s see the best remaining ways of reserving the first class of emiralates with points and miles. This will cover the state of the Emirates gain quickly to reserve directly, updating executive class tickets and taking advantage of partner programs.
Reserve with Skywards Emirates
But not everything is lost. If you want to book with Skywards Emirates, you can open a credit card Cobrande de Emirates through Barclaycard to quickly win elite status. The airline offers two US credit cards: Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard® and Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite MasterCard®.
These cards include the elite status for the first year, with the premium card offered by the medium -level gold status and the standard card offered by a input level silver state. You can maintain this state beyond the first year fulfilling an annual expense requirement.
The information for the Emirates World Elite and Emirates Skywards Rewards Mastercard has been independently collected by the type of points. The details of the card on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
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If you have status, you can exchange a huge 163,500 miles for a unidirectional first class ticket from the west and the cities of the United States of the East Coast to the Dubai International Airport (DXB) and 186,000 miles for a Ida ticket from the west coast. Taxes and rates are also high, more than $ 900 per passenger flight.
You can transfer American Express membership rewards, Bilt Rewards Points, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards Points and Citi Thankyou Rewards Points to Emirates Skywards. However, Amex and Chase will stop transfers to Emirates on May 28 and 29, respectively. In addition, CITI will devalue its transfer relationship of 1: 1 to 1: 0.8 July 27.
First class update with Skywards Emirates
Another good way, but not yet cheap, to fly in Emirates First Class is to reserve an executive class ticket with miles or effective, and then update that ticket with miles. You must reserve an executive class ticket to do this, since the premium economy and economy tickets can only be updated to the executive class.
The number of miles that will spend on an update to the first class depends on the type of executive rate that reserves. You can see the update price in Emirates mileage calculator Upon entering its routing and observing its cabin class (business) and state status level from display. Then there is a tab for update prices.
Here is an example of a flight from the John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York to DXB. Keep in mind that there is no cash copayment, so the price below is the “All-In” price for updates.
As you can see, the lower the executive class rate to reserve, the more miles you will need to update. In addition, you can not update special business rates, and business savings rates can only be updated in the check-in already board.
If you want to update before the departure day, you must book Flex or Business Flex Plus businesses. Unfortunately, this is more expensive (if you are reserving a cash ticket) and does not guarantee an update. You can see if there is an update space available when booking an executive class ticket with cash or points. In general, see first -class prize tickets on websites of Emirates partners such as Air Canada and Qantas also indicates open update space.
If there is no confirmable award space, you can include a waiting list for an update if the space opens. You can do this through the “Manage Reserve” page on the Emirates website.
Meanwhile, some travelers have had luck updating first class at the airport. If a first-class seat is still on sale at check-in or shipping, talk to an agent and ask them to process a million update.
The senior editorial director of TPG, Nick Ewen, succeeded in June 2024 when the fifth flight of Emirates flew from the Athens International Airport (ATH) to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). This is what I had to say:
I had a lot of miles of Emirates Skywards of a disastrous trip canceled in 2022, so I used them to book three flex plus tickets for me, my wife and daughter of ATH-EWR. I knew (of the calculator) that the update to the first class would require 39,000 miles from the sky by passenger, if the seats were available. Fortunately, the Boeing 777-300er seat map showed seven unemployed when we left the airport.
When we got there, I asked Check-in agent about the updates, and when he confirmed the availability, I transfer 11,000 capital a mile to my Skywards (which came instantly, to the surprise of the agent). Soon, I had three first class shipping passes in my hand.
Yes, that is many miles for a single flight (after having used a ton to reserve the executive class in the first place). However, it was an incredible experience for my family, and one that we will remember for a long time.
Related: Trapped in the coach without elite status? That update can be cheaper than you think
Book with Air Canada Aeropan
Air Canada and Emirates have a non -alliance association that leaves Aeropan members exchange the points of Emirates flights. However, unlike most Aeropan Partner awards, Emirates flights have a dynamic price. Prices may vary greatly depending on when reserving and where it flies.
The Aeropan Awards in Emirates still appear on the Aerplan Awards list, but the prizes only start “starting” for each distance band. Flights from the United States to Dubai are on the “between North America and Atlantic areas” awards.
In practice, however, you will find that the price of the first class of Emirates award tickets a lot higher than the price “starting.” For example, a flight from the Dulles International Airport (IAD) near Washington, DC, to DXB covers 7,069 miles, which means that the initial price for an Emirates first class prize ticket is 130,000 points. Next January, however, the flight costs 691,400 points plus $ 58.04 in taxes and rates.
You can transfer American Express membership rewards, Bilt Rewards Points, Capital One Miles and Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to Aeropan. In addition, the Marriott Bonvoy points are transferred to a 3: 1 ratio, with a bonus of 5,000 Aeropan points granted for every 60,000 marriott points transferred.
Book with a frequent steering wheel of qantas
Qantas and Emirates have a similar non -alliance association that allows The members of the frequent qantas brochure to redeem points on the Emirates flights. As with Aeropan, this includes first -class prize tickets. Fortunately, Qantas has maintained a standard awards table for these reimbursements, and are much less expensive than what Airplan charges for Emirates flights.
These flights currently have a price based on the classic flight rewards table of Qantas partners. Unfortunately, this distance -based awards table will change on August 5, which makes the prize tickets more expensive. However, you can book the current rates until August 5, even if your flight leaves after this date.
Here is a look at prices:
Many Emirates flights from the United States to Dubai fall into the distance band from 5,801 to 7,000 miles, which means that they cost 149,800 points that are in each direction. Wait pay at least $ 835 in taxes and rates on a first leg.
You can reserve all the first class of Emirates with Qantas points, including fifth freedom routes such as from the Miami International Airport (MIA) to the El Dorado International Airport (BOG) in Bogotá and from the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York (JFK) to Milan Malpensa airport (MXP). This provides ways to experience the first class of emirates without flying to Dubai.
Read more: Flying Emirates’ First class from Miami to Bogotá
These flights are significantly less expensive than flights from the United States to Dubai as well. For example, you can fly from mine to notify 64,500 points and $ 102 in first class.
You can transfer American Express membership rewards, Bilt Rewards Points and Capital One thousands to Qantas Frequent Flyer. Marriott Bonvoy, the points are also transferred to a 3: 1 ratio, with a 5,000 -point bonus granted for every 60,000 transferred points.
End
Booking first class of Emirates awards is not as easy as it used to be, but there are still some ways to do it. In these days, its best option is to reserve a first -class ticket directly with the frequent steering wheel of Qantas or reserve an executive class ticket and update to first class with Skywards thousands Emirates. The last of these options is even available at the airport when registered for its flight (subject to availability).
However, regardless of how to reserve, prepare to spend a considerable amount of points and effective, even if it will waste this exaggerated product, it can be worthwhile in the correct circumstances.
