Emirates Skywards is the airline’s frequent flyer program, and the miles you accumulate are known as Skywards miles.
To begin earning miles, you’ll need to sign up for a free Emirates Skywards account. Only some basic information is required, like your name, date of birth, country of residence and email address.
Flying Emirates
Once enrolled, you can begin to earn Skywards miles. There are many ways to do so, but the most straightforward way is through flying.
Emirates uses four criteria to determine how many Skywards miles you will earn on eligible flights.
- Route. This is the flight you take and doesn’t include stopovers.
- Cabin. Emirates operates four cabins: economy, premium economy, business and first class.
- Fares. Each cabin has its own fares. These fares determine how many Skywards miles you will earn for that ticket.
- Elite status. Holding elite status with Emirates can help you earn more Skywards miles.
Emirates’ four cabins are subdivided into fare classes.
- Economy: Special, Saver, Flex or Flex Plus
- Premium economy: Flex Plus
- Business: Special, Saver, Flex or Flex Plus
- First: Flex or Flex Plus
Rather than figuring out how many miles you’ll earn when flying Emirates, the program offers a handy calculator that does the math for you.
The image below shows the number of Skywards miles you can earn when flying from Dubai (DXB) to Milan (MXP). As a basic Blue Skywards member, a flight in economy class on a Saver fare would earn 900 Skywards miles.
Status Miles
Skywards elite status holders earn more miles with each flight.
There are three levels of elite status plus an entry-level membership. The higher the status, the more Skywards miles earned.
| Blue | No bonus |
| Silver | 30% |
| Gold | 75% |
| Platinum | 100% |
Elite status with Emirates comes with additional benefits like complimentary seat selection, priority service, reserved booking in economy on sold-out flights and Tier Miles rollover.
Earning Status
To earn status with Emirates, you’ll need to accumulate Tier Miles. You can earn Tier Miles for each qualifying flight, including flights with Emirates, Flydubai or codeshare flights operated by another airline but marketed by Emirates. The requirements to achieve each level are:
| Blue | Entry-level membership |
| Silver | 25,000 Tier Miles or 25 flights |
| Gold | 50,000 Tier Miles or 50 flights |
| Platinum | 150,000 Tier Miles and at least one qualifying flight in first or business class |
Tier Miles are calculated and earned the same way Skywards miles are earned, although you cannot earn Tier Miles on partner flights. However, codeshare flights marketed by Emirates do qualify, as these are different from partner flights.
You can easily calculate how many Tier Miles you’ll earn by using Emirates’ calculator tool.
Tier Miles expire about one year from the month you earn them—which could be anywhere from 12 to 13 months. Once you qualify for status, the clock resets, and you’ll have up to an additional 13 months to meet the requirements to maintain or achieve higher status.
Flights on Partners
Emirates is one of the only major airlines that is not a part of an alliance. Instead, it has over a dozen partner airlines, many of which you can earn Skywards miles with.
Each partner airline has its own earning rate and requirements:
| Partner Airline | Earning Rate |
|---|---|
Air Canada | Up to 1.5 Skywards miles per mile flown, depending on fare class, type and distance |
Air Mauritius | Up to 2 Skywards miles per mile flown, depending on fare class, type and distance |
Bangkok Airways | Up to 1 Skywards mile per mile flown in economy class, 1.1 Skywards miles in premium economy and 1.25 Skywards miles in Blue Ribbon class. |
Condor | Up to 1 Skywards mile per mile flown in economy class. Up to 1.25 Skywards miles per mile flown in premium economy. Up to 2.15 Skywards miles per mile flown in business class. |
Copa Airlines | Up to 1.5 Skywards miles per mile flown depending on fare class, type and distance flown |
EasyJet | No miles earned with easyJet |
Flydubai | Skywards miles earned on Flydubai flights will depend on destination, fare type, cabin class and status tier. |
GOL Airlines | Up to 1.5 Skywards miles per mile flown depending on class, fare type and distance |
Japan Airlines | International flights: earn up to 1 Skywards mile per mile flown in economy class, up to 1 Skywards mile in premium economy, up to 1.25 Skywards miles in business class and up to 1.5 Skywards miles first class Domestic flights: up to 1 Skywards mile per mile flown in economy class, up to 1.1 Skywards miles in Class J and up to 1.5 Skywards miles in first class |
Jetstar | Up to 1.25 Skywards miles per mile flown, depending on fare class, type and distance flown |
Korean Air | 1 Skywards mile per mile flown in economy class, up to 1.35 Skywards miles in Prestige Class and up to 2 miles in first class |
Malaysia Airlines | Up to 1.5 Skywards miles per mile flown depending on fare class, type and distance flown |
Qantas Airways | Up to 1.5 Skywards miles per mile flown, depending on fare class |
South African Airways | Up to 1 Skywards mile per mile flown in economy class, up to 1.5 Skywards miles per mile flown in business class and 1.5 Skywards miles per mile flown in first class |
TAP Air Portugal | Up to 1.5 SkyMiles per mile flown, depending on fare class |
United Airlines | Up to 1.5 Skywards miles per mile flown, depending on fare class |
Some fares aren’t eligible to earn Skywards miles. For example, Copa Airlines doesn’t award Skywards miles for bookings in classes N, X, I, G, Z and P. Make sure to check the website before booking.
Credit Card Spending
Barclays offers two Emirates co-branded credit cards—a premium option and a basic option.
Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard®*:
- Earn 40,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening
- Annual fee: $499
- Get 3 Skywards Miles per dollar on eligible Emirates purchases, 2 Skywards Miles per dollar on eligible travel purchases and 1 Skywards Mile per dollar on all other purchases
Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard®*:
- Earn 30,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days
- Annual fee: $99
- Get 3 Skywards Miles per dollar spent on eligible Emirates purchases, 2 Skywards Miles per dollar on eligible travel purchases and 1 Skywards Mile per dollar on all other purchases
Transfer Partners
Emirates partners with more than just other airlines—it also partners with banks, hotels, car rental agencies and more. The following options allow you to convert your points from various programs to Emirates Skywards miles.
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Credit Cards
Several banks offer transferable points that can be sent to travel partners, and Emirates is partnered with all the major ones.
| American Express Membership Rewards | 1:1 |
| Brex | 1.5:1 |
| Capital One Miles | 1:1 |
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | 1:1 |
| Citi ThankYou Points | 1:1 |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 3 Bonvoy Points to 1 Skywards mile. Receive an additional 5,000 Skywards miles when you transfer 60,000 Bonvoy points. |
Hotel Loyalty Programs
Aside from Marriott, a handful of hotels also allow you to convert their loyalty program points into Skywards miles. This doesn’t always result in the best value, though. Nevertheless, this option could make sense if you are short on Skywards miles and have points from a hotel program you won’t use.
| ALL-Accor Live Limitless | 4,000 ALL points to 2,000 Skywards miles |
| Hilton Honors | 10,000 Hilton Honors points to 1,000 Skywards miles |
| IHG One Rewards | 10,000 IHG One Rewards points to 2,000 Skywards miles |
Other Ways To Earn Skywards Miles
Hotel Stays
Earning Skywards miles isn’t exclusive to flying. You can earn Skywards miles every time you spend money at partner hotels. The following hotel chains allow you to earn Skywards miles for every dollar spent at participating properties. This is in addition to any points, miles or cash-back rewards you’ll earn by paying with a travel rewards credit card.
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1 Skywards miles per dollar spent at participating Marriott properties. |
| IHG | 2 Skywards miles per dollar spent at participating IHG properties |
| World of Hyatt | 500 Skywards miles per eligible stay |
Car Rentals
Emirates Skywards miles cannot be converted from any car rental company loyalty program— however, you can earn miles when renting a car.
The Skywards miles you earn will depend on your elite status with Emirates and which agency you’re renting from. You’ll also need to use the designated link to rent a car to be eligible to earn Skywards miles.
| Avis | Earn up to 6 Skywards miles per dollar |
| Budget | Earn up to 6 Skywards miles per dollar |
| CarTrawler | Earn up to 1 Skywards mile per dollar |
| Dollar Car Rental | Earn up to 1,000 Skywards miles per eligible rental |
| Europcar | Earn up to 1,200 Skywards miles on your rental |
| Hertz | Earn up to 5 Skywards miles per dollar |
| Sixt | Earn up to 1,200 Skywards miles per eligible rental |
Shopping Portals
Using shopping portals is a way to stack offers and earn extra rewards. The Skywards Miles Mall allows you to earn Skywards miles on online purchases at participating retailers.
To earn miles with the Skywards Miles Mall, visit the website and log in with your Emirates Skywards miles information. You can use the search feature to find the store you are interested in. Then, use the provided link, which will direct you to the store. When shopping through the website, you can earn up to 120 Skywards miles for every $10 spent.
Skywards miles can take from 45 days to 120 days to post to your account.
Buying Miles
Members can purchase Skywards miles in increments of 1,000. The cost is $30 per 1,000 miles. All members can purchase up to 100,000 miles per year, and those with elite status can purchase up to 200,000 Skywards miles per year.
Points.com processes the transactions for purchasing Skywards miles. This means that you won’t earn any credit card airline spending bonuses.
Buying Skywards miles, especially at the full price of $30 per 1,000 is a poor value and should be a last resort. Generally, buying miles is only recommended if you’re short a few points and need some to top off your balance for a specific redemption.
