Earning and redeeming Emirates Skywards miles is a little more complicated than with airlines that are part of an airline alliance, but there are still plenty of ways to collect and spend miles.
Skywards Miles are the currency you earn and spend on flights, upgrades, hotels, and more. You earn miles when you fly with Emirates, flydubai, or partner airlines, as well as through hotels, car hire, and shopping. You can then redeem them for flights, upgrades, or experiences, and the cycle begins again.
But what are the best ways to earn Skywards Miles, and how can you add to your balance throughout the year when you’re not flying? What are the best ways to spend miles for maximum value?
This is part 2 of our ultimate guide to the Skywards loyalty programme. You can read part 1 here.
In this post:
Skywards Miles Expiry
Miles expire at the end of your birth month in the third calendar year after they were credited. Earning more miles does not reset the clock, unlike some other schemes.
However, if you hold Platinum status or an eligible co-branded Emirates Skywards credit card (unfortunately, not currently available in the UK), your miles will not expire for as long as you hold that status or card.
There are also paid options, including extending expiring miles for 12 months up to 50,000 miles per year and reinstating expired miles within 6 months of expiry. These options are both $20 per 1,000 miles.
How to Earn Skywards Miles
There are several ways to earn miles, including flying, booking hotels, and converting credit card points. Here’s what you need to know.
Flights
You’ll earn Skywards miles by flying on Emirates or flydubai and on select codeshares based on:
- Distance flown
- Skywards status
- Cabin Class
- Fare type
You can use the Emirates Reward Calculator to check the number of miles (and tier miles) you’ll earn on your flight.
There is a major difference in the miles earned by fare type and cabin. Economy Saver earns the fewest miles, whereas Flex Plus fares, especially in Business and First, earn substantially more.
For example, here’s the number of miles you would earn for a return flight from Stansted to Dubai.
As a Skywards Blue member:
As a Skywards Gold member:
Partner Airlines
Emirates has a number of partner airlines. For most partners, you earn Skywards Miles as a percentage of miles flown, based on booking class. The exact earn rate varies by airline and fare. The exception is Air Canada, in which earnings are based on a fixed mileage chart per segment and booking class, not a per-mile percentage.
The MAXIMUM earn rate The maximum earn rate (the highest possible earning tier in eligible premium or full-fare booking classes) is:
- Aegean – 125%
- Air Mauritius – 200%
- Azul – 150%
- Bangkok Airways – 125%
- Condor -125%
- Copa Airlines -150%
- Garuda Indonesia – 200%
- GOL – 150%
- Japan Airlines – 150%
- Jetstar – 150% (varies by JQ / 3K subsidiary)
- Korean Air – 165%
- Malaysia Airlines- 150%
- Olympic Air – 125% (Economy only)
- Qantas – 150%
- South African Airways- 150%
- TAP Air Portugal – 150%
- United – 150%
Emirates also partners with easyJet, but you can only redeem miles. You can also earn and redeem miles with flyDubai (more on that below).
Always check the earn chart for your specific partner and booking class on the Emirates site before you book, particularly for discounted Economy fares where some classes earn zero miles.
Credit Cards and Bank Accounts
When earning miles with any airline loyalty programme, credit cards are usually the easiest way to earn a huge number of miles, especially when sign-up bonuses are offered.
Unfortunately, transfer rates to Emirates have been reduced for many cards (e.g., AMEX used to be 1:1).
However, because miles expire after 3 years, don’t rush to transfer your points until you have a redemption in mind. You never know if Skywards will suddenly devalue (Virgin Atlantic did this!).
AMEX Membership Rewards Cards – AMEX Platinum, Gold, Business Platinum, Business Gold and More
4 Membership Rewards Points (MR Points) can be converted into 3 Skywards miles. A minimum of 1,000 points must be transferred. You can earn Membership Rewards Points from points-earning AMEX cards, which are not branded. MR cards include the Preferred Rewards Gold Card and the American Express Platinum Card.
NatWest MyRewards and Royal Bank of Scotland MyRewards
You can convert the MyRewards cashback into Skywards miles.
- £10 MyRewards = 770 Skywards Miles
- £50 MyRewards = 3,850 Skywards Miles
- £100 MyRewards = 7,700 Skywards Miles
Log in to your MyRewards account, select Emirates Skywards under Trade Up, choose how much to convert and enter your Skywards number.
HSBC Premier World and HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard
2 HSBC Reward Points convert to 1 Skywards mile.
The requirements for this card are strict. You must hold an HSBC Premier account, which requires an annual income or savings and investments of at least £100,000. To convert, you must choose Emirates as your preferred miles partner.
AMEX Marriott Bonvoy
3 Marriott Points = 1 Skywards mile
A Note About the Emirates-Marriott Partnership
You can also link your Marriott and Emirates accounts under the Your World Rewards partnership to earn both miles and points on eligible hotel stays and Emirates flights.
Depending on your Marriott or Skywards status, you’ll also receive additional benefits when flying or staying:
- Marriott Gold Elite and Above: 3 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 spent with Emirates on top of Skywards miles.
- Marriott Platinum Elite and Above: Priority Check-In and boarding with Emirates
When staying at participating Marriott properties, Emirates status holders will receive:
- Skywards Silver and Above: 1 Skywards Mile per $1 at Marriott hotels on eligible spend
- Emirates Skywards Gold: Priority check-in at Marriott hotels, 2 PM late check-out (subject to availability) and complimentary in-room Wi-Fi.
- Emirates Skywards Platinum: 4 PM late check-out
You can link your accounts here.
Earn Skywards Miles with Stays
Stays booked via Skywards can earn miles. You can view the page here. Some of these hotels also allow you to convert your hotel points into Skywards Miles:
| Hotel Partner | Miles Earnt via the Skywards Portal | Conversion of hotel Points to Skywards Miles |
| Hyatt | 500 Miles per eligible stay | 2.5 Hyatt Points = 1 Skywards Mile (minimum 5,000 points per transfer) |
| Hilton | 10,000 Hilton Honors Points = 1,000 Skywards Miles | |
| Rotana | 500 Miles per stay | |
| Jumeirah | 1 Mile per $1 spent | 2 Jumeirah One Points = 1 Skywards Mile |
| Marriott | 3 Marriott Points per $1 spent | 3 Marriott Points = 1 Skywards mile. 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points converted. |
| IHG | 1-2 miles per $1 spent at IHG brands. | 10,000 IHG One Rewards points = 2,000 Miles |
| Atlantis The Palm, Dubai | 1 Skywards Mile per $1 spent | |
| Booking.com | 1 Skywards Mile per €1 spent | |
| Emirates Skywards Hotels | Up to 10,000 Skywards Miles per night |
Emirates Holidays
You’ll earn 1 Skywards Mile for every £1 spent on the land portion of the booking, with flight miles credited separately as usual.
Car Rental
- CarTrawler (includes brands such as Alamo and National) – Up to 1 Skywards Mile for every $1 spent
- Avis & Budget – Up to 6 Skywards Miles for every $1 spent (4 miles per $1 on your rental and an extra 2 miles per $1 when booking via the Emirates site)
- Europcar – Up to 1,200 Skywards Miles per rental
- Hertz – 5 Skywards Miles for every $1 spent
- SIXT – Up to 1,200 Skywards Miles per rental (miles for other rentals, plus 200‑mile bonus). You’ll need to add your Skywards number to your booking, and you won’t earn the car hire company’s own points if you credit the rental to Emirates.
Travel Partners
- Arabian Adventures: 1 Skywards Mile per $1 spent
- ASMALLWORLD: up to 195,000 Skywards Miles per eligible membership
- GetYour Guide: 1 Skywards Mile for every €1 spent
Skywards Miles Mall
This is one of the best ways to earn Skywards miles beyond flying. Unlike other Middle Eastern airlines (and many others), there are over 1,500 UK and international retailers you can earn miles with, rather than most places being based in the country the airline is based in.
You can also select your location to view earning rates in £.
You must click through the Miles Mall portal and pay with a linked Visa or Mastercard.
You will also earn 2,000 bonus miles on your first transaction (paid with a Visa card) until 31st March 2026.
In-store: Emirates also lets you link your card and earn when you purchase from partners in-store.
Other Shops
- The Emirates Official Store: 1 Skywards Mile for every $1 spent
- Dubai Mall: 1 Skywards Mile for every $1 spent in participating shops
- Bicester Collection: 1 Skywards Mile for every £1 spent
- Skywards Everyday (UAE app): 1 Mile per AED 3 on spend
Family Pooling
Emirates Skywards makes it easy to share miles within your household through a My Family account. You can invite up to seven additional members. Members can be close relatives or household helpers.
Each member chooses whether to contribute all or none of their future Skywards to the shared account. Only miles earned after the account is created are eligible, so any existing balances stay in individual profiles.
Miles earned from credit card transfers, financial partners or purchased miles are excluded from pooling. Only miles earned after the account is created can be pooled; existing balances stay in individual accounts.
Once miles are added to the family account, they cannot be moved back to individual members or transferred to another family group, so it’s best to set the sharing level carefully from the start.
It’s a helpful feature if your household collects miles at different rates – combining balances can help you reach reward flights or upgrades much faster.
Buy Miles
You can purchase Skywards miles via Points.com. This should only really be done if you’re short on miles for a specific upgrade. You can purchase miles for $30 per 1,000 miles, and you can buy 100,000 miles per year as a Blue or Silver member and up to 200,000 miles as a Gold or above member.
Purchased miles post instantly to your account, but they can’t be added to a My Family pool, so they remain linked to the member who bought them.
Boost Miles
If you’ve recently earned miles from flights or partner activity, you can “multiply” them double, triple or even quadruple existing miles at a rate of $20 per 1,000. You can boost up to 50,000 miles per year, and like purchased miles, they can’t be added to a pooled family account.
How to Redeem Skywards Miles
Emirates Flights
Emirates has not published a full reward chart, but the Miles Calculator Tool makes it easy to see the cost of your redemption.
Unfortunately, it does not show availability. To redeem your miles in First, you must hold Skywards Silver status or above!
Redeeming with Emirates can be frustrating. If you find a price on the Miles Calculator, you then need to try to find a seat at that price. Make sure you check availability before transferring points.
Saver vs Flex vs Flex Plus
When booking Classic Rewards, Emirates offers two main options, each with very different rules and flexibility.
- Saver awards use the lowest mileage and are often the first to disappear. They can only be booked as return trips in Economy and Business (excluding Australia and New Zealand), include a maximum three-month stay, and allow one stopover. Date changes cost US$25, and refunds for unused tickets are US$75.
- Flex Plus awards cost more miles but are far more flexible. You can book one-way or return in any cabin, stay for up to one year, and include two stopovers. Date changes are free, and unused tickets can be refunded at no cost.
On most routes, Saver space sells out quickly, so Flex Plus is usually the best option if you want premium cabins or need more booking flexibility.
Flydubai
You can earn and spend Skywards miles and earn Tier Miles with flydubai (more on this in part 1 – Emirates Skywards Loyalty Programme Guide).
Yes, it’s a partner airline, but it’s more like an extension of Emirates within the Skywards programme. You earn Skywards Miles and Tier Miles on flydubai flights, and you can redeem miles for both Saver and Flex rewards.
Earnings are based on distance, cabin, and fare brand (Lite, Value, Flex, and Business). The structure mirrors Emirates, but the exact mileage rates are not identical. Reward pricing is also separate, so flydubai redemptions on the same route may require a different number of miles for Emirates flights.
You can view the redemption cost using the Miles Calculator Tool.
Emirates Partner Redemptions
Most partner airlines use a fixed distance‑based award chart. Pricing is per one-way flight and per sector. One‑way awards cost between 7,500 and 60,000 miles in Economy, 16,000 and 145,000 miles in Business, and 24,000 and 220,000 miles in First Class on Qantas. This chart is the same for nearly every partner.
Because these charts are distance-based, they can be a great value on long, non-stop flights (e.g. Europe to Asia) and a poor value on multi-segment itineraries.
Most of Emirates’ partner airlines have the same redemption chart. These include:
Aegean, Air Mauritius, Azul, Bangkok Airways, Condor, Copa, Garuda Indonesia, GOL, Japan Airlines, Jetstar, Korean Air, Malaysia Airlines, Olympic (Economy only), Qantas (the only airline that allows First), TAP Air Portugal and United:
| Zone | One-Way Distance in Miles | Economy | Business | First Class QANTAS ONLY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0–250 | 8,000 | 17,500 | 27,500 |
| 2 | 251–500 | 8,000 | 25,000 | 35,000 |
| 3 | 501–1,000 | 12,000 | 35,000 | 50,000 |
| 4 | 1,001–2,000 | 18,000 | 50,000 | 72,500 |
| 5 | 2,001–3,000 | 22,000 | 65,000 | 95,000 |
| 6 | 3,001–4,000 | 26,000 | 77,500 | 115,000 |
| 7 | 4,001–5,000 | 32,000 | 92,500 | 135,000 |
| 8 | 5,001–6,000 | 38,000 | 105,000 | 160,000 |
| 9 | 6,001–7,000 | 44,000 | 125,000 | 190,000 |
| 10 | 7,001–15,000 | 54,000 | 145,000 | 220,000 |
Some partners, such as Air Canada and South African Airways, have slightly different charts:
Air Canada:
| Zone | One Way Distance in Miles | Economy | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0–250 | 8,000 | 16,000 |
| 2 | 251–500 | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| 3 | 501–1,000 | 14,000 | 28,000 |
| 4 | 1,001–2,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 |
| 5 | 2,001–3,000 | 26,000 | 52,000 |
| 6 | 3,001–4,000 | 32,000 | 64,000 |
| 7 | 4,001–5,000 | 38,000 | 76,000 |
| 8 | 5,001–6,000 | 44,000 | 88,000 |
| 9 | 6,001–7,000 | 52,000 | 104,000 |
| 10 | 7,001–15,000 | 60,000 | 120,000 |
South African:
| Zone | One-Way | Economy | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0–250 | 8,000 | 17,500 |
| 2 | 251–500 | 10,000 | 25,000 |
| 3 | 501–1,000 | 14,000 | 35,000 |
| 4 | 1,001–2,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 |
| 5 | 2,001–3,000 | 26,000 | 65,000 |
| 6 | 3,001–4,000 | 32,000 | 77,500 |
| 7 | 4,001–5,000 | 38,000 | 92,500 |
| 8 | 5,001–6,000 | 44,000 | 105,000 |
| 9 | 6,001–7,000 | 50,000 | 125,000 |
| 10 | 7,001–15,000 | 60,000 | 145,000 |
easyJet:
Interestingly, you can spend your Emirates Skywards Miles on easyJet flights (including taxes, charges and airport fees) as well as optional extras such as sports equipment and baggage.
Redemptions for easyJet flights start from 7,500 Miles for a one-way trip and vary depending on the distance flown and the booking date.
easyJet redemption costs are dynamic and based on flight demand. Value is usually poor.
Cash + Miles
Emirates and flydubai allow part-cash, part-Miles tickets, but you earn miles and Tier Miles only on the cash portion. Once you pick your cash/miles mix, you cannot change it.
If you’re short on miles, the Miles + Cash option can be useful, but again, the value is not great.
Upgrades
You can use Skywards Miles to upgrade Emirates-operated flights by one cabin class (e.g. Premium Economy to Business). Upgrades start at 7,020 miles. The best value usually comes from upgrading from Business to First, especially on long-haul flights, given how expensive outright First redemptions have become.
Pricing is dynamic and depends on route, fare class and availability. You can view upgrade pricing in the Miles Calculator Tool.
The rules regarding upgrades are a bit fiddly:
- Flex / Flex Plus Economy and Business: can be upgraded online up to 6 hours before departure.
- Economy Saver: can only be upgraded at online check-in, at the airport, or occasionally on board.
- Business Saver: must be upgraded at least 6 hours before departure.
Hotels
You can redeem Skywards Miles for hotel stays in several ways:
- Emirates Skywards Hotels: Powered by a portal. Redemptions start at 5,000 Skywards Miles, with cash-and-miles options also available.
- Marriott Bonvoy: 3 Skywards Miles = 2 Bonvoy points
- Accor: 4,000 Skywards Miles = 1,000 ALL points
- Jumeriah One: 1 point = 2 Miles
Conversions to hotel points are rarely a good value and should only be done if there’s a fantastic offer, your miles are expiring, or you wouldn’t otherwise use them.
Emirates Holidays
Skywards Miles can be redeemed against the cash cost of your Emirates Holidays package. A minimum of 5,000 Miles is required for redemption. Again, not always the highest value per mile, but it’s useful if you prefer packages.
Exclusive Experiences
Emirates runs a ‘Skywards Exclusives’ platform where you can bid on or redeem miles for:
- VIP sports hospitality (including F1 and football)
- Concerts and cultural events
- Special Emirates experiences
These can often be good value, especially during less-popular fixtures or for money-can’t-easily-buy experiences.
SkySurfers (Children 2–17)
Skysurfers’ Miles don’t expire for as long as they’re Skysurfers (aged 2–17). Once they turn 18, any Miles already in their Skysurfers account will expire at the end of the month in which they turn 21, and Miles earned after 18 follow the usual 3-year expiry rules. Kids can redeem, but under-9s can’t book First Class rewards.
Kids can earn Silver/Gold status, but not Platinum.
Skywards +
Skywards+ is the paid add-on to the Skywards loyalty programme. The main benefit is a 20% discount on redemptions. However, you need to be taking a lot of flights with Emirates to make this worth it or have a large miles balance ready to use.
Skywards+ is only worth it if you already have a large Skywards balance you will redeem soon, and can clearly benefit from the 20% discount and bonus miles.
Final Words: Earning and Redeeming Skywards Miles
Emirates has aspirational First redemptions, flexible earn options and range of partner benefits, particularly the Your World Rewards partnership with Marriott.
Despite not having a branded UK credit card, there’s still a range of options to collect Skywards Miles, such as converting AMEX Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy Points.
Day-to-day earning potential is better than that of many other Middle Eastern airlines, and there are a surprising number of UK-based partner options. On the redemption side, the real Emirates Business and First Saver awards are the best value (if you can get them) upgrades from Business to First, and well-priced partner redemptions thanks to the fixed-distance-based charts.
However, Saver award availability runs out quickly. First rewards now require Silver status or above, and Skywards Miles operate on a strict 3-year expiry unless you hold Platinum status.
Overall, Emirates Skywards is one of the more compelling non-alliance programmes.
Other earning and spending miles guides:
Is there another airline loyalty programme you’d like us to break down next? Let me know in the comments:
