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British Airways Middle East Cancellation Updates
British Airways has made further changes to its Middle East schedule, with disruption now running through the current summer season, which ends on 24th October 2026.
BA has said this is due to airspace restrictions, ongoing uncertainty, and to give customers peace of mind.
The latest affected routes are:
- Dubai: Services are due to resume from 1st August with one flight per day, increasing to twice daily from 16th October.
- Doha, Tel Aviv and Riyadh: One daily flight will run from 1st August
- Amman and Bahrain: Services remain cancelled for the rest of the summer season and are currently due to restart from 25th October.
This comes after BA has permanently removed its Jeddah route and has paused its Abu Dhabi flights.
If you’re affected by this and have a booking up to and including 25th October, you’re eligible to request a refund even if your flight has not been cancelled. If you’re due to travel from 2nd June to 25th October, you can also opt to change your booking with no fee on the same route or a different BA route, but you may be charged a fare difference.
This re-booking guide goes through the airlines BA is happy to re-book you on and how the process works.
Emirates Skywards Changes: A Devaluation and an Improvement
Emirates has just increased the number of Skywards Miles needed for Upgrade awards and Classic Rewards in First, Business and Premium Economy.
Looking at the pricing, premium cabin awards appear to have increased by around 15%, though this varies slightly by route and cabin. This is not ideal, given that Emirates redemptions also incur high carrier surcharges.
Updated reward and upgrade rates may take a few days to show correctly on the Miles Calculator.
In better news, One-way Saver Classic Reward fares in Business Class are now priced at 50% of the return fare, so you no longer have to book a return trip to access Saver Business pricing. This will also make more complex itineraries simpler. However, Saver pricing is only useful if Emirates releases Saver award availability for your chosen route and dates, and even then, availability can still be limited.
Now, it’s more important than ever to check availability before transferring points into your Emirates Skywards account. If you transfer Amex Membership Rewards points, for example, you cannot reverse the transfer. You should also check the number of miles needed and any taxes and surcharges. If you’re hoping to redeem in First, remember this is now restricted to Skywards Silver and above status holders.
There are also some separate Emirates status-related benefits worth knowing about at the moment, including a 20% bonus tier miles when flying with Emirates and flydubai until 31st August 2026, plus temporary extensions for some tier reviews and for expiring Skywards Miles and Skywards+ benefits.
View the Emirates Skywards Miles Calculator here >>>
Etihad to No Longer be an American Express Transfer Partner
From 22nd June, Etihad Guest will no longer be a transfer option from Membership Rewards.
Though there will no longer be a direct points transfer option, there will still be indirect ways to use your points to book Etihad flights if you’re determined, including:
- Transfer Membership Rewards Points to Flying Blue miles at 1:1 and book Etihad redemption flights via Flying Blue. This is a better option even before the partnership ends, with some redemptions as much as 30% less in both miles and taxes than booking them directly with Etihad.
- Convert your Membership Rewards Points to Marriott Bonvoy Points at 2:3, then transfer to Etihad Guest at 3:1 with a 5,000 miles bonus for every 60,000 transferred.
- Convert your points into statement credit and use it to book Etihad flights. This is a lower value yet flexible option.
- Fully or partly pay for a cash booking through AMEX Travel. Again, this is not a good value.
There are still partnerships in place to transfer Rev Points (1:1) and HSBC Reward Points (2:1) to Etihad miles, too.
This is a slight reduction in the flexibility of Membership Rewards points. You can still move points into Avios programmes, including British Airways, Iberia, and Qatar, as well as Virgin Points, Cathay Asia Miles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, and more. There are also hotel transfer options, including the newly added Accor partnership, Hilton, Marriott and Radisson, as well as Nectar and Eurostar conversion options.
If you were planning to transfer points, make sure you do it as soon as possible, but also check there’s availability for your preferred route.
