Emirates Skywards makes big cuts to taxes and charges on redemption flights

Emirates Skywards has, with no announcement, made large cuts to the taxes and charges it adds to redemption flights.

Emirates Skywards, as a loyalty scheme, didn’t have much going for it.  As far as I was concerned, the best thing about it was the ability to redeem miles for VIP tickets to watch Arsenal from the Emirates box which I’ve done about 10 times now – the best positioned box in the stadium – and whatever other VIP sporting events the airline was sponsoring.

If these cuts are permanent, however, it looks like I may start recommending it for actual flights too.

Note that Emirates Skywards remains a poor deal for Economy tickets due to the number of miles required.  For Business Class, however, it is now looking attractive in certain circumstances.

The pros and cons of Emirates Skywards 

Emirates isn’t in an alliance, so the number of partners (and the seats made available to them) is limited.  This HfP article looks at some of the Emirates airline partner redemption options.  More importantly, taxes and charges had gone sky high over the years.  Emirates Skywards made British Airways surcharges look exceptionally reasonable.

There were only three upsides as far as I was concerned:

On the A380, Emirates has a good business class product on an amazingly quiet and impressive aircraft (and a bar – see photo above)

Reward availability was generally excellent, which is important if you have a family of four travelling on key school holiday dates

American Express Membership Rewards transfers to Emirates Skywards are INSTANT.  If the seats are showing for redemption, you can literally move the points across and book within five minutes.  There is no risk that the seats disappear whilst you wait for a transfer.

I have done numerous Emirates business class redemptions for the reasons above.  See the photo of my son below when he was a lot smaller!  I may have got a bad deal with the taxes, but I was getting the seats I wanted on the exact dates and flights I wanted, so I was happy.

It was a bit of a last resort, however.  For the last two years, we have returned from our annual October trip to the Middle East on Etihad.  The mileage required was the same but the saving in taxes and charges was huge, especially with four travelling.  I was willing to take the risk of Amex Membership Rewards transfers not making it in time because the saving was over £800 for 4 x one-way tickets.

Emirates Skywards has cut its taxes and charges sharply

Emirates Skywards has made substantial reductions to its taxes and charges.  Unfortunately I don’t have accurate details of what they used to be, except for two examples.

Last year, I flew THE best First Class suite on the planet – the new Emirates 777-300ER First Class Suite, reviewed here.

It is the most ludicrous thing you will ever fly, with £250 bottles of wine and £790 bottles of cognac, at UK retail prices, on the menu.

I said in that review that I paid 85,000 Emirates Skywards miles + £367 for the one-way trip from Dubai to London Stansted.  Emirates is not currently letting you book First Class redemptions for some reason, but when I checked last week the equivalent ticket was around £117.

Similarly, back in 2017 I paid £344 each in taxes for four x one-way Business Class flights from Dubai to London.  Today, the same flights would cost just £91 (Dhs 430) each – a saving of £1,012 for a family of four.

What sort of taxes do Emirates Skywards flights now add?

Here are some typical redemptions from the UK:

Economy Class, Heathrow to Dubai return: 77,500 miles + £162

Business Class, Heathrow to Dubai return: 125,000 miles + £340

Here is a comparison with Avios peak-date pricing when flying British Airways:

Economy Class, Heathrow to Dubai return: 40,000 Avios + £277

Business Class, Heathrow to Dubai return: 125,000 Avios + £549

As you can see, Emirates Skywards is a poor deal for Economy tickets.  A big cut in taxes can’t disguise that.  However, for Business Class, Skywards is now substantially better value than Avios with taxes and charges being £200 lower for the same number of miles.  This is before you factor in the seat and service itself, which is substantially better than British Airways, and the better availability.

If you book Emirates from the Netherlands to avoid Air Passenger Duty, it gets even cheaper:

Economy Class, Amsterdam to Dubai return: 77,500 miles + €105

Business Class, Amsterdam to Dubai return: 125,000 miles + €195

What happens if you connect beyond Dubai?

This is where it gets less attractive, unfortunately.  Let’s look at Tokyo:

On Emirates, from the UK:

Economy Class, Heathrow to Tokyo return: 140,000 miles + £248

Business Class, Heathrow to Tokyo return: 220,000 miles + £513

Here is a comparison with Avios peak-date pricing when flying British Airways:

Economy Class, Heathrow to Tokyo return: 60,000 Avios + £373

Business Class, Heathrow to Tokyo return: 180,000 Avios + £589

Again, Economy remains terrible value even with the reduced taxes.  In Business Class, you are saving £75 in taxes vs British Airways but you need 40,000 additional miles.  You’re getting a better seat and service but you’re also changing aircraft in Dubai.  I’d probably fly British Airways given this scenario.

Milan to New York looks good

Emirates runs a ‘fifth freedom’ flight between Milan and New York.  This is an interesting way to try out the airline.

A return Business Class ticket from Milan to New York costs 125,000 miles plus €105.

This compares to 120,000 Avios plus a ludicrous £685 on British Airways although you also need to factor in the cost of getting to Milan.  There are also, of course, exceptionally low tax Avios redemptions on Iberia and Aer Lingus to New York if you are keen to keep costs down.

Conclusion

Emirates has made huge cuts to its taxes and charges, which is good news.

From a UK perspective, the sweet spot is flying in Business Class or First Class to Dubai.

Economy class redemptions remain a bad deal due to the number of miles needed, whilst connecting flights beyond Dubai tend to push up the taxes to a level where a direct British Airways flight is on a par.

Milan to New York remains a great deal for anyone who wants to try out Emirates Business Class without heading to the Middle East or beyond.

And, once services restart, if you can redeem 85,000 miles plus £117 for a one-way First Class flight from Dubai to London Stansted with the new suites, you will have the flying experience of your life.

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How to earn Emirates Skywards miles from UK credit cards (September 2024)

Emirates Skywards does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Emirates Skywards miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 15,000 Emirates Skywards miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 30,000 Emirates Skywards miles

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 7,500 Emirates Skywards miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 4:3 into Emirates Skywards miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 0.75 Emirates Skywards miles. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it, with any airline.