Emirates Skywards is the frequent flyer loyalty program of Emirates Airways. It is one of the best Airlines in the world, with a 5-star rating from Skytrax. Interestingly, Emirates carries the largest number of International Passengers from India. It is well-connected to 9 Indian Cities. Even its subsidiary Fly Dubai also travels to 9 Indian cities. Emirates also travels to more than 140 destinations worldwide and can be a connecting flight with a layover in Dubai. So there are multiple opportunities to use Emirates or Fly Dubai that puts Emirates Skywards in the perfect slot. Here is your ultimate guide to Emirates Skywards Frequent Flyer Program.
Sign-up
You can sign-up for Emirates Skywards as it is a free-to-join Loyalty Program. Visit here and sign-up. Then you’re good to go. While signing up, you will be asked whether you’re interested in receiving offers from Emirates, Fly Dubai, or both. Ideally, you should sign-up for both, as there can be juicy offers.
Emirates Skywards Elite Tiers: Eligibility
As you join, you become an Emirates Skywards Blue member. But as you earn Tier miles or spend on your card, you reach Emirates Skywards Elite Tiers.
Emirates Skywards have 4 Tiers:
- Blue
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum
Eligibility Requirement
Every Tier except Blue has an eligibility requirement. This is how you achieve an Emirates Skywards Elite Tier:
- Silver Tier: Earn 25000 Tier Miles or Take 25 Flights
- Gold Tier: Earn 50000 Tier Miles or Take 50 Flights
- Platinum Tier: Earn 1,50,000 Tier Miles and Take at least one Business or First Class Flight
Once you reach a Tier, you retain that for 14 months. That’s better than other International Airlines, as the Industry standard is usually 12 months.
How to earn Tier Miles?
Usually, airlines publish their Tier earning miles chart. But in the case of Emirates, it is not available. So, you must rely on Emirates Miles Calculator to Know how many Tier miles you can earn.
For Example, I checked how many Tier miles will I earn if I traveled to London with Emirates from Delhi. And the results were not encouraging.
So, to earn tier miles, you would need to take a lot of flights. You may reach the required tier flights before reaching the Tier miles.
You can also get an Emirates Co-Branded Credit Card with ICICI Bank to earn either Silver Status or Gold Status without flying.
Emirates Skywards Elite Tiers: Benefits
Every emirate Skywards Elite Tiers have benefits. Even the Blue Tier has no eligibility requirement and has few substantial benefits.
Blue Tier Benefits
A Member of Blue Tier has the following benefits:
- Waitlist Priority (Over Non-Members)
- Buy Upgrades at the time of Check-in
- Paid Lounge Access to Business Class or First Class For Self and Guest
- Free Text Messaging Data on Flights
- Free Wi-Fi while travelling in Business Class or First Class
Silver Tier Benefits
As a Silver Tier member, you get the following benefits:
- Complimentary Seat Selection in Economy Class
- 12KG Excess Baggage Allowance
- 30% Bonus Skywards Miles (When Flying Emirates)
- 25% Bonus Skywards Miles (When Flying FlyDubai)
- Priority Check-in
- Check-in at Business Class Counters When Flying FlyDubai
- Complimentary Lounge Access at Emirates Business Class Lounge in Dubai
- Earn Skywards Miles on Stays at Marriott Along with Marriott Bonvoy Points
- Waitlist Priority (Over Non-Members)
- Buy Upgrades at the time of Check-in
- Paid Lounge Access to First Class For Self and Guest
- Free Text Messaging Data on Flights
- Free Wi-Fi while travelling in Business Class or First Class
Gold Elite Tier Benefits
As an Emirates Skywards Gold Elite Tier, you can get the following benefits:
- Complimentary Preferred Seats
- Extra 16KG Baggage Allowance
- 1 Additional Check-in Baggage with a Limit of 23 KG for Flights to/From America or Africa
- 75% Extra Skywards Miles When Flying Emirates
- 50% Extra Miles When Flying FlyDubai
- Guaranteed seat in Economy Class at a Ticket Price (Before 48 Hours)
- Check-in at Business Class Counters
- Check-in at Business Class Counters When Flying FlyDubai
- Emirates Business Class Lounge Access for Self and Guest (When Flying Emirates)
- Fly Dubai Business Class Lounge Access when Flying FlyDubai
- Paid Access to First Class Lounge Access
- Priority baggage delivery
- Waitlist Priority (Over Non-Members)
- Free Text Messaging Data on Flights
- Free Wi-Fi while travelling in Business Class or First Class
Platinum Elite Tier Benefits
Emirates Skywards Platinum Elite is the highest tier that has the following benefits:
- Complimentary Seat Selection Across All Seat Types
- Complimentary Seat Selection Across All Seat Types (Except Extra Legroom) For Accompanying Guest
- 20 KG Extra Baggage Allowance Except in America & Africa
- Minimum 23KG Extra Baggage from or to American & African flights
- 100% Bonus Miles when flying the Emirates
- 75% Bonus Miles When Flying FlyDubai
- Guaranteed seats on all flights
- Gift Emirates Gold to one Partner
- No Expiry of Skywards Miles (In Reality, Until you remain Platinum or as per expiry policy)
- Check-in at the First Class counters
- Check-in at Business Class Counters when flying FlyDubai
- Complimentary Lounge Access for self, one adult guest and two guests under the age of 17
- Business Class Lounge Access for self When Flying FlyDubai
- Free Wi-Fi, irrespective of Cabin Class
- Priority Baggage Delivery with First Class Customers
Get Emirates Skywards Elite Tier in India
Emirates has three co-branded credit cards in India issued by ICICI Bank. Two of these cards can get you Silver Tier. Here are the cards and Elite Tier you get:
| Card | Annual Fees | Elite Tier | 2nd Year Onwards |
| Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Emerald Credit Card | INR 10000 | Silver (Till Card is Active) | Spend INR 15 Lac Including INR 50K on emirates in 1st Year and Upgrade to Gold |
| Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Sapphiro Credit Card | INR 5000 | Silver | Spend INR 5 Lac in the previous year and retain Silver |
| Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Rubyx Credit Card | INR 1000 | Blue | Blue |
Related: How to earn an Airline Elite Status in India?
Emirates Lounge Access
If you are an Emirates Skywards member, even if you’re travelling in economy class, you can access Emirates Lounge on a paid basis at Dubai Airport or other Airports while flying Emirates.
For paid lounge access, you can stay in a lounge for a maximum of 4 hours. Anything above will be charged again for 4 hours.
This is how much you pay to access Emirates Lounge at Dubai Airport:
| Tier/Class of Travel | Business Class | First Class |
| Blue | $125 | $250 |
| Silver | Complimentary | $125* (Upgrade) |
| Gold | Complimentary | $125* (Upgrade) |
| Platinum | Complimentary | Complimentary |
| Economy Class and Business Class Special | $150 | $300 |
| Business Class Saver, Flex and Flex Plus | Complimentary | $150* (Upgrade) |
| First Class | NA | Complimentary |
If you are travelling from other airports on Emirates, then this is how much you pay for lounge access:
| Tier/ Class of Travel | Access |
| Blue | $100 |
| Silver | $100 |
| Gold | Complimentary |
| Platinum | Complimentary |
| Economy Class and Business Class Special | $130 |
| Business Class Saver, Flex and Flex Plus | Complimentary |
| First Class | Complimentary |
Also, taxes based on Airport can be lived additionally. For Example, 18% GST can be lived in India.
Chauffeur-driven Car
Travelling in Business Class or First Class on Emirates makes you eligible for a Chauffeur-driven car. But there are limitations on the number of free kilometres or miles. However, a sufficient number of free distances is offered by the emirates.
For Example, for flights from Delhi Airport, you get 80 km free distance after that, fees of INR 120 per KM are charged, which is reasonable for luxury cars.
You can check here how many Kilo Meters or Miles you get free. Also, it is a complimentary service from the Emirates, but you should make a booking for a Chauffeur-Driven Car.
Chauffeur-driven Car is not eligible for Business Class and First Class reward seats. Also, it is not eligible for upgrades from Economy to Business Class. But in the case of Etihad Gold & Platinum, members are eligible for Business Class or First Class Reward Seats.
How to earn Emirates Skywards Miles?
There are multiple opportunities to earn Skywards Miles in India. The easiest way would be travelling with Emirates or FlyDubai and owing a Co-Branded Credit Card. Here are ways to earn Skywards Miles are:
- Fly with Emirates and FlyDubai
- Reach an Elite Tier to earn Bonus Points
- Fly with Airline Partners such as Bangkok Airways, among others.
- On Spends with Emirates Skywards ICICI Bank Credit Cards
- Spends on Car Partners
- Book Hotel Stay with Emirates Skywards Hotels
- Earn Both Points & Miles at Marriott Stays
- Convert Points of:
- American Express Reward Points
- Accor Hotel Points
- Marriott Hotel Points
- Hilton Points
- IHG Points
- World of Hyatt Points
Spending Emirates Skywards Miles
Even though Emirates is not part of any Alliance, it has several Airline Partners. So, you can spend your Emirates, and Skywards Miles, with these Airline Partners.
You can spend your Emirates Skywards Miles for:
- Booking an Emirates
- Booking with Airline Partners
- For Upgrades of Cabin Class
- Use for Skywards Exclusives
Recently, Emirates has increased its miles requirement for flights. For Example, from Delhi to London in an economy class on the emirates needs 47500 miles.
This is high as there are multiple airlines you can travel for fewer miles. So, finding sweet spots in the emirates may take time. Also, Emirates do not publish award chart for their flights, making it difficult to find sweet spots.
But Emirates has many partner airlines with which you can spend your Skywards Miles. Although finding reward seats may be an issue, some good spending options exist.
Emirates Skywards Miles Expiry
All members’ Skywards Miles except Emirates Platinum member miles expire after three years at the end of the member’s birthday month. For Example, you earned a Skyward Miles in Aug’2020, and your birthday in December. Then usually, your expiry should be in Aug’2023, but since you will celebrate your birthday in Dec’2023, your miles will expire on 31st Dec’2023. That means skywards miles have minimum expiry of 3 years and can stretch to a maximum of another 11 months based on the month in which miles were earned and your birthday.
For a Platinum Member, there is no Expiry of Skywards Miles. But once you don’t remain a Platinum member, your miles will expire after the end of 2nd month. For Example, if you don’t remain a Platinum member in Mar’2023, your miles will expire in May’2023 for miles that have already expired if you were a Blue, Silver or Gold member.
Bottomline
Emirates Skywards is a decent frequent flyer program from Emirates. Earning its Elite tier with credit cards in India is also easy. But Miles’s redemption requirement is high. So finding sweet spots can be difficult. Also, you can spend miles with Airline partners where you can find some sweet spots.
