Emirates offers one of my favorite first class experiences in the world. I consider Emirates’ new 777 first class to be among the world’s best first class products, while I love Emirates’ A380 first class for the shower suite and onboard bar.
Fortunately you don’t have to spend $10,000+ per ticket to fly Emirates first class, as it’s possible to redeem rewards points for travel in these luxurious cabins. However, there are some restrictions compared to the past (like needing to have Skywards elite status in order to redeem for first class through the program, and transferable points largely no longer moving to Emirates at a 1:1 ratio).
So in this post, I’d like to cover the basics of redeeming miles for Emirates first class, and how to actually secure award space. While I wouldn’t say that Emirates first class award availability is great, it’s definitely a realistic redemption, if you put in the effort. It’ll cost you, though.
In this post:
Redeeming Skywards miles for Emirates first class
The easiest way to redeem miles for Emirates first class is through the Emirates Skywards program. Savvy points collectors know to take advantage of loyalty program arbitrage opportunities, so that the airline they want to fly and the airline program they redeem through often aren’t the same.
However, over the years Emirates has greatly restricted partner first class award space, with these kinds of restrictions being a bigger industry trend. So let me first talk about the reality of redeeming Skywards miles for first class, and then I’ll also talk about redeeming some partner points currencies, for the limited options that exist.
What elite status do you need for Emirates first class awards?
The biggest restriction to be aware of nowadays with booking Emirates first class awards through the Skywards program is that you need elite status in the program in order to redeem for first class. Any Skywards elite tier — Silver, Gold, or Platinum — makes one eligible.
If you have elite status, you can redeem your miles for first class. It doesn’t matter who the traveler is, as long as the miles come out of an elite member’s account. The good news is that earning Skywards elite status is quite easy, at least for those in the United States with access to credit cards — Emirates’ co-branded Barclays cards offer elite status, and that typically posts immediately upon account approval.
Note that the elite status requirement doesn’t apply if you’re trying to upgrade to first class, or if you’re booking through a partner program (more on those points below).
While not related to elite status, there’s one other restriction worth being aware of — Emirates restricts first class awards to children nine years of age and older. So if you have a child that is eight years or under, you can’t redeem miles for them to fly Emirates first class (though you can pay cash).
How many miles do you need for Emirates first class awards?
Emirates doesn’t have an award chart, but rather has an award mileage calculator. Just follow the link and select your origin and destination, and whether you want to travel one-way or roundtrip, and you’ll be shown the award cost. The cost is consistent in a given market, and you can expect that the pricing is broadly distance based.
Emirates Skywards consistently charges half as much for one-way first class awards as for roundtrips, so there’s not really an advantage to booking a roundtrip. To give you a general sense of first class award pricing:
- A one-way award from Miami to Bogota will cost you 60,500 Skywards miles
- A one-way award from New York to Milan or Newark to Athens will cost you 102,000 Skywards miles
- A one-way award from Washington to Dubai will cost you 163,500 miles
- A one-way award from Los Angeles to Dubai to Male will cost you 186,000 miles
As you can see, the value here differs quite a bit. In general redeeming for first class on fifth freedom flights between the United States and Europe is a real sweet spot of the program, both since the airline operates in markets that are popular with Americans, and also given that the redemption rates are reasonable.
Are there fuel surcharges on Emirates awards?
When redeeming miles, Emirates Skywards does pass on whatever carrier imposed surcharges (often referred to as fuel surcharges) would be charged on a revenue ticket. These do change over time, and have definitely increased considerably over the years.
Between the United States and Dubai (and beyond) in first class, you can expect to pay $800+ per person one-way. Meanwhile between the United States and Europe in first class, you can expect to pay $400+ per person one-way. These are steep, but then again, given Emirates’ first class wine selection, you can easily drink the cost of your surcharges. 😉 
Does Emirates allow stopovers on award tickets?
Emirates Skywards does allow stopovers on one-way first class awards without requiring any additional miles. However, if you want a stopover on a one-way award, you do need to book by phone. Fortunately Skywards agents are pretty well trained in booking these kinds of itineraries.
Note that you can even modify a booking after initial ticketing to add a stopover. In other words, if you book a New York to Dubai award, you could later (before departure) add a Dubai to Male segment and just pay the difference in miles and fees.
I think this is a great aspect of the program, since Dubai makes a great stopover. Not only is it a way to break up a very long journey, but it’s a fun destination in and of itself.
What are the change fees on Emirates first class awards?
All Emirates first class award tickets book into the Flex Plus fare bundle. What this means is that you can change and cancel award tickets at no cost, giving you a lot of flexibility. If you need to cancel an award, you’ll be refunded both the Skywards miles and any taxes, fees, and carrier imposed surcharges.
How do you earn Emirates Skywards miles?
Emirates Skywards is transfer partners with most major transferable points currencies, including Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou. The catch is that the transfer ratio for most of these programs is no longer 1:1.
Clearly Emirates is trying to better monetize its loyalty program and awards, and is demanding more money from credit card partners. So in recent times, we’ve seen the transfer ratios from most partners go from 1:1 to either 5:4 or 4:3.
There is one quirk to be aware of if booking an award through Emirates’ website. In order to redeem miles through emirates.com, you’ll need more than enough miles for your award ticket, or else you’ll get an error message about having insufficient miles. If you encounter this issue, simply use the Emirates app, and then having exactly the right number of miles will work. This is worth being aware of for those transferring points from a partner.
How do you search Emirates first class award availability?
You can search Emirates first class award availability directly on emirates.com. Just select the “Classic rewards” box, and then you can search by route and date. There’s even a flexible date option, so that you can search one week at a time (three days before and three days after your desired travel date).
The website seats.aero can also be useful for finding Emirates award space, as it has an Emirates award availability tool. This is done by scanning Emirates award space, and then you can see what’s available by date and route across Emirates’ network. The catch is that since Emirates added a status requirement for first class awards, you won’t find first class availability there anymore.
I really do wish that Emirates’ website would let you search more than a week of availability at a time, as the process of finding first class award space can be cumbersome.
How many Emirates first class award seats are there?
The above covers the basics of the logistic of redeeming miles for Emirates first class, but how do you actually find award availability? Unfortunately finding availability is the hardest part of this whole exercise, so let me share some tips and observations:
- Emirates is inconsistent about making award seats available; Emirates doesn’t open a certain number of first class award seats per flight, so there’s a lot of variability
- On some routes Emirates may open one or two first class award seats when the schedule opens, while on other routes Emirates may not; and that also varies over time, as Emirates sometimes opens award seats in spurts
- Availability varies based on how many first class seats are in the cabin, and that depends on which plane you’re flying — Emirates’ A380s have 14 first class seats, so are much more likely to have first awards in advance, while Emirates’ 777s have either six or eight first class seats, so it can be harder to find award availability in advance
Nowadays I’m finding that Emirates has the best first class award availability closer to departure. We’re not just talking in the days leading up to the flight, but even in the weeks leading up to departure.
For example, looking at a few weeks from now, I see availability almost every day between Washington Dulles (IAD) and Dubai (DXB).
Similarly, between Newark (EWR) and Athens (ATH), I also see very good availability, and I tend to think this is a great redemption option.
In general your best odds for snagging an Emirates first class award is to book either as soon as the schedule opens, or closer to departure, with the latter generally having (by far) the best availability. While I realize booking last minute doesn’t necessarily work for everyone’s schedule, that’s what I usually do. How do you book an Emirates first class award closer to the departure date?
- You’ll want to find a flight with a lot of unsold first class seats; depending on the market or time of year, that’s not necessarily that tough, since many Emirates first class cabins aren’t very booked leading up to departure
- You can get a sense of how full a flight is in first class by looking at the seat map (which isn’t always an accurate indicator) and by seeing how many seats are still for sale (though you can often only search four seats at a time)
- Unfortunately there’s not much consistency beyond that — sometimes Emirates opens first class award seats a couple of months before departure, while other times it’s a couple of days before departure; the emptier the cabin and closer to departure, the better the odds of finding award seats
- Unlike with redeeming miles for Lufthansa first class, Emirates doesn’t release nearly all first class seats as awards as the departure date approaches; with Emirates half the cabin could be empty, and the airline still may not choose to release award seats
Generally speaking my expectation is that award space will only open up when the cabin is largely empty. The good news is that this happens more often than you might assume. Just to give an example of my last four Emirates first class redemptions (in each case I found two first class award seats within a couple of weeks of departure):
- I got two award seats in Emirates’ new 777 first class (which features just six seats) from Washington to Dubai, as the cabin was completely empty
- I got two award seats in Emirates’ old 777 first class (which features eight seats) from Dubai to Male, as the cabin was completely empty
- I got two award seats in Emirates’ A380 first class (which features 14 seats) from New York to Milan, as only three of the 14 seats were occupied
- I got two award seats in Emirates’ A380 first class (which features 14 seats) from Johannesburg to Dubai to Houston, even though the cabins were roughly half full at the time of booking
Like I said, it might sound unlikely to see cabins this empty, but you might be surprised, especially for midweek travel, etc. If I feel fairly confident that award space will open up on a particular route, I just keep checking back once or twice a day, in hopes of getting lucky.
Tip: Upgrade to Emirates first class instead
There is one other trick to snagging a seat in Emirates first class using miles, which gets you access to much better availability, and also doesn’t require Skywards elite status. Long story short, Emirates lets you upgrade business class tickets to first class using miles on the day of departure with last seat availability:
- Even award tickets qualify, meaning you could book a business class award (business class awards are usually much easier to find), and then use miles to upgrade to first class, in the same way you’d upgrade a revenue business class ticket
- While you can absolutely waitlist this upgrade in advance, expect that it generally won’t clear in advance
- What’s different is that on the day of departure you get last seat availability with no real capacity controls for these upgrades, letting you secure seats that you couldn’t otherwise get with miles
This can be done either at the airport or even onboard, though there are two major catches:
- While this is the policy, not all airport agents are well trained in how this works, and that’s especially true at outstations with contract agents
- While there are no official capacity controls, the one limitation is that if limited meals have been catered for passengers, an upgrade may be rejected on those grounds
So this isn’t perfect, but in general this is the best way to snag an Emirates first class seat on a flight that doesn’t have first class award availability.
Redeeming partner airline points for Emirates first class
Emirates first class awards aren’t available through most partner frequent flyer programs, with two exceptions — Air Canada Aeroplan and Qantas Frequent Flyer have access to some Emirates first class award space.
The benefit is that if you book through either of those programs, you don’t need Skywards elite status to redeem for first class, and you can also potentially transfer over points from other currencies at a 1:1 ratio.
However, the catch is that the programs have access to greatly restricted first class award availability, and also largely have uncompetitive pricing. For example, searching the above two Emirates first class routes through Aeroplan. You’ll find that first class from Newark to Athens costs 310,500 points, while first class from Washington to Dubai costs 676,100 points. While there are no carrier imposed surcharges… still, OUCH!
Qantas Frequent Flyer in theory has better pricing, though the catch is that I find Emirates first class availability through the program to be really, really poor.
Bottom line
On balance, Emirates offers an incredible first class product, and the airline also has the largest international first class footprint of any airline in the world. The best way to redeem for Emirates first class is typically directly through the Skywards program.
The good news is that Skywards is transfer partners with most major transferable points currencies, though the bad news is that transfer ratios aren’t typically 1:1. Furthermore, nowadays you need Skywards elite status to outright redeem for Emirates first class through Skywards (though upgrading from business class to first class doesn’t require status).
While Emirates isn’t terribly consistent with making award seats available, with some persistence, patience, and flexibility, this is an experience that’s very attainable. In particular, I’m finding that nowadays availability is best in the weeks leading up to departure.
If you’ve redeemed miles for Emirates first class, what was your experience like?
Wasn't there some new policy that came out recently about change/cancellation issues with emirates award tickets. Am I misremembering that?
Hi Ben, Hope you can assist. When I search first class using the +/-3 day feature I receive this error message "Sorry, we were unable to retrieve prices for your search. Please try again or get in touch with us(Opens page in a new tab) for help". I've changed browsers, cleared cookies/cache and just can't seem to figure out how to eliminate the error. Is anyone else having this issue? THanks, John
@Lucky - Have never been able to find a clear answer to this online: if you use miles to upgrade an existing business class award to first class at the airport or on the plane is the cost at that point only the additional differential in miles or are you also charged any addt’l cash differential for fuel surcharges that you would have incurred for a first class vs. business class award at the original time of booking?
@ BD -- There are no additional surcharges. That's because the fuel surcharges in first and business class are typically the same.
If CapitalOne is still a 1:1 transfer partner, and I know I want to redeem miles in F this year or next, should I just go ahead and transfer them now before C1 also devalues EK transfers?
@ aeroandquiver -- Assuming you're fairly sure you're going to make that redemption (and have studied availability), then yes, I'd make the transfer before the ratio changes.
Ive also had success buying economy tickets and upgrading twice. Actually a much cheaper option if you can get a cheap economy ticket.
@ Mick -- Upgrading from economy to business and then from business to first? I don't believe that should be allowed, so is there some trick I'm missing? :-)
Still don't understand why anyone would redeem 200k+ miles +$1000 in taxes for EK F experience when there's 10 other much cheaper/better options. The only good thing about EK vs competitors is slightly more expensive wine. Just buy your own bottle of P2 or Opus One and you'll still come out way ahead.
@ Omar -- I'm curious which options you consider to be materially better and more reasonably priced? I'm not saying there aren't any, but in general, first class award space isn't exactly easy to come by nowadays.
Singapore First (98k)
Etihad apartment (65-100k)
ANA the room
AF La premiere (If you have status).
All equally of more impressive and with less than $1000 in fees.
@ Maxwell Azaria -- I'm not arguing there aren't any other first class redemptions. But my point is that it's not like many are as readily available as Emirates, to as many destinations.
Sure, for those of us who specifically seek out products and are super flexible, that's useful. But for most people, flying the ANA A380 on the few days it's available from NRT-HNL is of limited use.
Air France La Premiere? That...
@ Maxwell Azaria -- I'm not arguing there aren't any other first class redemptions. But my point is that it's not like many are as readily available as Emirates, to as many destinations.
Sure, for those of us who specifically seek out products and are super flexible, that's useful. But for most people, flying the ANA A380 on the few days it's available from NRT-HNL is of limited use.
Air France La Premiere? That costs a minimum of 350K miles across the Atlantic. ANA The Room? There are a total of six seats currently available for the entire year. Etihad Apartments? YYZ-AUH actually costs more miles than with Emirates, if booking through Etihad Guest (and AA has access to virtually no space). Singapore first class? Is there a route out of the US where you'll consistently find first class available at any sort of a reasonable price?
NH, JL, AA, BA, LH, SQ, QF, TG, EY, QR are all attainable to varying degrees, and I've flown all of them in the last 24 months (some multiple times). By your own valuation you're paying like $4-5k for a one-way on EK; you're better off just buying a ticket in many cases.
@ Omar -- I completely agree with you that award pricing has become so high that in many cases you can get a better deal by paying cash, if positioning yourself strategically.
But as I mentioned in my response to Maxwell, there just aren't many other airlines that release a good amount of first class award space, to the point that it's widely useful to a lot of people.
I was able to snag a First class award (DXB-SEA) using Qantas points a few months ago (a trip I'll be taking next month). It's the old 777 product, and it cost me a bunch of AMEX points (thankfully before the devaluation), but I'll be happy to get to try it once.
The catch with upgrading from biz to first at the last minute is that you have to have the miles available and ready to redeem in your Skywards account, or initiate a transfer that processes immediately (usually the case, but not always). So if for someone reason the upgrade doesn't clear or isn't available, those miles are 'stuck' in your Skywards account. That's not great if your Emirates redemptions are infrequent, and also has an...
The catch with upgrading from biz to first at the last minute is that you have to have the miles available and ready to redeem in your Skywards account, or initiate a transfer that processes immediately (usually the case, but not always). So if for someone reason the upgrade doesn't clear or isn't available, those miles are 'stuck' in your Skywards account. That's not great if your Emirates redemptions are infrequent, and also has an opportunity cost because the points transferred could have been used somewhere else.
Another option, although in my experience it is not at all attractively priced, is to upgrade at the airport using cash. This is available on biz redemptions, but only at the airport, not prior. Last month I flew EWR-ATH on a biz redemption (booked before the increase in the surcharges, so 174,000 miles R/T and $244 in fees) and asked at EWR how much a cash upgrade would cost. Answer: USD 2,600 O/W. Not worth it to me, but was good to confirm that the option does exist.
@ Drew -- I've had luck just having the Amex transfer page up while I check-in and inquire about an upgrade with miles, and then making the transfer on the spot.
NH, JL, LH, QR, SQ (and more recently QF is making an appearance), TG on some regional routes are all relatively attainable for reasonable prices. 10 is a bit of an exaggeration but not by much.
Any suggestions for someone in the UK getting and keeping Emirates status. I have BA Gold Guest List, but they don't appear to have a good status match programme and in the UK we have no credit card opportunity. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
If you're GGL I would be surprised if the easiest way wouldn't be to just travel on Emirates for a couple of flights instead of sticking to OW/BA. Heading to the US it might be worthwhile positioning in Milan or Athens while eastbound is even easier (as you just fly out of LHR).
Thanks!
I'd recommend EK (and other airlines) adopt the following regarding access to F award inventory. It rewards those with tier status but does not completely foreclose access to others. EK Platinum has access 12 month out. EK Gold at 9 months. EK Silver at 6 months. Partners at 3 months. Everyone else (as with upgrades) on the day of travel.
The upside of the changes are that F redemptions have become leaps and bounds easier out of the U.S. Even the game changer out of ORD has had availability on and off and rarely did before.
@ Antwerp -- I can't say that I've found availability to be better, but I'm happy that you've had good luck. I actually find that Emirates is sort of at a low point when it comes to first class availability well in advance, but maybe I'm just having bad luck.
Just one data point: Three weeks ago I searched out mid January to DXB in F and seats were available from IAD, ORD (Game Changer), IAH, and YYZ over a few days period. I did not check standard 777 markets or west coast. Now, I will say that from DXB it was slim pickings to Asia. I did manage to get HKG which positioned me close enough to my final. My theory is that if...
Just one data point: Three weeks ago I searched out mid January to DXB in F and seats were available from IAD, ORD (Game Changer), IAH, and YYZ over a few days period. I did not check standard 777 markets or west coast. Now, I will say that from DXB it was slim pickings to Asia. I did manage to get HKG which positioned me close enough to my final. My theory is that if you are looking at specifically DXB from the U.S. there are a lot of options as not many have the Barclays credit card here or fly with EK enough to get status. Once you get into the Middle East, Oceania, and Asia I imagine that significantly changes.
This is huge: "elite status requirement doesn’t apply if you’re trying to upgrade to first class, or if you’re booking through a partner program" because that's the only way(s) I've been able to get it. Not gonna bother 'earning' Skywards status; just buy business, and if the confirmed upgrade to EK F is available, instantly transfer the 35-70K-ish points from your preferred program (like Amex).
Thks for posting this...timely info. Ek and KE are the only F products I have not flown. I'm want to fix that problem in 2026!
I'm rooting for you, Steve. It's an exceptional product, even on the older 1-2-1 configured 773, especially on the newer 1-1-1 773, and certainly the a380 (because of the shower). When it does happen, save room for the seemingly never-ending caviar and Dom Pérignon.
Ben, you're partly incorrect - Qantas has less award availability - this is correct. However over the last few years, I've booked at least 4-6 First class seats - business class availability is almost none existent while first class does pop up time to time. Sometimes I'd prefer business to save miles but have to book First because that's all there is.
Points required is slightly more than skywards with the recent devaluation.
I would like to ask if you have found any Emirates First award through Qantas in last 6 months. As far as I am aware, only Oceania routes show availability, other routes are zeroed out.
I have booked 2 Emirates First awards through Qantas in the last 6 months: Munich to Dubai and Dubai to Sydney. I’ve always found good availability with Emirates across all cabins through Qantas rewards.
Try using the multi city search tool on the QF website - I find availability to be better through there.