Emirates has just implemented a new policy that’s sure to be controversial. Some people will celebrate it, while others will be miffed.
Emirates adds restrictions on children in first class
Emirates Skywards has quietly updated its terms & conditions, to add a new restriction:
Please note that passengers aged 8 years old and below are ineligible for First Class Emirates Classic Rewards and Upgrade Rewards.
It’s indeed true, and this policy was implemented as of August 15, 2025. With this, Emirates no longer allows children ages eight and under to fly first class, assuming they’re redeeming miles either for an outright award ticket, or for an upgrade. To be clear, there are no restrictions on booking first class tickets for children with cash, but instead, this is just a limitation on accessing the cabin through miles.
Interestingly, as of now, Emirates’ website still lets you redeem miles for first class even when entering passenger information for a child with a date of birth that would technically make them ineligible. So don’t ask me what would happen if you booked one of those tickets. It’s possible this hasn’t fully been implemented yet, and that the terms were updated ahead of systems being fully updated. Presumably Emirates wouldn’t implement this policy for people who have already booked.
My take on Emirates’ first class policy change
The topic of traveling in first class with children (and particularly, babies) is of course controversial. There are virtually no airlines that ban kids from traveling in first class, so Emirates is charting its own course here. What I find interesting is that it’s not an outright ban on kids, but instead, it’s just for those who are redeeming miles or upgrading. What’s my take on this?
Broadly speaking, I have no issues with airlines setting their own policies in terms of the type of experience they want to offer, and then customers can choose whether or not that’s the right product for them. There’s no denying that little kids can cause a lot of noise on planes (no matter how hard parents try), and that can take away from the experience. In fairness, adults can also cause a lot of noise, but banning them might be a step too far. 😉
What I find interesting here is that the ban is basically specific to whether or not you redeemed miles. That’s an interesting way to create a policy. It’s basically “everyone is welcome in first class, except if redeeming miles, and then only some people are welcome.”
The reason I find this a bit strange is because in many cases, you’re actually not getting much of a discount when redeeming miles, especially with the high surcharges and all the devaluations we’ve seen over the years:
- You could be a family traveling on full fare business class ticket that are more expensive than discounted first class tickets, but then you can’t upgrade with miles
- Given that Emirates charges close to 200K Skywards miles for a long haul first class award, plus around $1,000 in carrier imposed surcharges, that’s really potentially not less lucrative for the airline than some discounted first class fares
If Emirates wants to argue that kids are disruptive in first class and can make the experience worse for others, then it shouldn’t matter how someone booked their ticket. I don’t believe whether cash was paid or miles were redeemed impacts how disruptive a particular child is. So I find that aspect of this to be strange, and I’d rather seen an all-or-nothing policy, personally.
But let’s be honest, we also know why the policy is structured that way — local families would flip if they couldn’t fly first class with their entourage.
Bottom line
Emirates Skywards has implemented a new policy when it comes to flying with kids in first class. The airline still allows kids of all ages in first class if paying cash. However, if redeeming miles for an outright award ticket or an upgrade, children need to be at least nine years old.
Emirates is one of the first airlines I know of to implement a policy like this, and of course people will have varying takes…
What do you make of Emirates’ new first class mileage ban for young kids?
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