Emirates seems to think that this is a good time to make mostly negative changes to its loyalty program, which strikes me as a questionable decision, given what’s going on in the world…
In this post:
Emirates Skywards updates award & upgrade costs
Several days ago, the Emirates Skywards mileage calculator was updated to reflect that there would be changes to award costs for bookings made as of Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Specifically, this impacts classic rewards and upgrade rewards, the two best ways to redeem Skywards miles.
Emirates Skywards generally has very high award costs in terms of the number of miles required, in addition to very high carrier imposed surcharges. This is only the latest in a string of negative changes to Emirates Skywards:
- Over the years we’ve seen a countless number of direct devaluations, where the cost of awards has gone up
- We’ve seen carrier imposed surcharges greatly increase over time, even before the cost of jet fuel actually rose due to the Iran conflict
- First class awards are now restricted exclusively to Emirates Skywards elite members, even with the very high costs of these awards
- Emirates Skywards has worsened its conversion ratios with most transferable points currencies, and for the most part, they’re no longer 1:1 (in other words, Emirates Skywards wanted more money for its miles)
Now that these changes are live, just how bad are they? It seems that on average, awards have increased in price by somewhere around 15%, give or take. Just to give some first class examples (increases are roughly proportional in other cabins):
- A one-way Newark to Athens first class award used to cost 102,000 miles, and now costs 117,000 miles
- A one-way New York to Dubai first class award used to cost 163,500 miles, and now costs 188,000 miles
- A one-way Houston to Dubai to Johannesburg first class award used to cost 187,500 miles, and now costs 216,000 miles
Now, there is some good news as well, though. Emirates has different fare bundles, and historically, one-way business class awards have only been possible in the more expensive Flex Plus tier, but not in the cheaper Saver tier. Instead, you’ve had to book a roundtrip award in order to unlock Saver travel in business class.
With these changes, Emirates has brought back one-way Saver awards in business class, which is great news. For example, if you were to fly between New York and Milan, previously your only option was to redeem 87,000 miles for a one-way ticket, while now you can book a Saver award, at the cost of 59,000 miles.
So while I’m frustrated by the continued increase in award costs, these cheaper business class awards being opened up on one-ways is a pretty significant positive development.
So all-in-all, I’d still consider these changes to be negative, on balance, given the general price increase. But at least there’s a lot more of a silver lining than we’ve seen with many past Emirates devaluations.
Emirates just takes a different approach to “loyalty”
The lack of value offered by Emirates Skywards mileage redemptions, and how things have mostly gotten worse over time, drives me bonkers. The way I see it:
- Points currencies can be a great way to fill seats that would otherwise be empty
- Often those redeeming points for a flight end up becoming loyal customers who book revenue tickets in the long run, often in the cabin they redeemed for
- There’s the ability to further monetize members who are engaged in a loyalty program, like getting them to apply for a co-branded credit card
The SVP of Emirates Skywards is a smart guy, even if I very much disagree with the approach he takes. He hasn’t really been secretive about the lack of value the program offers with redemptions. Emirates doesn’t take the same approach to loyalty programs as in the United States, where airlines essentially operate as loss leaders for their loyalty programs.
Instead, Skywards is viewed as being more part of the commercial organization, both in terms of how it’s monetized, and in terms of how it’s intended to encourage loyalty:
- Emirates just doesn’t want to provide big discounts on empty seats by releasing award space, and the idea is almost that redeeming miles gets the airline similar revenue to a cash booking (between the money that Emirates gets when you transfer points to the program, plus all the surcharges)
- The point of Skywards is to offer better “soft” treatment for those who like flying with the beloved brand, rather than actually to “give away” too much
So yeah, personally I’m not at all a fan of the approach. But I also think Skywards leadership is acting intentionally, and it’s not that they think they’re offering great value, and would be shocked to learn that others don’t feel that way (unlike at many other airlines, where that is the case).
Emirates is probably the world’s most revered and known airline brand, and I think that’s largely what the airline leans into heavily. I mean, Emirates has been incredibly profitable, even beating Delta for the past two years (though obviously this year will be different). It remains to be seen if the airline can continue with that approach in the long run.
Bottom line
Emirates Skywards has adjusted award and upgrade costs as of May 20, 2026. In this case, it looks like many award costs have gone up by an average of around 15%. The good news is that Emirates has made Saver awards available for one-way travel in business class, while they were previously restricted to roundtrips.
This latest change follows endless devaluations over the years, in terms of the number of miles required, the carrier surcharges, and the restrictions on certain redemptions. Emirates’ redemption rates are highly uncompetitive nowadays, but that almost seems to be by design. Emirates just takes a different approach to loyalty, and I don’t like it. But, you know, it is what it is…
What do you make of these latest Emirates Skywards changes?
It also looks like, at least for me, upgrade prices to F are unaffected? I've had an auto-upgrade on for a couple of weeks on the A380 from J to F, and looks like the price for the auto upgrade is the same
So two of the most profitable airlines in the world, EL and DL, have the shittiest award program.
This is a non-story and non-issue as most I know that used skywards stopped redeeming on them years back when they flipped back to high surcharges. If anyone is still crediting or transferring points to Emirates they are a fool. On balance, if I need to take the ME3 I use QR - literally a better product all considered. EK first was a fun redemption while it lasted in the 2010-2020 era, those that are...
This is a non-story and non-issue as most I know that used skywards stopped redeeming on them years back when they flipped back to high surcharges. If anyone is still crediting or transferring points to Emirates they are a fool. On balance, if I need to take the ME3 I use QR - literally a better product all considered. EK first was a fun redemption while it lasted in the 2010-2020 era, those that are travel hack savvy, which use to be the target audience of this blog, are already better monetizing their points stash elsewhere.
New pricing seems to be live on the calculator? Massive devaluations, 1.5-2x across the board.
Actually I way have been searching the wrong routes to compare. Some upgrades look to be 1.15x-1.5x more while Business Flex rates also higher on a few routes.
Still seeing the same price for Economy Saver for International routes
I'm done with this program. I transferred my last ~120k to Accor and Marriott
Ahhhh, but EK has a shower on board...
K shaped economy. The demand for premium seats and the amount of people willing to pay is increasing thus airlines needs to devalue the award structure.
Just look at the stock market at the all time highs , people with wealth is better off than ever before.
Didn't they report the most profits of any airline?
its more important to look good than to report accurately there
The timing seems adequate, it's a great way to preserve cash. Loyalty is not a priority right now and they can always fill up the planes by lowering fares when the situation is stabilized.
More generally it does not seem like they need the loyalty. The aviation business is less commoditized in this region than it is in America or Europe.
I wonder if Ben gives Emirates a pass bc he's obsessed with their First Class game-changer, but in reality they have one of the worst award programs, which is what he's supposed to be about, but won't write a bunch of biased articles about them bc it's popular to scapegoat Delta and not Emirates.
Im just not their target customer.
Fair enough.
The most over-rated airline shows the brilliance of marketing
dont forget their awful advert telling ppl their crappy economy is like business class lol
Most profitable airline in the world so looks like their approach works just fine. People on here just mad they don’t give away their seats. Get used to it - I see massive increase in award costs coming for all airlines. The “glory days” of points/miles are over. It was a good run!
It was a great run, and I agree that airlines seem to have discovered that it’s more lucrative to sell seats for cash to last-minute business travellers than it is to sell them for points 330 days out, particularly when those points redemptions aren’t even being made by their own frequent flyers and/or credit-card customers. The travel loyalty game is going Titanic, and I fear it’s only a matter of time before businesses in the...
It was a great run, and I agree that airlines seem to have discovered that it’s more lucrative to sell seats for cash to last-minute business travellers than it is to sell them for points 330 days out, particularly when those points redemptions aren’t even being made by their own frequent flyers and/or credit-card customers. The travel loyalty game is going Titanic, and I fear it’s only a matter of time before businesses in the orbit of the travel loyalty industry suffer the same fate as OceanGate Titan.
I never actually saw these airlines miles devaluated, it is just more complicated. Comparing to many years ago, it is not only about redemption, it is about a transfer bonus, buy points bonus, credit card additional bonus or discount, then credit card increased sign on bonus, redemption discount, then increased transfer bonus, increased transfer bonus with silver or gold level, then super large x30 shopping portal miles bonus, etc. it is more complicated for entry,...
I never actually saw these airlines miles devaluated, it is just more complicated. Comparing to many years ago, it is not only about redemption, it is about a transfer bonus, buy points bonus, credit card additional bonus or discount, then credit card increased sign on bonus, redemption discount, then increased transfer bonus, increased transfer bonus with silver or gold level, then super large x30 shopping portal miles bonus, etc. it is more complicated for entry, however, once you passed the entry level, they are actually quite super valuable.
Not to mention the huge number of “elites” that never stops growing. Once everyone is an “elite”, nobody is, and we see a backlash in the form of hotels no longer offering “free” breakfast, airlines jacking-up redemption rates, and increasingly restrictive access policies to the best airport lounges.
So glad I flew first class with emirates several times in the past… even in the game changer once. Flying pre-pandemic was such a treat! Now it’s so hard to find decent redemptions these days.
It's part of the worldwide trend, post-pandemic. The concept of "award seats" is, from an airline's standpoint, a way of selling "distressed inventory". Flights are flying fuller with paid leisure pax nowadays, so there's less distressed inventory. Points travellers are less valuable to airlines, so we have less leverage.
The percentage of seats sold to paying Business travellers is much lower now, with Zoom meetings and all that. But that has forced airlines to get...
It's part of the worldwide trend, post-pandemic. The concept of "award seats" is, from an airline's standpoint, a way of selling "distressed inventory". Flights are flying fuller with paid leisure pax nowadays, so there's less distressed inventory. Points travellers are less valuable to airlines, so we have less leverage.
The percentage of seats sold to paying Business travellers is much lower now, with Zoom meetings and all that. But that has forced airlines to get creative about monetizing J and F and their efforts have paid off, with email upgrades, auction upgrades, check-in upgrades, "battlefield" upgrades at the gate. There's less premium inventory for points bookings AND the airline sits on that unsold seat longer, betting on one of those upgrade tactics. Unless we snap up the two seats they released 329 days ago, we're SOL.
I don't see this getting better anytime soon.
@DenB
You're 100% correct in framing award seats, as they now exist, as "distressed inventory". The notion that they existed out of the kindness of airlines' hearts was always absurd. Now even more so after covid and during this current Iran war.
This started long before the pandemic. You can find devaluation posts on this very blog from the mid-2010s. The frequent flyer game has been a losing proposition for more than 10 years now and it really shines a light on the inanity of Ben’s “X miles on sale - should you buy?” promotions posts.
You should never buy frequent flyer miles. It’s as ridiculous as buying a currency that one can only use at...
This started long before the pandemic. You can find devaluation posts on this very blog from the mid-2010s. The frequent flyer game has been a losing proposition for more than 10 years now and it really shines a light on the inanity of Ben’s “X miles on sale - should you buy?” promotions posts.
You should never buy frequent flyer miles. It’s as ridiculous as buying a currency that one can only use at one store, and by the way, that store can unilaterally decide how much that currency is valued at any given time, as well as how much inventory they want to offer you, and there’s absolutely nothing that you can do about it.
I understand Ben has to make money from his blog and he does that through his referral links, but advertising mileage sales is almost predatory at this point. You’re always better keeping your hard earned cash as cash instead of offering these airlines interest free loans by “buying miles”.
The maths almost never works even on the largest sales.
If you want any flexibility you normally only get somewhere around 2 cents a mile for bookings (if you compare it to the two way fare you actually would've bought rather than some overinflated one way fare that you're in theory saving).
Meanwhile, all of these discounted purchases sell miles at roughly that same price! There are some where the sale is even...
The maths almost never works even on the largest sales.
If you want any flexibility you normally only get somewhere around 2 cents a mile for bookings (if you compare it to the two way fare you actually would've bought rather than some overinflated one way fare that you're in theory saving).
Meanwhile, all of these discounted purchases sell miles at roughly that same price! There are some where the sale is even worse and the purchase price ends up being 2.5c per mile!
While (almost) nobody wants to see Emirates increase the cost to redeem for premium cabin award flights, I still laugh when there is so much outrage for their high award costs, while Delta’s premium cabin awards are 3-4x of Emirates on just about any given day (87k on Emirates business class MXP-JFK vs 260k on Delta for the same route… EK flies the 380 and DL flies the crappy 767).
I guess everyone has just...
While (almost) nobody wants to see Emirates increase the cost to redeem for premium cabin award flights, I still laugh when there is so much outrage for their high award costs, while Delta’s premium cabin awards are 3-4x of Emirates on just about any given day (87k on Emirates business class MXP-JFK vs 260k on Delta for the same route… EK flies the 380 and DL flies the crappy 767).
I guess everyone has just given up on calling out the obscene redemption requirements on DL.
Delta has great ontime performance and loses very few bags
i think part of this is that when the subject of DL's seething contempt for its frequent flyers comes up, folks think back to the last customer service interaction they've had with the airline and basically arrive at "hmmm yep, that checks out"
meanwhile, with EK, the contempt from corporate seems more jarring juxtaposed with frontline employee/onboard service standards.
... Tick-tock, Emirates ...
Many airlines are making it harder to attain status, use miles for flights, increasing charges on redemptions and changing rules (BA for example). I fly frequently between UK and SE Asia. Always on Star Alliance with Thai, EVA, Singapore or Asiana to get mileage for Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus program (gold member for 12 years). Now, Thai have, in the last year, made it almost impossible to get gold upgrades or redemptions for business...
Many airlines are making it harder to attain status, use miles for flights, increasing charges on redemptions and changing rules (BA for example). I fly frequently between UK and SE Asia. Always on Star Alliance with Thai, EVA, Singapore or Asiana to get mileage for Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus program (gold member for 12 years). Now, Thai have, in the last year, made it almost impossible to get gold upgrades or redemptions for business class. I'm questioning my loyalty. Also, I have Virgin Atlantic flying club (basic since 1997 from a few flights but mostly cc spend). Virgin too have recently upped redemptions, there are some bargains, at some times, on some routes. Their charges have recently increased too. Getting ever more difficult to remain loyal. It's perplexing what Emirates is doing, given the current lack of demand.
I just spent €200 for an one-way economy regional flight on Thai, hardly the bargain of the century. The fare gives zero miles in most *A programmes, and TG definitely aren't alone in that so I may well have to resort to mileage running in order to renew my status next year.
Loyalty. In the airlines business, that is a one-way street. Go ahead and leave them. Another person will replace you. I'm old enough to remember when loyalty was a two way street.
Free agency the only way to fly.
They should hire the other Ben from flying blue
As guess as long as people are stupid enough to continue paying these rates, they will just continue to rise. Emirates is totally overrated anyway.
Thankfully I was able to book EK F last year (and flew in February before the craziness happened), and even more thankful they product changed my flight to a Game Changer 777, so I don't feel like I'll miss out if I don't fly them again anytime soon.
Emirates is an airline, not a credit card company like the US3 "airlines". They're in the business of transporting people, not selling miles and their approach makes a lot of sense in that context.
"First class awards are now restricted exclusively to Emirates Skywards elite members, even with the very high costs of these awards"
Yeah, but even for those of us with Gold / Platinum status, first class awards just never seem to be available for most direct flights to / from Dubai, and are NEVER available for connections (e.g., South Africa). I'll continue to fly EK because they have a great product, but between the three-year expiration...
"First class awards are now restricted exclusively to Emirates Skywards elite members, even with the very high costs of these awards"
Yeah, but even for those of us with Gold / Platinum status, first class awards just never seem to be available for most direct flights to / from Dubai, and are NEVER available for connections (e.g., South Africa). I'll continue to fly EK because they have a great product, but between the three-year expiration policy + the lack of availability of awards, I'll just start crediting my points to other programs.
Btw first class can still be booked as an upgrade for none status members.
Not sure why you are saying that there are no availability, I got 3 seats last week on first, and 4 seats for next week.
Platinum members for sure get a tone of availability as they get access to book on I class
Thanks for the data points. Your luck is certainly better than mine! Like I said, I'll keep flying Emirates first, but I'll just credit the miles to another carrier.
I do want to thank you for mentioning upgrades; I had only been searching for mileage awards. While I'm not finding anything for time-of-booking point upgrades, it's great to know that I can search that way. I've not used upgrades in so many years that...
Thanks for the data points. Your luck is certainly better than mine! Like I said, I'll keep flying Emirates first, but I'll just credit the miles to another carrier.
I do want to thank you for mentioning upgrades; I had only been searching for mileage awards. While I'm not finding anything for time-of-booking point upgrades, it's great to know that I can search that way. I've not used upgrades in so many years that I keep thinking they're only available for day-of-flight trips, and forgot that they can be reserved in advance.
Do these programs still fill seats?
Strange. Why would the airline that’s presently the most profitable in the world, and has a really commendable financial record from founding copy US airlines and their margin-thin models?
Emirates have long telegraphed that they are focused on paying customers paying real money, and are not overly concerned about empty seats. They’ve made it harder for people to obtain rewards and upgrade using miles for years, including introducing status requirements.
Anyone can put bums...
Strange. Why would the airline that’s presently the most profitable in the world, and has a really commendable financial record from founding copy US airlines and their margin-thin models?
Emirates have long telegraphed that they are focused on paying customers paying real money, and are not overly concerned about empty seats. They’ve made it harder for people to obtain rewards and upgrade using miles for years, including introducing status requirements.
Anyone can put bums in a seat. Doing so profitably is where the skill lies.
Love this and anything that makes it harder and more expensive for budget travelers trying to squeeze every last ounce of their credit card spend. Looking forward to more devaluations across major airlines and hotel chains in the coming years.
You're so edgy and cool.
And yet, here you are, spending your time reading articles and commenting on a blog focused on exactly that.
"And yet, here you are, spending your time reading articles and commenting on a blog focused on exactly that."
I wouldn’t say this blog is solely focused on redeeming miles/points for luxury travel; a quick browse of recent articles shows a broader mix of topics. I enjoy reading about different products and travel destinations, and my wife and I have even booked trips in the past based in part on Ben’s reviews.
@James K. -...
"And yet, here you are, spending your time reading articles and commenting on a blog focused on exactly that."
I wouldn’t say this blog is solely focused on redeeming miles/points for luxury travel; a quick browse of recent articles shows a broader mix of topics. I enjoy reading about different products and travel destinations, and my wife and I have even booked trips in the past based in part on Ben’s reviews.
@James K. - Thank you
That said, I do tend to skip anything related to new credit card products or mileage accumulation strategies. There’s just not enough meaningful, usable information there for me.
You appear to be as ignorant as your name indicates.
The change was inevitable once Ben & Ford welcomed their boys to the family. Travelling with very small children is stressful at the best of times, yet leaving them at home with family is just as stressful. Once the youngsters are old enough to have their own seat & not require constant entertainment, distraction, or restraint, things get easier. We all knew the change was coming, so it should be no surprise.
"I'd like to pay more, please" said no one ever.
Guessing you're a self-proclaimed Road Warrior™ who spends OPM money to "buy" premium seats with "cash." Loser.
Not that I travel for business anymore, but “road warriors,” as you call them, aren’t really spending someone else’s money. On the contrary, the exact opposite is true.......other people are spending their money on the road warrior because those expenses are expected to generate some sort of additional value for the employer.
It’s easy to dismiss that reality if you’ve never been in a role where an employer sees enough value to invest in putting...
Not that I travel for business anymore, but “road warriors,” as you call them, aren’t really spending someone else’s money. On the contrary, the exact opposite is true.......other people are spending their money on the road warrior because those expenses are expected to generate some sort of additional value for the employer.
It’s easy to dismiss that reality if you’ve never been in a role where an employer sees enough value to invest in putting you somewhere in person.
An Edgelord has clearly entered the chat.
Well we knew that the current upgrade prices on some markets were to good for EK to offer, but omg what are they doing with Classic now?
I’m over it with Emirates. Yeah the FC is really nice, but I just don’t see any value left there. J and J+ products are getting much better across other carriers where we can consistently get good value. I’ll buy my caviar when I get where I’m going.
Separately, wondering if you might write an article on the ever increasingly common 3% Credit Card surcharges that are starting to plague the US. Seems like they are everywhere in South Florida now.
Merchants are fighting back. Good for them. Not just in Trumpland. All over in Europe and Asia now as well. In Europe we are seeing new processing companies, eliminating need to use Visa and MC.
@Tommygzz
The 3% service charge was a concession Visa/Mastercard made to merchants as part of the multi-billion class action lawsuit that was brought 12 years ago and that is still being adjudicated.
Merchants claim that acceptance of a credit card is expensive and the card brands allowed processing costs to be passed to consumers. A few states still have bans in place prohibiting this practice but they are getting fewer and fewer.
Personally,...
@Tommygzz
The 3% service charge was a concession Visa/Mastercard made to merchants as part of the multi-billion class action lawsuit that was brought 12 years ago and that is still being adjudicated.
Merchants claim that acceptance of a credit card is expensive and the card brands allowed processing costs to be passed to consumers. A few states still have bans in place prohibiting this practice but they are getting fewer and fewer.
Personally, I refuse to shop at any merchant that passes on its processing costs to me.
It’s very funny because they seem to think the way they got to be the worlds most revered brand has nothing to do with points redemptions, when in reality it had EVERYTHING to do with points.
Do they think the people flexing in EK F/J on social media, giving them an unfathomable amount of free marketing, paid cash????
Hilarious misunderstanding of the situation
The influencers' audience will often pay cash through and, to be fair to Emirates, they had built a serious amount of brand equity before the Tiktok era.
But their first class is maginificent.
And since there are no longer readily available Aeroplan or Qantas partner awards onto it... best bet is to get J, then attempt a last-minute points upgrade, unless that's been devalued into oblivion.