Absurd Timing: Emirates Skywards Devaluing Miles Again (It Never Ends!)

Emirates seems to think that this is a good time to devalue its loyalty program, which strikes me as a questionable decision, given what’s going on in the world…

Emirates Skywards changing award costs May 20, 2026

The Emirates Skywards mileage calculator has been updated to reflect that there will be changes to award costs for bookings as of May 20, 2026. Specifically, this will impact classic rewards and upgrade rewards, the two best ways to redeem Skywards miles.

Now, technically we don’t know how award costs will change. I suppose in theory, Emirates may decide to decrease award costs. However, I don’t remember the last time we saw a positive change to Emirates’ redemption rates, and I doubt they’re starting now, especially given the carrier’s strategy.

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)

So for now we’ll mark this as “developing,” and we’ll see just how bad the changes actually are.

Emirates just takes a different approach to “loyalty”

The complete lack of value offered by Emirates Skywards mileage redemptions 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 also 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 is planning on adjusting award and upgrade costs as of May 20, 2026. This 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 Emirates Skywards’ never-ending devaluations?