Ugh, one of the best sweet spots of the Emirates Skywards program, at least for members based in the United States, has just been devalued.
Emirates increases carrier surcharges on US flights
Emirates Skywards has pesky carrier imposed surcharges on award tickets, though the amount that you’ll pay varies based on the route. For first and business class travel, the airline has historically had super high surcharges for award flights connecting through Dubai, while the carrier’s fifth freedom flights have had much lower surcharges.
This has been especially useful for members in the United States, since Emirates has three handy fifth freedom routes — Miami (MIA) to Bogota (BOG), New York (JFK) to Milan (MXP), and Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH). Unfortunately that seems to have just changed, as flagged by Tim.
For example, the fifth freedom flights from the United States to Europe now have $433.50 in taxes and fees for a one-way award in first or business class. As a point of comparison, previously you would’ve paid a total of $105.30, so surcharges have increased by $328.20 per direction.
For the fifth freedom flight from Miami to Bogota, you now have to pay $267.50 for a one-way award in first or business class. As a point of comparison, previously you would’ve paid a total of $63.60, so surcharges have increased by $203.90.
These are just the one-way costs for one person, so if you’re traveling roundtrip as a family, we’re talking about thousands of dollars in additional fees, potentially.
These higher fees come at a time when oil prices are actually down. For that matter, Emirates seems to have mildly decreased its surcharges for many flights to and from Dubai. For example, from New York to Dubai, a one-way award in first class now has a total of $834.90 in taxes and fees, while previously the total was over $1,000.
So it almost seems like Emirates has just tried to make its carrier surcharges a bit more logical and consistent, as much as I hate to see it.
There aren’t many great deals left with Skywards
There’s simply no denying that Emirates Skywards is becoming a progressively less interesting frequent flyer program:
- Emirates Skywards has started restricting first class awards to elite members (though it’s easy enough to earn Skywards status)
- While Emirates Skywards partners with most major transferable points currencies, we’re seeing devaluations to the transfer ratios, so they’re largely no longer 1:1
- We’ve seen Emirates Skywards consistently increase the number of miles required for many types of awards, in addition to increasing fees in markets where they previously weren’t that bad
Obviously I’m not at all happy to see these changes. I think it’s important to understand the philosophy of Skywards leadership, as it’s a little different than at some other airlines. 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, and is intended to drive loyalty, first and foremost. So the reality is that Emirates doesn’t really care to offer great value awards to those just looking to transfer points. Now, personally I think there’s a better approach to take, but hey, each airline can run its program how it wants.
It’s hard to make the argument that redemptions in Emirates business class represent a great deal. While Emirates first class redemptions are expensive, it’s an absolutely phenomenal product, in my opinion, and there’s no denying the airline invests a lot in the experience.
I mean, if you’re into wine, you can easily drink your carrier imposed surcharges, based on all the good stuff they’re pouring. 😉
Bottom line
Emirates Skywards has drastically increased carrier imposed surcharges on fifth freedom award flights, including the three of these routes the airline operates to and from the United States. While these flights previously represented a sweet spot of the program, I’d say that’s no longer the case.
What do you make of this Emirates Skywards devaluation?
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