A Guide to Earning Emirates Skywards Miles

Emirates Skywards miles are a valuable currency. Especially if you live in and around Dubai. In this post, I will lay out many ways of earning Skywards miles. Apart from flying Emirates of course.

Let us jump in.

Emirates Skywards Co-branded Credit Cards

Several banks in UAE offer a co-branded Skywards credit card. Usually, there are three versions of the card – Platinum, Signature and Infinite. By using these cards, you earn Skywards miles in the following way

• Sign-up bonus and renewal bonus
• Domestic spends
• Spends on Emirates
• International spends

Some of these cards also have other perks such as complimentary Skywards Silver membership.

If you are looking for a Skywards credit card, I recommend my earlier post – Best Credit Cards for Skywards Miles.

Direct Flight Booking with Emirates

You earn the same miles whether you book your flight through a travel agent or directly from Emirates. However, there are two reasons you should consider a direct booking.

First, if you have a co-branded Skywards credit card. A lot of these cards will provide a substantially higher earning rate on direct booking. Booking through travel agent will be counted as regular spends.

Second, Emirates has multiple fare categories in each service class – Deal, Special, Saver, Flex and Flex Plus. For each category, the miles earned is different. Sometimes, the fare difference between two categories is minimal.

Family Pooling

I am surprised to see the lack of awareness around this.

In 2018, Emirates re-launched My Family program. The premise is straightforward. You can pool up to 8 family members including yourself. Each member can contribute up to 100% of their miles earned to the My Family Program.

If you travel with family, this helps to accelerate your earnings.

For more details on how this works, please visit my earlier post – Emirates Family Pooling, Why Everyone Should Enrol?

Marriott Collaboration

Emirates and SPG had an arrangement wherein you could earn points on both while using one service i.e. staying at SPG hotel or flying Emirates. When SPG was integrated into Marriott, the future of this arrangement was uncertain.

On July 15, 2019, the World Rewards Program relaunched between Emirates Skywards and Marriott Bonvoy, now allowing new users to sign up and get cross-over benefits as elite members.

Emirates Skywards Silver, Gold and Platinum members earn 1 Skywards Mile per US dollar spent on all eligible stays at Marriott Bonvoy hotels and resorts worldwide.

Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite, Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite members earn 3 points per US dollar spent on all eligible Emirates flights (on top of Skywards Miles).

For full details, visit Emirates and Marriott Partnership is Back.

Dubai Mall

The Dubai Mall is the largest in Dubai and one of the largest of its kind in the world.

If you are a Skywards Platinum, Gold or Silver member, you can earn 1 mile for every $1 spent (for spends over AED 100 only). Skywards Blue members can earn 1 mile for every $2 spent.

The process is a bit cumbersome though. You need to install the Dubai Mall app, key in your Skywards details and then take a picture of every receipt / invoice.

Careem

Careem is a popular alternative to taxis and has recently been acquired by Uber. Emirates and Careem have had a partnership for a few years now. If you link your Skywards account in Careem, you receive 1 miles every $2 spent. Further, if you pay for your Careem ride using a Skywards credit card, you earn miles for that too.

It is unlikely you will make huge stash of miles using this method. However, every mile counts and takes you a step closer to your dream redemption.

Buy Skywards Miles

Emirates sells Skywards miles at 3 cents per mile. It is important to note that the transactions are handled by points.com. Therefore, Skywards credit cards do not earn extra miles on such purchases.

Often, Emirates has a promotion that offers either bonus miles or provides you a discount. The last promotion ended on August 5, 2019.