Emirates Airlines is easily one of the best ways to fly. Bringing luxury to the sky, Emirates is known for some of the most lavish interior cabins with the best in flight service making in one of the most desired ways to fly.
Emirates flies either The Boeing 777 or the Airbus A380 depending on your airport. The Airbus has a better overall product so it is best to try and find those routes for the best experience. The 777 departs from Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Newark, Orlando, Seattle, and Washington DC. where as the A380 departs from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and JFK.
However, there is one instance where The Boeing 777 outshines the A380 and that is on their new First Class suites. The newly renovated design brings a new level of luxury and innovative design. Regardless, if you are flying first class, either plane will be great as the A380 has a larger and more spacious cabin including a bar/lounge and an unparalleled bathroom and shower suite on board.
The last few years has seen a big devaluation on award travel. One of the best sweet spots to get emirates flights was on Alaska Airlines but they have stopped their partnership. The only way to earn award travel now is through earning Skywards.
Ways to Earn Skywards:
- Fly Emirates and earn points for every mile flown in the sky
- Transfer miles from Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, or Marriott to your Emirates rewards account.
** If you have multiple credit cards you can pool points from the above reward programs to get enough points to use for award travel.
** Be sure to look for bonus transfer periods when you can transfer AMEX points to Skyrewards at a 20% premium.
One Way Award Chart:
- Economy 36,250 (East Coast to Dubai) or 41,250 (West Coast to Dubai)
- Business Class 72,500 (East Coast to Dubai) or 82,500 (West Coast to Dubai)
- First Class 136,250 (East Coast to Dubai) or 155,000 (West Coast to Dubai)
Whether you are flying Economy or First Class, you will need a lot of points but you will be traveling on one of the best products in addition to it being a 10+ hour flight. It is always recommended to use your points for premium products like business class/first class vs economy as your award redemption points per dollar is much greater. Business Class or First Class flights can easily be over 5K or 20K respectively.
Additionally, the best thing about flying Dubai is doing a stop over in Dubai and spending a few days visiting the city/desert. Dubai is an amazing city and this is a great way to get two vacations for the price of one!
There are tons of options when making travel plans. Emirates certainly is costly but you are getting a premium product. Save up your points and fly in style.