Final Hours To Book Emirates First Class Awards Without Workarounds

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Update, 5/12: You can still book these awards with Qantas points.

Emirates just announced that non-elite members will no longer be able to redeem Emirates miles for classic awards in first class, effective today at 3:59pm ET.

It’s the latest in a series of moves that indicate major changes for the Emirates loyalty program.

• Mileage transfers from Citi will be reduced from 1:1 to 1:0.8, effective 7/27.
• Mileage transfers from AMEX will be “temporarily unavailable”, effective 5/28. AMEX tells DansDeals, “This pause is due to changes that Emirates is making to their loyalty technology systems. We expect the Points Transfer feature to be back up and running in the coming weeks.”
• Mileage transfers from Chase will be unavailable starting May 29th through “tentatively” 6/30.
• There was a recent unadvertised 25% bonus from Capital One that Emirates later clawed back. Several readers have filed a DOT complaint against the airline for the deceptive and unfair practice.

I flew Emirates first “shower” class some 8 years ago and certainly enjoyed the experience, though I was able to redeem that using Alaska miles for a bargain. There also used to be bargains via the JAL program. Those days are long gone, with Emirates turning off those redemption options with little to no advance notice.

Now, it costs a small fortune to book Emirates first class via miles, with fuel surcharges to boot.

For example, a flight from JFK to Dubai in A380 shower class is 163,500 miles+$834:

JFK to Milan in A380 shower class or Newark to Athens in 777 first class is more affordable, at 102K miles+$101:

For now, Qantas can also book Emirates first class awards. Will that go away? We have no idea at this point.

What if that goes away?

Barclays offers an Emirates credit card that comes with Silver status for the first year and can be earned with $20K spending per year after that.

Of course, Emirates can always change that on a whim. Air France used to offer first class awards to all members, then restricted it to elites, and then restricted it to top-tier elites. Swiss Airlines did the same thing for their first class awards.

You can status match to Emirates, though that requires having flown 2 round-trip coach flex/flex plus tickets or a round-trip business or first class ticket in the past year.

Emirates also has an upgrade program that allows you to move up by one class of service on paid or award tickets booked with Emirates miles. It’s not cheap, but it’s generally an easy way to get upgraded.

That means if you have a paid or award business class ticket, you can use miles to upgrade to first class.

You can waitlist for an upgrade in advance, but if it doesn’t clear, it will be canceled 48 hours before departure. You can also upgrade on the day of departure, and the odds of this clearing are typically very good. You can do this at the check-in desk, lounge, or at the gate. The earlier you go to check-in, the better odds you’ll have of getting the upgrade.

You can search the calculator for a business class fare on your route and then click on upgrade for upgrade pricing:

How will the pricing compare?

• A business class flight from JFK to Dubai costs 138K miles+$834 one-way in Flex Plus. You’ll need 70,200 miles to upgrade to first class for a total of 208,200 miles versus 163,500 miles+$834 for a first class award today.
• A business class flight from Newark to Athens costs 87K miles+$101 one-way in Flex Plus. You’ll need 39,000 miles to upgrade to first class for a total of 126K miles versus 102,000 miles+$101 for a first class award today.

Of course, the upgrade rules can change at any time as well.

You can instantly transfer miles from AMEX, Capital One, Chase, or Citi to Emirates.

• The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express is offering a rare bonus to earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership and offers 2 points per dollar spent on up to $50K spending annually 1 point per dollar thereafter, plus transfer points to airlines and hotels and keep AMEX points alive. Terms apply. Read more here.
• Limited Time Travel Offer through 6/30: The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is offering a 150K bonus for spending $20,000 in the first 3 months, plus, earn a $500 statement credit after you spend $2,500 on qualifying flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel, as well as monthly credits, lounge access, and much more. Terms apply. Read more here.
• American Express® Business Gold Card is offering a 100K bonus for spending $15,000 in 3 months, monthly business credits, Walmart+ membership, up to 4 points per dollar spent with a $150K annual spend cap, and more benefits. Terms apply. Read more here.
• Business Green Rewards Card from American Express is offering a 15K bonus for spending $3,000 in 3 months. Terms apply.
• The Platinum Card® from American Express is offering an 80K bonus for spending $8,000 in the first 6 months and offers monthly credits, lounge access, and much more. Terms apply. Read more here.
• American Express® Gold Card is offering a 60K bonus for spending $6,000 in the first 6 months, monthly credits for Uber and Grubhub, and more. Terms apply. Read more here. 
• AMEX Green Consumer Card is offering a 40K bonus for spending $3,000 in the first 6 months and offers up to $199 in annual CLEAR Plus® credits, $100 LoungeBuddy credit, plus transfer points to airlines and hotels and keep AMEX points alive. All information about the AMEX Green Card has been collected independently by DansDeals.

• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is offering 75,000 bonus miles for spending $4K in 3 months, plus 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, transfer points to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. No foreign transaction fees. $95 annual fee. Read more here. 
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is offering 75,000 bonus miles for spending $4K in 3 months, plus earn 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, 10K anniversary bonus miles, Global Entry/Pre-Check, Capital One lounge access, Priority Pass Lounge membership, Hertz President's Circle status, free lounge access and status for free additional cardholders, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. No foreign transaction fees. $395 annual fee. Read more here.
• Limited time offer: Capital One Venture X Business is offering 150,000 bonus miles for spending $30K in 3 months. You will earn another 200,000 bonus miles after spending another $170,000 in 6 months. As you earn at least 2 miles per dollar spent, that’s a total of 750,000 miles after spending $200,000. Also receive a $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, 10K anniversary bonus miles, Global Entry/Pre-Check, Capital One lounge access, Enhanced Priority Pass Lounge membership, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. $395 annual fee. No foreign transaction fees. Read more here.
• Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is offering 20,000 bonus miles for spending $500 in 3 months, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. No foreign transaction fees. No annual fee.
• Capital One Spark Miles for Business is offering 50,000 bonus miles for spending $4,500 in 3 months, 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase, Global Entry/PreCheck, transfer miles to airlines and hotels, 5K MLB redemptions, and more. No foreign transaction fees. $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
• Capital One Spark Cash is offering $750 cash back (convertible to 75,000 miles) for spending $7,500 in 3 months, 2% back everywhere, $40 MLB redemptions, and more. No foreign transaction fees. $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
• New offer: Capital One Spark Cash Plus is offering $2,000 cash back (convertible to 200,000 miles) for spending $30,000 in 3 months, plus get another $2,000 cash back for every $500K spent in your first year, 2% back everywhere, $40 MLB redemptions, annual fee refund when you spend $150K/year, and more. No foreign transaction fees. $150 annual fee. Read more here.

• Citi Strata Premier℠ Card is offering a 60,000 point bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, 3 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, supermarkets, gas, EV charging, and dining. 10 points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on CitiTravel.com. $95 annual fee. View Rates & Fees here. Citi is a DansDeals partner. Read more about this offer here.

• The Citi Double Cash® Card is offering a rare 20K bonus for spending $1,500 in 6 months, and offers 2% cash back or 2 ThankYou points per dollar spent everywhere. If you also have a Citi Strata Premier Card you can transfer points into miles. No annual fee. View Rates & Fees here. Citi is a DansDeals partner. Read more about this offer here.

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a 100K signup bonus for spending $5K in 3 months, earns 2.1 points per dollar on travel after the card's 10% anniversary bonus, 3.1 points per dollar on dining, streaming, and online groceries after the card's 10% anniversary bonus, has a $50 hotel credit, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a 60K signup bonus for spending $5K in 3 months, earns 3 points per dollar on dining/travel, has a $300 travel credit, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.5 cents each for paid travel ($550 annual fee with $300 travel credit). Read more here.
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card has a 90K signup bonus for spending $8K in 3 months, and earns 3 points per dollar on up to $150K of annual spending on shipping, advertising, and travel, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel ($95 annual fee). Read more here.

• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card has a $750 signup bonus in the form of 75K points for spending $6K in 3 months, and earns 1.5 points per dollar on business purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card has a $350 signup bonus in the form of 35K points for spending $3K in 3 months and another $400 signup bonus in the form of 40K bonus points for spending another $3K in 6 months for a total of 75,000 Chase Ultimate points. This card earns 5 points per dollar on the first $25,000 in combined purchases on cable, TV, telecom, cellular, and office supply stores, plus 2 points per dollar on dining and gas on up to $25,000 in purchases ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
• Chase Freedom Flex has a 20K signup bonus for spending $500 in 3 months, plus 5 points on rotating categories, 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here. All information about the Chase Freedom Flex Card has been collected independently by DansDeals.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited® has a $200 signup bonus in the form of 20K points for spending $500 in 3 months, 1.5 points per dollar everywhere, 5 points per dollar (marketed as 5% cash back) on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.

Will you book any first class awards today?