Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard Review 2024

The co-brand partnership between Emirates and Barclays has yielded a mediocre card for most. The only possible exception is if you’re planning an overseas trip that includes the United Arab Emirates. In that case, paying the card’s annual fee can help elevate your travel experience with a handful of status perks, the most notable being Silver tier status with the airline. That said, you’ll need to hit a fairly steep annual spending requirement of $20,000 to maintain that status after the first year.

Silver status grants access to the Emirates business lounge in the Dubai airport, but that’s limited to only the main cardholder, not any traveling companions. Without owning the Emirates Skywards Rewards card or earning Silver status through flying, you’ll have to shell out $150 per person for four hours in the business lounge, unless you’re flying in business class. The card has a $99 annual fee so if you fly out of Dubai more than once a year, it could be worth owning the card if having that lounge access is important to you.

Other perks of having the first-year Silver tier membership that comes with the card include priority check-in and boarding, free economy-class seat selection, excess baggage allowances and a 30% miles bonus on Emirates flights.

Although the card offers earnings of 3 Skywards Miles per dollar on emirates.com or at the Emirates Sales office, 2 Skywards Miles per dollar on eligible travel purchases and 1 Skywards Mile per dollar on all other purchases, you can easily do the same or better with other similarly priced travel cards that offer more flexibility than the Emirates Skywards Rewards card.

• Annual fee of $99
• 60,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days
• Earn 3 Skywards Miles per dollar on emirates.com or at the Emirates Sales office, 2 Skywards Miles per dollar on eligible travel purchases and 1 Skywards Mile per dollar on all other purchases
• Silver tier membership for the first year of card ownership, which grants business lounge access in Dubai
• As a cardholder, your miles will never expire
• Priority check-in and boarding plus economy seat selection
• No foreign transaction charges

Earning Rewards

The Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard®* earns at the following rates:

• 3 Skywards Miles per dollar on emirates.com or at the Emirates Sales office, 2 Skywards Miles per dollar on eligible travel purchases and 1 Skywards Mile per dollar on all other purchases

The card also offers a welcome bonus: 60,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.

Redeeming Rewards

Emirates doesn’t publish an awards chart, but it does have a miles calculator that lets you see how many Skywards miles you can earn on an Emirates route or how many Skywards miles you need to redeem for a ticket or a seat upgrade on an Emirates flight.

To redeem your miles for a ticket, log into your Skywards account and use the calculator to determine how many miles you’ll need to book. You can book the flight from the site or call an Emirates representative to book over the phone.

A round trip Economy Saver award from the East Coast to Dubai (DXB) costs 72,500 Miles. Regional flights start at 12,500 miles each way in economy and upgrades start at 9,000 miles.

You can use your rewards to upgrade from economy to business or from business to first class. You can also use miles towards a ticket using Cash+Miles. Emirates doesn’t publish an exact conversion rate if you use this function, but published reports note a value of less than 1 cent per mile.

For U.S.-based travelers: Emirates and United announced a partnership that launched November 2022, opening up more opportunities to earn and spend Skywards Miles.

Rewards Potential

To determine the rewards potential of the Emirates Skywards Rewards card, Forbes Advisor looked at data from various government agencies in order to determine both baseline income and spending averages across various categories.

The 70th percentile of wage-earning households brings in $116,000 annually and can put $36,177 on a credit card each year.

Based on Forbes Advisor’s estimates, the sample household will spend $2,443 on airfare annually. If someone who holds this card is doing their airline spending with Emirates, earnings would work out to 7,329 Skywards miles.

In addition, Forbes Advisor estimates that the sample household will spend a further $3,601 each year on other travel purchases for an additional 7,202 miles. Finally, we can estimate that the same household will spend another $30,133 on other purchases each year, for an additional 30,133 miles earned.

In total, according to these spending patterns, you can expect to earn 44,664 miles each year. You’ll also get in the first year of card ownership a 30% points boost when you fly Emirates with your Silver tier membership and a welcome bonus of 60,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.

According to the Emirates calculator, a round-trip economy-class saver ticket from New York to Dubai would cost 72,500 Skywards Miles. This means if you use the card for all of your credit card spending, and earn the welcome bonus, you’ll earn more than enough in the first year to snag a free flight.

As a general rule, though, earning miles in Emirates’ program isn’t going to be the best choice for most people based in the U.S.

• Emirates Silver Tier membership: Receive Silver tier membership for your first year as a cardmember, which gets you priority check-in and boarding, complimentary seat selection on economy flights, excess baggage allowance, a 30% miles bonus and complimentary business class lounge access in Dubai. You’ll have to spend at least $20,000 per cardmember year to maintain Silver tier status after the first year.
• Skywards Miles won’t expire: As long as your account is open, you don’t have to worry about your miles expiring.
• 25% discount on buying or gifting miles: Save 25% when you buy or gift Skywards Miles.
• No foreign transaction fees: You won’t be charged any foreign transaction fees when using your card internationally.

As a World Elite Mastercard, the Emirates Skywards Rewards card comes with the following benefits:

• Cellphone protection: Get up to $1,000 in yearly coverage ($800 max per claim, 2 claims per year) should your cellphone get stolen or need certain repairs.
• ID theft protection: Once activated, this service monitors your credit profile and sends alerts when fraud is detected.
• Lyft: Take 3 rides in a month and get a $5 Lyft credit once per month.
• ShopRunner: Free ShopRunner membership. Members currently receive 2-day shipping and free return shipping at over a hundred online retailers.
• Fandango: Get $5 off future movie tickets or at-home purchases for every $20 worth of movie tickets purchased.
• World Elite concierge: Enjoy a complimentary 24/7 concierge service.
• Priceless Golf: Receive exclusive golf offers and experiences with the PGA TOUR®.

Interest Rates

• APR: 21.24%, 25.24% or 29.99% variable

Fees

• Annual fee: $99
• Foreign purchase transaction fee: 0% of each transaction in U.S. dollars
• Balance transfer fee: Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater

Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard®* vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is not an airline-specific card, but for a similar price point, it offers a lot more flexibility and perks. Just the welcome bonus alone could be enough to cover a round trip flight to Dubai and back. New cardholders can earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

It carries a $95 annual fee and cardholders earn 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3 points per dollar on dining, select streaming services, and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs), 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases and 1 point per dollar on other purchases.

Ultimate Rewards are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through the Chase portal with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, meaning your points are worth 1.25 cents each. Chase’s travel portal allows you to book flights on most airlines, including Emirates.

Ultimate Rewards can also be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to Chase’s airline and hotel transfer partners including Emirates, United, Hyatt and more, and you can book flights on just about any airline, including Emirates. Because you have so many redemption options, it’s worthwhile to compare redemption rates through Chase’s travel portal with the miles requirement by Chase’s partners.

Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard®* vs. Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card

The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card comes jam-packed with enough worthy features to make it a no-brainer for many globetrotters. The card earns unlimited 3 miles per dollar on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases, unlimited 2 miles per dollar on eligible gas, EV charging, cable, streaming services and local transit including ride share purchases and unlimited 1 mile per dollar on all other purchases. It charges a $95 annual fee.

You can also utilize an annual companion fare starting at $122 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) after you spend $6,000 or more on purchases within the prior anniversary year. Alaska Airlines has multiple airline partners too, making it potentially a more flexible card than the Emirates Skywards Rewards card, especially for those based in the U.S.

Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard®* vs. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

If you want to earn miles that can be used towards the purchase of your travel to Dubai or anywhere else, the rewards and redemption plan on the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is about as simple to follow as it gets. You’ll earn 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar spent on Capital One Entertainment purchases through 12/31/25 and an unlimited 2 miles per dollar spent on other purchases and the card charges an annual fee of $95 (rates & fees). You can redeem your miles by making a purchase through the Capital One site or you can use the earnings to cover an eligible travel purchase.

You can also transfer your miles to one of Capital One’s travel partners, which includes Emirates.

The Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard®* might appeal to a narrow profile: Someone who flies out of Dubai with some frequency who wants lounge access but not a high-priced credit card. If that sounds like you, then you should consider adding this card to your wallet.

Otherwise, pick an airline card or a general-purpose travel rewards card that offers greater flexibility and perks for a similar price.