Loyalty Lobby reports on messaging shown on the Emirates website indicating that classic award space in first class will only be available to those with Emirates Silver, Gold, and Platinum tier members from May 12, 2025 onward. I didn’t see this indicated in my account where Loyalty Lobby shows in their screen shot, but it is unfortunately confirmed on the public miles calculator page. If you’ve been eyeing an Emirates first class award and you do not have elite status, you need to book now.
Emirates has certainly made first class awards more and more exclusive over the years. A decade ago when I first started my award travel journey, I booked Emirates first class from the Maldives to New York (with a stopover in Dubai!) with Alaska Mileage Plan miles (as I recall, it was 90K miles and about $60 back then).
Not long after, Alaska devalued awards, doubling the price to 180K miles one-way overnight. Within a couple of years, that partnership ended altogether. We then saw Emirates continually tighten the belt on first class awards, at first by restricting access to first class awards from most partner programs and later by significantly increasing surcharges on most first class awards. Air Canada Aeroplan worked out a partnership for booking Emirates first class, though it required significantly higher award rates than booking on other partners (indicating that Emirates wanted significantly more money for those awards).
I am certainly very disappointed about this change (in part because we have a couple hundred thousand miles stuck with Emirates that I had hoped to use for first class at some point). However, I am not terribly surprised: Emirates clearly wants to make first class as exclusive as possible. They certainly wouldn’t be the only program restricting availability of first class awards in some way as Air France / KLM Flying Blue requires high-level elite status to book first class awards as does Lufthansa when it comes to booking first class far in advance. Still, as a frequent flyer enthusiast who uses well over a million miles every year, I don’t like that move.
I do wonder what this will mean for two key things: the Air Canada partnership and upgrades to first class.
When Emirates restricts first class awards to elite members, will that end first class redemptions through Air Canada Aeroplan without any advance notice? While I don’t find those redemptions particularly compelling, it would certainly be disappointing, especially after moving other partners to the chart they developed for Emirates.
While Emirates first class awards have long been difficult to snag in advance, one of the best ways to book Emirates first has been to actually book an Emirates business class seat and then upgrade using miles at the check-in kiosk at the airport. On the day of departure, Emirates has been known to open any unsold seats for upgrades at the airport. We have to wonder whether they will continue that practice or instead restrict those upgrades to elite members, which would surely be a big disappointment to many booked in business who have been hoping to upgrade on the day of departure.
There may still be a path for credit card collectors
If you have been eyeing an Emirates first class redemption, you need to jump on it right away unless you have or can reasonably obtain Emirates elite status.
On that note, obtaining Emirates elite status is as easy as getting a new credit card. Both the Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard the the “Premium” version of the card come with 1 year of elite status as part of the welcome bonus:
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $303 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 40K Miles + 1 Year Silver status Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler 40K after $3K spend in 90 days$99 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Earning rate: 3X Emirates ✦ 2X airfare, hotel, and car rentals ✦ 1X everywhere else Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Barclays. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: Maintain Emirates Skywards Silver status with $20K spend per membership year (Silver status offers cardmember lounge access to Emirates Business Class lounges in Dubai only) Noteworthy perks: 25% discount when buying miles ✦ No foreign transaction fees |
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $17 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 50K Miles + 1 Year Gold status Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler 50K after $3K spend in 90 days$499 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Earning rate: 3X Emirates ✦ 2X airfare, hotel, and car rentals ✦ 1X everywhere else Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Barclays. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: 10K bonus miles with $30K spend per membership year ✦ Maintain Emirates Skywards Gold status with $40K spend per membership year (Gold status offers cardmember and guest lounge access to Emirates Business Class lounges worldwide) Noteworthy perks: Priority Pass Select ✦ Global Entry Fee Credit ✦ 25% discount when buying miles ✦ No foreign transaction fees |
Of the two cards, I’d certainly recommend the $99 base-level card. That card offers Silver status for a year and the ability to maintain Silver status with $20K spend in a calendar year. That could make this an easy path to continue to book Emirates first class awards for those interested.
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If it translates to better award availability for its members, fine.
I think they have already been partially restricting same-day upgrades. We flew EK, booked in J, in January from LAX. We were the first people there when check in opened and google flights was showing 2 open F seats. The check in staff said elite members would receive priority for upgrades but that we could put our names on the waitlist. A little bit before boarding we checked with the lounge agent and she said there was only 1 seat left and cleared my bf’s upgrade. Maybe it was just a fluke for us, but my understanding prior to this was always that if there were seats available at check in then you could upgrade to them, but that wasn’t our experience (which was fine, business class was great!)
Possible to book a flight tomorrow for April of 2026 for example and then be able to change the dates later on and not have to worry about having status?
Try it and report back.
Greg’s card #47?