Opinions of Wednesday, 26 June 2024

Columnist: Stratcom Africa

5 ways Emirates Skywards has elevated the loyalty experience - More Miles, more rewards, and more members

Emirates Skywards continues to raise the bar in the loyalty industry with its pioneering initiatives Emirates Skywards continues to raise the bar in the loyalty industry with its pioneering initiatives

Emirates Skywards continues to raise the bar in the loyalty industry with its pioneering initiatives and customer-centric strategy. Over the past year, the loyalty programme has rolled out new feature enhancements and expanded its brand portfolio to attract 33 million members worldwide.

Recognised as one of the most valuable loyalty programmes in the world – here are five ways Emirates Skywards has elevated the loyalty experience.

1. Expanded money-can’t-buy experiences with Skywards Exclusives
With Skywards Exclusives, members can spend or bid Miles on hospitality tickets and VIP experiences to some of the world’s most renowned sporting events, including US Open, Roland-Garros, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Arsenal, and Wimbledon, The Championships.

More recently, Emirates Skywards expanded its lifestyle partnerships to offer members a chance to experience the lush tea plantations in Sri Lanka with Dilmah Tea; and a chance to discover the idyllic vineyards in Champagne with in France with LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton).

Stay tuned for even more experiences in the pipeline!

2. More opportunities with Cash+Miles

Members can see more of the world with Cash + Miles by instantly reducing the amount of cash needed to pay towards the cost of a flight ticket, on any fare, any day. By logging-in to emirates.com before their search, members can also benefit from personalised rates and save up to 3 times more.

* Look out for the special offer icon on selected flights!

A very popular offering, Cash+Miles has now expanded, enabling members to use Cash+Miles for ancillary products such as preferred seat selection, excess baggage allowance and lounge access in airports worldwide.

3. Download, link and earn with Skywards Everyday

Skywards Everyday is an app that enables members to earn Skywards Miles all day, every day with over 300 partners across dining, high street and luxury shopping, entertainment, beauty and wellness, groceries, and services.

The loyalty programme re-launched the app last year with an enhanced seamless experience. Members simply need to link up to five Visa or Mastercard debit or credit cards in the app. Emirates Skywards credit card holders can multiply their miles by earning twice on the same transaction – making it much easier for members to earn Miles faster.

Visit Skywards Living to explore a world of rewards with more than 4,000 retail, lifestyle, and car rental partners; and access to around 2 million hotels via travel partners worldwide.

4. Get rewarded for online shopping with Skywards Miles Mall

Emirates Skywards members can earn Skywards Miles by shopping with their favourite brands across the UAE, UK, USA, Australia and India. Members will be spoilt for choice with over 2800brands on Skywards Miles Mall across various categories, including food, fashion, beauty, electronics, health, wellness, travel, leisure, entertainment and more.



The loyalty programme has recently introduced a new way to spend Miles on Gift Cards. Starting at only 2,000 Miles – members can simply log into skywardsmilesmall.com with their Emirates Skywards membership details; select their preferred Gift Card value; and enjoy spending Miles with hundreds of brands.

5. Earning & Rewards with Airline Partners

In addition to Emirates and flydubai, Skywards members can enjoy offerings with over 15 airline partners, including United Airlines, Air Canada, Azul, Japan Airlines, Qantas and Condor. Best of all, Economy Class Reward tickets across all partners have recently been reduced by 20%, with rewards now starting from just 8,000 Skywards Miles!* Bookings can be done conveniently via emirates.com or contact centres.

Onwards, Upwards, Skywards

With over 33 million members worldwide, Emirates Skywards continues to be recognized for its innovative products and industry-leading initiatives. The loyalty programme has won more than 50 awards since its inception, and more recently, crowned as “Global Loyalty Programme of the Year Middle East” at the prestigious International Loyalty Awards 2024.

Emirates Skywards was also recognized as “Middle East’s Leading Airline Rewards Programme” at the World Travel Awards 2024; “World Leading Airline Reward Program” at the World Travel Awards 2023; “Best Earn & Redemption Capability” at the Frequent Traveller Awards 2023 and “Airline with the Best Frequent Flyer Programme” at the Business Traveller Awards 2024.

In the last year (March 2023 – March 2024) -

• 33.1 million members
o 370 new members enrol per hour.
o 6 new members join the loyalty programme every minute.
• 80.1 billion Skywards Miles earned
o More than 100,000 earned transactions made daily .
• 1.3 million flight rewards processed
o 1 in 8 flight tickets purchased by members utilising Skywards Miles.
• 4.5 million Skywards Miles redeemed per hour.
o 115 Skywards Miles redeemed daily
• 190,000 co-brand cardholders across UAE, KSA, UAE, US and India

For more information, visit emirates.com.