Emirates – 50% off economy and 25% off selected business redemptions – two weeks only

Emirates is currently running a redemption sale.  You can save 50% on the usual number of Skywards miles required for a redemption in Economy in Saver class.

There is also a more restricted sale offering 25% off Business Class redemptions.

Full details are here on the Emirates website.

Unfortunately, just as World Traveller redemptions are generally a very poor use of Avios points, economy redemptions are generally a bad use of Skywards miles.

I did a dummy Economy booking from Heathrow to Dubai for mid April.  The flight came out as 22,500 miles plus £213 of taxes and charges.

Given that you can usually get cash tickets down to Dubai for around £350, this is clearly not great value for your miles.  The only upside would be if you needed the flexibility to cancel or if you were travelling at a peak period.

There are many other destinations included in the Economy sale and some may offer a decent deal, especially for places where there is less price competition.

Seats must be booked by 31st March for travel between 13th April and 23rd June 2016.

There is also a 25% discount on Business Class Saver redemptions – but not to everywhere.

From Europe, you are restricted to the following destinations:

Asia-Pacific: Adelaide, Auckland, Bangkok, Brisbane, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Perth, Singapore and Sydney

Middle East: Dubai, Muscat

West Asia / Indian Ocean: Colombo, Male, Mauritius and Seychelles

The travel and booking dates are the same as for the Economy sale.

Remember that Emirates is an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner and that your points will go across instantly once your accounts are linked.

Full details can be found on the Emirates website here.

How to earn Emirates Skywards miles from UK credit cards (December 2021)

Emirates Skywards does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Emirates Skywards miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.  These are:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 20,000 Emirates Skywards miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with two free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 30,000 Emirates Skywards miles

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 5,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 5,000 Emirates Skywards miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Emirates Skywards miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Emirates Skywards mile. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.