Emirates adding a second London Stansted Boeing 777 flight from June

Those of use who were sceptical when Emirates announced its Stansted service last year – and you can count me amongst them – have been proved wrong.

A 2nd daily service from Stansted to Dubai will launch on 1st July.  Importantly, it will be another Boeing 777-300ER featuring the amazing new Emirates First Class Suite which I reviewed here.

Even better, the outbound flight is not overnight.  It leaves Stansted at 15.00, arriving at 01.05.  This means that you will get full value from the First Class Suite if you try it.  The return is also better timed, leaving Dubai at 14.15 and arriving at 18.45, which is more convenient than the current 09.00 departure.

You can find out more about the new First Class Suite 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.