Get £200 cashback with Emirates flights via American Express – with restrictions

American Express has launched a new cashback deal with Emirates.  You can see if you are targeted by looking in the ‘Offers’ section of your online statement for each Amex card you have.

It is quite restrictive, unfortunately, but could be very juicy if your employer lets you book flights on your personal credit card.

If targetted, you will receive a £200 statement credit when you spend £1,800 on Business or First Class flights via emirates.com before 8th November.

The flights need to depart from a UK airport.

Now …. it is possible, but no means certain, that the offer would also trigger if you spent £1,800 on Economy flights or on taxes and charges for Emirates Skywards redemptions.  American Express is not very clever at knowing what you have bought.

For example, many people have a Google Store offer at present which offers £75 back on a £375 purchase.  The description implies that it is only valid on a Pixel 3a phone but is actually triggering with any purchase.

The Emirates website is here if you want to check prices for any upcoming trips.

Remember that you earn Avios and British Airways tier points when you fly Emirates as long as you book them under the Qantas codeshare flight numbers.  This won’t help you with this offer, though, as the Emirates website will only sell you tickets with EK flight numbers.

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.