I suspect this isn't the first thread on this issue, but I was giving it some though yesterday about EK and Skywards points. The points aren't that valuable, I believe, especially with the reduced reward availability these days.

But, let's take this example, just because I travel it quite a bit:

YYZ-DXB-DAC-DXB-YYZ on EK
Typically, in Y, this ticket would run you $1600 off-peak commencing from YYZ and around $1400 off-peak commencing from DAC.

The basic miles on this RT journey is just over 18,000; the 25% Silver tier bonus brings the total to 22,500 or so. That is essentially only 10% less than what is required for a 25,000 mile reward redemption on United, for a Canada/Alaska/USA ticket. Sometimes, these tickets (especially Canada-USA) can run up to $500. That CONSIDERABLY reduces the effective cost of the EK Y-class ticket to say, even $1000; that's a pretty decent price for a YYZ-DAC-YYZ on Emirates!

Now, you're probably thinking.. It just works out that way because of Skywards Silver. But, when you have one RT trip giving you 18,000 of 25,000 miles required, it doesn't take much to hit Silver.

Sorry for the rambling; I know this is quite common knowledge, but it is neat to use rewards where they provide decent value!

-t.