The Ultimate Skywards Guide
 

Placeholder for everything you wanted and need to know about Skywards.

1. General info on tier levels, qualification, status matching, op-ups
2. Award travel explained (which fare bucket relates to what seat? Both for upgrades and award travel)
3. Lounge entitlements (who gains access, can I bring a guest)
4. Partner redemptions
5. Claiming Missing Miles

Earning Skywards Miles
 

How do I earn Miles with Skywards?
Skywards membership gives you two easy and direct ways to earn Skywards Miles - through flights with Emirates*, our partner airlines and through our non-flight partners. The more Miles you earn, the more rewards you can enjoy.
*Emirates and some partner airlines offer a minimum earning rate for single sector distances of less than 500 Miles.

Earning on flights
Your earning opportunities through flights occur when you fly with Emirates, or with one of our world-class partner airlines

Emirates
Every time you fly you will earn Skywards Miles based on the combination of fare purchased, cabin and zones of travel. In addition, you can also take advantage of the Skywards Miles accelerator that will offer special flight bonuses throughout the year.

Family Bonus Programme
You can also take advantage of the Family Bonus programme. Simply nominate up to eight family members and when they fly Emirates, 20% of their flown miles will be credited to your account, including bonuses for flying Business or First Class and any promotions.

Earning tier miles
Flying with Emirates also credits your account with the equivalent amount in tier miles, which help you move toward and retain the higher status of Skywards Silver or Gold membership. Once you reach these tiers, you'll gain access to exclusive benefits and rewards, including a special tier bonus when earning Skywards Miles.

Details on tier miles:

Help you progress to Skywards Silver and Skywards Gold membership levels.

• Are earned only when you fly Emirates.
• Are earned at the same rate as Skywards Miles and depend on the fare purchased, cabin and zones of travel.
• Are valid for up to 13 months.

Tier miles required to qualify and retain - Skywards Silver
25,000 Miles to be earned in a consecutive 12 month window*

Tier miles required to qualify and retain - Skywards Gold
50,000 Miles to be earned in a consecutive 12 month window*

*This means you will not lose your Miles at the end of the year if you travel in any consecutive 12-13 month period, helping you to maintain your current tier status.

Partner airlines
When you fly with one of our distinguished partner airlines listed below, you will also earn Skywards Miles.

- Continental Airlines
- Japan Airlines
- Jet Airways
- Kingfisher Airlines
- Korean Air
- South African Airways
- United Airlines
- Virgin Blue

Flight Miles at a glance:
Economy Class - Base Miles
Business Class - Additional 75%
First Class - Additional 150%

Tier bonus
Skywards Silver - Additional 1.25 Miles per mile earned
Skywards Gold - Additional 1.50 Miles per mile earned

Earning with non-flight partners
Your ability to earn Skywards Miles extends to our non-flight partners, with earning opportunities at partner hotels, or with leisure and lifestyle partners, car rental and financial institutions*.

Not only can you earn Skywards Miles through our partners, you'll receive special, member-only offers and rewards, simply because you're a Skywards member.
*Currently available only to members in Bahrain, India, Kuwait, Qatar, Australia and the UAE.

Source: ek.com

Redeeming Skywards Miles
 

What can I do with my Miles?

Skywards existing two levels of flight rewards have been renamed as Saver rewards and Flex rewards.

Saver rewards offer exceptional value if you are able to be flexible with your travel plans during busy periods.

Flex rewards offer you more reward seats and include other benefits such as allowing you to make changes easily. Best of all, Saver and Flex reward levels will be lowered on most routes, meaning even more flight reward options are within your reach.

Upgrade your flights online:
You can use your Skywards Miles to upgrade your flights online. The number of Miles required to upgrade on Emirates will depend on the type of fare initially purchased. Flex fares will require fewer Miles than Saver fares to upgrade to the next cabin.

What's more, your travel experience can be broadened with exclusive holiday and leisure rewards offered by partners.

Once you've joined, your first redemption opportunity starts for as little as 5,000 Skywards Miles, with a flight upgrade from Economy to Business Class on Emirates.

Redemption opportunities include:
Flights: Fly free with Emirates or partner airlines to hundreds of destinations worldwide, with flight rewards starting for as little as 10,000 Miles.
Upgrades: Starting from just 5,000 Skywards Miles, you can upgrade your class of travel with Emirates from either Economy to Business Class or Business to First Class.*

The number of Miles required to upgrade on Emirates will depend on the type of fare initially purchased and our new earning structure. Flex fares will require fewer Miles than Saver fares to upgrade to the next cabin.You can now upgrade your flights on-line.*First Class is only available on Emirates and to select destinations.

Hotels: Exotic Arabia nights beckon you with a choice of 16 Marriott or Renaissance hotels throughout the Middle East.

Leisure and lifestyle rewards:Experience the beauty of the desert at Maha Desert Resort, an exclusive eco-tourism resort, or immerse yourself in a cultural excursion in the United Arab Emirates with Arabian Adventures. If you're in Dubai, you can unwind with a relaxing Danat Dubai Cruise, or make a splash at Wild Wadi Water Park.

Shop at Magrudy's from a wide range of books and toys or treat yourself to Rivoli's exquisite selection of luxury goods and accessories.

Membership Tiers
 

Moving to the next level of Skywards

Skywards offers three tiers of membership - Blue, Silver and Gold.

The more you fly with Emirates, the more tier miles you'll earn, bringing you closer to the next tier of membership. As a Skywards Gold or Silver member, you enjoy additional privileges and benefits which are reserved for our most frequent travelers.

Earning Gold and Silver Status
Tier threshold for Skywards Gold and Silver Membership between a consecutive 12-13 month period:

Qualify and Retain
Silver 25,000 tier miles*
Gold 50,000 tier miles*

*Tier miles will be calculated over a flexible consecutive 12-13 month earning window.

Your tier status will be valid for any consecutive 12-13 month period. Your tier miles earned are based on a combination of fare, cabin and zones of travel. Upon achieving a higher tier (e.g. Silver), the review date to retain that tier will be set to the same month the following year, rounded off to the end of the month (i.e. 12 months, plus any residual days of the month).

Recognition and validity of the membership card will be set to the same month the following year, plus an extra 2 months, rounded off to end of the month (i.e. 14 months, plus any residual days of the month).

For example, if Silver tier is achieved on 17 July 2008, the review date will be set to 31 July 2009. Recognition and card validity would be set to 30 September 2009.

The benefits of Skywards Gold
When you become a Skywards Gold member, you are entitled to a premium level of service and privileges. In addition to all the benefits of Skywards Silver, you'll also enjoy exclusive Gold member benefits, such as:
Guaranteed seat reservations, even on fully-booked flights (restrictions apply).

• Personal travel assistance from our dedicated Gold Desk.
• Complimentary e-gate access at Dubai International Airport*.
• Access for members and a guest, to all Emirates and affiliated Business Class lounges. For lounge access in some countries, minors may need to be accompanied by an adult. Members and accompanying guest must be departing on the same Emirates flight.

Premium Skywards Opening Doors benefits from our worldwide partners.
* Available to all members residing in the United Arab Emirates, or nationals of the Gulf Co-operative Council or of the UAE's visa waiver countries:
Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the USA and the Vatican.

The benefits of Skywards Silver
Skywards Silver membership instantly entitles you to extra travel privileges, including:

• Extra Skywards Miles when you fly with Emirates.
• Excess baggage allowance.
• Priority check-in.
• Exclusive lounge access to Emirates Business Class lounge at Gate 122 at Dubai International Airport when the member is departing on an Emirates flight. Minors may need to be accompanied by an adult.

List Of Fare Buckets On Emirates
 

Fare Buckets

P - First Class Suite
F - First Class Seat
A - First Class Revenue / Flex Award
Z - First Class Saver Award / Upgrade Award

J - Business Class
I - Business Class (may include Saver Fares)
O - Business Class (may include Saver Fares)
C - Business Class Revenue / Flex Award
D - Business Class Saver Award / Upgrade Award

Y - Economy Class
E - Economy Class
R - Economy Class
W - Economy Class
M - Economy Class
B - Economy Class
U - Economy Class (may include Saver Fares)
K - Economy Class (may include Saver Fares)
H - Economy Class (may include Saver Fares)
Q - Economy Class (may include Saver Fares)
L - Economy Class (may include Saver Fares)
T - Economy Class (may include Saver Fares)
V - Economy Class (may include Saver Fares)
X - Economy Class (may include Saver Fares)
W - Economy Class Revenue / Flex Award
X - Economy Class Partner Awards
N - Economy Class Saver Award

Author: B747-437B

I agree to some extent. The idea here is to prevent the same questions from being repeated, and also provide an easy access to a wealth of information that is only available through FT. Such as the restrictions with the guaranteed seat for Golds, or policies for gifting miles that people keep misunderstanding, or for example that you can't earn miles on Jet airways flights between India and DXB.

We do need some amount of general info too, but I thought a list of FAQs might be useful here.

I believe the addl miles are 25% and 50% respectively so .25 and .50.. total miles would be 1.25 and 1.50 IMO..

Using up the miles is a breeze!!
 

I used my skywards miles for the first time going from cleveland to new york and it was a breeze. it took me less than 5 mins to get a free tixket (you have to pay tax..which was all of $5). I LIKE!

Sorry to dampen your joy but 25k miles for a domestic ticket (how much would it have cost?) is terrible value for miles.

Skywards FAQs
 

I'm starting a post to build up a list of Skywards related FAQs. This list is in no way inclusive. The answers are accurate to the best of my knowledge, but please make suggestions and corrections. I'm listing these in no order at the moment, and we can work on formatting them once there is enough content.

1. How do I get an upgrade on Emirates?
   You can upgrade either by paying the fare difference between cabins, redeem miles for an upgrade, or receive an operational (free) upgrade.
   
2. How to check availability of mileage upgrades?
   Check availability of D (Business) or Z (First) on ExpertFlyer.
   Go to Manage a Booking on emirates.com and use the feature to upgrade using miles.
   Try making a dummy Saver redemption on the date/ route you desire. The fare buckets used are the same as those for upgrades.
   
3. How far in advance are upgrades made available?
   No one really knows, but it seems like on some routes a few upgrades are made available well in advance of a flight, and subsequently these are only made available a few weeks to a few days before a flight, depending on loads.
   
4. When can I use miles to upgrade?
   Online upgrades can be processed up to 6 hours before the flight. Gold and Silver Skywards members can request an upgrade at check in, in the lounge or onboard. Note that you would forfeit the additional baggage allowance or Chauffeur drive associated with the higher cabin.
   
5. How are operational upgrades processed?
   Upgrades are supposed to be processed in order or status - VIPs, IO, Gold, Silver, Blue, non-Skywards members. They are usually processed at check in where the new boarding pass is given, but may sometimes be processed at the lounge or at the gate.
   
6. When can I use the Emirates Lounges?
   Business Class Lounges may be used by First and Business passengers and Skywards Gold members. Gold members may accompany a guest (who is supposed to be on the same flight) to the Business Lounge.
   
   First Class Lounges may be used by First passengers and Skywards IO members.
   
   At DXB T1, the Business Class Lounge beside Gate 122 may be used by Skywards Silver members.
   
7. How do I know my fare bucket?
   
   
8. How does the qualification year work?
   
9. What are the best seats on the A380?
   
   Economy - 68 A/K, 81 A/K for a solo passenger. 45 DEFG for one or more passengers. 67 BC/ HJ or 80 BC/ HJ for two adults (emergency exit row)
   
   Business - Window seats followed by the aisle seats followed by the inner seats for solo pax. Inner seats are good for pax flying together.
   
10. Is the family bonus program worth it?
    

To be completed later...

Hi,

I'm trying to get an overview on what I can spend Skywards Miles on e.g. what can i get for 5k Miles, what I can get for 12k miles, etc. Does this information exist anywhere?
Thanks!

Look on the the Miles Calculator on the website. Will tell you all you need to know:

http://www.emirates.com/account/engl...owinterim=true