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You can now purchase access to the Emirates First Class Lounge in Dubai

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In what may be a sign of things to come with other airlines, Emirates Skywards members can now pay to access the impressive Business and First Class Lounges at Dubai International Airport regardless of the class they are travelling in.

The A380 pier at Dubai’s Terminal 3 which we covered here briefly, is technically three separate floors for Economy, Business and First Class passengers.

Each of these floors has got their own duty free shops, restaurants and bars of which the latter two are complimentary on the Business and First Class floors.  Rob will be in the First Class lounge / floor in a few weeks and will be writing a review.

For a fee Skywards members can now access the Business and/or First Class Lounge even when flying Economy.

  • Skywards Blue members can pay $100 to access the Business Class Lounge or $200 for the First Class Lounge
  • Skywards Silver and Gold members can bring guests who are on the same flight to the Business Class Lounge for $100 or the First Class Lounge for $200
  • Upgrade from Business Class Lounge to First Class Lounge costs $100

Children aged 2-12 get a 50% discount.

These prices are obviously not a bargain and it’s questionable whether an upgrade from Business to First Class is worth $100.  On the other hand, the food and drink on offer is meant to be impressive and it is no more than you would pay for a decent three course meal with champagne and fine wine in a restaurant.

If you are flying Economy and want to treat yourself to a unique lounge experience whilst waiting for your flight, $100 is not a bad price.  If you were planning to have a meal in the main terminal you would easily spend a fair proportion of this cost anyway, and you get the added benefit of getting a huge space in which to relax for up to four hours.

The terms and conditions of the deal can be found here and you can read more about the lounges here.

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How to earn Emirates Skywards miles from UK credit cards

How to earn Emirates Skywards miles from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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.

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

Membership Rewards points convert at 4:3 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 0.75 Emirates Skywards miles

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it, not just with Emirates but with any airline.

Category

Emirates and Emirates Skywards

Comments (35)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Raymond Hennessy says:
    29 Jan29 January 14:21

    O/T. Looking at yesterdays article on the offer for the Nerf guns, would like to buy a pair for the grand kids. Do you think there would be any issues carrying these in checked luggage(LHR-BUD).
    To most people these are obviously toys but I would hate to lose them to some jobsworth at LHR.

    • the real harry1 says:
      29 Jan29 January 15:32

      checked luggage would be fine

      definitely NOT OK in hand luggage, though – fairly sure to be confiscated by 80% of security staff

      [we had a bit of luck at Xmas, I was carrying a big make-up kit for my daughter and rather dimly had not realised there was quite a bit of liquid involved – had to turn on the charm & jolly up the agents but they were very nice about it and hid what was going on (the present & check etc) from my kids & let me get away with it]

  • Nick_C says:
    29 Jan29 January 15:56

    O/T but could anyone give me some information about the Lloyds Avios cards?

    Just got my first statement dated 26th correctly showing Avios earnings to far. Nothing in my Avios account yet. Are transfers done at the end of the calendar month, or the end of the statement month?

    Also, for the £2500 limit on Amex to get double Avios, is this per statement month or per calendar month?

    Many thanks.

    • Liz says:
      29 Jan29 January 20:59

      There is a link problem with some Lloyds accounts including ours. You need to phone Lloyds and speak to them and lodge the complaint that your points haven’t transferred. We called again last week when our 2nd months points didn’t transfer but they are now giving a timescale of 12 weeks to fix the problem and deal with the backlog – we will keep phong each month till it gets resolved – points will post eventually. Double points I assume will be from date of application but not 100% sure – that’s what I will go on anyway. Also double check Lloyds haven’t opened a second Avios account first.

      • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
        30 Jan30 January 11:15

        If it has been eight weeks already, I’d escalate to FOS to straighten it out.

        • Nick_C says:
          30 Jan30 January 16:35

          Thanks. Its been less than a week so far, so I’ll give them another couple of days before I chase it. I wasn’t sure if they were paid at the end of the statement month or the calendar month, but I’ve re-read the T&Cs and see it should be the statement month.

  • Roger says:
    29 Jan29 January 16:34

    OT: TIP for new AY route

    Just discovered looking at new AY routes, FinnAir is starting a new service between HEL to GOI (GOA) in India from late November. I think it it s twice a week.
    In Y that is only 20K AA miles + £105 in taxes. Very cheap way to go to GOA.

  • Alan says:
    29 Jan29 January 17:05

    I used the Emirates First lounge when flying back from Melbourne in QF First – it’s certainly nice (I had breakfast and a shower then a drink at the gate, not at all interesting in the shopping), but I wouldn’t be rushing to spend $100 upgrade or $200 upgrade for sure!

  • Talay says:
    29 Jan29 January 23:21

    Can you imagine a someone from economy actually paying the $200 upgrade fee and then wanting to get value for it ?

    As they have to go back to the cheap seats and poor food once back on the plane then they would surely gorge themselves on everything to get maximum value.

    Not sure I like this idea but in any case, if you know where you are going, you can walk into the EY lounge in AUH without anyone stopping you.

  • Matteo says:
    30 Jan30 January 03:44

    My girlfriend went to the business class lounge over the weekend and tried to purchase an entry. She was told that because her next flight was in 7 hours she had to pay 200 USD as the 100USD rate is for 4 hours instalment only. This seems, however, to run contrary to the terms and conditions which specify that the additional charge is due only if the guest remains in the lounge beyond the initial 4 hours, rather than at the time of entry. I guess they have no capacity to check the length of stay at the lounge at the time of exit, but this makes the costly entrance fee even less appealing.

  • Steve Gill says:
    30 Jan30 January 10:05

    I was in the DXB lounge 2 weeks ago. It is busy, but my biggest gripe is the toilets are tiny – far too small for the number of people the lounge can hold.

    There was a queue about 6 or 7 people deep, which to me is unacceptable in a business lounge.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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