Bits: get bonus miles with Kaligo hotels, Emirates scraps free wi-fi

News in brief:

New Kaligo.com hotel deals for bonus miles

Hotel booking group Kaligo.com is currently running a very generous Avios promotion.   You will receive 5,000 Avios with £500 of cumulative spend or 10,000 Avios with £1,000 of cumulative hotel spend when you book before 11th July (your stays can be later). Details are in this HfP article and you can book here.  Both new and existing customers can take part.

If are looking for something other than Avios, Kaligo.com has launched two other offers which are valid with ALL of its airline partners – which means pretty much every major airline scheme going.

Offer 1 – 1,000 bonus miles with your first booking of $300 equivalent or more (click here)

Offer 2 – 20% bonus miles with your first booking (click here)

For most people, the first deal will be the most generous as long are you are spending $300+.  Remember that hotels booked via Kaligo.com are treated as third party bookings so you will not receive any hotel loyalty points on top – it is best used for non-chain bookings or at chains where you do not have status.

Both of these offers are for bookings made by 28th June (the stay can be later) and are for new Kaligo.com customers only.

Emirates scraps free wi-fi

Emirates has always had one of the most generous wi-fi policies.  You received 10 MB for free and a further 600 MB for a token $1, although the downside of this was a relatively slow service due to the number of users.

From 14th June, it has changed its policy.  In Business Class, wi-fi will be free if you are a member of the Emirates Skywards loyalty scheme.  Importantly, you cannot sign up during the flight itself.

For Business Class travellers who are not in Emirates Skywards, and for all Economy Class passengers, the charges are:

Free – 10 MB of data

$9.99 – up to 150 MB of data

$15.99 – up to 500 MB of data

Unless you are on a very long flight, Emirates suggests the $9.99 package, on the grounds that the speed isn’t good enough for video streaming anyway.

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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:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 15,000 Emirates Skywards miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

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.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 37,500 Emirates Skywards miles

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.

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 7,500 Emirates Skywards miles. This card is FREE for life.

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.