Get 1.4p per American Express Membership Rewards point with Emirates flights

Emirates has launched a very generous promotion for its ‘cash and miles’ service – see here.

‘Cash and miles’ is the Emirates offer which allows you to reduce the cost of a cash flight by redeeming Emirates Skywards miles. As you are redeeming miles as part payment for a cash ticket, you can do this on any flight.

If you book in the next few days, you will get excellent value for your miles:

• 0.7p per Skywards mile in Economy (2,000 miles for £14 off)

• 1.4p per Skywards mile in Business and First Class (10,000 miles for £140 off)

Here are the key dates:

• Book by 21st November
• Fly by 31st March
• Offer valid on all Emirates and flydubai services
• Applies to “Special”, “Saver”, “Flex” and “Flex Plus” tickets 

Here’s the key point. American Express Membership Rewards points transfer 1:1 into Emirates Skywards, and the transfers are usually instant. First-time transfers may take 30 minutes.

Without wishing to state the obvious, getting 1.4p per American Express Membership Rewards point for a Business Class flight is outstanding value.

If the flight you want is available for ‘standard’ Emirates Skywards redemptions then you may get a better deal by booking a regular mileage ticket. That said, if you can find a cheap enough cash deal, ‘cash and miles’ may be better regardless of whether a Skywards miles seat is available.

The only issue is that Emirates is running a Black Friday event from 24th to 29th November. I haven’t got any pricing details yet, but there is a risk that a flight you book under the ‘cash and miles’ deal suddenly looks a poorer deal next Friday. Sadly the ‘cash and miles’ deal needs to be booked by 21st November so you can’t combine the two.

You can find details of the ‘cash and miles’ deal on the Emirates website here.

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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.