Emirates has just launched a new paid membership within the Skywards rewards frequent flyer program.
The paid membership has 3 different tiers, each offering additional benefits at an increasing cost. Let’s take a look at each tier and see if it’s worth the price!
In this post:
Skywards+ Classic: $544
- 20% bonus Skywards Miles
- 20% Discount on Classic Rewards (one time)
- Preferential Cash+Miles rate
- 2X Airport Lounge Access
- Checked-in Baggage Allowance (5kg)
Skywards+ Advanced: $952
- 20% bonus Skywards Miles
- 20% Discount on Upgrade Rewards
- 20% Discount on Classic Rewards (one time)
- Preferential Cash+Miles rate
- 5X Airport Lounge Access
- Checked-in Baggage Allowance (10kg)
- Checked-in Baggage Allowance pieces (1 additional)
Skywards+ Premium: $1361
- 20% bonus Skywards Miles
- 20% Bonus Tier Miles
- 20% Discount on Upgrade Rewards
- 20% Discount on Classic Rewards (one time)
- Preferential Cash+Miles rate
- 10X Airport Lounge Access
- Checked-in Baggage Allowance (10kg)
- Checked-in Baggage Allowance pieces (1 additional)
What Tier Offers Value For Money?
Personally, I signed up for the Skywards+ Classic tier; the only perk worth anything to me is the 20% bonus Skywards Miles and the one-off 20% Discount on a Classic Reward booking. Both these benefits are the same across the tiers.
My reasoning behind this is that a 20% discount on a reward ticket for 2 people is significant enough to justify the cost. While I could use Qantas points, the fact is that Emirates has exponentially more award space available for its own members, so I thought this was a pretty good value proposition.
Obviously, there’s not much traveling going on right now, but I’m planning ahead, and 2 first-class tickets to Europe one way would save me 84,000 Skywards miles, which I value around $800.
You can join Skywards+ here.
