Points transfers from credit card rewards programs to airlines and hotels aren’t always 1:1. For instance, Accor points (ALL Accor Live Limitless) are worth 2 euro cents apiece and costly to acquire. Programs that partner with Accor transfer at less than 1:1.
However we rarely see points transfer ratios devalue. That’s one reason why bank transferable reward currencies are valuable – as a devaluation hedge. They tend not to make their points worth less, and you can transfer to a number of different places rather than putting all your eggs in one basket.
Emirates is a bit of a special case. Citi ThankYou Rewards devalues transfers to Emirates Skywards in April. And now the same change has been announced by American Express.
Effective September 16, 2025, the ratio for transferring Membership Rewards® points to Emirates Skywards® Miles will be changed from: “1 Membership Rewards point = 1 Skywards mile” to “5 Membership Rewards points = 4 Skywards miles”.
At some level this makes Amex points worth a little less. Emirates is only marginally useful as a transfer partner. Their awards are expensive and they impose draconian fuel surcharges as well. You can also transfer to Qantas and redeem saver inventory at similar or better pricing in many cases.
On the one hand, Emirates has credit card co-brand and points transfer relationships across many programs. On the other hand, they are expensive to work with (when you consider the relatively low value of their miles) and indifferent towards non-status members. Even though they sell miles to all, they really don’t value those members who transfer in points just to redeem them.
At many airlines the credit card and transfer business is bigger than the elite program. Selling miles is a profit driver in a way that selling tickets alone may not be. Emirates may benefit from this trade but also looks down on it. They’ve restricted first class awards to Skywards elite members.
Chase, Capital One and Bilt points still list 1:1 transfers to Emirates Skywards.
That’s a real shame. Quite pleased to have transferred Amex to Emirates to redeem for Business then upgrade for First recently, 773 short-haul and a380 long-haul (first time getting to ‘shower’). There are still sweet spots here, but this may diminish ‘the game’ slightly.
It sucks for points enthusiasts… but can you blame them for wanting to “protect” availability for their loyal flyers? They’re not the first to restrict award space in such a way. Though the way they are acting, I’d wish that they’d invest more on their hard product
Screw Emirates! I’ve flown their first-class product from JFK to
Milan and it was lackluster. Not worth the hassle and CLEARLY the airline doesn’t care about award redemptions. So why should we care about Emirates? Give it back to the bougie bastards and bloggers who’ over-hype this crap. Bye Felicia! (I know the phrase is outdated, but I’m not Gen Z so I don’t know what the cool kids say now).
Corporate GREED is slowly destroying the miles and points system.
Foul play is afoot.
@ Gary — Emirates is totally overrated anyways. Except for a small number of aircraft, they haven’t changed much since our first award trip in F 19 years ago. I honestly don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Their F awards certainly aren’t worth the prices being charged today.
@Gene — Even after all these years, I’m still ‘wow’d by their First Class. Business on the older cabins, especially in 2-3-2 configuration needs updating, for sure. DXB is getting older. Concourse A is better than B, C, etc. But, let’s be real, there’s still something special about Emirates (and Qatar, Singapore, JAL, ANA, and a few others.)
@Travel Hacktivist — You flew First on the a380 and had the chance to shower at 35,000 feet going 550 mph, and your takeaway was… it’s ‘lackluster’? Psh.
Maybe you’re confusing Premium Economy (a mere recliner, akin to most domestic ‘first’ in the USA, 2-4-2 config.) with actual First (1-2-1 or 1-1-1, lie-flat with the actual door, the Dom Perignon, caviar, and a shower with the a380.)
Glad I used most of my remaining miles on a United flight last year returning from Tokyo. Emirates service is generally terrible when trying to do anything with a flight. Product is overhyped and in need of a refresh outside the Game Changer F, which is only on a few aircraft.
@ 1990 — There is something special about JAL, ANA, Qatar, and Singapore, but sorry, Emirates is old and tired. All those other carriers have updated their product 1-3 times since Emirates introduced their current First more than 20 years ago.
@Gene — Emirates appears to be in the process of updating those cabins; it’s hit and miss, but this ‘miss’ isn’t that bad. Like, I certainly prefer 1-2-1 Business over 2-3-2.
You know, sometimes, Qatar doesn’t have Qsuite and it’s a bit of a letdown. Like, even for DOH-MLE, they have the old Cathay 773s with the 3-class configuration, which might be nice if you’re in First, but business is a bit dated. And heaven forbid if you get stuck on a 2-2-2 old-school business class on their a330 or 772. If only these airlines could be more consistent.
@ 1990 — J on those old CX planes is still vastly superior to the DL POS 763s! 🙂
Somebody’s got a boner for EK here!
Their tired-ass decades old aircraft need to go to the junkyard. Wake me up when they do a complete overhaul. It actually looks embarrassing. When were they last on the top 3 airlines in the world again?
I agree with this. To many points in circulation and easily availability of status levels has greatly diminished frills for many members. Reign it in some and make earning points worthwhile.
Its like the issue Carnival Cruises is having. When more then 50% of your cruisers have a high status then how is it worth anything? How do you address this? Sucks if your left out but its how it is you will move on you will accept or you wont. Either way things will work out.
@Gene — Ohho, buddy. Thems fightin’ words to our dear friend @Tim Dunn.
Ironically, I’ll be taking one of those 763s, yet again, quite soon. And you know what, I’ve learned to ‘like’ them, especially since you can purchase Main then use a GUC to DeltaOne for certain long-hauls to Europe in the older 2-class configuration. It’s still a sweet spot, in my humble opinion.
However, if DL adds Premium Economy and makes it a 3-class aircraft, it’ll be more difficult to maximize that value. Then again, perhaps 25 year old aircraft have seen their better days, and they should all be turned to cargo, replaced with more a350s. Like, are those ole girls still gonna be flyin’ in 2030?!
@ 1990 — I’ve been using miles to buy PE (or whatever Delta calls it) and then using GUCs for Suites when possible. Maybe those 763s aren’t ALL that bad!
@Gene — Depending on availability and the route, either can make good sense.
Like I was saying for the 2-class 763s, GUCs on a medium-haul, 8+ hours to Europe could be a decent deal, especially since some of the Main tickets are like $1,000 RT, so upgrading to a $5,000 roundtrip DeltaOne, lie-flat, even if older aircraft, is a good redemption in my book. About 5x value.
For instance, I used one set of GUCs for JFK-LAX-SYD, but had to purchase ‘Delta Premium Select’ to get the confirmed upgrade to ‘Delta One’ for both segments (will be Delta One Suites with the doors on the a350 at least, and should have access to Delta One lounges at both JFK, outbound, and LAX, during the layover.) I feel pretty good about it. Getting at least 5x value for that upgrade.
Had I purchased ‘Delta Main’ for this routing with the 3-class aircrafts, the GUC would only go up one category (skipping ‘Delta Comfort,’ but only to ‘Delta Premium Select,’ so a recliner, not lie-flat.) That wouldn’t be as nice for the 15+ hour flight.
Yeah, the new names and subdivisions for ‘Delta Main’ are needlessly complicated. ‘Delta Main Basic’ is the new ‘Basic Economy,’ no seat assignment, late boarding, eCredit only, no MQDs or SkyClub entry (even if you have cards/membership). Oof. Meanwhile, the difference between ‘Delta Main Classic’ and ‘Delta Main Extra,’ seems to be about refund options (‘Extra’ is refundable), and also ‘Extra’ gets more mileage earning (7 vs. 5 miles per dollar, yawn.)