One of the best ways to fly to Europe using miles and points is to avoid flying on a U.S. airline. And even better, don’t fly on a European one. Emirates flies from New York to Milan and Athens and right now business class award space is wide open for two or more passengers most dates February through November on both routes. This deal was first spotted by Thrifty Traveler‘s premium airfare deal alert service.
Even better, Emirates is a partner of pretty much every transferable currency: American Express, Chase, Capital One, Citibank, Bilt and Brex. So you probably have easy access to these points. Moreover,
- Expect to pay just 125,000 miles roundtrip
- And Emirates no longer adds fuel surcharges to redemptions on their flights
Here’s availability for two passengers in November (month chosen at random) on the Newark – Athens route:
And here’s what that same month looks like for New York JFK – Milan.
Bear in mind that Newark – Athens is served by an Emirates Boeing 777 which has an inferior business class. However New York JFK – Milan gets the Airbus A380 again starting March 1, and I’d expect that they will re-open use of the onboard bar once the Omicron wave of the virus passes.
You’ll around the same miles flying Emirates business class roundtrip than you’d use Delta miles on a business class one way to Europe. And fewer miles than United charges, while avoiding the draconian fuel surcharges that American AAdvantage passes along on British Airways itineraries for similar miles.
“Expect to pay just 90,000 miles round-trip”… Doesn’t apply all summer. Availability is there but pricing is higher
Pity they don’t fly to the west coast.I wouldn’t want to connect through Dubai.
I’m not seeing a single 90k date, almost all come up as 125k. Anyone else?
Better make sure you are going. No way to keep Emirates miles from expiring.
@Gary: the bar on the A380 has been open for a long time. Flew them multiple times in the past 2 months and the only difference is how the snack are displayed. Everything else is pretty much the same as it was before.
Any more word on Emirates canceling/freezing award bookings of newly opened accounts? Was reading some instances of people transferring points in, booking a ticket and then the booking frozen or canceled. I was wanting to fly with them, but I have no history with Emirates and would hate to have that happen.
I’m not sure if I would want to fly on Emirates given their safety issues. One of their 777s had a very close call in Dubai about a month ago.
“And Emirates no longer adds fuel surcharges to redemptions on their flights”
Is this on certain types of flights? I was charged $420 for a ow MLE-IAD in FC for a flight in October booked a few months ago…
@James. Good question. I’d also be wary of Emirates, given its recent history of canceling/freezing accounts and bookings.
@Angel – that was true since fall 2020 – until earlier this month
Emirates eliminated the round trip discount where it was 90K round trip in business US-Europe. Now it’s 62.5K each way with no discount for booking round trip vs one way.
Can you book just one person for,the business class say from jfk,to Milan?
IMHO Emirates business (or First) from JFK to Milan is the best way to fly. The seat is very good (though not the best) but the experience of boarding directly from the lounge in both directions, having a nice meal and sipping champagne until the very last second before they close the door, then hanging out at the bar is second to none. And they used to pick you up in NYC and then, on arrival at MXP drive you all the way to Lugano for free if you wanted.
The free coach service to and from the airport is only available on a paid itinerary and not a C class or F class purchased with miles.