Emirates Credit Card 60,000 Mile Offer, And Cardholders Can Spend Towards Elite Status

by Gary Leff

On June 1 Emirates announced that credit card spend would count towards earning elite status on its Gulf region credit cards.

Now this offer has been extended to the U.S. market and is being paired with a bigger bonus offer of:

  • Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard® 50,000 bonus Miles after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days of enrollment
  • Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard® 60,000 bonus Miles after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days of enrollment

And both new and existing cardmembers earn 1 elite tier mile for every 4 Emirates Skywards miles earned on these cards through end of 2021. In addition, tickets booked through July 31, 2021 earn double elite tier miles as well. These combine to make elite status, currently extended until 2022, easier to earn.

Barclays announced its deal to issue Emirates credit cards in the U.S. right before the pandemic and introduced the cards last fall.

The two cards come with elite status initially, and spending on the card lets you keep that status.

  • The $99 annual fee Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard® comes with Silver status for a year, and $20,000 spend each year continues to earn that status. Silvers get complimentary seat selection and priority check-in and boarding, plus business class lounge access for themselves in Dubai.

  • The $499 annual fee Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard® comes with Gold status (the 50,000 mile tier) for a year, and $40,000 spend each year continues to earn that status. Golds can bring a guest with them into any Emirates business lounge. The card comes with Priority Pass Select (unlimited visits) and TSA PreCheck or Global Entry reimbursement (up to $100, every 5 years – so you may need to wait for benefits to expire to re-apply and get the credit).

Cardmembers’ miles don’t expire. The cards are valuable for preserving the life of miles, and for those who value Emirates status. They aren’t good for spending money on outside of earning elite status, since Emirates is a transfer partner with Chase, American Express, and Citibank and those issuers have cards which earn points faster and can be transferred to Skywards, to other programs, or spent directly for travel and other items.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. Might be good for someone who needs miles fast as the spend isn’t too onerous. The lower level card recently had a much lower SUB.

  2. A couple interesting features of the cards that didn’t appear in the post:

    1) The $499 card offers a priority pass with *unlimited* guests for free AUs also!

    2) Just having the $499 card guarantees Silver status regardless of spend (if you don’t hit Gold, you can automatically stay at Silver for good).

  3. Morris, great catch. That is indeed the most compelling benefit given no cost for AU.

    Thanks!

  4. Cool. Does anyone know what the possibility of downgrading these cards is down the line? Would love to reap the benefits for one trip but would probably not want it after a year.

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