Emirates Blocked First Class Redemptions - Here’s How to Beat It
If you're sitting on a stash of Emirates Skywards miles dreaming of First Class showers and Dom Perignon at 40,000 feet, there's bad news.
If you're sitting on a stash of Emirates Skywards miles dreaming of First Class showers and Dom Perignon at 40,000 feet, there's bad news.
As of May 12, 2025, Emirates has announced that it is restricting First Class redemptions through the Skywards Frequent Flyer Program to Status holders only. Moving forward, Emirates First Class awards will only be bookable by Skywards Platinum, Gold and Silver members.
Emirates isn’t the first one to do this; airlines like Air France and Swiss have, for a long time, restricted first-class redemptions to certain eligible status holders only.
Emirates claims the goal is to improve availability for its elite members and a way to protect premium cabin inventory.
Until now, Emirates had been relatively generous in opening up First Class award space through its own program.
But all is not lost. In this post, we break down what changed, why it matters, and three workarounds that can still get you that Emirates First Class Experience.
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How to Still Book Emirates First Class
✅ 1. Upgrade Trick: Book Business, Upgrade to First
Even if you can't directly book First, you can book a Business Class seat (cash or award) and use miles to upgrade to First.
Upgrades are available to all tiers, including Blue.
You can check upgrade availability using the Miles Calculator on Emirates' website.
Confirmed upgrades can often be done at the time of booking or online check-in (depending on fare class).
✅ 2. Book through Qantas Frequent Flyer Program
For now, Qantas Frequent Flyer still shows Emirates First Class availability.
You'll need Qantas Points, which can be earned and transferred from Axis, HSBC, and SBI.
Multi-city searches often work better than one-way (a trick called the "divorced segment workaround").
Example: Booking LHR → DXB and DXB → BOM separately in First may work, even if LHR → BOM doesn't show up directly.
✅ 3. Get Instant Emirates Silver with ICICI Card
If you have Skywards Miles that you’d like to you, getting the ICICI Emirates Sapphiro Credit Card might be the easiest and quickest route. The card earns 5,000 Skywards Miles and Emirates Skywards Silver Tier membership as joining and renewal benefits.
The card comes at an annual fee of ₹5,000 per year.
❌ 4. Use Air Canada Aeroplan
I almost did not want to include this since it is usually a bad way to use your Aeroplan points, but you can use them to book Emirates First class, however the points requirement here is dynamic and it is almost always never worth it.
Final Thoughts
Emirates First remains one of the most aspirational experiences in the sky. But it now comes with higher entry barriers. But if you're willing to jump through a few hoops, Emirates First is still within reach.