HOW TO BOOK EMIRATES BUSINESS CLASS WITH MILES AND POINTS
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If you’ve been a long time Instagram follower of mine you know that I love to fly to Europe and that I typically fly in economy. When you are traveling on points with a family, you really have to make those points stretch. My motto is “two flights are better than one”. Well, last summer, my teen and I flew Emirates business class to Italy and it just might have changed my mind on how we will fly in the future. It was wonderful and I want each of you to experience it.
Emirates has two “fifth-freedom’ flights from the U.S. to Europe. Fifth freedom flights are flights that don’t originate or end in the airline's home country. These flights allow us to book this top rated business class seat without flying to Dubai.
HOW WE BOOKED
Last Fall, we discovered that there was a ton of award availability for summer. I was able to find three business class flights and immediately booked them. Often in the points world, we tend to have a ‘book first, ask questions later’ mentality when a good deal comes around.
I booked our flights at the time for just 72,500 points plus $103 per person, each way. Since that booking, business class Saver award prices have increased to 87,000 points one way. Still a fantastic deal.
HOW TO EARN POINTS
The easiest and fastest way to earn Emirates Skywards miles is to earn points from a flexible points credit card that transfers to Emirates. Lucky for us, three transferable points programs transfer to Emirates which make earning enough points for not only one but two to three business class flights totally attainable.
That means you can transfer points from American Express, Citi ThankYou or Capital One into your Emirates account to earn enough points. I transferred Chase points and Venture miles to my Emirates account to book these flights. Not only that, you can now book Emirates flights on partners Air Canada (more difficult to find) and Japan Airlines (a Capital One transfer partner).
Updated August 2025: To book Emirates Business class you’ll need 87k points each way plus fees of around $433. The fees were increased summer of 2025 from $105 to $433. I still think it’s a fantastic deal. American Airlines charges $750 on many of the international business class flights to Europe and Emirates blows American out of the water in my opinion.
87k points for Emirates Business Class to Europe on the A380 double decker
Emirates is a transfer partner of the following points programs:
American Express Membership Rewards®
Capital One Venture Miles
Citi ThankYou Points
But wait, there’s more. If you book on partner airline, Air Canada, you can book Emirates Business Class for just 76k points. That’s a savings of 11k points per person each way. I will say these are nearly impossible to find. You can transfer points to Air Canada from the following flexible points programs:
Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points
American Express Membership Rewards®
Capital One Venture Miles
You can now book Emirates flights on Japan Airlines - a Capital One Transfer Partner. Here’s how I recommend searching
Create a Japan Airline loyalty account - it must be open 7-60 days before you can book an award flight
Buy a one month subscription to seats.aero (just $9.99)
Click Explore>Click on Qantas>
Once you find dates that are available on Qantas you can log into your JAL account and search for exact flights.
Emirates Business Class booked on Air Canada for just 76k points plus $77!
We transferred points earned from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and from the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card we both got last year. Remember, many side hustles such as reselling on Facebook Marketplace, driving for Uber or tutoring will qualify you for a business credit card. Please note, Chase removed Emirates as a transfer partner in 2025.
Capital One Venture Rewards cards are great options. Both of them have welcome offers of 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 within 3 months. Both Venture cards earn 2x miles per dollar, which means you’ll have 83,000 miles after meeting the minimum spend. You could top off your Emirates account with UR points or from referral points
A note about american express membership rewards and citi thank you points
While Emirates is a transfer partner of both American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou programs, both have been devalued this summer. Starting September 16, 2025, the transfer ratio from Amex Membership Rewards to Emirates is going from 1:1 to 5:4. This means you’ll need 108,750 Amex points to book the 87k flight.
Starting July 27, 2025, Citi reduced their transfer ratio to Emirates from 1:1 to 1:0.8. Which means 87,000 Citi points are equal to only 69,600 Emirates points.
HOW TO SEARCH:
There are two ways to search and book flights on Emirates. First is on Emirates Airways website itself or, I prefer to use a award search tool like seats.aero or point.me that finds these flights for me. If you want to try to find the lowest priced flights on Air Canada, I would start on an award search tool since they are nearly impossible to find anymore.
Before you can start searching for flights, you need to create a free Emirates Skyward and Air Canada Aeroplan loyalty account and log in. Make sure your name matches exactly the name from the flexible points program you will be transferring points from.
ROUTES TO SEARCH:
JFK - MXP (NYC - Milan)
EWR - ATH (Newark, NJ - Athens)
Remember, these are the only two routes that offer the fifth freedom route. If you try to find this flight from LAX to Milan, you won’t be able to find it.
I find it easier to search for flights one-way at a time. Emirates only allows you to search +/- 3 days from the date you entered. If you are searching for a roundtrip flight, Emirates will show you the date range you entered award pricing for.
Pro Tip: To save time, I think it’s worth paying for a monthly subscription to an award flight finder like seats.aero. A one-month pass is only $9.99, and you have the option of canceling at any time. This award flight search tool has the capability of searching for multiple dates at a time which is easier than searching a twelve-month calendar three days at a time.
If Milan and Athens aren’t in your plans, that’s ok. The goal is to fly business class across the pond. It’s super easy to book a cheap intra-Europe flight or hop on a train to almost anywhere.
HOW TO BOOK:
Once you confirm award seats are available on Emirates or Air Canada, you can then log into your flexible points account and transfer the points to your Emirates or AC account. For me, the transfer was instant from Chase. After I transferred my points, I went back to Emirates and booked the flights.
I was able to choose my seats at time of booking without paying extra.
YOU CAN READ MY REVIEW OF OUR EMIRATES A380 BUSINESS CLASS EXPERIENCE IN THIS POST!
GOOD TO KNOW
Book Roundtrip. A one-way flight in Emirates business class will run you 87k points each way on Emirates. But, if you book a roundtrip Saver award, you’ll pay just 108k points for a roundtrip flight. A much better deal if you have the points and can find award availability (which isn’t always easy to find).
Emirates has a generous change/cancellation policy on their Flex tickets. I originally booked three one-way tickets, but after my husband's unplanned surgery in February, we decided we needed to cancel his flight. Emirates was wonderful to work with. No long wait times when I called. Miles and fees were refunded within 30 days.
There are two different aircraft that fly the fifth freedom route. The A380 double decker and the 777. The A380 has a 1-2-1 layout and has the onboard bar and flies between JFK and Milan (MXP). The 777 flies between Newark and Athens (EWR-ATH) has a 2-3-2 layout which isn’t ideal and has less privacy, and if you’re in the middle you may not have direct aisle access but is still considered a fantastic business class product. There is no on-board bar on the 777.
Make sure that you enter your flight number into Seat Guru or aeroLOPA before you make your seat selection to make sure you pick the best seat.
Happy Travels!
