Emirates Slaps Award Tickets to Europe & Colombia with Nasty Fee Hikes

Even as Emirates raised award rates and tacked on exorbitant fees on its marquee routes to and from Dubai (DXB), the airline’s funky fifth-freedom routes to Europe and beyond escaped largely unscathed, making the Middle Eastern airline one of the best ways to cross the pond using points. But now the bill has come due … big time. 

Overnight and without a word of warning, Emirates drastically increased surcharges on its flights from New York City (JFK) to Milan (MXP) and Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH) in both economy and business class, as Tim Ritsema (aka @travelmugpoints) first spotted. But the hikes extend to the airline’s flight from Miami (MIA) down to Bogota (BOG) and back – and even when booking Emirates First Class through a partner airline program like Qantas.

For example, taxes and fees on a one-way business class flight to Europe that previously cost just $100 or so now clock in at $434. Throw in a return flight and you’ll fork over the same 108,000-mile rate (or more) … but $910 in taxes and fees. Woof.

Just a day or two ago, this same roundtrip redemption from New York to Milan would have cost just $250 or so in fees. 

Do the math, and those taxes and fees nearly quadrupled overnight. While it’s not quite that bad, the pain even extends to cheaper economy redemptions.

Booking Emirates economy over to Europe has long been a bargain, at just 35,000 miles and about $140 total. But now, those same roundtrip bookings will cost you nearly $290 – more than doubling. 

It’s unclear whether Emirates also increased surcharges when using its own Emirates Skywards to book a first class seat on these routes. The airline now blocks travelers from booking its premier cabin using miles unless they have Emirates elite status.

But all signs point to “yes,” considering booking a first class award through Qantas – the best workaround available today to score a ride in Emirates First Class – will now require twice the cash. For example, this first class redemption from Miami to Bogota cost less than $102 a few days ago – and ditto for business class. 

Taxes and fees on that South America route are also up significantly when booking using Emirates’ own miles, too. Put it all together, and it’s a brutal devaluation. 

With the ability to transfer points from all the major banks and few options to book through partner programs, Emirates Skywards was a steady option for years. But something is clearly shifting in Dubai: It’s clear the Emirati airline is rethinking its loyalty program as a whole. 

For starters, the airline began blocking travelers without status from booking first class award tickets this spring. As of this week, Citi ThankYou Points no longer transfer to Emirates on a 1:1 basis – a downgrade American Express will copy in a few months’ time. Representatives from Chase, Capital One, and Bilt have said they have no plans to do the same, but we’ll see about that…

Bottom Line

Emirates has done it again. 

On the heels of plenty of other negative news for points and miles aficionados, the airline just increased surcharges on popular redemptions over to Europe and down to South America, too. Whether you book using Emirates’ own Skywards miles or use a partner airline like Qantas, it’ll cost you significantly more than before.