Emirates Created a Currency. Now They’re Devaluing It.
“Hi, Mr Ahmed, welcome back and thank you for being a loyal Skywards member. I’m the manager on board today; please let me know if you need anything at all.”
That line. That’s why I’ve maintained Emirates Skywards Gold for years. The recognition, the perks, the feeling that your loyalty really means something.
But here’s the thing: Emirates has been quietly, and sometimes not so quietly, making that loyalty worth less every single year. And if you’re a flydubai flyer? You might as well not have a status at all.
How Did We Get Here?
Emirates Skywards has over 37 million members. That’s three times the population of the UAE. The programme celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, and for an airline that didn’t exist before 1985, that’s massive!
The formula was simple: fly Emirates, earn miles, have a great experience. Silver members get lounge access in Dubai, priority boarding, and some extra baggage allowance. Gold members get lounge access worldwide with a guest, even more luggage, and special treatment. Platinum members get the keys to the kingdom: First Class lounges, home check-in, a Gold card for their spouse, and guaranteed seats even on full flights.
It worked. People chased status. They routed trips through Dubai just to stay loyal.
Then something shifted...
The Slow Squeeze
I’m not going to list every change, just the ones that pinched the most.
December 2022: The Quiet Devaluation - Emirates rolled out a significant award (upgrade) price increase between December 2022 and January 2023. The number of Skywards Miles required to upgrade to Business Class increased substantially on popular routes, some of which nearly doubled. First Class upgrades followed the same trend.
Their explanation? “Current market conditions”.
No warning. No consideration for people midway through saving for a redemption. Just more miles required, effective immediately.
May 2025: First Class Becomes Elite-Only - Emirates announced, with barely any notice, that Skywards Blue members could no longer upgrade to First Class. Only Silver, Gold, and Platinum members can now redeem miles for First Class.
This one targeted the “points tourists” directly. You know the type: sign up for an Amex, collect the welcome bonus, convert to Skywards, book a one-time First Class suite for Instagram, then never engage with the programme again.
Emirates essentially said: if you want the flagship product, prove you’re actually loyal first.
The UAE Card Squeeze - Here’s where it hits home for those of us in the UAE.
Skywards credit cards have become progressively more expensive. Annual fees have crept up. Joining fees have appeared. And if you want Gold status through your card? There’s now a status fee on top.
Take a Skywards Black card, arguably the best Skywards-earning card on the market. To get Skywards Gold status, you’re looking at an AED 2,100 annual fee plus AED 3,675 in status fees after meeting the qualifying Emirates spend. That’s AED 5,775 per year, just to hold the status for 12 months.
Sign-up bonuses? They’ve either dried up or come with stricter spending requirements, which make them harder to exploit.
Upgrade costs with miles? Shot up. The value you get when using Cash+Miles? Worse than it used to be. The cost of buying miles? It has remained the same, which means you’re paying the same price for a currency that buys you less.
The pattern is consistent: earning stays flat, redemption costs rise, and the price of entry keeps climbing.
The flydubai Problem
Here’s where it gets personal.
Emirates and flydubai share the same loyalty programme. Same tiers. Same Skywards Miles. Same membership number. But the benefits? Not even close.
As a Gold member on Emirates:
Business Class lounge access worldwide, plus a guest
Priority boarding across the network
75% bonus miles on every flight
+16kg baggage allowance
Free seat selection up to Preferred Seats
As a Gold member on flydubai:
Lounge access at Terminal 2—for me only. No guest.
75% bonus miles, but flydubai tickets earn a fraction of what Emirates tickets do
Same extra baggage, so that’s something
No free seat selection. I have to pay like a first-time flyer
No option to upgrade with miles
The lounge restriction and the seat selection? They sting. I’m a Skywards Gold member. I earnt it. I maintained it. But when I fly flydubai with my wife, I don’t use the lounge, because I’m not going to walk in and leave her outside, right?
Same programme. Same status. Completely different experience.
So What’s Actually Going On?
Here’s my theory.
The currency got out of hand
Skywards aren’t just points. They’re a currency. They can be exchanged for discounted tickets, used to upgrade to cabins that cost five times more, or shared with family members.
Over the years, more ways to earn this currency appeared: credit card welcome bonuses, partner transfers, retail earnings through Skywards Everyday, and more. Before long, many people were holding significant “Emirates money” without ever paying Emirates directly.
I think Emirates looked at the redemption patterns and saw a problem: too many people cashing in miles they didn’t earn through actual flying. The devaluations, the fee increases, the elite-gating of First Class... it’s all supply control. They started tightening how much external spending power people had over their supply.
flydubai is a funnel
Here’s a thought that might be controversial: flydubai’s weak Skywards benefits aren’t an oversight. They’re intentional.
If you’re an Emirates Skywards member flying flydubai, you’re supposed to feel under-appreciated. That feeling is designed to nudge you toward Emirates next time.
Think about it: if you exclusively fly flydubai, you will never earn enough to reach Silver, let alone Gold or Platinum. The earning rate is that low. You’d need to fly nearly every single day to accumulate meaningful Tier Miles to reach Silver. Maybe.
So why does flydubai even have Skywards? My guess: it’s brand exposure. A marketing play. The programme exists on flydubai to remind you that Emirates, where the programme actually works, is right there.
They’re protecting exclusivity
Emirates doesn’t want a repeat of what happened to Amex Centurion Lounges, where “exclusive” spaces now have queues out the door.
If everyone has Gold status, Gold status means nothing. If everyone can upgrade, the upgrade experience isn’t special. If everyone boards first... that’s just boarding.
I think Emirates is deliberately keeping status harder to achieve and more expensive to maintain because they’re protecting the experience for those who do make it. A full Business Class lounge with people who earnt their way in beats an overcrowded one filled with people who gamed the system.
Harsh? Maybe. But it tracks.
Where Does That Leave Us?
I’m still a Skywards fan. I carry the Black card. I maintain Gold. I’ll keep flying Emirates when I can.
But I’m watching the programme become something different from what it used to be. More exclusive. More expensive. More deliberately closed off to outsiders.
If you’re casually collecting Skywards miles hoping to book that First Class suite someday, the rules have changed. Emirates has made it clear: this programme is for the committed, not the curious. And if you’re not ready to commit, consider other loyalty programmes altogether.
And if you’re a flydubai regular, wondering why your loyalty isn’t being rewarded? You’re not imagining it. That might actually be the point.
The question I keep coming back to: is Emirates getting this balance right? Tighter control protects the experience, but push too hard, and loyalty starts to feel like a bad deal.
I’d love to hear from other Skywards members. Are you feeling the squeeze or still finding value?
Drop a comment. Let’s talk.