Emirates: First Class still possible via Skywards points

Only elite members can book First Class directly, but there is a workaround

Emirates made significant changes to its Skywards programme in May 2025. That meant no more first-class bookings, unless you were a status of Silver or higher. That blocks a lot of travellers who leverage points from getting into the first cabin, or does it?

What were the changes around First Class?

Emirates removed the ability for basic (Blue) members of Skywards to book First Class tickets using Skywards miles. That cut out a large group of people. I have flown Emirates a number of times using points, but have zero status with them. I shift points into the programme when I need it, and I have never paid for a cash flight with Emirates.

Why did Emirates change their frequent flyer programme?

If you’re paying upwards of £10,000 for a first-class seat, then it might be a little galling to know that the person next to you paid a few hundred pounds (alongside tens of thousands of points). Limiting first-class bookings means that the cabin is reserved for those who can truly afford it. However, unsold first-class seats cost the airline money, and swapping points for tickets does shift revenue into an empty space.

Placing someone in a more premium cabin also frees up seats in the cabin below it. Business Class on Emirates is popular, so for every biz traveller who ends up in First, that allows them to sell that seat for cash. This was what I think happened to us on an Etihad flight we took last year, where we got bumped (for free) from First Class to The Residence.

How do you book First Class tickets using points with Emirates

Here’s the trick: you can still upgrade to First Class using points on bookings made directly with Emirates, and that includes upgrading bookings made using points.

You do not need to be Elite to upgrade using points. Even Skywards members on the most basic (blue) level can use this method.

We’ve booked four Business Class flights with Emirates in the last month, and two of those flights have become available to upgrade to First Class. As we had the points, we followed the simple upgrade process, and the upgrades were successful.

The cost of upgrading from Business to First was around 40,000 Skywards points per flight per person. That felt like a good deal considering the length of the flights and the level of luxury that First Class offers.

There are no guarantees that you’ll be able to upgrade. Two of the four legs we booked still do not allow for an upgrade. However, based on my experience of upgrading using points, this can change as you get closer to the flight, and the airline is more likely to let unsold seats go for points holders.

I have had issues with the upgrade process in the Emirates mobile app. For example, currently, I am unable to click the upgrade button on one of my flights. Within a browser, I can click the button and set up an alert to notify me when upgrades are available.

Finally, there is no cash element to upgrading. It is a transaction that is entirely based on points.

How quickly can you upgrade to First?

In our experience, some legs were upgradeable immediately. Two of the four flights we booked with Emirates in the last month were upgradeable immediately. One gave us the option within a week of the booking, and one we’re still waiting on.

There’s a pattern, of sorts, in the table below. The A380 was far easier to get upgrades on, with its 14 first-class seats. The 777-3 has either eight or six seats, depending on whether the aircraft has the older first-class suite. If you have six seats, then you have the new, better suites.

That 777-3 flight is just a few weeks away. A dummy booking shows that it’s the newer style First cabin with just six seats, but only one of those seats is taken. I’m hopeful that as we get even closer to takeoff, we’ll be able to upgrade, and I’ll report back if it’s possible.

How much did it cost us to upgrade?

We upgraded two flights to first class, and this is how many points it required:

• A Dubai to Manchester flight for 39,000 points each
• A Manchester to Dubai flight for 39,000 points each

The remaining two legs that we can’t yet upgrade are:

• A Dubai to Shanghai flight, quoted as 50,700 points
• A Seoul to Dubai flight, quoted as 50,700 points

Step by step – Upgrading on Emirates using points

Step 1 – Visit the Manage A Booking page

Based on my experience, do this within a browser rather than the Emirates app.

Select the itinerary that you want to upgrade, and at the top of the page, you’ll see three options. If the upgrade option is available to you, then you’ll see the “Upgrade with Skywards Miles” box. Click the “Upgrade with Miles” button.

Step 2 – Select the flight to upgrade

You’ll see a list of the legs within this booking. That might just be one leg if you’re flying a single flight with no connection. If you’re connecting in Dubai or you have a multi-city trip under one booking reference, then you may see multiple trips.

Emirates will only show the flights that have the potential to be upgraded. That doesn’t mean that you can upgrade today; it just means that it’s possible. For example, I have a booking right now where I have already upgraded one leg, and that’s no longer visible on this page. I have a second leg that could be upgraded, but there is no availability yet. You can see that in the screenshot below.

You can see in that screenshot that it tells me how many miles it would cost to upgrade (this is for two people, so it’s actually 50,700 miles per person. In the top right you can see “No availability”. That means, as of right now, there are no seats that I could use miles to upgrade into. Finally you can see the “Auto upgrade” option that I talk about later on in this article.

In the screenshot below, you can see what it looks like when a leg is upgradeable. At this poin,t I did not have the miles in my Skywards account to make the upgrade.

Step 3 – Complete the transaction.

If you have the points to upgrade, and there’s availability, then just two to go. Selecting the upgrade on the previous step will take you to the confirmation page.

When you’ve confirmed that you’re happy to continue, then you’ll be taken to the final step.

Once you’ve upgraded, you’ll get an email confirmation from Emirates, and you’ll be able to select your seat in the first class cabin.

What is Emirates auto-upgrade?

• You can set your flight to automatically upgrade when seats become available
• This happens between 60 days and 48 hours before takeoff

Emirates auto-upgrade allows you be the first in the queue for upgrades. Assuming you have the required points (and the upgrade process makes it clear how many points you need) you can set it to “auto”. If seats become available, you will be upgraded.

You’ll get an email or an optional SMS alert when this happens. This is a great way to alleviate the stress of the upgrade process, but you must have the necessary points in your account for the upgrade to proceed. That’s the challenge we face – we move points from Amex to Emirates only as we need them, and I don’t want to have 70 – 100k of points sitting in an account for months on end.