Emirates Skywards miles have been among the easiest miles in the world to earn, as the airline partners with virtually all the major credit card companies like American Express, Chase, Capital One, and more. Transfer 17,500 points from a *chase sapphire preferred* or *amex gold* to an Emirates account and you can book a one-way in economy from the U.S. to Europe – or 102,000 points to make the trip in Emirates First Class.
But something is shifting. As Doctor of Credit first noticed, both Chase and American will suspend the ability to transfer points to Emirates Skywards next month. American Express merely says that option will be “temporarily unavailable” as of May 28, while Chase explicitly warns that the ability to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Emirates may not return until “tentatively June 30, 2025.”
A spokesperson from American Express confirmed that the suspension of transferring points would be temporary while a Chase representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Either way, you've got just under a month to transfer points from either American Express or Chase to Emirates before this goes dark.
Emirates is also a Capital One transfer partner and a Bilt transfer partner, but neither company shows a similar warning about transferring points to Emirates as of publication. But this didn't exactly come out of nowhere … because there's also Citi.
Just last week, Citi announced that transferring ThankYou points from cards like the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card will take a big hit this summer: They'll go from a 1,000:1,000 transfer ratio to a far worse 1,000:800 ratio as of July 27. So while transferring 50,000 points currently gets you 50,000 Emirates Skywards miles, that same transfer will soon net you 40,000 Skywards miles.
So what gives? The banks aren't saying (yet), but it sure seems like Emirates is playing hardball with how it handles its credit card partners.
Whether you've got points with Chase, Amex, Capital One, Bilt, or Citi, the process of transferring points is a delicate dance. While you might choose to transfer 50,000 points to an airline like Emirates – and often see them show up in your account almost immediately afterward – here's what actually happens:
- You're handing those 50,000 points back to your bank
- In exchange, your bank then buys points (at a negotiated rate) from that transfer partner, placing them in your frequent flyer account
So maybe Emirates is trying to renegotiate exactly how much its bank partners have to pay for their miles? Perhaps it's rethinking its strategy to partner with all these banks altogether? Or maybe this is just some behind-the-scenes technology maneuvering, much ado about nothing?
In either case, it's concerning as Skywards miles have become virtually the only way to book Emirates flights – unlike most other major carriers, booking a partner award ticket through another carrier's mileage program isn't a way to save miles … in fact, it's largely impossible.
So will we still be able to transfer 18,000 Chase points in order to book a one-way seat in economy flying Emirates' funky fifth-freedom route from Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH)? Or send 108,000 points Amex points to book a roundtrip in Emirates business class between New York City (JFK) and Milan (MXP)?
Only time will tell.
Bottom Line
In just under a month, Chase and American Express will pause the ability to transfer points over to Emirates Skywards.
It's the latest sign that something is changing with how travelers can earn Emirates miles. We're just not entirely sure what it means yet.
