The Emirates Skywards program is generally the best way to redeem miles for travel on Emirates, especially in premium cabins. Admittedly there are a lot of things I don’t love about the program, like the high carrier surcharges and redemption rates, the lack of 1:1 points transfers from most programs, and first class redemptions being limited to elite members.
However, there are also some things to appreciate about the program, including the Emirates Skywards stopover policy when redeeming miles. I’d like to talk a bit in this post about how this works.
Does Emirates allow stopovers on award tickets?
Emirates Skywards does allow stopovers on award tickets, though the type of stopovers that are allowed vary based on the type of award you’re booking:
- If you book a Flex Plus award (regardless of the cabin), you’re entitled to one stopover on a one-way award, or two stopovers on a roundtrip award
- If you book a Saver award (in everything except first class, as there are no Saver first class awards), you’re entitled to one stopover on a roundtrip award
Note that this policy applies specifically to travel on Emirates when booking through the Skywards program. Furthermore, the stopover needs to be in Dubai — you’ll find that pricing is different if you try to have a stopover on a fifth freedom route (like in Athens or Milan).
Which Emirates awards allow free stopovers?
For those confused by the distinction between Saver and Flex Plus awards, let me explain. These are different fare types, and as you’d expect, Saver awards require the fewest miles, while Flex Plus awards require more miles. However, in some situations (like when traveling one-way), Flex Plus awards are the only option.
To expand on that:
- In first class, all awards book into Flex Plus, regardless of whether they’re one-way or roundtrip
- In business class, premium economy, and economy, one-way awards automatically book into Flex Plus, while roundtrip awards can book into Saver or Flex Plus
Since all Emirates Skywards one-way awards book into Flex Plus, this means that you are allowed a stopover on a one-way Emirates award, regardless of which cabin you book. You can find all the mileage requirements with the Skywards miles calculator tool.
You can enter your origin and destination, and whether you’re traveling one-way or roundtrip, and you’ll see how many miles you can expect to pay by cabin, subject to award availability.
How do you book an Emirates award with a stopover?
If you’re traveling roundtrip, it’s easy(ish) enough to book a stopover, as you can do so directly on Emirates’ website. When you get to the flight search page, click the section that reads “Advanced search: multi-city, promo codes, flydubai and partner airlines.”
There you’ll see the advanced search option, which lets you enter multiple segments separately. Hopefully everything prices out correctly.
What about stopovers on one-way awards? Well, you have to book those by phone, so you’ll want to call up Emirates Skywards support. I’ve booked these awards for myself a couple of times, and have mostly had positive experiences. It seems like Skywards agents are well trained on how to book stopovers while charging the correct price.
My experience booking a stopover on an Emirates award
I’ve used the stopover feature in the Emirates Skywards program a couple of times before, and I’ve found it to be pretty straightforward. My preference is generally to redeem for Emirates first class (which requires Skywards status, but that’s not too hard to earn), though first class award availability can be tough to come by.
So what I’ll sometimes do is lock in the first flight that has availability, say from the United States to Dubai. Then later if a good connecting option opens up, I can add that to the same award, while also including a stopover in Dubai.
In my experience, this is a surprisingly straightforward process. While it has to be done by phone, there’s no need to actually fully cancel your current ticket and rebook. Instead, an agent can handle the process while on the phone, and keep everything on the same ticket.
Obviously you’re on the hook for any changes in taxes and carrier imposed surcharges. The good news is that if you book a Flex Plus award (which includes all one-way awards), there are no change or cancelation fees beyond that.
Bottom line
All Emirates Skywards one-way awards allow a stopover in Dubai, given that they book into the Flex Plus fare bucket. This is an awesome feature that isn’t widely known, given that there’s no way to do this online.
The good news is that agents are pretty good at handling this by phone, and you can even modify an existing one-way award to add a stopover, should award availability open up later. You’ll just pay the difference in miles.
Ultimately the Skywards program is the best way to book first class award travel on Emirates. While award pricing isn’t low, and while surcharges are quite high, the ability to have a stopover in Dubai for no extra miles at least adds a bit of value.
If you’ve booked a stopover on a one-way Emirates Skywards award, what was your experience like?
