Emirates is launching a new Skywards+ service, enabling loyalty members to purchase bundled rewards and privileges subscription packages.
The initiative – which was piloted with select members in 2019 – sees all “logged in and active” members worldwide able to subscribe to three different subscription tiers, as follows:
The Classic Package, which costs US$399 per year, and includes:
- two single passes for the member or guest to selected business class lounges in Dubai and Emirates lounges across the network
- 20 per cent bonus Skywards miles for every flight
- An additional 5kg of checked luggage allowance for every flight
- A one-time 20 per cent discount on Classic Reward flights
The Advanced Package, which costs US$699 per year, and includes:
- five single passes for the member or guest to selected business class lounges in Dubai and Emirates lounges across the network
- 20 per cent bonus Skywards miles for every flight
- 20 per cent discount on upgrade rewards
- A one-time 20 per cent discount on Classic Reward flights
- An additional 10kg of checked luggage allowance for every flight, or one additional piece of checked luggage in certain markets
The Premium Package, which costs US$999 per year, and includes:
- ten single passes for the member or guest to selected business class lounges in Dubai and Emirates lounges across the network
- 20 per cent bonus tier miles for every flight
- 20 per cent bonus Skywards miles for every flight
- 20 per cent discount on upgrade rewards
- A one-time 20 per cent discount on Classic Reward flights
- An additional 10kg of checked luggage allowance for every flight, or one additional piece of checked luggage in certain markets
More information on the benefits for each package, and full terms and conditions, can be seen here.
So are the packages worth it?
Emirates began allowing non-eligible customers to access selected lounges on a paid-for basis back in 2017 – it currently charges $125 plus 5 per cent local tax for Emirates Skywards members to visit its business class lounge in Dubai ($150 for non-members).
Assuming that a customer (and/or his guest) does not already have lounge access, this places a $262.50 lounge pass value on the Classic Package, so they would need to decide whether they feel they can get a further $136.50 value from the package through the other benefits.
Ten lounge passes bought individually would cost $1,312.50, which is more than the US$999 cost of the Premium Package itself, but of course customers would need to consider whether they would make use of that many passes over the course of a year.
The sweet spot for some customers may be the Advanced Package, where five Dubai lounge passes bought individually would cost $656.25, not far short of the $699 subscription package cost.
The individual entry price for the carrier’s other lounges worldwide is slightly lower at $100, but local taxes vary by country, from 7 per cent in Thailand to 20 per cent in France and the UK. More information can be found here.
The full list of destinations where paid-for lounge access is now available is as follows:
Auckland, Bangkok, Birmingham, Boston, Brisbane, Cape Town, Colombo, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Manchester, Melbourne, Milan, Munich, New York John F. Kennedy, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Perth, Rome, San Francisco, Singapore (online purchase only), Sydney, Tokyo Narita, and Zurich
The new packages are another example of carriers attempting to increase ancillary revenues, and follow Emirates’ move to “unbundle” certain business class fares back in 2019:
