Emirates changes Skywards Miles expiry rules from 2027

Dubai: Emirates has revised the way it calculates the expiry of Skywards Miles from next year, replacing its current birth-month-based system with a simpler three-year validity period linked to when the Miles were earned.

Under the new policy, which the Dubai airline changed recently, Skywards Miles earned from June 1, 2027 will remain valid for three years from the date they are earned, whether through an Emirates flight or a partner activity. The expiry date will then be rounded to the end of that month.

The change will not affect Miles already in members’ accounts or Miles earned before June 1, 2027. Those Miles will continue to expire under the existing system, based on the member’s birth month.

Emirates said the change is intended to give all Skywards members a more consistent and predictable Miles validity period.

At present, two members who earn Miles on exactly the same day can have different expiry dates because their birthdays fall in different months.

For example, Miles earned on May 10, 2024 by a member with a July birthday would expire on July 31, 2027. The same Miles earned on the same day by a member with a March birthday would expire on March 31, 2028.

Under the new system, the expiry calculation will no longer depend on when a member was born.

Instead, Miles earned from June 1, 2027 will follow the same three-year-from-earning formula for every member, with the expiry date rounded to the end of the relevant month.

Emirates said this should make it easier for members to keep track of when their Miles are due to expire.

The change comes as Emirates Skywards continues to expand its global membership base.

The programme had more than 38 million members at the end of Emirates’ 2025-26 financial year, with more than 78,000 new members joining every week.

In its 2025 year-end review, Emirates said in the last 20 years, Skywards has distributed nearly 400 billion Miles through 100+ partners across 1,400 flight destinations and 30,000 hotels, with members now redeeming over 800 flight rewards daily and one upgrade every minute.

"Tmilestone underscores the programme's place as one of the commercial aviation industry’s most valuable loyalty platforms, adding 78,000 new members weekly," it said.

Separately, Emirates Skywards is offering members a temporary reduction in the requirements needed to retain or upgrade their membership tier.

Until August 31 this year, eligible members can retain their current tier or move to the next tier by achieving 80 per cent of the usual Tier Miles or qualifying flight requirement.

The reduced requirements are:

The promotion applies to eligible Skywards members and Skywards Skysurfers subject to the programme’s terms and conditions.

Emirates is also offering eligible members an additional 20 per cent bonus on Tier Miles for qualifying travel completed between May 8 and August 31, 2026.

The offer applies to eligible Emirates-marketed flights operated by Emirates or flydubai, and flydubai-marketed flights operated by flydubai or Emirates.

The bonus does not apply to Classic Reward tickets, codeshare or interline flights, or flights that would not normally earn Tier Miles.

Emirates said qualifying bonus Tier Miles will be credited to members’ accounts within 48 hours of completing eligible travel, provided the member has quoted their Skywards membership number when booking.

The temporary tier promotion means UAE-based frequent flyers have until the end of August to take advantage of the lower qualification thresholds, while the separate Miles expiry change will only affect Miles earned from June 1, 2027.