On a recent trip to Italy with my husband, I booked a business class round-trip flight on Emirates from JFK to Milan. Emirates operates this as a fifth freedom route, and it’s a popular route with miles and points enthusiasts as it allows you to experience Emirates without flying all the way to Dubai. Throw in my desire to visit Italy for the first time, and I was sold! But I didn’t stop there. Keep reading to learn how to upgrade to first class for 39K miles!

 

 The Redemption

Emirates is notorious for making it difficult to book first-class seats from the get-go. You may occasionally find availability for one first-class award seat by booking far in advance, but I’ve rarely (if ever) seen two. This was the case when I booked our flights to Milan right when the Emirates flight calendar opened for our dates (~328 days in advance).

I decided to lock in business class and attempt to upgrade us at check-in using miles for our return flight. Business class for the flight to Milan was perfectly fine as it was an overnight flight, and I knew I’d be sleeping for most of it.

I redeemed 72,500 Emirates miles per person each way for our flights to and from Milan (290,000 miles total). I know that seems like a lot, but all four major banks transfer to Emirates, making it relatively easy to rack up that many miles. Unfortunately, that same flight booked through Emirates now costs 87,000 miles per person each way.

Taxes for both of us were $404.14. If we had paid cash, our round-trip business class flights would have cost over $17,000. Talk about an amazing redemption!

 

 

 

The Upgrade

Not many airlines allow you to upgrade using miles from a ticket purchased using miles. Emirates is an exception! If first class seats are unavailable when you book, your next best option is upgrading in person (at check-in) before your flight. Upgrades from a business class flex ticket to first class cost 39,000 Emirates miles per person.

Technically Emirates transfers should be instant. But I heard some stories of people waiting to transfer til they confirmed first class availability at check-in, the transfer not going through immediately, and them being stuck with no upgrade + miles in their Emirates account that they have no use for.

I had to decide whether I wanted to risk transferring my miles early and there being no first-class availability upon check-in. Deciding it was worth the risk,  I transferred 78,000 points from AMEX to Emirates (and the transfer was instant, of course). Note that if you redeem the miles for more than one person, you should set up an Emirates family account first (you’ll need to do this before you book as well if booking for more than one person).

Because I had a family account set up, I transferred the 78,000 points from AMEX into my Emirates account, but I was able to redeem them for an upgrade for both me and my husband.

We arrived at the airport almost four hours early (because I have no chill and didn’t want to risk first class selling out). I knew either way we’d be able to relax at the Emirates Lounge beforehand.

We went to the business class check-in counter, and the employee checking us in was very kind. I explained that I wanted to upgrade to first class using miles, and she immediately got to work!

It did take around 10-15 minutes for the process to be complete, but in the end we got our upgrade. I think the miles being in our family account is what slowed things down, but they did eventually get it figured out (and I was glad I had the miles already transferred and ready to go).

She gave us a choice of seats, and we went with the middle seats in the first row. I will say that there were only four first class seats available (and we snagged two of them), so I don’t think getting to the airport four hours early was a bad idea.

 

Bottom Line

If you can find Emirates first class availability from the get-go, that will cost fewer miles and is the better option. But when no first-class award seats are available online, upgrading at check-in is a fantastic option for scoring a first-class seat for only 39,000 additional miles!