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Chase quietly added Emirates as a transfer partner over the weekend. While this may not be a game changer, and doesn’t fill the hole that Korean left in their transfer partner list, it definitely adds value. The biggest downside to Emirates are the fees they tack on to award tickets which can be as much as $800 one way, which is absolutely ridiculous, but they also have some cool routes that you may not know about. Let’s take a look at Chase’s new transfer partner Emirates, also a transfer partner of Amex and Capital One, and how you could fly them on routes outside of Dubai.
Chase’s new transfer partner: Emirates
The biggest drawback of Emirates are the taxes and fees they assess on award tickets
155k miles AND over $800 in fees. It’s pricey, but it’s also featured the new First Class suite…so many have splurged to fly it for so long. I have not…yet 😉
Where can you fly Emirates with reduced fees?
Here are 3 places that can heavily reduce your fees..
Hong Kong:
Even flying into Dubai will cut your fees down to just $140 ( which is pretty dang low for Emirates )
Australia
309 Aussie Dollars is roughly 200 US dollars. A very good deal, and a Melbourne to Singapore is a great way to take advantage of Emirates Fifth Freedom routing
Athens:
You’ll pay hefty fees to fly from Newark to Athens, but on the way back, you’ll score it for loads less in fees. Also 5th Freedom
PointMetothePlane noted a great deal if you can get it to price out as well. It’s very hit or miss for me, but doesn’t work, but requires quite a bit of travel, which if you’re like me, AMAZING, if you’re a normal human being…it may be too long. That’s NYC to Milan, but routing via Dubai…sometimes this prices out under $200 in taxes and fees
List of most of their Fifth Freedom Routes, or where you can fly Emirates and not go to Dubai
If you’re unfamiliar with a Fifth Freedom Routing, it’s where you can fly an airline between two destinations outside of the airline’s home country. Now, not all fifth freedom routes can be booked on their own, for instance, Qantas operates a fifth freedom route between JFK and LAX, but you must book that flight to originate from, or continue on to, Australia. Most of the flights listed below, if not all, can be booked on their own, however.
All of the routes listed below are part of larger itineraries that connect them to Dubai, Emirates home city in the UAE. For instance, MEX to BCN, continues on BCN to DXB, if it didn’t, it would be considered a 7th freedom routing, solely operating between two countries without continuing service to the home country of the airline.
- MEX to BCN
- EWR to ATH
- JFK to MXP
- SCL to EZE
- GIG to EZE
- BKK to HKG
- BKK to PNH
- BKK to SYD
- DPS to AKL
- MEL to SIN
- BNE to SIN
- CMB to MLE
I have plans to take advantage of, not only an Emirates fifth freedom routing, but also one with lower fees, later this year: Athens to Newark. I’m hoping to fly it back from a trip I have scheduled in November. Over 11 hours of first class for 85k points and under $300 in taxes and fees.
Keep an eye out for routes that offer their newest First Class, aboard the 777-300ERs…it is arguably the best way for a single traveler to fly.
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 | Chase Sapphire Preferred | 100k after $4k spend 5x Chase Travel 3x dining + select streaming 3x groceries |
|---|---|---|
 | Chase Ink Business Preferred | 100k after $15k spend 3x Travel/Internet/Cable Free Cell phone insurance $95 Annual Fee |
 | Chase Freedom Flex | $200 after $500 spend 5x rotating categories No Annual Fee |
 | Chase Ink Business Unlimited | Earn $750 after $7500 spend in 3 months. Earn 1.5x on every purchase |
 | Chase Freedom Unlimited | Earn $200 after $500 spend in 3 months |
*feature image courtesy of Emirates
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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