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Emirates 5th Freedom routes to Europe are back baby!
One of the cooler ways to fly Emirates is between the US and Europe on their 5th freedom routes. They are back baybayyyy. Starting June 1st, 2021 you’ll be able to fly Emirates between the US and Europe. Don’t forget that when you fly roundtrip you get access to “Flex” pricing and that drops Emirates first class down to 135k points roundtrip between EWR and ATH. That is a screaming good deal. These are operated by older 777s, but it’s still an incredible deal.
Don’t forget that Emirates is a transfer partner of these programs:
- Chase Ultimate Rewards
- American Express Membership Rewards
- Citi Thank You Points
- Capital One Miles
- Marriott Bonvoy
Emirates Newark to Athens back on June 1st
First Class space is avail for at least 1 person for 135k and about $165 roundtrip
Don’t forget that Emirates slashed their fees and now it’s a fraction of what it used to cost.
It would have this first class
JFK to MXP is back on the schedule
Note that this route used to be served by an A380, but will also be serviced by a 777. No First Class space that I could find, but plenty of business class. And a damn good price if you ask me. 107,500 points Roundtrip
In theory you could do this for just 90k
I haven’t personally flown on Emirates 777 business class, but it doesn’t offer all aisle access and the seats aren’t 100% lie flat. But..for less than a 7 hour flight where you may not sleep anyways – it’s a pretty awesome deal.
Overall – it’s pretty exciting to see these 5th Freedom Flights back on the schedule
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based.
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
80k offer in branch currently – I think this should be online soon
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Super solid welcome offer.
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.
- 3x on dining
- including eligible delivery services for takeout
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards – Chase Travel Portal
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Ultimate Rewards/Chase Travel
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 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 Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Primary rental car coverage is my favorite
There is currently an 80k offer after $4k spend in 3 months available in branch, and up to 90k after $6k spend in 6 months. I suspect some version of this will be online soon if you don’t want the hassle of going into a branch.
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 60k is a very, very good offer. 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.
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