Emirates Skywards members can now earn Tier Miles by shopping within the UAE

Emirates Skywards members can now earn 25 per cent bonus Tier Miles, not just Skywards Miles, on spends online and at retail outlets in the UAE, the airline said in a statement on Monday.

To earn these Tier Miles, members have to use their Emirates Skywards co-branded credit cards and apps: Skywards Everyday and Namshi.

The co-branded credit cards include those from Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Citi UAE, Emirates Islamic, Emirates NBD, Dubai Islamic Bank and RAKBANK.

Read: This UAE credit card offers Skywards miles on spend

With the Skywards Everyday app, they earn Skywards Miles at their choice of retail, entertainment and dining outlets across the UAE.

Members gain one bonus Tier Mile for every four Skywards Miles they earn until July 31, 2020, and have the opportunity to earn up to 25,000 Tier Miles.

Tier Miles are normally linked to miles flown and consequently determine tier status – Blue, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

The UAE suspended all regular commercial passenger flights in the UAE from March 26, with only select special flights permitted to operate ever since then.

The airline said that this new initiative means that Silver, Gold and Platinum members will now have more ways to retain their tier status.

From May 1, members with a tier review date prior to April 1, 2021, will retain their current status for a further 12 months with just 70 per cent of the usual travel criteria, added the airline.

Members will continue to earn Skywards Miles through their spends, and these can be redeemed for reward tickets, upgrades, tickets for concerts and sports events and to reduce the cash component when booking flight tickets.

“Extraordinary times call for mature and responsible measures. Right through these unprecedented times, we’ve kept listening to our members’ feedback. We’ve made it easy and simple for our UAE-based members to earn Skywards Miles and Tier Miles, retain or upgrade their tier status, and get ready to travel in extra comfort when Emirates resumes services,” said Dr Nejib Ben Khedher, divisional senior vice president Emirates Skywards.

“We understand our members’ sentiment, and we will continue to introduce benefits that they truly value. This initiative is not just an Emirates Skywards first, but a bold move and a novel airline loyalty concept for the region.”

In September, the airline revealed that its Emirates Skywards membership had crossed 25 million customers.

Read: Emirates surpasses 25 million Skywards members

Last week, the airline revealed that Emirates airline customers donated 132 million Skywards Miles from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020 to the Emirates Airline Foundation.

The foundation used the 132 million Skywards Miles to support travel for 35 NGOs on more than 50 medical missions; four NGOs on five engineering missions; and one NGO on two educational missions.

Read also: Emirates customers donate 132 million Skywards Miles to airline’s foundation

In the same period from April 2019 to March 2020, the foundation also donated more than Dhs6.5m to 22 projects in 12 countries.