Our Verdict
The Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard®* makes the most sense for someone who flies Emirates frequently and specifically wants Emirates lounge perks. Its steep annual fee of $499 does offer some valuable benefits, but other premium cards at that price point offer greater perks and access to other lounges, including ones at the Dubai airport.
Highlights
- Earn 70,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.
- Annual fee: $499
- Earn 3 Skywards Miles for every $1 spent on emirates.com or at the Emirates Sales office
- Earn 2 Skywards Miles for every $1 spent on eligible airfares, hotel stays and car rentals
- Earn 1 Skywards Mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Introduction
If you’re willing to fork over several hundred dollars a year for an airline card, it should give you your money’s worth. The Emirates Skywards Premium could potentially deliver enough value to make the annual fee worth it for someone who flies Emirates on the regular or spends enough on the card to maintain the Gold-tier status after the first year, but not enough to earn it organically.
The most notable benefits of the Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard®* include the ability to earn Emirates Gold status through spending (which is also granted without any spending requirement in the first year of card membership) and lounge access—both a Priority Pass Select membership and access to Emirates Business Class Lounges (with Gold status).
Like many other travel credit cards, the Emirates Premium card offers a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee reimbursement every five years.
The card offers a robust earning rate on flights (with Emirates and other airlines), hotel stays and car rentals but you can easily earn the same or better with other high-end travel cards that have rewards that easily transfer to Emirates Skywards.
Quick Facts
- $499 annual fee
- Welcome bonus: 70,000 bonus Skywards Miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening
- Earn 3 Skywards Miles per dollar on eligible Emirates purchases, 2 Skywards Miles per dollar on eligible travel purchases and 1 Skywards Mile per dollar on all other purchases
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee reimbursement every five years
- Priority Pass Select membership
- Gold-tier status included the first year which comes with Emirates business class lounge access and a 75% points bonus on paid flights
- Ability to earn Gold status in subsequent years after spending $40,000 on the card
- As a cardholder, your miles will never expire as long as you hold the card
- Priority check-in, boarding and baggage delivery plus economy seat selection
- No foreign transaction fees
Compare Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard® With Other Cards
Fine Print
Interest Rates
- Regular APR: 21.24%, 25.24% or 29.99% variable
- Purchase intro APR: N/A
- Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
Fees
- Annual fee: $499
- Balance transfer fee: Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
- Foreign purchase transaction fee: 0% of each transaction in U.S. dollars.
Methodology
Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors including:
- Annual fees
- Welcome bonus offers
- Ongoing earning rates
- Value of individual points or miles
- Included travel or merchant credits
- Additional cardholder benefits
Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors came together to provide a star rating for each individual card.
Read more: How Forbes Advisor Rates Credit Cards
*The information for the following card(s) has been collected independently by Forbes Advisor: Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard®. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.