Emirates Skywards named best loyalty programme in Middle East and Africa

Emirates Skywards has been named the best loyalty programme in the Middle East and Africa and in the top 10 globally, according to travel reward platform point.me.

 

The Dubai-based airline leapfrogged Qatar Airways Privilege Club to take top spot in the region, with Etihad Guest coming fourth behind Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles.

 

Emirates Skywards, which has more than 35 million members, ranked ninth out of 59 programmes evaluated worldwide, rising two places from last year, while Qatar Airways came in 11th, falling two places. 

 

Air France-KLM Flying Blue was crowned the programme globally, followed by American Airlines AAdvantage and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. 

 

The full results from the World’s Best Airline Rewards Programs report scored Emirates Skywards highly for award availability, partner opportunities, customer service and change policies. 

 

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However, it also said Skywards is less competitive when it comes to earning and redeeming miles, but does offer good economy reward rates.

 

“Getting real value from airline loyalty points is often significantly harder for passengers than it needs to be,” said Adam Morvitz, Founder and CEO of point.me, adding that the rankings allow travellers to make strategic decisions.

 

The second annual ranking judged programmes against criteria including ease of earning points, ease of redemption, redemption rates, award availability, customer service and policies around award holds, changes and cancellations. 

 

Emirates Skywards, which is also the loyalty programme for Flydubai, has now added flight rewards for Premium Economy travel and upgrades.