As the world’s populace fervently hopes, we are all finally putting the nightmare of Covid 19 behind us and hopefully getting back to our pre-pandemic lives. Here in the UAE life has pretty much gone back to normal and one can’t help but notice the air of optimism of all the possibilities that now lie ahead which were a distant dream for the last two years. One of the biggies of course is that travel is back on the menu again folks! Whether it is to just go back and visit our families and loved ones or to be able to travel again as tourists and visit new destinations which was, let us admit, a favorite indulgence but almost cruelly denied to us these past 2 years.
As UAE residents we are so fortunate to have access to Emirates Airlines which is easily one of the best airlines in the world and is the obvious airline of choice when considering any international travel for us. How often do we find ourselves looking for reasons to stretch our budgets a bit to justify any price differences travelling with Emirates versus other budget airlines? Deep down we know that traveling with Emirates is quite simply the best option in terms of the entire experience – right from the dedicated terminal, class leading on demand in-flight entertainment options, direct routes saving us the hassle of multiple stops and of course for the well-heeled travelers amongst us, the Emirates business class lounge experience which is second to none!
A great option for residents and citizens to enjoy the many benefits of flying with Emirates Airlines is to use an Emirates Skywards credit card which is offered by some of the leading banks in the UAE. These credit cards are offered as a partnership between Emirates Airlines and the bank and offer a multitude of benefits to customers who have these credit cards. These benefits can vary from earning Emirates Skywards miles on purchases made with the credit cards, gaining membership to exclusive Emirates Airlines membership tiers including Skywards Silver status, and in some cases, even the coveted Skywards Gold Tier membership status. These tiers bring their own significant benefits to customers and ‘earning’ them by getting a credit card is a quick and easy way to gain entry into these exclusive membership categories. But these are just a couple of examples and as you will find out these credit cards offer a wide array of benefits to suit every individual profile.
Given the popularity and demand for flying with Emirates it is no wonder that several leading banks offer co-branded Emirates Skywards credit cards as part of their credit card portfolio offerings. And as can be expected, not all of these cards offer the same level of benefits or are indeed even offered to the same profile of customers. There are no fewer than 14 different Emirates Skywards co-branded credit cards currently available in the UAE and it is no easy task to identify which of them is best suited to you. But fret not, our team here at Soulwallet.com has done the heavy lifting to help you find the best ones suited to your specific needs.
Across these 6 banks there are currently a total of 14 different Emirates Skywards credit cards offered. These are broadly categorised based on the minimum income required to be eligible for each credit card, the features and benefits offered, annual fees charged and so on.
Income Eligibility
The monthly minimum income requirement for Emirates Skywards credit cards are as below:
| Credit Card | Minimum Salary |
|---|---|
| Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Platinum Credit Card | AED 5,000 |
| Citi Emirates World Card | AED 12,000 |
| Emirates Islamic Skywards Signature Credit Card | AED 12,000 |
| ADIB Emirates Skywards World Card | AED 15,000 |
| Dubai Islamic Emirates Skywards Signature Credit Card | AED 15,000 |
| Emirates NBD Skywards Signature Credit Card | AED 15,000 |
| Citi Emirates Ultimate | AED 18,000 |
| RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card | AED 20,000 |
| ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Card | AED 25,000 |
| Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card | AED 25,000 |
As can be seen from the table above, there is an Emirates Skywards credit card option available for customers with income segments starting from as low as AED 5,000, which incidentally is also the minimum monthly salary required as per UAE Central bank regulations for a credit card.
Which is “The Best Emirates Skywards credit card” in the UAE?
While many readers would want to scroll directly to this section to find out the ‘winner’, the reality as is often the case, is that among the multitude of options available there is no single “Best Emirates Skywards credit card” for everyone. Different Emirates Skywards credit cards offer different benefits. In the sections below we will help you identify which one is the “the best Skywards credit card for you” based on your specific needs, spend patterns and priorities as an individual.
Best “PREMIUM” Emirates Skywards Credit cards
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card
Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card
Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card
Best Emirates Skywards Credit Cards to EARN SKYWARDS MILES FROM REGULAR SPENDS
Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card
Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card
Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card
Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card
Best Emirates Skywards Credit Cards for BONUS SKYWARDS MILES
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card
Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card
Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card
Best Emirates Skywards Credit Cards for BEST JOINING OFFERS
Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card
Citibank Emirates Ultimate credit card
Citibank Emirates World credit card
Best Emirates Skywards Credit Cards for EMIRATES SKYWARDS MEMBERSHIP TIERS
Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card
Best for COMPLIMENTARY EMIRATES AIRLINES HOME CHECK-IN SERVICES:
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card
Best for HEALTH & FITNESS BENEFITS:
Dubai Islamic Skywards Infinite Credit Card
Best for EMIRATES SKYWARDS MILES PURCHASE DISCOUNTS
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card
Best for CINEMA OFFERS & DISCOUNTS
Citibank Emirate Ultima credit card
Citibank Emirates Ultimate credit card
Citibank Emirates World credit card
Best for COMPLIMENTARY AIRPORT DROPS & TRANSFERS
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card & ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card
Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card
Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card
Best to EARN EMIRATES SKYWARDS TIER MILES
Emirates Islamic Skywards Black credit card & Emirates Islamic Skywards Infinite credit card
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card
The ADIB Emirates Skywards credit card is arguably the best premium Skywards credit card available not just for the range of benefits it offers but also being the most competitive in several key aspects. This card offers very generous Emirates Skywards miles for spends at Emirates Airlines, for international spends as well as for domestic retail spends in the UAE. In addition to the excellent Skywards miles rewards offered, this card also offers:
Minimum Salary requirement: AED 25,000
Annual Membership Fee: AED 4,500
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
The Citibank Ultima credit card is an exclusive premium credit card offering from Citi which is well known to be one of the leading credit card issuers in the world. Among other benefits this card offers the card holder the unique opportunity to hold a metal credit card. The Citibank Emirates Ultima credit card offers an extremely well-rounded feature set of good Skywards miles rewards across most categories, an excellent joining offer for customers applying online, and many other significant benefits including:
Minimum Salary requirement: AED 36,750
Annual Membership Fee: AED 3,000
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
The Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card offers premium features comparable with any other Skywards credit card offered by any bank in the UAE currently. It has the distinction of offering the highest Skywards miles earn rates across all Skywards credit cards in the UAE and also offers a host of excellent benefits including:
Minimum Salary requirement: AED 25,000
Annual Membership Fee: AED 4,200
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
The RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard is a premium credit card offering from RAKBANK that offers several unique benefits to card holders including:
Minimum Salary requirement: AED 20,000
Annual Membership Fee: AED 1,499
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
This is perhaps the most important feature to be considered for any Emirates Skywards co-branded credit card as the main purpose for a cardholder is to maximize the Skywards miles earned during regular purchases made using their credit card.
This is also an aspect where there are significant differences in earning rates and eligibility requirements between the different Emirates Skywards credit card options available. Readers are advised to review these conditions carefully before arriving at a decision on which card is best suited to their specific spend patterns.
Please note that the best credit cards identified in this category tend to be ‘premium’ credit cards as they understandably have the best rewards as well as features and benefits that the bank can offer. As such, these credit cards are likely to have higher annual membership fees. However, the benefits offered by these credit cards most often can easily justify the annual fees charged. This is especially true if the cardholder takes advantage of the specific features and benefits on offer – another reason to ensure they apply for credit cards most suited to their specific needs.
The ADIB Emirates Skywards credit card is arguably the best premium Skywards credit card available not just for the range of benefits it offers but also being the most competitive in several key aspects. This card offers very generous Emirates Skywards miles for spends at Emirates Airlines, for international spends as well as for domestic retail spends in the UAE. This credit card would easily have been the only choice for earning miles but for the fact that it offers lower miles earning rates on several categories.
The ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card awards miles per USD (equivalent) spent on the credit card as below:
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
The Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card has the distinction of offering the highest Skywards miles earn rates across all Skywards credit cards in the UAE on spends at Emirates airlines and on international spends and domestic spends offers almost as many Skywards miles as the ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card. While it appears that all categories are covered under these 3 segments, there are certain categories of spends where this credit card offers much lower earn rates.
The Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card awards miles per USD (equivalent) spent on the credit card as below:
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
The Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card is arguably the best credit card to maximise Emirates Skywards miles earnings as it offers an excellent combination of high earn rates on specific categories as well as no excluded spend categories. This is indeed a rarity as almost all other Emirates Skywards credit cards have restrictions on some segments of spend (such as groceries, utilities and so on) that have a lower earning rate.
The Emirates Skywards Dubai Islamic Bank Infinite Credit Card awards miles per USD (equivalent) spent on the credit card as below:
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
The Citibank Ultima credit card offers an attractive combination of a high earn rate along with minimal spend category restrictions. This credit card offers an even better earning rate on purchases made at Emirates as compared to the DIB Skywards Infinite above, however, it also pays a lower earnings rate on two specific categories and awards no miles on a few categories.
Emirates Skywards miles earned per USD (equivalent) spent on the card:
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
The Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card is also a good option for earning Skywards Miles on regular purchases. However, this card has a few categories on which earning rates are much lower than the base rate.
Emirates Skywards miles earned per USD (equivalent) spent on the card:
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
Several credit cards award “bonus” Emirates Skywards miles based on specific criteria, such as a minimum spend levels achieved on the credit card within a specific time period. In this category, there can be varying opinions on which is the “best” option as some cards award higher total maximum bonus miles but at the same time require higher spend levels and over shorter time periods as well. The “best” option here would be determined by the individual’s specific spend patterns.
Cardholders will be awarded a total of 120,000 bonus Emirates Skywards miles with this credit card which is the maximum offered by any Emirates Skywards credit card in the UAE. 50,000 welcome bonus miles are offered on payment of the membership fee, and another 70,000 Skywards miles are awarded if a total spend of AED 140,000 is met within the first 6 months of card issuance.
This credit card was chosen the winner as it has the best combination of the total bonus miles awarded and the overall minimum spend requirement over a period of 6 months. In addition, there are no specific spend category restrictions.
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
The Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite credit card offers the next best Skywards bonus miles after the ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite credit card. Cardholders can earn up to 100,000 bonus Emirates Skywards miles:
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
This credit card offers cardholders 75,000 bonus Skywards miles but requires a balance transfer of at least AED 50,000 to earn 25,000 of the total miles. Earn up to 75,000 bonus Emirates Skywards miles:
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
While it is usually not advisable to apply for a credit only to take advantage of a specific joining offer by the bank, it is worthwhile considering the joining offers in addition to all other benefits and features offered by the credit card.
Customers that apply online can get AED 2,000 back as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 25,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved.
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
Customers that apply online on Citibank UAE can get AED 800 as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 20,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved.
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
Citibank Emirates World credit card
Customers that apply online on Citibank UAE can get AED 400 as a statement credit if a minimum retail spend of AED 10,000 is made within 90 days of the credit card being approved.
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
As most readers are probably aware the Emirates Skywards Miles programme offers different “Tiers” of membership – Blue, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Each of these tiers offer different benefits to members, with the type and number of benefits increasing in that order – starting with Blue and ending with Platinum which offers the maximum benefits.
An important feature offered by some Emirates Skywards co-branded credit cards is automatic membership for the cardholder into a higher tier of the Emirates Skywards programme simply by virtue of having the credit card. This saves cardholders from having to ‘earn’ the minimum tie” miles required to be eligible for the specific tier level, obtained normally through purchase of tickets on Emirates airlines.
In this aspect as well, there are a few differences in the options available among the various Emirates Skywards credit cards. Most of these credit cards offer direct membership to the Silver Tier for the primary cardholder. A few credit cards also provide supplementary card holders the opportunity to enjoy Silver status, subject to a few conditions being met. However, only 3 credit cards offer cardholders the option to upgrade to the Gold Tier Skywards membership. This can be considered to be a significant perk of having the card by people who value the Gold membership tier in the Emirates Skywards program.
Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card
The Emirates Islamic Skywards Black Credit Card offers card holders the opportunity to fast track to Emirates Skywards Gold tier membership by simply spending AED 5,500 at Emirates Airlines within 12 months from the card issuance date. This credit card also offers one supplementary card holder the option to get Gold tier membership status by spending AED 5,500 at Emirates Airlines and payment of an annual membership fee of AED 4,000. This is the quickest option to gain Emirates Skywards Gold tier membership amongst all Skywards credit cards offered in the UAE.
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card & ADIB Emirates Skywards World Credit Card
Both Emirates Skywards credit cards offered by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) offer cardholders Skywards Silver Tier membership as a basic feature of the card. However, in addition they both also offer cardholders the option to upgrade their Silver Skywards membership tier to the Gold tier if specific spend based criteria are met. Additionally, both these cards also offer the supplementary cardholder with the opportunity to upgrade to Gold tier status.
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard Credit Card
The RAKBANK Emirates Skywards World Elite Mastercard offers cardholders Silver tier membership as a default offering. Additionally, it also offers the opportunity to fast-track to Skywards Gold tier membership based on the below criteria being met:
This credit card also offers supplementary cardholders the option to enroll in the Skywards Silver Tier membership at a fee of AED 900 per year.
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
The below Emirates Skywards credit cards all offer the primary cardholder complimentary Skywards Silver Tier membership as a benefit:
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
Credit card associations refer to organizations that set common transaction terms for merchants, issuing banks and acquiring banks. The associations we are referring to in our context here are Visa and Mastercard. All the Emirates Skywards credit cards issued in the UAE are either associated with Visa or Mastercard.
The relevance of this for a cardholder is that there are specific benefits and features offered by these associations to the cardholder by virtue of the partnership between the bank and the association. Similar to the different tier levels available in the Emirates Skywards miles programme, both Visa and Mastercard offer different “tiers” or levels of benefits for different credit card types.
Please note that these association features are offered in partnership with the banks and are for the most part a standard offering for the specific credit card type across all banks. Examples of these include VIP airport lounge access, travel insurance cover, car rental offers and so on. Please note that the type of benefits offered vary significantly between Visa and Mastercard.
These (Visa/Mastercard) features must not be confused with specific features offered by banks directly to their cardholders which are not part of the Visa or Mastercard benefits. Examples of such bank-specific features include complimentary valet parking, cinema tickets, airport transfer offers and so on.
Customers are advised to review closely all the features offered for each credit card to understand all the benefits available before arriving at the best credit suited to them.
Below is a categorization of the available Emirates Skywards options based on their Visa or Mastercard credit card association type:
Mastercard
This is the top-of-the-line tier of credit card benefits offered by Mastercard and are available in the following credit cards:
This is the second highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Mastercard and are available in the following credit cards:
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
Visa
This is the top-of-the-line tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards:
This is the second highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards:
Visa Platinum:
This is the third highest tier of credit card benefits offered by Visa and are available in the following credit cards:
All relevant features of this credit card, along with side-by-side comparisons can be seen at: www.soulwallet.com
Complimentary Airport Transfers
Cinema Discounts & Offers
Complimentary Emirates home check-in:
Health & Fitness Benefits:
Discounts on Emirates Skywards Miles
Earn Emirates Skywards Tier Miles
We hope this article has been useful in giving you a better understanding of the various Emirates Skywards miles credit card options available in the UAE. While we have highlighted the best options for specific benefits offered by these credit cards we highly recommend that you review all the features in detail before deciding which is the best credit card for you. After all, the process of identifying the best option and applying for a credit card is not something undertaken regularly and therefore getting it right will not only help you maximise potential saves but will also help you enjoy the unique benefits most relevant to your individual preferences.
Detailed features and benefits along with side-by-side comparisons of all these credit cards and more can be found at www.soulwallet.com.
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