Air Miles Points Guide for 2022: How to Get the Most Out of Your Air Miles Points.

Using credit cards opens up a whole world of convenience for its users. But what is better than the efficiency afforded to the credit card users, the ability to ear when you spend! Yes, that’s right. Air miles credit cards offer cardholders the lucrative option of earning air miles every time they spend. These miles can be redeemed for a variety of different products, making a traveler’s dream not only come true but also making that dream affordable.

Air miles are among the top loyalty programs within the United Arab Emirates. Its popularity can be evidenced by the huge number of active users in the country where luxury is a lifestyle, and this program combines all elements of luxury into one by allowing its users to collect numerous points. If however you too are planning to get on this ride, you have come to the right place. If you are new, we’ll let you know how to make the most points using your Air miles credit cards. Let us start living our best life by finding out how to get the most out of our air miles points, but first:

What is Air Miles?

Air miles can simply be described as points that can be collected over time and then eventually redeemed for exciting rewards like merchandise, travel as well as discounts at a store. In order for you to gain more air miles, all you have to do is:

1. Spend at participating shops or partner brands in order to earn air miles.
2. Using air miles credit cards will enable you to earn plentiful points that can later be redeemed.
3. Some websites also allow users to directly buy air miles. This particular option comes in handy if you are just a few miles away from being able to redeem a reward that you were eyeing for quite some time.

How many air miles one can earn by shopping usually depends upon the retail partners. However, in the majority of cases, it turns out that you can earn 1 Air miles point for spending AED 10 each time. Additionally, whenever you are using the air miles credit cards in the UAE, there is the option of ‘double dip’ at all the participating vendors or merchants. The cardholders also have absolute control regarding how their air miles are divided and there is always the option to switch over your preference whenever you like.

To put it simply, air miles are a type of currency. Every time you take a vacation or make a purchase utilizing your rewards credit card, you earn air miles that can be later used for free travel or other benefits. This happens because the credit card industry is closely intertwined with the hotel and airline business.

Different Strategies for Utilizing Air Miles

We have already briefly covered the basic ways of making use of your air miles by using air miles credit cards. However, once you become a pro, you can make use of a little more complicated strategies to obtain more out of your miles. For instance, many credit card companies allow their users to transfer their points to partners and then later redeem them for flight tickets or hotel stays. Doing so will ensure that you only pay a fraction of the actual price of your flight or hotel stay as opposed to when you would pay using cash. This is even more alluring if you are redeeming miles or points for luxury hotels and flights. These are referred to as “transferrable points” and they make a key component of the air miles world.

Central to the strategy of utilizing miles is to understand that they are all worth some amount of money as they are exchangeable for travel. They are all however not the same and differ from one program to another. You can make use of a monthly valuation guide to have an estimate of the value of your air miles. This estimate can however vary on the basis of the exact benefit you want to enjoy. Using your air miles for traveling for example is an act of ‘award redemption’ and the points you spend will change from program to program.

How to Earn Air Miles Point?

Now that we have covered how to use our air miles, let’s now look at ways to earn air miles to get the bang for your bucks in a little more detail:

Needless to say, the most efficient way to pile on your air miles is to carry out transactions or rather make purchases using your air miles credit cards. By shopping at those special air miles partner stores of your credit card provider is a sure-fire way to stack up the maximum amount of air miles. Mentioned below are some of the top performers among the air miles credit cards category in the United Arab Emirates:

1. Emirates Citibank Ultimate Credit Card

This card is one of the top air miles credit cards in the UAE that offers some of the best skyward miles rates for all the spending made on the credit card. The points earned will be according to the below-mentioned criteria:

• 25 Skyward miles earned for every 1 USD spent globally
• 1 Skyward mile earned for every 1 USD spent domestically

The Additional Benefits include:

• Complimentary round of golf in the UAE
• Unlimited access to airport lounges across the globe
• Buy one get one free movie ticket with VOX Cinemas

2. Emirates NBD Skywards Infinite Credit Card

The air miles credit cards offered by Emirates NBD are exceptional in terms of earning air miles. This card makes it easy to turn your spending into your next travel adventure. The points earned will be according to the criteria given underneath:

• 5 miles on every Flydubai and Emirates spend
• 5 miles on every international spend
• 1 mile on every domestic spend

The Additional Benefits include:

• Golf privileges to the card users
• 4 complimentary valet parkings
• Complimentary lounge access at airports

3. American Express Platinum Card

This is one of the air miles credit cards that is specifically designed to add spice to the card user’s global lifestyle. The membership rewards points earned can be redeemed for different airlines and the same will be according to the criteria given underneath:

• 1 membership reward point for every AED 4 spent

The Additional Benefits Include:

• A Complimentary priority pass
• Free Wi-Fi services with Boingo
• A Comprehensive travel insurance

4. Najm Voyager Platinum Credit Card

Among the many air miles credit cards that claim to offer the card users numerous benefits while traveling, this card delivers on its promise of earning the highest rewards. The points earned will be according to the criteria given underneath:

• 5 rewards for every 1 AED spent globally
• 5 rewards for every 1 AED spent domestically
• 1 reward for every 1 AED spent on utility bill payments, school fees, fuel purchases, and e-government spends

The Additional Benefits include:

• Up to 50% discount on entertainment, dining, travel, and cinema
• Buy one to get one offer at VOX cinemas

5. Emirates Citibank Ultima Credit Card

This Ultima card is one of the best air miles credit cards as it offers the best skyward miles rate each time the cardholder their card. The points earned will be according to the criteria given below:

• For every US$1 foreign spend, card users are entitled to earn 1.5 skyward miles.
• For every US$1 spent locally, card users are entitled to earn 1 skyward mile.
• For every US$1 spent on tickets purchased with Emirates, car users are entitled to earn 2.5 skyward miles.

The Additional Benefits Include:

• Free Airport lounge access
• Complimentary golf access to the cardholder
• Travel insurance

We have tried to offer a comparative chart to help you pick the one that meets your needs the best:

Double Your Air Miles:

Air miles tend to have a diverse range of partnerships starting from gas and groceries to everything else you can think of. The world is quite rightly your oyster! Here are some of the top avenues to earn extra air miles from next time you want to earn some more-

• Apparels: Clothing brands to footwear lines, everything can help you stack up points.
• Grocery items, Drugstores
• Tech giants like Apple, Dyson, Microsoft among many others offer an insane number of air miles as rewards.
• Travel: Making bookings for your flights and hotels from popular travel websites can also help you get some great rewards as air miles.

It should however be noted that many sponsors allow customers to collect miles within the national territory. They participate only in some provinces or emirates so make sure to carefully read the terms and conditions before you sign up for your next air miles credit cards.

The Bottom Line

There are no rules to this game and if there are some, there are always some exceptions. While it is the easiest to get the most out of your air miles by redeeming the points while booking luxury hotels and flight tickets, it ultimately is all about your preference and there are no hard and fast rules to earning miles. If traveling makes you happy, then this is the right way. If however, you have other interests, there are more ways, as discussed above, to become a millionaire!