Emirates skywards members soar with Platinum tier

Emirates Skywards, the award-winning frequent flyer programme of Emirates Airline, today announced a significant enhancement to its offering with the introduction of 'Platinum', a new tier which sits above Blue, Silver and Gold.  The Platinum tier has been developed to enhance the travel experience for frequent travellers and to offer additional benefits to members who have earned over 150,000 Miles.

Emirates flies between Harare and Dubai, and to Lusaka, every day.

"This is a significant development for Emirates Skywards.  The new tier is designed to show our most valued customers how important they are to Emirates and to offer greater recognition and benefits to those who choose to fly with us on such a frequent basis.  The additional benefits have been introduced to add an even higher level of comfort, flexibility and convenience for our Platinum members. On top of our superior product, world-class service and fast expanding network in six continents with 18 new destinations opened in the last 15 months and two new destinations, Algiers and Haneda, to be added soon,  the new Emirates Skywards Platinum tier  is definitely another reason to make Emirates the airline of choice," said Thierry Antinori, Emirates' Executive Vice President, Passenger Sales Worldwide.

For the first time, Platinum members will receive exclusive benefits usually reserved for First Class passengers, including First Class check-in, baggage delivery and access to the First Class lounges in Dubai with a guest. They can continue to use all Emirates Lounges around the world, also with a guest, and they will receive 20kgs of additional baggage, regardless of their class of travel.  To enable Platinum members to share their benefits with the rest of their family, a Gold 'Partner' card has been introduced, which means that family members can enjoy Gold privileges even when travelling separately. Platinum members will be guaranteed an Economy Class or Business Class commercial seat at Flex fares and receive access to an Economy Class or Business  Class 'Last Seat' Flex reward.  

Gold Emirates Skywards members who are eligible for Platinum status will be automatically upgraded to the new tier and will start receiving benefits from 1 April 2013.  To qualify for Platinum status, members need to earn 150,000 or more tier Miles within a rolling 12-13 month period, compared to the existing qualification criteria of 50,000 Miles for Gold members.  Based on current figures, it is estimated that the top five per cent of Emirates Skywards' Gold tier will be eligible for Platinum status. Skywards has 8.6 million members worldwide.

Emirates Skywards continues to develop its programme across all membership tiers with recent enhancements to its reward offerings including partnerships with Alaska Airlines, JetBlue and easyJet, TAP and more in the pipeline for 2013.

To start taking advantage of opportunities to earn and redeem Miles with Emirates, travellers are invited to join Emirates Skywards at www.skywards.com . Membership is free and Emirates Skywards members receive Miles and benefits every time they fly with Emirates.