MW This credit-card pointsmaxxer booked a $16,000 first-class Emirates flight for $400 - and you can, too
By Genna Contino
It's trickier to find good deals with airline miles, but it's still possible to get 'insane value'
Dave Shae transferred Bilt credit-card points to Emirates miles to fly in a first-class suite with Champagne, caviar and a a shower on board.
When Dave Shae boarded the first-class cabin for his Emirates flight from New York to Milan, he was greeted with bottomless Dom Perignon and white-glove caviar service. When he got bored of the personal minibar at his suite, he and his fellow first-class passengers could walk a few feet to the onboard bar. And before turndown service on the lie-flat seat, he even took a shower 40,000 feet in the air in an onboard spa.
This luxury experience typically costs between $11,000 and $16,000. But Shae only paid $434 out of pocket. He was able to transfer credit-card points to Emirates miles to cover the rest.
"It absolutely was a bucket-list experience," the Atlanta-based actor and travel content creator said. "Emirates really knows how to make flying fun. Granted, most people are paying an arm and a leg for it. But to the average person with some points, it's actually far more accessible than you would think."
With the cost of airfare up nearly 21% year over year in April, according to the latest inflation data, some frequent flyers are turning to credit-card points and miles to find flight deals. It's getting increasingly difficult to find those deals - but experts say it's still possible to score a luxury travel experience without draining your bank account.
Read more: Airfares are up 21% since last year. Here are the summer destinations where you can still get a deal.
"Points and miles serve as a great hedge when cash fares are high. The only caveat to that is that, unfortunately, the airlines have gotten much better at making award tickets dynamic," meaning they fluctuate more with the fare's cash price," said Clint Henderson, managing editor for the travel website The Points Guy. "But there's still tons of sweet spots where that's not the case and where you can get insane value from your points and miles, especially when cash fares are really high."
How to transfer Bilt, Capital One and American Express points to Emirates
Shae saved up his Bilt points through a combination of everyday spending on his Bilt Palladium Mastercard $(MA)$ - which comes with a 50,000-point sign-up bonus and two points per every dollar spent - and through Rakuten (JP:4755) $(RKUNY)$, a cash-back shopping portal that added Bilt as a transfer partner last year. Through Rakuten, users can earn points on purchases at retailers like Target (TGT) or Ulta Beauty $(ULTA)$ instead of cash back, and referring a friend can earn both parties 5,000 Bilt points. Between everyday spending and Rakuten, Shae had just enough to cover his ticket.
Bilt points transfer to Emirates at a 1:1 ratio, making them the most valuable currency for this kind of redemption. American Express $(AXP)$, Capital One $(COF)$ and Citi $(CUL3)$ points can also be transferred to Emirates, though at a reduced rate. For travelers who don't have enough points in a single program, it's possible to pool points from multiple cards to cover a single booking.
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But the booking process wasn't as simple as just clicking purchase. Shae first had to book a business-class ticket, then confirm through Emirates's online chat that a first-class upgrade was actually available before pulling the trigger.
"What I always do is chat with the rep before I even book the business-class ticket," he said. "I'll say, 'Hey, if I book this business-class ticket on [any specific date], is there an upgrade to first available?' And they will say yes or no. If it's a yes, that's when I'll pull the trigger."
Once you book the business-class seat, a prompt appears offering the upgrade. When Shae booked his flight, the upgrade cost 39,000 Emirates miles on top of the 87,000 he spent on the business-class seat. Today that upgrade runs 45,000 miles, but the cash taxes have stayed roughly the same at $434.
From private suites to $20,000 seats: Luxury travelers have more ways to splurge while many passengers can't afford economy
For travelers who just want to experience Emirates's business class - which still comes with lie-flat seats, free pajamas and premium amenity kits (just no shower) - there's a cheaper route. Shae booked the return leg of his Milan trip through Japan Airlines (JP:9201) (JAPSY), which is a transfer partner of Capital One's and allows you to book Emirates business class at a significantly lower mileage rate. The trade-off: Japan Airlines-booked tickets aren't eligible for a first-class upgrade.
Tips for earning and spending points strategically
For those looking to jump into the travel-points game, Henderson recommends starting simple.
His go-to starter card is the Chase $(JPM)$ Sapphire Preferred, which carries an annual fee of $95 - lower than many premium travel cards - and earns points that transfer to a wide range of airline and hotel partners, including Hyatt $(H)$.
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"If you're new to the ecosystem, I wouldn't start with an airline credit card, because you're locked into those redemptions," Henderson said. "Learn one program, learn what it can do, experience the joy of free redemptions and then go from there."
For more seasoned points collectors, he flagged a few transfers that are consistently delivering value for premium travel experiences right now. Alaska Airlines $(ALK)$ miles can be used to book business class to Frankfurt on Condor, a German carrier, for as few as 55,000 points - a route with wide availability from the East Coast. American Express points transferred to Air France (FR:AF) (AFLYY) can unlock business class between New York and Paris for around 60,000 miles, a redemption Henderson called "widely available" for flexible travelers. And Japan Airlines' first or business class, bookable with American Airlines $(AAL)$ miles, remains one of his favorite redemptions when you can find the lowest saver rate.
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But before embarking on a mad shopping spree to build up your points base, there are a few pitfalls to avoid. For one, never carry a credit-card balance. "You're losing to the house if you're not paying your balance off," Henderson said, as the interest charges will wipe out any value the points provide.
Credit-card debt is getting more expensive, and more Americans are having trouble managing their bills. The average credit-card APR rose to 23.79% in May, up from 23.75% in April, according to LendingTreet $(TREE)$. The share of credit-card balances that were more than 90 days past due hit 13.1% in the first quarter - a level not seen since 2010, according to the New York Fed.
Avoid redeeming points for gift cards, merchandise or through retailer portals like Amazon (AMZN), which Henderson said are almost always low-value uses. And don't assume you have to book through Chase's or Amex's own travel portals; transferring points directly to an airline or hotel partner will typically yield far better value, he noted.
Henderson also cautioned that some carriers - Emirates and fellow U.A.E.-based carrier Etihad Airways among them - have tightened their cancellation and change policies in recent years, making it harder to recover miles if your plans shift. Read the fine print before booking a nonrefundable award ticket.
Shae, who has about 20 credit cards that he uses strategically, has already booked future trips through various airline transfer programs. By being flexible with the destination, he can fly to whichever European city has the best deal available, then hop a train from there.
Read more: Why these 3 airlines are still raising bag fees even though passengers are already fed up with high prices
"I always tell people, just get to Europe, and then the rest is so much easier and they'll wind up seeing something that they may not have even expected," Shae said. "They'll discover their new favorite city without even having heard of it before."
His one warning to anyone considering the Emirates splurge: "Once you do this, it's going to be really hard to fly any other way for the rest of your life," he said. "You will never forget that flight."
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-Genna Contino
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June 05, 2026 13:48 ET (17:48 GMT)
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