Upgrade Success: How to fly Emirates First Class

Emirates First Class on the A380 is usually the stuff of bucket lists and lottery wins, not casual weekend trips. Suites with closing doors, in-flight showers, Caviar and Dom Perignon champagne and… jaw-dropping prices. Yet there are some travel hacks that can help you experience Emirates First Class without paying full First Class fares.

This post walks through these tips and tricks, the miles and points involved, and how those Emirates Skywards miles can be earned for Belgians through alternative routes. Note: prices and miles shown in this article were captured in 2026.

Emirates A380 First Class Highlights

Even on a short route, Emirates’ A380 First Class is the full experience. A private suite with closing doors, large screen, and personal mini-bar.

Luxurious dining experience: caviar service, premium champagne like Dom Perignon and a la carte dining.

The famous Shower Spa in First Class, exclusive to the First Class products on Airbus A380 by Emirates and Etihad. PS: did you know the bathroom on board has floor heating?!

And last but not least, an onboard bar and lounge shared with Business Class at the rear of the upper deck.

A “bucket list” experience is therefore possible to squeeze into a short‑haul sector, without paying long-haul First Class prices.

Strategy 1: Booking a Fifth Freedom Flight Bangkok – Hong Kong

The key to this strategy is Emirates’ fifth-freedom flight between Bangkok and Hong Kong, operated by an Airbus A380. It is a short Intra-Asian route with a long-haul hard product flying from Dubai to Bangkok, continues to Hong Kong and returns back to Dubai via Bangkok again which is probably the cheapest First Class fare on Emirates A380 that is bookable. You get more return for your money when booking a round-trip so it is up to you if you’d like to have the experience twice a little bit of 50% extra fee.

Strategy 2: Booking a Business Class ticket to Upgrade

Emirates allows cash or miles upgrades from Business to First, even last-minute at the airport or on-board, subject to availability. This is actually the strategy I have used to fly Emirates First Class Airbus A380 for the first time!

So how did I end up in First Class using this sweet spot? First of all, I booked the cheapest possible business class ticket on Emirates Airbus A380, which happens to be the same fifth freedom flight as in strategy 1: Bangkok to Hong Kong.

Not every Business Class ticket is treated equally when it comes to upgrades. Emirates sells several fare types in Business:

Under “Upgrade to First” you can see how much miles you’ll need and which limitation applies. Saver fares are the cheapest fares eligible to upgrade, however only works after check-in has opened. Flex and Flex Plus could be beneficial, but only if there is award availability to directly upgrade to First, which has very scarce availability.

However, this trick does not come without risk. If First Class is full, you’ll fly business class, which of course is still a very decent product on Emirates and especially on the Airbus A380, where you’ll be able to enjoy the on-board bar and lounge. You can easily check availability by performing a dummy booking with multiple passengers to check your upgrade chances.

Upon arrival in Hong Kong for my flight to Bangkok, I asked the check-in desk if there is availability to upgrade to First, which in my case there was. The crew handled the administration, I signed a paper that I agree to deduct 16.900 miles from my Emirates Skywards account and I immediately received my boarding pass in First. The staff, even though not in Dubai, exactly knew what to do. I thanked the check-in agent for making my day and headed with a lot of happiness to the Emirates lounge in Hong Kong!

This strategy can be applied to any Business Class flight on Emirates and not only this Fifth Freedom leg. If you would like to know how much miles you’ll need to upgrade your flight, Emirates has a clear tool available: Skywards Miles Calculator. In my case, I owned a Business Saver ticket and needed 16.900 Skywards miles to upgrade to First Class. To familiarise yourself how to get the necessary Skywards miles for upgrades, keep reading. It is possible without flying Emirates and through American Express Platinum, even for Belgians!

Strategy 3: Booking a First Class Award ticket

Another strategy of course would be booking a First Class ticket using miles. You can book First Class with miles from Air Canada’s Aeroplan frequent flyer program, Qantas Frequent Flyer program or directly on Emirates its program Skywards.

However, recently, Qantas has restricted purchase of Emirates First Class redemptions only if you have Silver status or higher. The same restriction applies to Emirates Skywards, where you’ll also need Silver status to book First Class tickets. However, status matches could help unlock this restriction if you have status somewhere else.

Let’s say you have access to Emirates Skywards Miles and happen to have Silver status, either by earning or by status match, you are able to book First Class tickets using miles. Do keep in mind however that the required miles are quite steep for direct award booking, especially when you take taxes into account. For example, for the same fifth-freedom flight Bangkok – Hong Kong, you end up paying 45.000 miles + almost 7800 Thai Baht. In comparison, a paid business class flight costs a bit over 8600 Thai Baht and requires 16.900 miles to upgrade to First (if there is availability).

Therefore, if you’re planning to book First Class using Emirates miles, it is better to look for the full experience and select a longer flight, in case you have the sufficient miles available.

IMPORTANT: Emirates Business Class can be booked on multiple partners (e.g. Qantas, Aeroplan, Aegean) as an award ticket, but because this is booked on the partner’s airlines stock, it will not be eligible for upgrades to First Class. However, mixed reports are available on the internet where some people were able able to do last-minute upgrades to First, but, I wouldn’t count on them due to inconsistencies reported by others.

How to Earn Emirates Skywards Miles to fund Awards / Upgrades

The most straightforward method to get 16.900 miles for an upgrade on Hong Kong to Bangkok or vice versa is from flying with Emirates. However, there are also transfer partners that allow you to transfer points to Skyward Miles. Various credit cards over the world allow easy and efficient transferring to Emirates Skywards Miles.

For Belgians, there are limited options as American Express Belgium is not a partner with Emirates unfortunately. American Express Belgium is however partner with Marriott Bonvoy which has a wide range of airline partners. Through this indirect route is it possible to transfer hotel points to Skywards miles. Through stays in Marriott branded hotels you could earn points, or simply transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Marriott points. Although this indirect route does not get you a favourable ratio from AMEX points to miles, it is still a way to somehow get Emirates Skywards miles without flying. The necessary AMEX points can be easily earned with a Belgian American Express Platinum card or even with the Belgian American Express Gold card.

Transactions:

• American Express Membership Rewards Points to Marriott Points has a 1:1 rate in Belgium
• Marriott Points to airlines such as Emirates has a 3:1 rate globally
• For each transaction of 60.000 points, you’ll get 5.000 bonus miles

Conclusion:

• 16.900 Skywards miles require 50.700 points (without 5.000 miles)
• You need to transfer 50.700 Amex points to Marriott
• Bonus: transfer 60.000 Marriott points to Skywards miles to get 25.000 miles (if you can use them in the future)