Earlier this year it was confirmed that Barclays would be launching an Emirates cobranded card. This new partnership is now live and there are two cards on offer. Let’s take a look in this quick review.
Contents
Emirates Skywards Premium World Elite Mastercard
- Annual fee of $499
- Sign up bonus of 40,000 miles after $3,000 in spend within the first 90 days
- Emirates Skywards Gold Status (you get this instantly in your first year and then need to spend $40,000 per cardmember year to keep it)
- 10,000 anniversary miles when you spend $30,000 each cardmember year
- Priority Pass Select membership
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck (once every 5 years up to $100 )
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 3x miles per $1 spent on emirates.com or at the Emirates Sales office
- 2x miles per $1 spent on airfares, hotel stays and car rentals
- 1x miles per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 25% savings when you purchase or gift miles
Emirates Skywards Rewards World Elite Mastercard
- Annual fee of $99
- Sign up bonus of 30,000 miles after $3,000 in spend within the first 90 days
- Emirates Skywards Silver Status (you get this instantly in your first year and then need to spend $20,000 per cardmember year to keep it)
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 3x miles per $1 spent on emirates.com or at the Emirates Sales office
- 2x miles per $1 spent on airfares, hotel stays and car rentals
- 1x miles per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 25% savings when you purchase or gift miles
Our Verdict
The main selling point of these cards seems to be the elite status. If you’re flying enough for this status to actually be useful chances are you already have it from flying so much. The $499 annual fee on the premium rewards card is ridiculous, especially considering you need to spend $40,000 annually to keep status on the card and the fact that earning rates are low across the board. Both cards seem dead on arrival to me, although I guess if they decide to offer higher sign up bonuses in the future they might be worth considering. We won’t be adding either offer to the best credit card bonus sign up page.
