Emirates scheme reaches milestone

A TOTAL of 38 000 Zimbabwean  travellers are among 27 million members of Emirates Skywards, a loyalty programme by one of the world’s biggest airlines, Emirates and the budget carrier flydubai.

Emirates, celebrating 20 years of excellence and innovation, is the largest airline plying the Zimbabwean route and operates the world’s biggest fleets of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s.

Over the past two decades, Skywards has witnessed a surge in membership, growing from 32 000 in 2005 to today’s milestone 27 million, covering 130 destinations. 

The loyalty programme has weathered the Covid-19 storm, retaining customers through offering member “tier miles”.

With travel restrictions still in place around the world due to Covid-19, the loyalty programme has helped retain its silver, gold and platinum members tier review dates for the next 12 months. 

This gives assurance to customers who may not be able to travel immediately. 

“Emirates Skywards Silver, Gold and Platinum members have had their tier review dates extended to enable an additional 12 months at their current status. The loyalty programme has also extended the validity of any Skywards Miles due to expire from April 2020 until 31 March 2021. Members can also redeem Miles up to 11 months in advance for an extensive range of rewards,” Emirates said in a statement. 

The Emirates Skywards members are drawn from 180 countries, including Zimbabwe, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, India and the United Arab Emirates.

“Emirates Skywards has expanded its range of partners over the past 20 years to create new, exciting and exceptional value offerings for its diverse membership base.” 

Emirates says the programme has grown through investment in establishing partnerships through digital technology.

“Emirates Skywards has expanded its range of partners over the past 20 years to create new, exciting and exceptional value offerings for its diverse membership base,” the statement reads.  

The loyalty programme currently has 200 partners, including 16 airline partners, more than 100 hotel partners, 33 financial partners, 22 retail and lifestyle partners, seven car rental partners as it seeks to grow its membership.