Spending 100,000 points to fly more than half way around the world in style round trip sounds pretty incredible, but one way for half, doesn’t sound too bad either. Of course, it’s all even better when it’s Emirates A380 business class we’re talking about, complete with a cocktail bar, assuming that sort of thing still exists in the brave new world, when travel returns.
Occasionally, little travel opportunities cobble together, creating something superb, and that’s the case right now with some award chart maximization involving TAP Portugal.
You can fly Emirates business class on super long distances for just 100,000 points round trip, or 50,000 points one way. As you may have suspected, the key points you need are on sale as well.
TAP Award Chart Gem
Award charts show the amount of points you’ll need to cover any given flight.
TAP Portugal is an airline without too many ‘sweet spots’ when it comes to using points for their own flights, but if you look closer, the airline has some total gems when you want to use TAP Portugal Miles & Go Miles on an airline partner.
Say… Emirates.
TAP Portugal charges just 100,000 points round trip, or 50,000 points one way for Emirates business class between Asia and South Africa, in either direction, which means you can effectively get half way around the world at a super rate using points. Even lower values are avaluable between Europe and the Middle East, or the Middle East and Asia.
Why stop there? Even if you don’t have any points, you can buy them on sale right now.
Stopovers in Dubai aren’t specifically allowed, but it’s easy to find super long flight connections which give you a night or more in the city, or its lovely beaches. This fantastic digging was unearthed by Toursnail and Dominicus, two top bloggers in Asia.
At this point it’s fair to say this is a bit hobbyist, but most points opportunities are all about how you use them. Say you were planning a trip to Asia, why not turn it into a 2 in 1 trip, and add a Safari, or wine country visit in South Africa too? Or maybe you were hoping to create an around the world trip, and were looking to cover the most distance for the fewest points – voila!
There’s no limit to how you can apply a gem like this, you’ll just need to get creative to weave it into potential plans. Obviously, those plans are on hold for now, but while availability is good, it’s never a bad idea to get something booked for later in the year, or in fact next year.
How To Get The Points
Anyone who took advantage of the TAP Portugal status match opportunity recently will be very happy here (aside from the status extension). If you’re not one of those people, you can still be happy. TAP allows you to buy all the miles needed, and right now during a 4X points campaign, you’d incur a cost of roughly €1050 if you’re starting from zero.
If you have Marriott Bonvoy Points, these can also be converted into TAP Miles & GO Miles, though it’s worth noting that availability could disappear in the time it takes to transfer between programs, so be careful on that one.
How To Search For Availability
Finding available dates when you can redeem miles for Emirates business class is a bit of a song and dance, but it’s worth it. You can search for Emirates seats using TAP Miles & Go Miles on Expert Flyer, Qantas or Alaska Airlines. Ignore the prices these sites are charging in miles, because you’re just using them to see dates.
If you need help, and this is way out of your league, contact someone like JuicyMiles or PointsPros who can help you search. Once you’ve found space, you can contact TAP Portugal by phone to book, quoting the Emirates flight numbers and dates to the agent. Many have already successfully booked these gems.
Good to know, right?
What are the fuel surcharges running with this redemption?
Can you confirm where it says that redemption rate is roundtrip and not one way? I have been looking but can’t find an answer.
What are the chances of this airline going bankrupt and out of service before being able to use the miles?
Buying miles from a financially-precarious airline seems like risky business at this time.
How much are the Airfare Taxes and Fees for a TAP award (Emirates) e.g. Bangkok Cape Town, return?
What are the Fuel Surcharges on Emirates when using TAP? I know that Emirates can be quite outrageous, so I am wondering if TAP passes all those along or not.
I thought you can’t book just one-way for this particular award; and some say first class not allowed 🙁
First class on Emirates isn’t possible, but one ways are.
Gilbert, I went into the TAP site to play around a bit, and it was possible to change the business class option to First, I think the points changed to 130K, and EK does fly the A380 to JNB. Is there something else that prevents that?
I believe typically just their availability access. If you call them and they can ticket it, go for it!
thx!!
I guess many will find that routing useful! In the meantime no one should transfer points to EK they do not have. I do not trust these foreign carriers one bit!
Not worth it.
Taxes are 850EUR for round trip that’s nearly EUR2000 for return trip.
SQ much better as same amount of miles, excellent if not better business class and EUR70 in taxes
FYI Toursnail didn’t find it, he H/T’ed to AustralianFrequentFlyer.
It’s gullible that you don’t post comments that aren’t necessarily supporting your article but in fact helping people and warning them what awaits them at the next step.
Some will buy miles and then realize they have nearly $1000 to pay in taxes. This is how helpful you wanna be?
You aren’t helping anyone “bro”, disappointed. Site skipped.
All comments from new commenters are put into moderation. I took a day off yesterday, to spend the day with my infant for the first time in 3 months. Therefore, no comments were approved. Don’t be such a drama queen. Plus, there’s always ways to entirely eliminate the taxes you’re complaining about anyway, such as choosing an advantageous routing.