Emirates Skywards miles extended as Covid 19 continues to disrupt travel

Emirates hopes to get its entire fleet back in the air this year. Photo / Supplied

Emirates has extended its tier status for its loyalty programme members for another 12 months as Covid-19 continues to disrupt air travel.

The airline's Skywards scheme has more than 27 million members around the world who will be able to retain their elite status until 2022.

The airline says it is one of the first in the world to offer its members an extension on all tier status reviews scheduled for 2021, by an additional 12 months.

''With travel restrictions still in place due to Covid-19, Emirates Skywards continues to pioneer new ways to offer its members greater reassurance during this time,'' the airline says.

Emirates Skywards Silver and Gold members with a tier review date prior to December 31, 2021, will have their current tier status extended by an additional 12 months.

Emirates Skywards Platinum members with a tier review date prior to December 31, 2021, will also have their current tier status extended by 12 months, in addition to the Gold status of any nominee.

As an example, if a member has a current tier review date on March 31, 2021, their new tier review date will be extended to March 31 next year.

The loyalty programme has also further extended the validity of any Skywards Miles due to expire since April 2020 until June 30 this year.

Skywards Miles can be redeemed up to 11 months in advance for a range of rewards, including flight tickets on Emirates, flight upgrades, and other privileges.

Emirates has changed its booking policies. Anyone who buys a ticket for travel on or before June 30 this year can change their travel dates or extend the ticket validity for two years. The state-owned airline refunded passengers who wanted their money back last year.

By November last year the airline refunded passengers more than $2.4 billion after receiving, validating and processing nearly 1.7 million refund requests since April.