I could give you a list as long as my arm as to why Emirate’s First Class is arguably one of the best in the world - fully enclosed suites, excellent inflight service, vintage champagnes, curated menus etc – but for me the clincher is the Emirates shower. Taking a shower inflight is a whole new level of luxury and it’s an experience only very few people get to have. That was, up until recently, because now you can shower in the sky using award miles and points.

Let’s just cover our bases first. Both Etihad Airways and Emirates Airlines have onboard showers available to first class passengers. Emirates has two “shower spas” available for its 14 First Class passengers. Etihad has one shower for its 9 First Class passengers, plus a fully private luxury deluxe shower for its one 3 room ‘residence’. This means to most mere mortals, the only Etihad shower you’ll ever see is the single – not that this in itself isn’t still pretty awesome - but he Emirates spa is better.

How does the Emirates inflight shower system work?

Every First Class passenger is entitled to one 20-30 minutes (depending on demand) session in the spa. This includes 5 minutes of hot water. Inside the spa expect all the best amenities - a powerful hair dryer, luxury body products, and thick, fluffy towels.

Using Emirates First Class awards to get in the shower

If you were going to pay cold hard cash to take this flight, it would be a very expensive way to shower. That’s why using award miles or points makes this so much more attractive. And the good news is, there are plenty of ways you can pay for these flights without using cash. And pleanty of seats available too.

Most frequent flyers don’t think of cashing in miles to fly in uber-luxury Emirates First and this means the seats often go unsold (or claimed). After all, the Emirates A380 flies to 40 different destinations. That’s a lot of seats. After a quick perusal of flights to Amsterdam, New York, London, Paris, Bangkok, Brisbane, to name but a few, I saw there were one or two award seats up for grabs per flight.

What miles to use to get Emirates first award

If you’re holding miles with Emirates’ Skywards program this is a good way to go. But it’s worth looking around first and you’ll soon see why. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, Korean Air Skypass and Qantas Frequent Flyer can all be used to book an Emirates first class ticket. And some of these deals are better than the home brand.

How many award miles do I need to fly First with Emirates?

This depends on who you’re with but surprisingly, Emirates isn’t he best deal. A round trip from New York to Dubai will cost you 217,500 Skywards miles. In addition, you’ll pay around $1300 in surcharges.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan however, gives you a one way First Class Emirates flight from the US to Dubai for 150,000 miles, or for the US to Australia for only 225,000 miles – with about $50 on top.

In comparison, Qantas’ distance-based award chart doesn’t make for a good deal.  A flight from New York to Dubai is 252,000 miles roundtrip, with surcharges. But – and it is a big ‘but’, if you have years worth of Citi ThankYou Rewards collecting dust – why not use them up? You can transfer these to Qantas at a good rate. Then it really doesn't matter if it's a deal or not.