In February 2024, Emirates announced plans to launch a new daily flight between Miami and Bogota. It’s now possible to redeem miles for this flight directly on Emirates’ website, so I wanted to cover all the details, since I’m sure this is a route on which many are interested in redeeming.
Emirates adding flights to Bogota, Colombia
As of June 3, 2024, Emirates will add Bogota, Colombia (BOG), to its route network. This is being operated as an extension of Emirates’ existing Dubai (DXB) to Miami (MIA) flight, which is just being retimed a bit. This will be a fifth freedom flight, meaning passengers can travel exclusively between Miami and Bogota.
Here’s the schedule we can expect for Emirates’ flight between Dubai and Bogota, with the stop in Miami, as of June 3, 2024:
EK213 Dubai to Miami departing 2:15AM arriving 10:05AM
EK213 Miami to Bogota departing 12:35PM arriving 3:25PM
EK214 Bogota to Miami departing 5:25PM arriving 10:15PM
EK214 Miami to Dubai departing 12:45AM arriving 11:00PM
Emirates is moving its existing Dubai to Miami flight around a bit to accommodate this new service, as the flight is operating with the following schedule through June 2, 2024:
EK213 Dubai to Miami departing 3:10AM arriving 11:00AM
EK214 Miami to Dubai departing 9:10PM arriving 7:25PM (+1 day)
Interestingly Emirates isn’t actually adding any extra service between Dubai and Miami, and arguably the times are significantly less convenient for those traveling exclusively between Dubai and Miami. Emirates will use a Boeing 777-300ER for this route featuring 354 seats, including eight first class seats, 42 business class seats, and 304 economy class seats.
For context on the distance and block time of this service:
- The flight between Dubai and Miami covers a distance of 7,845 miles, and is blocked at 15hr50min to Miami and 14hr15min to Dubai
- The flight between Miami and Bogota covers a distance of 1,507 miles, and is blocked at 3hr50min in both directions
- In total, the journey between Dubai and Bogota will cover a distance of 9,352 miles, and is blocked at 22hr10min to Bogota and 20hr35min to Dubai
The logic of Emirates adding Miami to Bogota flights
I can definitely see why Emirates is launching this route, and I’m incredibly excited at the prospect of this. Yes, it’s a bit “out there,” but it adds up:
- Emirates already flies between Dubai and Miami, and the carrier’s 777 sits on the ground in Miami for over 10 hours every day, so the airline can add this route pretty efficiently, with limited opportunity cost in terms of aircraft utilization
- There’s significant cargo demand between Miami and Bogota; so when you consider the cargo capacity of a passenger version of the 777, that could contribute nicely to the success of this route
- Emirates already operates several fifth freedom flights to the Americas, including Athens to Newark, Milan to New York, and Barcelona to Mexico City, so the concept of this isn’t out of character for the airline
- Due to Bogota’s altitude (it’s around 8,600 feet above sea level), Emirates could never fly there nonstop from Dubai, so operating a service like this is the next best option (it’s a similar reason to why Emirates flies from Barcelona to Mexico City)
The United States and Colombia have an Open Skies agreement, allowing Emirates to operate this as a fifth freedom flight, with the ability to sell tickets exclusively between Miami and Bogota. I can see this route being incredibly popular with passengers traveling between South Florida and Colombia.
At the same time, this still doesn’t seem like the most efficient way to travel between Bogota and Dubai (and beyond):
- Bogota and Dubai are 8,478 miles apart, and routing through Miami covers a distance of 9,352 miles, so that’s quite a detour
- If the goal is to be as efficient as possible, it seems much more logical for Avianca and Emirates to establish a codeshare agreement or other partnership, where Avianca would carry passengers from Bogota to Madrid, and Emirates would carry passengers from Madrid to Dubai, as that routing would cover a distance of just 8,508 miles (30 miles above the direct air distance)
- There’s also the general issue of using the United States as a transit hub; the United States doesn’t offer sterile international transit, meaning passengers traveling between Bogota and Dubai need a visa to enter the US, need to clear immigration and pick up luggage in Miami, etc.
One thing is for sure — as a Miami resident, I’m thrilled at the prospect of being able to fly Emirates first class between Miami and Bogota. 😉
How to book Emirates’ Miami to Bogota flight with miles
I’m sure I’m not the only one who is excited to redeem miles on this flight, so how much should you expect to pay? Generally you’re best off booking directly with Emirates Skywards, since this program gives you the most access to Emirates award availability.
The catch is that if you just go to Emirates’ website and try to enter the origin as Miami and the destination as Bogota, you’ll get an error message. However, if you click the “Advanced search” button on the homepage, the next page will allow you to search award availability on this route (thanks to Travel on Points for flagging this).
Assuming there’s award space on this flight, how much should you expect to pay? If you’re booking a one-way award from Miami to Bogota:
- Economy costs 22,500 miles plus $63.30
- Business class costs 52,500 miles plus $105.30
- First class costs 60,500 miles plus $105.30
Now, one thing to keep in mind is that Emirates has different award pricing in economy and business class depending on whether you’re traveling one-way or roundtrip. In economy and business, there’s a significant discount if traveling roundtrip.
So a roundtrip award between Miami and Bogota would cost you the following number of miles:
- Economy costs 26,000 miles plus $166.30
- Business class costs 64,000 miles plus $250.30
- First class costs 121,000 miles plus $250.30
Economy and business class are a much better value when booking roundtrip. If just flying one-way, it’s of course worth paying an extra 8,000 miles to fly first class rather than business class, assuming there’s availability.
Currently I’m noticing wide open economy and business class award availability, while it seems like there’s one first class award seat per flight.
Emirates Skywards miles are really easy to come by, as the program is transfer partners with all major transferable points currencies, including Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou.
It’s also possible to redeem Air Canada Aeroplan points for travel on Emirates. Pricing is dynamic, but currently I generally see the following award costs for a one-way award from Miami to Bogota:
- Economy costs 27,500 points plus $72
- Business class costs 60,500 points plus $72
- First class costs 124,300 points plus $72
Air Canada Aeroplan points are also easy to come by, as the program partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Bottom line
As of June 2024, Emirates is adding daily flights between Miami and Bogota using a Boeing 777. This will be an extension of the carrier’s existing Dubai to Miami route, and it’s yet another fifth freedom flight that Emirates will operate in the Americas.
I’m thrilled to see this new route, and can’t wait to fly Emirates between Miami and Bogota. Suffice it to say that this will be a slightly better experience than what’s offered by American and Avianca in the market.
The only thing I’m a bit surprised by is that Emirates isn’t at all increasing frequencies to Miami. That means the Miami route is either currently performing very poorly, or this new service is heavily geared at passengers and cargo traveling exclusively between Miami and Bogota.
What do you make of Emirates adding flights from Miami to Bogota?
