AirRewards is the loyalty programme of Air Arabia, the low-cost carrier based in Sharjah. Its registration page lists joining routes for Sharjah and Abu Dhabi alongside Morocco, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, so for UAE residents it is the home programme of the budget airline at both ends of the country. It works less like an airline miles scheme and more like a cashback wallet: points are earned on what you pay and spent at a fixed rate against the fare.
The name has changed in spelling: Air Arabia now writes it
AirRewards, and the older airewards address on its site returns a
“page not found”.
A sourcing note up front: everything on this page was read from Air Arabia’s programme page, its AirRewards Terms and Conditions and its RAKBANK card page on 20 October 2026.
How AirRewards works
There are no elite tiers. Neither the programme page nor the terms describe status levels, lounge benefits or tier bonuses: every member earns and spends at the same rates.
Earning. Per the terms, members earn:
| On | Points per USD 1 |
|---|---|
| Flights (base fare and surcharge) and baggage allowance | 5 |
| Meal selection, insurance, seat selection and Hala services | 10 |
Points are not earned on government taxes and fees, or on other travellers’ flights, even when they are on your booking and you paid for them. Each member’s AirRewards ID has to be entered for that person to earn. Charter, special Hajj/Umrah and repatriation flights do not earn. A missing-points claim must reach AirRewards within 90 days of the flight.
Spending. Points pay the base fare and surcharge of any Air Arabia flight, and eligible add-ons. Air Arabia says there are no blackout dates and that every seat is available every day. The number of points a flight costs follows the published fare at the time of booking, so a peak-date flight costs more points, just as it costs more cash. Taxes and fees are always paid in cash. The minimum balance to redeem against a flight and baggage reward is 3,000 points, and Cash + Points lets you combine the two.
Family account
Up to eight family members can pool into a Head of Household’s account. The head must be at least 21. Eligible relatives are siblings, parents, grandparents, spouses and children. A family member cannot be swapped out for 12 months once listed.
There is a catch, and it is in the terms rather than on the programme page: 50% of the points a family member earns go to the Head of Household, and the other 50% are forfeited. The head controls all redemptions. For a family that flies Air Arabia together, each person earning in their own account and redeeming their own points keeps every point, at the cost of smaller balances.
What a point is worth
Air Arabia publishes the value itself: 100 points = USD 1, “the same value anytime of the year”. At the dirham’s peg of AED 3.6725 to the dollar, that is about 3.67 fils per point. This is our arithmetic on Air Arabia’s own figure, not a DubaiPoints valuation, and it applies only to the part of a booking points can pay for: the base fare and surcharge, and add-ons. Our valuations table lists AirRewards as “Pending” with no house figure.
On the same stated value, the earn rates above come to 5% back on the fare and 10% back on meals, seats, insurance and Hala services.
Who AirRewards suits
AirRewards suits the UAE resident who already flies Air Arabia out of Sharjah or Abu Dhabi: short-haul family trips, visits home to the subcontinent, Egypt or Morocco. Because points are worth a fixed amount off the fare, there is no award chart to learn and no saver seat to hunt for.
It suits you less if you want a programme that rewards loyalty with status, lounges or upgrades. There are no tiers. It also suits a travelling family less than the “Family account” heading suggests, because pooling forfeits half of every family member’s points.
How to earn from the UAE
- Flying Air Arabia. 5 points per USD 1 on the fare and baggage, 10 on meals, seats, insurance and Hala services, per the terms.
- The RAKBANK Air Arabia Platinum Credit Card. Air Arabia’s page for the card lists 1.75 points per AED 5 spent on airarabia.com and outside the UAE, 1.25 points per AED 5 inside the UAE, and 0.30 points per AED 5 in “special categories”, with conditions on RAKBANK’s site. At Air Arabia’s stated value, 1.25 points per AED 5 is about 0.9% back and 1.75 points about 1.3%. The page also advertised a 20,000-point welcome bonus, an annual free return ticket and no joining fee on 20 October 2026. We have not reviewed this card, and it is not in our card data, so check the current terms with RAKBANK before applying.
- Partners. The programme page lists UAE and travel partners including Union Insurance (200 points per AED 100 on motor insurance), Kalyan Jewellers (up to 40 points per AED 100), Buzzpay (3 points per AED 10 on mobile recharges), Sixt (up to 6 points per USD 1) and Kaligo (up to 15 points per USD 1 on hotels).
- Bank promotions. Some UAE bank offers pay out in Air Arabia travel rather than points, such as Emirates NBD’s new-account Air Arabia return ticket to 31 December 2026.
- Other UAE credit cards: none. No card in our data earns AirRewards points or transfers into them.
What to watch
- Points expire 24 months after you earn them. This is a hard expiry per transaction, not an inactivity rule: flying again does not extend older points. Spend them on a regular basis.
- Pooling halves family earnings. Read the 50% rule before you set up a Family Account.
- Taxes are cash. Points cover the base fare and surcharge, not the taxes and fees, so a “free” flight still has a cash bill.
- No conversion rate published. The Etihad Guest conversion is real per Air Arabia, but check the rate in your account before you move points.
Related
Programme reference
Redemption sweet spots
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A fixed value per point, any seat, any day
Air Arabia states that 100 AirRewards points = USD 1 and that every seat on every flight can be paid for with points, with no blackout dates. That works out at about 3.67 fils a point at the dirham's USD peg (our arithmetic on Air Arabia's own figure, not a DubaiPoints valuation). Points pay the base fare and surcharge; taxes and fees are paid in cash. Read on Air Arabia's programme page and AirRewards terms, 20 October 2026.
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Ten points per dollar on the extras
Per the AirRewards terms, flights and baggage earn 5 points per USD 1, while meals, insurance, seat selection and Hala services earn 10. At Air Arabia's stated value of 100 points to USD 1, that is 5% back on the fare and 10% back on those extras, which is where the programme's 'up to 10%' line comes from.
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Cash + Points from 3,000 points
You need a balance of 3,000 points before you can redeem against a flight and baggage reward, per the terms. Above that, points and cash can be combined on the same booking, so a small balance is still usable.
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AirRewards points into Etihad Guest Miles
Air Arabia's programme page says you can convert AirRewards points into Etihad Guest Miles. The page we read does not state the conversion rate, and we do not publish one. Check it in your AirRewards account before you convert.