Comparison

Saudia vs Emirates

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Saudia

This travel app allows users to book flights, manage trips, and check in for flights seamlessly. It also provides access to loyalty program information and allows for the purchase of ancillaries like extra baggage and seat upgrades.

Highlights
  • Book flights and purchase ancillaries
  • Online check-in and digital boarding passes
  • Manage bookings and change seats
  • ALFURSAN member dashboard
  • Store passenger details and bookings offline
  • Book hotels and rent cars
Features
Read full description

The Saudia mobile app offers travelers a sleek and superior experience to Book, Manage Trips, Check-In and more. ALFURSAN members have access to a dashboard with key account information at their fingertips – making the app the ultimate traveler companion. FEATURES BOOKING FLIGHTS & PURCHASING ANCILLARIES - Book your flights quickly and seamlessly. - All of your passengers' details are stored on your phone. - Purchase extras such as Extra Legroom Seats, WiFi, Fast Track and Extra Baggage. - Pay with Visa, Master Card, American Express, MADA or SADAD. CHECK-IN - Check-in online and obtain your boarding pass. You have the option to view the digital boarding pass directly in the App or receive it via SMS or email as a digital copy. - Check-in all your passengers while on the move up to 60-minutes before departure time. - Boarding passes are stored on your phone offline. - Enhance your trip with ease, now you can book a hotel, rent a car, and more - all in one convenient place! ALFURSAN Dashboard - ALFURSAN fast enrollment after completing passengers' details during flight booking. - Retrieve and update your own ALFURSAN profile. - Retrieve your miles and rewards. - Retrieve your flight history. MY BOOKINGS & MORE - Retrieve your bookings made outside the app easily and store them on your phone offline. - From changing seats to adding baggage, you can now manage everything in one place! - Streamline your journey using simplified rebooking flow and easily purchase add-ons. - Make an offer to upgrade your cabin through booking management.

About

Emirates

Book flights to over 150 destinations, manage your trip details like meals and seats, and check in online. Receive real-time flight updates and access your loyalty program information.

Highlights
  • Search and book flights
  • Manage trip details (meals, seats)
  • Online check-in and digital boarding pass
  • Real-time flight updates
  • Loyalty program management (Skywards Miles)
  • Apple Watch integration for travel alerts
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Explore the world your way with the personalised Emirates App for iPhone and Apple Watch. 1. SEARCH AND BOOK YOUR NEXT GETAWAY Search for flights to over 150 destinations around the world, and complete your entire booking through the app. 2. MANAGE YOUR TRIP ON THE GO Choose your meal and seat preference, and add services such as Chauffeur-drive. It’s easy to update your details, and you can view your full itinerary at any time - even when you’re offline. 3. DOWNLOAD YOUR BOARDING PASS Check in online and download your boarding pass. You can print it, or send it to your phone via SMS or email to use it as a digital boarding pass. On The Emirates App for iPhone and iPad you can download your boarding pass directly to Wallet. 4. GET REAL-TIME FLIGHT UPDATES We’ll send you real-time information about your check-in, departure gate, boarding time, baggage belt and more, straight to your personal device. Tailor the app to your needs by choosing which notifications you want to receive. 5. GET THE MOST OUT OF EMIRATES SKYWARDS Explore ways to earn and spend your Skywards Miles directly within the app. Enjoy easy access to information about your tier status, benefits and Skywards Miles balance, and manage your account wherever you are. 6. THE EMIRATES APP FOR APPLE WATCH Get live travel updates at a glance. The app reminds you when it’s time to board, lets you know if there’s a change to your flight and tells you where to pick up your bags when you land – all without you reaching for your phone.

Screenshots

Saudia4 screens
Emirates4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Saudia at none against Emirates's shown. Saudia also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). Emirates's advantage is review sentiment (57% vs 39%) and chart position (#180 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Saudia holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Saudia has 59K ratings behind it against 9.8K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 39% of Saudia's written reviews are positive against 57% of Emirates's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 15, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Saudia versus Emirates: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSaudiaEmirates
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (59K ratings) — better4.5 (9.8K ratings)
Positive reviews38.8% of reviews56.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings59K — better9.8K
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#180 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size459 MB295 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSAUDI AIRLINES AIR TRANSPORT COMPANY OF A SINGLE-PERSON COMPANYEmirates

Customer experience

Saudia

All ratings59,228 ratings
Positive92.6%
Neutral2.3%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews603 reviews
Positive38.8%
Neutral7.1%
Negative54.1%

Emirates

All ratings9,792 ratings
Positive89.1%
Neutral3.0%
Negative7.8%
Written reviews1,507 reviews
Positive56.6%
Neutral8.0%
Negative35.4%

User reviews

Saudia

From 59K App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Smooth and easy to use app
  • 🕰️ Convenient for booking and managing flights
  • 🤝 Helpful and friendly staff
  • 🍽️ Good in-flight experience with quality food and service

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and glitchy app with frequent crashes
  • ⏱️ Slow and unresponsive performance
  • 🤖 Lack of human touch in customer service
  • 💳 Issues with payment processing and seat selection
  • 🧳 Problems with baggage handling and lost luggage

Emirates

From 9.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Convenient features
  • 🚀 Smooth check-in process
  • 🚀 Informative and intuitive
  • 👍 Excellent app for frequent flyers

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and technical issues
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches
  • 🐛 Unreliable app performance
  • 🐛 Slow and unresponsive at times
  • 🐛 Session timeouts and login problems

Bugs and requests

Saudia

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to log in to Alfursan account
  • Boarding pass not working with Apple Wallet
  • Seat selection not working properly
  • Booking process getting stuck or not completing

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add multi-destination booking option
  • Integrate Apple Pay and other digital wallets
  • Improve Alfursan loyalty program integration
  • Enhance mobile app functionality to match website

Emirates

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Inability to complete check-in through the app
  • Passport and personal details not saving properly
  • Seat selection and upgrade functionality not working
  • Skywards miles not displaying correctly
  • Boarding pass not showing all necessary information

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to manage family/group bookings with shared miles
  • Improved seat selection and upgrade options
  • Better integration with loyalty program and account management
  • More language support, especially for Arabic
  • Streamlined check-in and boarding pass handling

In-app purchases

None

Saudia

No in-app purchases

None

Emirates

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Saudia free?
Saudia is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Emirates free?
Emirates is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Saudia or Emirates?
Saudia is rated higher. Saudia averages 4.7 out of 5 from 59K ratings, while Emirates averages 4.5 from 9.8K ratings.
Do Saudia or Emirates have ads?
Emirates shows ads; Saudia does not.
Which is updated more often, Saudia or Emirates?
Saudia ships an update every 3 weeks, and Emirates every 3 weeks. Most recently, Saudia was updated on October 15, 2026 and Emirates on October 15, 2026.

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