Hey @mountainaddict,

Thanks for writing in. You should have the ability to include emoji's regardless of subscription status.
Have you tried update your Strava App to it's latest version?

I haven't been able to put emoji's in the description on the website. It appears the ability to do so comes and goes and I mostly use a mac laptop to write ride descriptions. I could not put in an emoji today.

Hey @Marcy, 
Thanks for the follow up. Could you please try clearing the cache and cookies from the web browser you are using before navigating back to Strava.com and logging back into your account? Instructions on how to clear the cache and cookies for various web browsers are listed below:
 
Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox [cache instructions | cookie instructions]
Apple Safari
Microsoft Edge
 
Please give this a try. If you are still having issues, please try using a different browser to see if that helps. 

Update: Updating to the latest version of the web browser resolved the issue.