Etihad Guest, the frequent flyer program of Etihad Airways, offers a range of benefits and opportunities for travelers flying with Etihad and its partners. Known for its luxurious service and extensive network, Etihad provides numerous ways to earn and redeem miles. However, the program was recently heavily devalued, so there’s a lot of questions to ask pertaining to the value of Etihad’s miles.
This guide will explore how to earn Etihad Guest miles, highlight valuable redemption options, explain the program’s expiration policy, identify valuable sweet spot redemptions, and more.
How to Earn Etihad Guest Miles
Flying On Etihad Airways
Earning Etihad Guest miles is straightforward when flying with Etihad Airways. Miles are awarded based on the fare class, distance flown, and your membership tier. Unfortunately, Etihad doesn’t publish an explicit award chart, so the easiest way to determine how many miles you earn is to use the Etihad calculator.
If we look into an example route, we can get a general sense of how many miles you’ll earn. JFK to AUH is a nonstop route served by Etihad that is about 6,844 miles long. Depending on your fare class, you’ll earn a varying % of the miles flown.
Flying On Airline Partners
- Air Canada
- Air France
- American Airlines
- ANA
- EL AL
- Korean Air
Etihad mileage earning on partner airlines is determined based on your fare class, distance flown, and the specific airline partner. The easiest way to figure out mileage earnings is to look at the individual partner and calculate the miles yourself.
Credit Card Transfer Partners
Although Etihad doesn’t issue a US credit card, four major credit card issuers can transfer their points to the program:
Here are some of our favorite cards you can get to quickly get more Etihad miles:
Buy Etihad Guest Miles
While standard Etihad Guest members can purchase up to 100,000 miles per year, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Etihad Guest miles cost $20 USD / 1,000 miles, which is not the worst rate in the world, but is still not optimal by any means. There have been Etihad sales in the past where you can buy Guest miles at a discount, which could make them more worthwhile then.
Do Etihad Guest Miles Expire?
Etihad Guest miles expire after 18 months of inactivity. However, you can keep your miles active for another 18 months by flying with Etihad Airways or any of its airline partners.
How To Earn Etihad Guest Elite Status
Etihad Guest offers three elite status tiers, providing various benefits to frequent flyers. To qualify for elite status, you need to earn Tier Miles by flying on Etihad or its partner airlines. Tier Miles are earned based on the distance flown and fare class.
- Etihad Guest Silver: 25,000 Tier Miles or 20 Tier Segments
- Etihad Guest Gold: 50,000 Tier Miles or 40 Tier Segments
- Etihad Guest Platinum: 125,000 Tier Miles or 60 Tier Segments
Benefits of elite status include priority check-in and boarding, extra baggage allowance, lounge access, increased mileage earning, and more. Platinums get access to complimentary chauffeur service and can even gift Gold status to another family member.
Who Are Etihad’s Airline Partners?
Although Etihad is not part of any of the major airline alliances, it has established a strong network of airline partners to enhance the earning and redemption opportunities for its members. These partnerships extend the reach of Etihad’s network and provide additional benefits for frequent fliers. The full list of partners is as follows:
- Air New Zealand
- Air Canada
- Air Europa
- Air France
- Air Serbia
- All Nippon Airways (ANA)
- American Airlines
- Asiana Airlines
- Brussels Airlines
- Codeshare Partners
- EL AL
- Garuda Indonesia
- Gulf Air
- Hainan Airlines
- JetBlue
- Korean Air
- KLM - Royal Dutch Airline
- Malaysia Airlines
- Oman Air
- Royal Air Maroc
- Saudia
- Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
- SriLankan Airlines
- Virgin Australia
How Etihad Prices Its Award Flights
Etihad uses a region-based award chart to price its award flights. The chart categorizes destinations into regions, and the mileage cost is determined by the origin and destination regions and the class of service. There are separate award charts for flights on Etihad versus flights on partner airlines.
Etihad offers two types of award redemptions
- GuestSeats: Lower mileage requirements but limited availability. These are the best value redemptions
- OpenSeats: Higher mileage requirements but more availability and flexibility. These are available on any flight with an available seat
While Etihad doesn’t typically release award charts, they have this GuestSeats chart available given the recent changes made to the program:
When booking award flights on partner airlines, Etihad uses a separate, well-defined partner award chart.
Etihad Airways Sweet Spot Redemptions 2024
Etihad Guest offers several sweet spot redemptions that can provide exceptional value for your miles. Here are a few notable examples:
American Airlines Business/First Class Flights
Surprisingly, booking American Airlines business/first class flights through Etihad can be cheaper than booking directly with AA. For example, DFW to MAD (4,965 miles) costs a minimum of 75,000 AA miles, but with Etihad, it will always be 100,000 miles for that distance. Here are some other noteworthy routes:
- MIA to MAD (4,424 miles) in AA Business Class: 100,000 Etihad miles
- JFK to FCO (4,277 miles) in AA Business Class: 100,000 Etihad miles
- LAX to LHR (5,456 miles) in AA Business Class: 120,000 Etihad miles
- CLT to LHR (3,992 miles) in AA Business Class: 80,000 Etihad miles
The main challenge is finding availability, as AA only releases a limited number of Flagship routes to partners.
West Coast US to Japan on ANA Business/First Class
Etihad's partnership with ANA allows for great value redemptions to Japan from the West Coast. Examples include:
- SEA to HND (4,803 miles) on ANA Business Class: 80,000 Etihad miles
- SEA to HND on ANA First Class: 107,000 Etihad miles
- SFO to HND (5,160 miles) on ANA Business Class: 100,000 Etihad miles
Note that SFO/LAX to Tokyo routes just surpass the 5,000-mile mark, increasing the price. Availability can be challenging to find.
Fly On Etihad Business Class for 75k Miles
A sweet spot in Etihad's award chart for business class is the 4,000-5,000 miles range, costing 75,000 miles. Although no direct USA to AUH routes fit this band, there are other notable options:
- AUH to KIX (Osaka) on Etihad Business Class: 75,000 Etihad miles
- AUH to MNL (Manila) on Etihad Business Class: 75,000 Etihad miles
- AUH to CGK (Bali) on Etihad Business Class: 75,000 Etihad miles
These routes offer excellent value for those traveling within the region.
Etihad Award Cancellation & Change Policy
- Within 24 hours of departure: 100% miles forfeited
- Within 7 days of departure: 75% miles forfeited
- Within 8-21 days of departure: 50% miles forfeited
- More than 21 days to departure: 25% miles forfeited
These are some crazy fees for mere award cancellations. With many airlines going in the direction of increased flexibility, this comes as a shock/complete 180 from what we have been seeing as the “norm.”
I urge tremendous caution whenever you making award bookings with Etihad. You’ll need to be very confident that you won’t need to cancel your reservation or anything.
Conclusion
The Etihad Guest loyalty program has many opportunities to derive significant value, but with the recent negative changes against award reinstatement fees, I think it’s super important to tread carefully when dealing with Etihad. While it might be awesome to score some of their sweet spot redemptions, other airlines offer more flexible award policies that are also typically cheaper than what Etihad even has to offer.
Sign-up Bonus: 60,000 points
