The Citi Premier® Card is no longer available to new applicants. Please see the issuer’s website for more information on available offers. Card details have been collected independently by Forbes Advisor and have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.
Etihad Airways’ loyalty program, Etihad Guest, is an underdog in the points and miles world. Because the airline is based outside of the U.S. and doesn’t offer a credit card of its own for U.S. residents, the program often goes forgotten. However, thanks to features like high-value redemptions on partner airlines and transfer partnerships with several major travel rewards programs, Etihad miles aren’t just easy to earn—they’re also far more lucrative than they appear to be at first glance.
Featured Partner Offers
History
Based in Abu Dhabi, Etihad Airways (EY) has come a long way since its inception in 2003. In two decades, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has grown from a small regional carrier in the Middle East to a global airline with flights to five continents.
Etihad Airways is owned by parent company Etihad Aviation Group. The airline has displayed a commitment to sustainability in recent years, reducing the use of single-use plastics by 80% by 2022 and pledging to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050. Thanks to this and other initiatives, the Etihad Aviation Group was awarded the Environmental Airline of the Year in both 2022 and 2023 by the Airline Ratings Awards.
How To Earn Etihad Guest Miles
Etihad Airways flies to over 70 destinations throughout the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and North America. It also has a long list of partner airlines that extend the loyalty program’s footprint to thousands of destinations. Here are all the ways you can earn miles with Etihad Guest.
Flying Etihad Airways
You’ll earn miles every time you fly with Etihad Airways or one of its 20-plus airline partners. The number of miles you earn when you fly with Etihad depends on the distance flown and the fare class you book.
Choice Plus economy-class fares, which are pricier but more flexible than discount fares, earn 100% of the standard mile rate, while fares that tend to be more affordable and include fewer amenities earn only 25% to 75% of that rate. Business-class and first-class fares earn additional miles ranging from 130% to 275% of the standard earn rate.
- Economy-class tickets. Earn 25% miles for Sale fares, 50% miles for Value and Hand baggage only fares, 75% for Choice fares and 100% for Choice Plus fares.
- Business-class tickets. Earn 130% miles for Value fares, 175% for Choice fares and 200% for Choice Plus fares.
- First-class tickets. Earn 275% miles for first-class fares.
While booking a higher fare class will help you earn additional miles, purchasing amenities separately will not. For example, fares that only include hand baggage earn at a lower rate than Choice and Choice Plus fares, which allow for additional amenities like checked luggage, upgrade availability and, in the case of Choice Plus, priority boarding and free seat selection. Purchasing a seat upgrade to Economy Space for extra legroom, however, will not earn you any additional Etihad miles.
GuestSeat fares, which are exclusive redemption seats reserved for Etihad members booking award flights, aren’t eligible to earn miles.
You can use Etihad’s miles calculator to determine how many miles you might earn on your next flight. If you achieve priority status within the Etihad Guest program, you’ll have the chance to earn additional bonus miles on your flights with Etihad and select partners.
- Etihad Guest Bronze. No miles bonus
- Etihad Guest Silver. 25% miles bonus
- Etihad Guest Gold. 50% miles bonus
- Etihad Guest Platinum. 75% miles bonus
Earn With Status Miles
You can earn a miles bonus based on your status tier (as shown above), but that’s not all you get. Each status tier comes with unique benefits that can save you money and make your experience that much better.
- Bronze. Free chat
- Silver. Guaranteed economy seat booked 48 hours in advance, free chat, priority check-in, lounge access for self at Abu Dhabi International Airport, 10 kilograms excess baggage allowance, one additional checked bag and 7% discount on additional extra baggage
- Gold. Guaranteed economy seat booked 24 hours in advance, priority check-in, fast track immigration and baggage, priority boarding, free chat and 25% discount for onboard Wi-Fi, business class lounge access for self and guest at Etihad lounges and premium lounge access worldwide, 15 kilograms excess baggage allowance, one additional checked bag and 10% discount on additional extra baggage allowance
- Platinum. Guaranteed economy seat booked 12 hours in advance, guaranteed business seat booked 48 hours in advance, priority check-in, fast track immigration and baggage, priority boarding, free chat and onboard Wi-Fi, first-class lounge access for self and guest at Etihad lounges and premium lounge access worldwide, 20 kilograms excess baggage allowance, one additional checked bag and 15% discount on additional extra baggage allowance
You can find the full list of status benefits here.
Earning Status With Etihad Airways
Etihad’s process for earning status is fairly straightforward—either you’ll need to earn a specific number of Tier Miles or fly a required number of Tier Segments. Below, you’ll find the requirements you have to meet within any rolling 12-month period for each status level.
- Etihad Guest Bronze. Join the program
- 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
Your status expires after one year. However, once you earn status with Etihad, the airline does make it easier to maintain that status, as you can see below.
- Maintaining Bronze status. No expiry
- Maintaining Silver status. 20,000 Tier Miles or 15 Tier Segments
- Maintaining Gold status. 40,000 Tier Miles or 30 Tier Segments
- Maintaining Platinum status. 100,000 Tier Miles or 48 Tier Segments
Flights on Partner Airlines
Etihad Airways isn’t a member of any airline alliances. However, you can earn Etihad Guest miles when flying with any of the airline’s 20-plus partners, which span all three of the major airline alliances, as outlined below. The number of miles you’ll earn varies by airline and usually depends on the fare class you book. Earnings on partner airlines can range from 10% to 300%.
Star Alliance Partners
- Air New Zealand (NZ)
- Air Canada (AC)
- All Nippon Airways (NH)
- Asiana Airlines (OZ)
- Brussels Airlines (SN)
- Scandinavian Airlines (SK)
SkyTeam Partners
- Air Europa (UX)
- Garuda Indonesia (GA)
- Korean Air (KE)
- Saudia (SV)
Oneworld Partners
- American Airlines (AA)
- Malaysia Airlines (MH)
- Oman Air (WY)
- Royal Air Maroc (AT)
- SriLankan Airlines (UL)
Independent Partners
- Air Serbia (JU)
- El Al (LY)
- Gulf Air (GF)
- Hainan Airlines (HU)
- Virgin Australia (VA)
Etihad Airways has an even longer list of codeshare partners that help the airline extend its footprint, and you may find that a segment of your trip is operated by one of these codeshare partners. As long as the flight is sold by Etihad Airways, (the flight number will start with EY), and you enter your Etihad Guest number upon booking your flight, you’ll still earn Etihad miles on these flights. Earn rates are based on the fare class booked.
Credit Cards
There are several Etihad co-branded credit cards offered by banks based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Etihad Guest credit cards include the ADCB Etihad Guest Infinite Credit Card, the Etihad Guest Elevate and Etihad Guest Inspire credit cards. These credit cards are only available to residents of the UAE.
While it’s not a credit card, Etihad also offers Walletplus prepaid Visa cards to UAE residents with Silver, Gold or Platinum status. You can load these cards with one of the supported currencies and earn Etihad miles each time you make a purchase.
Find the Best Airline Credit Cards of 2024
Transfer Partners
Although most people won’t be able to earn Etihad Guest miles through co-branded credit cards, the program has transfer partners with several major credit card rewards programs. Transferable points are credit card points that can be converted from your credit card rewards program to various airline and hotel loyalty programs and can help you stockpile miles even faster.
Etihad Guest miles are transfer partners of four of the major transferable points programs:
- American Express Membership Rewards. 1 Membership Rewards point to 1 Etihad Guest mile (estimated transfer time of five working days)
- Citi ThankYou Points. 1 ThankYou Point to 1 Etihad Guest mile; Etihad is only available as a transfer partner if you have the Citi Premier® Card or the Citi Prestige® Card* (estimated transfer time of 24 hours to 14 days)
- Capital One Rewards. 1 Capital One mile to 1 Etihad Guest mile (transfers instantly)
- Marriott Bonvoy. 3 Marriott Bonvoy points to 1 Etihad Guest mile, 5,000-mile bonus if you transfer 60,000 points (estimated transfer time within seven days)
Each of these programs offers multiple different travel credit cards, from low or no annual fee travel cards to premium travel cards with more extensive benefits and a higher earn rate.
Shopping Portals
Etihad Guest doesn’t have a shopping portal. It does have a list of retailers and shopping malls where you can earn miles each time you shop, but the list is short and essentially limited to Europe and Asia. If you do happen to shop at any of these outlets, consider stacking credit card and shopping portal offers to speed up the miles-earning process.
With most of Etihad’s shopping partners, you’ll need to present your Etihad Guest card when shopping in person, although some offer an e-redemption option. Exact earnings depend on the retailer—some offer 1 mile for every 1 U.S. dollar/euro/pound spent, while others have different earn rates. Shopping partners include European and Asian retailers, as well as some service providers like an insurance company and optical provider.
Additionally, Etihad Guest has a program called Miles on the Go, offered exclusively on the Etihad Guest app. You can link up to five Visa cards to earn and redeem miles on purchases made with Miles on the Go partners on the app. You’ll earn 1 Guest mile and 1 Tier Mile for every 3 dirhams (the currency of the UAE) spent.
Dining Rewards
Although the Etihad Guest program doesn’t offer dining rewards, you can earn and redeem miles on purchases with restaurants that are part of the Miles on the Go program. Three major malls in Abu Dhabi are part of Miles on the Go, meaning you can earn miles at restaurants located inside them. The malls include Yas Mall, WTC Mall and Al Jimi Mall.
Buying Etihad Guest Miles
You can use cash to purchase up to 100,000 Etihad Guest miles each year or up to 150,000 for Platinum members. Buying miles is rarely a worthwhile option. Not only are they often expensive, but there are plenty of free or cheaper ways to earn them. That said, it can be a convenient way to top up your Etihad balance if you’re eyeing an award flight but fall a few thousand miles short of the cost.
You can buy Etihad miles for $20 for every 1,000 miles purchased, so the cost is $0.02 per mile. While this isn’t outrageous, it’s probably not worth the money unless you’re certain you can get a value above that $0.02 per point valuation on your award redemption.
Hotel Stays and Rental Cars
Etihad makes boosting your miles balance with hotel stays and rental cars flexible and easy by allowing you to earn Guest miles with the following hotel brands, rental car agencies and travel booking websites. Make sure to book according to Etihad’s process with each partner, which usually involves either booking through a special link, selecting Etihad Guest miles as your earning preference with the partner and/or including your Etihad Guest number with your booking.
Travel Booking Portals
- Etihad Guest Travel Rewards. At least 1,000 miles per night
- Booking.com. 3 to 6 miles per dollar
- Agoda.com. Up to 10,000 miles plus 4 miles extra per dollar
- Rocketmiles. 500 to 10,000 miles per night (average of 7,000 miles per stay)
Hotel Partners
- Dusit Hotels and Resorts. 500 miles per stay
- Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. 500 miles per stay
- InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). 500 miles per stay
- Accor Hotels. 1 to 1.25 miles per 1 to 4 euros, depending on hotel
- Marriott Bonvoy. 1 to 2 miles per dollar depending on hotel
- Minor Hotel Group. 500 miles per stay
- Rotana. 500 miles per stay
- Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. 500 miles per stay
Rental Car Partners
- Avis. Up to 5 miles per dollar
- Budget. Up to 5 miles per dollar
In some cases, loyalty members of the above hotel and rental car programs may be able to earn Guest miles at an accelerated rate. Some properties may be excluded from the ability to earn Etihad Guest miles, and it’s also worth noting that you’ll typically forfeit the chance to earn hotel points or rental car rewards by opting to earn miles instead.
You can also convert hotel points to Etihad miles from a number of different hotel loyalty programs. Below, you’ll find participating hotel programs and the associated conversion rates.
- ALL-Accor Live Limitless. 4,000 ALL points to 2,000 Etihad Guest miles
- World of Hyatt. 2.5 World of Hyatt points to 1 Etihad Guest mile, starting at 5,000 points
- IHG One Rewards. 5 IHG One Rewards to 1 Etihad Guest mile, starting at 10,000 points
- Marriott Bonvoy. 3 Marriott Bonvoy points to 1 Etihad Guest mile, starting at 3,000 points, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points redeemed
- Shangri-La Circle. 1 Shangri-La Circle point to 1 Etihad Guest mile, starting at 1,000 points
Featured Partner Offers
How To Redeem Etihad Guest Miles
Now that you know how to rack up Etihad Guest miles, it’s time to learn about the fun part—how to spend them. Etihad Guest members have a variety of redemption options at their disposal, but as with most airline loyalty programs, some offer more value than others.
On Etihad Airways Flights
Etihad Airways’ frequent flyer program has two mileage award charts, one for flight redemptions on its own metal and a separate one for flights you can book on its partner airlines. The awards are priced based on distance, where shorter flights cost fewer miles and longer ones cost more miles. Etihad Airways also maintains a miles calculator to help determine the miles required for a redemption, but it is worth noting that both the chart and the miles calculator will show you the minimum mileage cost, not the actual one, since Etihad Airways uses dynamic pricing for its award flights.
For example, according to the miles calculator, a flight from New York (JFK) to Abu Dhabi (AUH) costs a minimum of 60,000 miles each way in economy class and at least 110,000 miles each way in business class. A first-class ticket in the renowned Etihad first apartment service will price starting at 220,000 miles each way. In practice, however, it can be extremely hard to find flights pricing out at these rates.
As you can see, redeeming your Guest miles on flights with Etihad can be expensive when compared to other popular rewards programs, although Etihad first-class apartments can be exceptionally aspirational, even at those exorbitant prices.
On Flights With Partners
You can redeem miles for flights on over 20 airline partners, and this option can help expand your travel possibilities since it opens up more routes and destinations through Etihad’s collaborations. Partner awards are priced based on distance as well, but at different price points than Etihad’s own flights. In most cases, you’ll need to call the Etihad Guest Service Center to redeem your miles for flights on its partners. However, Etihad has committed to enabling partner redemptions through its website with American Airlines and Virgin Australia being the first two to allow online bookings.
Sweet Spots
With the latest changes to the Etihad Guest program and its new redemption charts, it’s become apparent that sweet spots from the previous award charts are not moving forward into the new ones.
However, a new sweet spot of sorts is opening up. Redemptions for flights under 500 miles price starting at 6,000 miles in economy, 10,000 in business class and 14,000 in first class on Etihad’s airline partners. For example, if you wanted to book a flight from Charlotte, NC (CLT) to Orlando, FL (MCO) on American Airlines, which is 468 flown miles, it would be priced at that lowest tier. Flights on Virgin Australia from Sydney (SYD) to Melbourne, Australia (MEL) would also price at the same level, being that they are just 439 flown miles apart. Both of these airlines can now be booked online through Etihad Guest.
Other partner airlines will price at that lowest rung in Etihad’s new charts, even if they are not bookable online. For example, you can book a flight from Casablanca, Morocco (CMN) to Marrakech, Morocco (RAK) on Royal Air Maroc for 6,000 miles since this flight is 124 miles, or even a Tokyo (HND) to Osaka, Japan (KIX) on All Nippon Airways for the same amount of miles as this is 269 miles in the air.
These short-trip redemptions might prove very useful for any of those destinations where the cash price of the flight is prohibitive and mileage tickets would remain somewhat low.
Fees
Etihad does charge significant fees when you use your miles to book a flight on its airline. For example, a roundtrip flight from New York to Abu Dhabi, UAE, in economy booked with miles, can cost you over $200 each way in fees. Similarly, an economy award flight from New York to Cairo charges over $250 each way in fees.
When using Etihad miles to book flights with partner airlines, these taxes and fees can vary widely by airline and route. Typically, you’ll have to call an agent to book an award flight with a partner airline, and you can ask for estimates of the taxes and fees associated with that flight over the phone.
Infant Fees
Infants up to 23 months who are accompanied by an adult age 18 or older are allowed to sit on the lap of their guardian. These infants still need to be ticketed passengers, and the charge for their ticket could be 10% to 20% of the cash fare for adult passengers. If you’re paying for your flight with miles, you can redeem miles for an infant ticket, which will also cost you 10% to 20% of the mileage cost for your award ticket.
Family Pooling
If you want to really level up your earning potential, you and your family can earn together. Etihad allows nine family Guest members to pool their miles into one account. You’ll have to invite family members to join the Etihad Guest program so they can start earning with you.
Other Ways To Redeem Etihad Guest Miles
If you’re not planning on traveling anytime soon, there are other ways to redeem your Etihad miles. That said, these redemption options aren’t usually recommended because they yield a much lower value than redeeming your miles for flights. If you’re able to hold onto your miles until you’re ready to plan travel, that’s probably the best option.
Shopping
Etihad offers an Etihad Guest Reward Card that allows members to spend their miles while shopping just about anywhere. You’ll need to sign up for a Reward Card and download the Reward Card app so you can store your virtual card on your phone. You can then load miles onto your Reward Card and start shopping with them.
This isn’t the most effective way to use your Etihad miles, as you’ll end up spending a lot for what you get. For example, a pair of second-generation Apple Airpods Pro with the MagSafe Charging Case costs 36,481 miles through the Etihad shopping portal or $249 when purchased directly from Apple. That gets you a value of just 0.68 cents per point with this redemption.
Seat Upgrades
You can also use your Etihad miles to upgrade your seat on any Etihad flight. You can either sign up to purchase an upgrade with your miles—and the cost of this will vary depending on the flight—or you can use your miles to bid for an upgrade. Generally speaking, this redemption option won’t yield as much value as redeeming your miles for a flight.
Quirks
Expiration
Etihad miles do expire, although their expiration date depends on your Etihad Guest elite status. For Bronze, Silver and Gold members, your miles expire after 18 months of non-use.
You can extend this for another 18 months by completing any eligible miles transaction, which includes earning, spending and buying miles. You can also transfer in points from American Express, Capital One or Citi to reset the clock.
If you’re a Platinum member, your miles will not expire.
Bottom Line
Etihad Guest might not be the most widely known airline loyalty program, but it is certainly worth considering for anyone who travels internationally. This underrated program makes it fairly easy to accumulate and transfer miles. If you’re willing to put a little more effort into finding the best redemption sweet spots, particularly on partner airlines, you’ll be rewarded for your efforts.
Find the Best Travel Credit Cards for 2024
Find the best travel credit card for your travel needs.
