Etihad Airways Guest Rewards: The Complete Program Guide (2023)

Etihad Airways flies to over 60 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 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- 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, 25% discount on instant upgrades with miles at the airport, priority check-in, lounge access for self at Abu Dhabi airport, 10 kilograms excess baggage allowance and one additional checked bag
Gold: Guaranteed economy seat booked 24 hours in advance, 50% discount on instant upgrades with miles at the airport, priority check-in, fast track immigration and baggage, priority boarding, 25% discount on onboard Wi-Fi, business class lounge access for self and guest at Etihad lounges and premium access worldwide, 15 kilograms excess baggage allowance and one additional checked bag
Platinum: Guaranteed economy seat booked 12 hours in advance, guaranteed business seat booked 48 hours in advance, 50% discount on instant upgrades with miles at the airport, priority check-in, fast track immigration and baggage, priority boarding, 100% discount on onboard Wi-Fi, first class lounge access for self and guest at Etihad lounges and premium access worldwide, 20 kilograms excess baggage allowance and one additional checked bag

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)
Bangkok Airways (PG)
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.

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 airlines 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 Rewards: 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* (transfers instantly)
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 of three 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.

Featured Partner Offer

Citi Premier® Card

Apply Now

On Citi's Website

Welcome Bonus

60,000 points

Annual Fee

$95

Regular APR

20.99% - 28.99% (Variable)

Credit Score

Excellent, Good(700 - 749)

Editorial Review

With 3 points earned per $1 spent on many travel staples and at gas stations, the Citi Premier Card could be a perfect fit for road warriors and frequent travelers. The card's high APR and lack of an intro APR offer make it a poor choice for anyone looking to carry a balance.

Pros & Cons

Flexible travel redemption options
No foreign transaction fee
Add authorized users for no additional cost

Annual fee with no first-year waiver
No intro APR offer
No travel or purchase protections

Card Details

Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 ThankYou® Points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024.
Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Gas Stations, Air Travel and Other Hotels
Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants and Supermarkets
Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
60,000 ThankYou® Points are redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com
No expiration and no limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card
No Foreign Transaction Fees on purchases

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in purchases with your card within 3 months of account opening; redeemable for $600 in gift cards at thankyou.com

Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.

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 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 financial institutions and telecommunications companies.

If you fly through the Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) often and enjoy airport shopping sprees, you can accelerate your rewards earning potential thanks to Etihad’s relatively new Miles on the Go program. You’ll earn 1 Guest mile for every 3 dirhams (the currency of the UAE) you spend at any of the airport’s 119 participating retailers, which include retail stores, dining establishments and duty-free outlets.

Dining Rewards

The Etihad Guest program doesn’t offer dining rewards.

Buying Etihad Guest Miles

You can use cash to purchase up to 100,000 Etihad Guest miles each year, 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 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
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: 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
Millennium Hotels and Resorts: 500 miles per stay
Minor Hotel Group: 500 miles per stay
Rotana: 500 miles per stay
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts: 500 miles per stay
Trip.com: 3 miles per dollar

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.

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
Radisson Rewards Americas: 10 Radisson Rewards Americas points to 1 Etihad Guest mile, starting at 2,000 points
Shangri-La Circle: 1 Shangri-La Circle point to 1 Etihad Guest mile, starting at 1,000 points

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