Etihad Guest miles are a unique currency because they can be redeemed for flights on around 20 different airlines, including Virgin Australia. Etihad has partner airlines spanning all three global airline alliances – plus many others that aren’t in any alliance, and therefore aren’t otherwise accessible through Australian frequent flyer or loyalty programs.
Buying Etihad Guest miles can be lucrative if you plan to redeem them for Business or First Class flights. Etihad Guest is also the only program you can use to book Etihad Airways Business or First Class reward flights more than 30 days before departure.
With the Etihad Guest program, some of the best value redemptions are for short-haul flights.
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How to buy Etihad Guest miles
You can buy Etihad Guest miles on the Etihad Guest website. You’ll be prompted to login to your account, then taken to the Points.com Storefront page where you can select the number of miles you wish to buy and enter your credit card payment details.
If you’re not already a member, you can join Etihad Guest online for free.
The normal price for Etihad Guest miles is USD20 (~AU$29) per thousand, although you can sometimes get miles at a discount (see below).
There is an annual purchase limit for most Etihad Guest members of 100,000 miles per transaction, or 150,000 miles for Etihad Guest Platinum members. These limits exclude any bonus miles.
Etihad’s website states that miles will normally credit to your account within 24 hours of purchasing them. In our experience, it can take 24-48 hours.
As your transaction will be completed in US Dollars and processed in the United States, you may prefer to pay using a credit card with no international transaction fees to avoid paying a foreign currency surcharge to your bank. You may also like to contact your bank before completing the payment so that your bank doesn’t block your account if they think it’s a suspicious transaction. (It’s not a suspicious transaction, but we have heard of some banks making this assumption and therefore blocking transactions in the past.)
In addition to buying miles outright, you can pay to “boost” the number of miles earned from Etihad Airways flights, Etihad Guest payment cards, hotels, car rentals or with other program partners using the MilesBooster feature.
Special deals on buying Etihad Guest miles
Etihad Guest offers bonus miles or discounts on purchases of Etihad Guest miles during limited-time promotions. These usually take place at least several times per year.
Etihad Guest offers aren’t generally quite as generous as those of frequent flyer programs like Avianca LifeMiles, which regularly gives around 145% bonus miles! But Etihad’s loyalty program has been known to offer up to 70% bonus miles on purchases.
In its current limited-time promotion, Etihad Guest is offering up to 30% bonus miles on purchases made between 16-25 February 2024. The amount of bonus miles received depended on the amount purchased:
- Buy 25,000 to 50,000 Etihad Guest miles to receive 20% bonus miles
- Buy 51,000+ Etihad Guest miles to receive 30% bonus miles
You can discuss Etihad “buy miles” promotions on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum:
Other ways to earn Etihad Guest miles
Of course, buying Etihad Guest miles is not the only way to increase your balance. You can earn miles in many other ways including flying with Etihad and its partner airlines, or by transferring points from a hotel loyalty program.
If you have an American Express credit card issued in Australia, you can also transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points to Etihad Guest at a 2:1 rate.
Great Cards for Amex Membership Rewards Points
- Card Name
- American Express Platinum Card
- Earn
- 2.25
- Signup Bonus
-
150,000 bonus Membership Rewards points
Apply by 14th Jan 2025
- Annual Fee
- $1,450 p.a.
- Read more
- Go to offer
American Express Membership Rewards points on everyday purchases
- Card Name
- American Express Explorer Credit Card
- Earn
- 2
- Signup Bonus
-
50,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points
- Annual Fee
- $395 p.a.
- Read more
- Go to offer
American Express Membership Rewards points on everyday purchases
It is no longer possible to transfer Flybuys points to Etihad Guest.
Redeeming Etihad Guest miles
Etihad Guest made significant changes to its award charts in February 2024. Short-haul Business Class redemptions on partner airlines are no longer the great value they once were. But short-haul awards on Etihad Airways flights are now slightly better value.
Redemptions on Etihad Airways
As per the Etihad Guest website, the following award chart applies to GuestSeat redemptions on Etihad Airways operated flights (the distance range is based on the miles flown, one-way):
| One-way distance (miles) | Economy Class | Business Class | First Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 500 | 5,000 | 15,000 | 30,000 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 13,000 | 30,000 | 55,000 |
| 1,501 – 2,000 | 15,000 | 35,000 | 80,000 |
| 2,001 – 2,500 | 20,000 | 45,000 | 90,000 |
| 2,501 – 3,000 | 25,000 | 60,000 | 110,000 |
| 3,001 – 4,000 | 30,000 | 70,000 | 120,000 |
| 4,001 – 5,000 | 37,000 | 75,000 | 135,000 |
| 5,001 – 6,000 | 45,000 | 95,000 | 140,000 |
| 6,000+ | 60,000 | 120,000 | 160,000 |
You can also check the minimum miles needed for an award ticket (or upgrade) any specific Etihad Airways route using the Miles Calculator on Etihad’s website.
According to Etihad, a “premium redemption fare will be applied based on demand and availability”. Dynamic pricing applies to OpenSeat awards, which aren’t subject to the same availability restrictions as GuestSeat awards.
Note that taxes and fuel surcharges are also payable, in addition to the miles. Etihad imposes relatively high fuel surcharges when you redeem miles on its own flights.
Redemptions on partner airlines
Here are the Etihad Guest program’s partner airlines as of May 2024:
Redemptions on partner airlines are priced according to the following award chart:
Note that Asiana awards are only available as round-trip bookings.
Which types of Etihad Guest rewards are the best value?
Etihad Guest redemptions are often the best value on short-haul routes.
For example, it costs only 5,000 miles to fly Economy Class on Etihad on routes under 500 miles in length. On partner airlines, it’s just 6,000 miles.
Some examples of routes under 500 miles include:
- Abu Dhabi-Doha on Etihad Airways
- Melbourne-Sydney on Virgin Australia
- Sydney-Brisbane on Virgin Australia
- Sydney-Gold Coast on Virgin Australia
- Melbourne-Adelaide on Virgin Australia
- Hobart-Melbourne on Virgin Australia
- Brisbane-Mackay on Virgin Australia
- Brussels-London on Brussels Airlines
- Belgrade-Istanbul on Air Serbia
- Vancouver-Calgary on Air Canada
- Toronto-Montreal on Air Canada
- Doha-Muscat on Oman Air
- Singapore-Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines
- Colombo-Male on SriLankan Airlines or Gulf Air
- Lisbon-Casablanca on Royal Air Maroc
How to book Etihad Guest award flights
You can use the Etihad website to book award flights operated by the following airlines:
- Etihad Airways
- Virgin Australia
- American Airlines
- Air France
- Air Canada
- Gulf Air
- JetBlue
- Korean Air
- KLM
- Malaysia Airlines
- Saudia
- SriLankan Airlines
To book award flights on any other partner airline, you’ll need to call Etihad Guest. The Australian contact number is 1300 532 215.
Changing or cancelling an Etihad Guest award booking
Etihad Guest redemption bookings made on or after 22 February 2024 attract the following cancellation fees:
- More than 21 days before departure: 25% penalty
- 8-21 days before departure: 50% penalty
- 1-7 days before departure: 75% penalty
- Within 24 hours before departure: 100% penalty
You can change the date on your ticket up to 7 days before departure for a fee of AED100 (~AU$42) per passenger.
Want to learn more about buying points for cheap premium cabin flights?
Australian Frequent Flyer offers comprehensive training which includes an entire course on buying points for discounted premium travel! This course covers the most useful frequent flyer programs in detail, including Etihad Guest. View course →
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