Best Ways to Book Ethiopian Airlines Business Class with Points and Miles

The largest airline in Africa by several metrics, Ethiopian Airlines currently serves 145 passenger and cargo destinations and has a fleet of over 170 aircraft. So, if you plan on traveling to the African continent from North America, there’s a good chance that you’ll be flying with Ethiopian Airlines. And, if you want to make this journey in style, Ethiopian Airlines was also ranked as the “Best Business Class in Africa 2025,” according to a 2025 Skytrax ranking. This airline’s business-class product, known as “Cloud 9” service, includes amenities such as lie-flat beds, gourmet in-flight meals, airport lounge access, priority airport services, complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and more.

Of course, booking Ethiopian Airlines business-class flights with cash can be rather expensive. However, by booking with points and miles through certain frequent flyer programs, you can keep your out-of-pocket cost low and still get the Ethiopian Airlines business-class experience.

Since Ethiopian Airlines is a Star Alliance member, there are several frequent flyer programs through which you can book Ethiopian Airlines business-class award flights. These programs, however, may charge different rates for the same award flights. Likewise, some programs make it much easier to earn miles than others by allowing transfers from major U.S. credit card rewards programs.

So, in this article, we’ll identify some of the best frequent flyer programs through which to book Ethiopian Airlines business-class awards. We’ll also briefly cover what you can expect when flying in Ethiopian Airlines “Cloud 9” business class.

What to Expect in Ethiopian Airlines Business Class

Ethiopian Airlines offers Cloud 9 business-class service on all medium- and long-haul flights and on some short-haul regional flights as well. However, the exact amenities you’ll receive in Cloud 9 business class depends on the type of aircraft you’re flying on.

The best business-class products that Ethiopian Airlines offers are available on Boeing 777, Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 aircraft, all of which are exclusively used for long-haul flights. These are the only aircraft in the Ethiopian Airline fleet that offer lie-flat beds (with a 65-inch pitch).

Ethiopian Airlines operates medium-haul flights using Boeing 737 aircraft, which don’t offer lie-flat seats. Instead, these aircraft have recliner seats with a 48-inch pitch on 737-800W aircraft and a 44-inch pitch on 737-700 aircraft.

Short-haul regional and domestic flights are operated using Bombardier Q400 aircraft, some of which offer Cloud 9 business-class seats (with a 30-inch pitch). Not all Bombardier Q400 flights offer Cloud 9 business class.

The following table includes the seat configuration of Cloud 9 business class on each type of aircraft in the Ethiopian Airlines fleet:

Most Cloud 9 business-class seats also feature both AC and USB plugs so you can keep your devices charged during your flight. All Airbus A350 aircraft in the Ethiopian Airlines fleet are equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi and some Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft also offer in-flight Wi-Fi. If you’re flying on any other type of aircraft in the Ethiopian Airlines fleet, you shouldn’t expect to have Wi-Fi during your flight.

Cloud 9 business-class seats on long-haul flights also feature in-flight entertainment monitors. These monitors give you access to many different movies and TV shows in several languages, as well as games, music, audiobooks and more. However, it should be noted that there are quite a few user testimonies of business-class in-flight entertainment systems malfunctioning on Ethiopian Airlines long-haul flights.

Of course, when flying in Ethiopian Airlines business class, you’ll receive complimentary in-flight meals and beverages. The meal service you receive will depend on the time of your flight as well as your flight route. However, all meals in long-haul Cloud 9 business class will consist of a starter (such as pickled shrimp and vegetables or green lentil salad), a main dish (such as seared chicken breast with porcini truffle cream sauce or marinated veal medallion with green peppercorn sauce), traditional Ethiopian injera bread, a dessert (such as white chocolate mousse or a classic fruit tart), fresh fruit and cheese and crackers.

Cloud 9 passengers on all Ethiopian Airlines flights have their choice of hot beverages, including freshly brewed Ethiopian coffee, cappuccino, Italian espresso and several varieties of tea. You can also choose from a selection of cold juices and soft drinks. Cloud 9 passengers can also request complimentary alcoholic beverages, including champagne, rosé, white wine, red wine, Portuguese port wine, Canadian ice-wine, liqueurs (including Baileys, Remy Martin VSOP, Espresso Bottega, Cointreau and more), beer, liquor (including Chivas Regal, Johnnie Walker Black Label and more) and cocktails.

And your business-class experience will begin before you even board your flight, as Ethiopian Airlines Cloud 9 passengers have complimentary access to the Ethiopian Airlines Sheba Cloud Nine Lounge and Sheba Platinum and Gold Lounge at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD). Plus, since Ethiopian Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, Ethiopian Airlines business-class passengers on eligible international flights can access Star Alliance airport lounges around the world. To find out if there’s an eligible Star Alliance lounge in a specific airport, you can use the Lounge Finder tool in the My10x web app.

Finally, Cloud 9 passengers will receive priority treatment at the airport, including an expedited check-in counter, priority baggage handling, priority boarding and more.

Best Programs Through Which You Can Book Ethiopian Airlines Business Class

Because Ethiopian Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, there are several partner frequent flyer programs through which you can book Ethiopian Airlines business-class award flights. Each of these programs, however, prices partner awards differently. Thus, the same award flight may require more miles through one program than through another.

It’s also far easier to earn miles through frequent flyer programs that allow transfers from major U.S. credit card rewards programs (such as American Express Membership Rewards or Citi ThankYou Rewards).

With these considerations in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best frequent flyer programs through which to book Ethiopian Airlines Cloud 9 business-class award flights.

United Airlines MileagePlus

One program through which you can book Ethiopian Airlines business-class award flights is the United Airlines MileagePlus program. Since United is one of the “Big Three” U.S. airlines, this program may be particularly relevant to U.S.-based travelers. You can often find excellent rates on Ethiopian Airlines business-class awards on transatlantic routes through the MileagePlus program.

For example, we found a round-trip Ethiopian Airlines business-class itinerary between New York (JFK) and Addis Ababa (ADD) for just 176,000 miles and about $58 in taxes and fees. This entire itinerary is operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, one of the better aircraft in the Ethiopian Airlines fleet.

If you were to book these same exact flights through the Ethiopian Airlines website, they would cost you about $5,918.

Thus, by booking these flights with MileagePlus miles instead of cash, factoring in the taxes and fees paid for the award flight, this redemption would give you a value of about 3.3 cents per mile.

This redemption provides excellent value per mile and, in general, it’s hard to find more value per mile than this through the United Airlines MileagePlus program because it uses a dynamic pricing model for most partner award flights.

United MileagePlus is also a 1:1 transfer partner of both Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards. So, if you have a credit card from either of these two issuers, you can easily earn miles with United MileagePlus.

If you tend to fly with United Airlines often, you might even think about signing up for a United MileagePlus co-branded credit card, which is a great way to accelerate your MileagePlus miles earning.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Another program through which you can book Ethiopian Airlines business-class flights at good rates is Air Canada Aeroplan. Finding these awards on transatlantic routes through this program is more difficult than it is through United Airlines MileagePlus, and they also tend to require more points than MileagePlus. However, Air Canada Aeroplan offers the advantage of allowing transfers from most of the major U.S. credit card rewards programs.

We found a round-trip Ethiopian Airlines business-class itinerary between Atlanta (ATL) and Addis Ababa (ADD) for 180,000 Aeroplan points and about 180 Canadian Dollars (about $131).

If you were to book the same flights with cash through the Ethiopian Airlines website, they would cost you about $4,707.

So, accounting for the taxes and fees you’d have to pay for the award flight, this redemption would give you a value of about 2.5 cents per point, which is good.

And, as mentioned above, the Air Canada Aeroplan program is a 1:1 transfer partner of most of the major U.S. credit card rewards programs, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. This makes it relatively easy to earn Aeroplan points if you have a credit card from any of the aforementioned issuers.

Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles

If you happen to be a member of Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles and have a balance of miles in this program, you can find good value on Ethiopian Airlines business-class awards through this program as well. Unfortunately, you can’t transfer points from any of the major U.S. credit card programs to your ShebaMiles account.

We found a round-trip Ethiopian Airlines business-class award itinerary between New York (JFK) and Addis Ababa (ADD) for 152,000 miles. It was impossible to ascertain what the taxes and fees were for this award itinerary without actually having the required ShebaMiles miles.

If you were to book these same flights with cash through the Ethiopian Airlines website, they would cost you about $4,707.

So, excluding any taxes and fees you might have to pay for the award flight, this redemption would give you a value of about 3.1 cents per mile, which is great.

However, once again, the ShebaMiles program isn’t a transfer partner of any of the major U.S. credit card rewards programs. So, if you want to earn a balance of miles with this program, it’ll probably have to be by crediting Star Alliance flights to the ShebaMiles program. And you’ll only want to do that if you fly with Ethiopian Airlines very frequently. Otherwise, you’re better off crediting Star Alliance flights to another program (such as Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles).

The Bottom Line

Ethiopian Airlines is the largest airline in Africa by most metrics. So, if you plan on traveling to or through Africa in the future, there’s a good chance it’ll be with Ethiopian Airlines. This airline was ranked as having the best business-class product in Africa in 2025, according to Skytrax. However, based on user reviews, Ethiopian Airlines Cloud 9 business class can sometimes be underwhelming (particularly because of malfunctioning personal entertainment systems and slow meal and beverage service).

Nonetheless, Ethiopian Airlines Cloud 9 business class on long-haul flights still includes premium amenities such as lie-flat seats, gourmet in-flight dining, complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, airport lounge access and much more.

When it comes to booking Ethiopian Airlines business-class award flights with points and miles, you should have a relatively easy time finding these awards at favorable rates through either United MileagePlus or Air Canada Aeroplan. Both of these programs allow transfer from major U.S. credit card rewards programs and offer Ethiopian Airlines business-class awards on transatlantic routes.

Of course, you can also use the Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles program to book these business-class award flights. But, since this program doesn’t allow transfers from U.S. credit card rewards programs, it’s rather difficult to earn miles with this program.