10xTravel is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Etihad Airways, one of the two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (alongside Emirates), is one of the largest airlines in the Middle East. And, for years, the Etihad Guest frequent flyer program was one of the most lucrative frequent flyer programs in the airline industry. As the program used a series of fixed award charts to price partner awards, the Etihad Guest program was full of sweet spots. Unfortunately, this program switched over to a mostly dynamic pricing model in 2023, which nearly eliminated all of those sweet spots.
Nonetheless, the Etihad Guest program still publishes award charts, both for Etihad-operated award flights as well as partner-operated award flights. However, these charts simply list the minimum price of these awards, and real-world award rates are often considerably higher than the rates listed in these charts.
Still, if you have an American Express, Capital One or Citi credit card that offers points transfers, then it’s worth getting familiar with the Etihad Guest program, as all three of these credit card rewards programs offer 1:1 transfers to Etihad Guest. And, although these award charts only include the minimum award rates, they can still help you get a sense of what certain award flights might cost.
In this article, we’re going to list all of the award charts from the Etihad Guest program (which, again, only include the minimum prices) so that you can easily reference them.
Etihad Guest Award Chart for Flight Awards With Etihad Airways
Of course, the Etihad Guest program allows members to redeem miles for flights with Etihad. There are two types of Etihad flight awards available: GuestSeats and OpenSeats.
GuestSeats are available at a lower rate but have much less availability. GuesSeats are also priced somewhat according to an award chart, but are affected by dynamic factors such as route and time of year. So, rates for GuestSeats awards will often be much higher than they appear in the award chart. Occasionally, during sales, the rates for GuestsSeats awards will actually be lower than the rates displayed in the award chart.
OpenSeats awards have much greater availability and are typically more expensive than GuestSeats awards. OpenSeats awards are priced dynamically, and their award rates correspond with cash prices.
The Etihad Guest program uses a distance-based award chart that lists the minimum prices of GuestSeats award flights on Etihad. If you’re flying with Etihad, American Airlines or Virgin Atlantic, you can also use the Miles Calculator tool on the Etihad website to find out the minimum price of an award flight.
The following award chart includes the minimum price of Etihad-operated GuestSeats award flights based on flight distance and class of service:
| Flight distance (in miles) | Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 6,001+ | 60,000 | 120,000 | 160,000 |
The rates listed in the award chart above are for one-way flights. If you want to book a round-trip, Etihad-operated GuestSeats award, you’ll have to pay at least double the applicable rate listed in the award chart above.
Etihad Guest Award Chart for Flight Awards With Partner Airlines
You can also use the Etihad Guest program to book award flights on partner airlines. You can book partner flight awards with certain airlines online through the Etihad Guest website, and partner awards with other airline partners over the phone.
Here are the airline partners with which you can book award flights online through the Etihad Guest website:
- Air Canada
- Air France
- Air Serbia
- American Airlines
- Gulf Air
- JetBlue
- KLM
- Korean Air
- Malaysia Airlines
- Sauda
- SriLankan Airlines
- Virgin Australia
Here are the airline partners with which you can book award flights only over the phone by calling Etihad Guest customer service:
- Air New Zealand
- Air Europa
- ANA
- Asiana Airlines
- Brussels Airlines
- El Al Airlines
- Garuda Indonesia
- Hainan Airlines
- Oman Air
- Royal Air Maroc
- Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
Regardless of whether you book your partner award flight online or over the phone, all partner award flights are priced according to one distance-based award chart. Unfortunately, just like with Etihad-operated award flights, this partner award chart only lists the minimum prices, and actual prices could be significantly higher than the rates listed in this chart.
Here’s the award chart of partner award flights purchased through the Etihad Guest program:
| 160,000 | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–500 | 6,000 | 7,500 | 20,000 | 35,000 |
| 501–1,000 | 12,000 | 13,000 | 25,000 | 40,000 |
| 1,001–1,500 | 15,000 | 19,000 | 30,000 | 45,000 |
| 1,501–2,000 | 23,000 | 25,000 | 40,000 | 54,000 |
| 2,001–2,500 | 28,000 | 31,000 | 50,000 | 67,000 |
| 2,501–3,000 | 34,000 | 37,000 | 60,000 | 80,000 |
| 3,001–4,000 | 45,000 | 49,000 | 80,000 | 107,000 |
| 4,001–5,000 | 60,000 | 62,000 | 100,000 | 134,000 |
| 5,001–6,000 | 67,000 | 74,000 | 120,000 | 160,000 |
| 6,001+ | 75,000 | 90,000 | 140,000 | 200,000 |
The rates in the award chart above are for one-way journeys. If you wish to know the minimum price for a round-trip partner award flight, simply double the applicable rate listed in the chart above.
Etihad Guest Award Chart for Upgrade Awards With Etihad Airways
The Etihad Guest program allows members to redeem their miles for cabin-class upgrades on Etihad Airways flights. Miles cannot be redeemed for upgrades on partner-operated flights. The minimum price of a specific cabin-class upgrade award is based on the distance of your flight as well as your original booking class. To find this minimum rate, you can use the miles calculator tool on the Etihad website.
To do this, select the “Redeem miles” option, select “Etihad” as your airline and enter your origin and destination. After you click the “Calculate” button, you can select the “Upgrade” option to see how many miles you’d need for a specific upgrade, depending on your original cabin class.
As you can see above, there are different prices for upgrades from economy class to business class based on whether you originally booked in Economy Value, Economy Comfort or Economy Deluxe.
Unfortunately, there is no published award chart for upgrade awards on Etihad-operated flights. So, if you want to know the price of an upgrade on a specific Etihad route, you’ll have to use the miles calculator tool.
The Bottom Line
While the Etihad Guest program used to be a hotbed of sweet spots, the program switched over to a dynamic pricing model for all award flights in 2023, thus eliminating all of these sweet spots. Now, it’s nearly impossible to find good value through this program.
Nevertheless, the Etihad Guest program may still be relevant to you, since Etihad is a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards. Because of this partnership, Etihad miles is a very easy rewards currency to accumulate.
Plus, the Etihad Guest program has some great airline partners, such as American Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, JetBlue, KLM and more. So, you can use Etihad miles to fly around the United States as well as from the United States to overseas destinations.
If you’re planning to use the Etihad Guest program for any reason, being familiar with the award charts in this article can help you understand what you can expect to pay for certain award flights.
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Editors Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
10xTravel is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Editors Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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