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Etihad Guest is an excellent frequent flyer scheme. A combination of well-priced redemption options and a superb end product means that, with a bit of planning, you will generally get very good value for your miles.

But there is a significant downside, the notorious “hard expiry”. Unfortunately, Etihad Guest miles have a fixed expiry date, regardless of any subsequent earning of miles. Expiry depends on your status in the programme, but ranges from 2 to 3 years. While that may sound like a long time, you’ll be amazed at how quickly it creeps up on you.

With that in mind, I’ve regularly had cause to look at some last minute panic options for Etihad Guest miles. One solid option is of course the Etihad Guest Reward Shop, which also regularly offers discounts on the miles needed for a wide variety of items including consumer electronics, jewellery, watches… or even figurine ponies.

There’s also PointPay, which gives you 0.4 pence per Etihad Guest mile. While I hate suggesting options which give a very low “value” per air mile, if they’re otherwise going to waste, these are not bad choices.

There is however another option available to the punters out there, which is particularly appealing if you’ve only got a handful of miles left. You can gamble them away.

Yes, Etihad Guest regularly offers raffles for 100 miles a ticket, with some fairly spectacular prizes often available. The current raffles, for example, are for the following:

Raffle 1: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

• Two VIP Paddock Club passes, including complimentary food and beverages throughout the day, VIP seats, access to all the concerts; and the best views of the main straight. These passes are valid for all three racing days (25-27 November 2016)
• Two return Business Class tickets to Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways, from anywhere in our network
• Four-night’s accommodation for two people at the five-star luxury The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal including breakfast and airport transfers

This raffle has a retail value of €17,780!

Raffle 2: iPhone 7

You, er, get an iPhone 7.

You can find out what raffles are currently available at any point by going to the Etihad Guest Reward Shop and specifying a search in the 0-100 miles range:

I have literally no idea what the participant figures are for these raffles so I am not going to comment on your likelihood of winning. However, if you’ve got some Etihad miles about to go to waste, then you may as well consider having a flutter. Would I? No, I’d play it safe and go down the PointsPay route, but if you don’t buy the ticket…