The hard expiry limit of Etihad Guest miles is about to bite me - Award Wallet has warned me that I've got 1200 expiring at the end of the month. I'm not in a position to book any flights with the miles - plans sadly haven't quite firmed up enough yet Is there anything I can do with these points? Maybe turn them into some other points? Or some sort of gift vouchers? Anything?
Is there no way of crediting atleast one mile to your account to keep your points. Maybe transfer amex points or do ethiad have an eshops ing portal?
I think I'm right in saying Etihad Miles expire after 2 years, regardless of activity? There's always Pointspay for turning etihad Miles into cash - about 0.4p each and no transfer minimum, if memory serves.
I have the Etihad UK credit card, so I'm adding points to my account every month! Sadly that doesn't help though - Etihad points have a hard expiry, additional earnings in the mean time or not
Yes the Etihad "hard expiry" policy is one of the biggest drawbacks of Etihad Guest. Joe's right - your best bet is probably to go with PointsPay which will get you 0.4p a point. That's not a great return, but it is obviously better than the nothing you might otherwise get. It's not your only option though... Looking at the Etihad catalogue, in addition to a charity donation, you have the option of: A personalised digital A4 photobook (1159 miles) A silicone telephone pocket (1107 miles) 78 entries into the draw for a trip for 2 to the Euro 2016 final (even though it says 100 points for entry below, your number of entries increases exponentially per additional 100 miles, hence the 78 entries) Personally I'd go with PointsPay, although there's something a tiny bit tempting about the 78 raffle tickets...
The Euro2016 ticket option looks fun - from my reading of the T&C they'd fly you to Paris from London via Abu Dhabi! 3 nights in Paris with breakfast too, even if you're not that into the footy... Otherwise £4.80 with Points Pay. I wonder how many people have entered the raffle, hmm...!
Yes it's quite a package (retail value apparently €5,385.60) and as you say, when compared to a £4.80 pay out, perhaps worth a gamble. I literally have no idea how many people enter these raffles, but if you don't buy the ticket etc...
I know their call centre gets a bashing, but if you use Etihad to book a flight on a partner airline for lower miles (in the same way Virgin America does) you might find somewhere that is very cheap to get to. http://www.headforpoints.com/2015/0...emptions-using-etihad-guest-airline-partners/ For example, I know you could use 7k Etihad miles to book their AMS->LGW flight in First Class, which is no longer operational, but that's just an example. There might be lower, economy reward options. Also, do Etihad offer cash and miles reward tickets?
Etihad do indeed offer cash and miles reward tickets, although you need 75% of the miles needed for the redemption to benefit. Interestingly the miles you buy then cost you very little, around 0.5p from memory, so this can be a really good option even where you have enough miles to cover the whole purchase. I think Gagravarr's issue is, regardless of the potentially low cost of a fair few Etihad redemption options, he is in no position to book flights as of now, with the miles about to run out - hence the potential mass gamble on Euro 2016 tickets
I've just come across another option. Brussels Airlines are an Etihad partner, and Etihad's reward table is, frankly, staggering. Bear in mind these rewards are for return flights. Yes, RETURN flights. http://www.etihadguest.com/Documents/Etihad Guest/member benefits/EYG00020_Brussels Airlines_Redemption Table.pdf Gagravarr has enough for an economy return from Paris to Brussels; is 36 points short for an economy return from Heathrow to Brussels; or 300 short for a BUSINESS return from Paris to Brussels. There are plenty of other options, if he can grab a small amount of Etihad points from somewhere. E-Rewards might be an option if there's a sign-up bonus. Did I mention these figures are for return flights? I can't get over it. 36.5k points for a business return from Brussels to New York? Really??? Of course there's still the issue of finding a call centre operative knowledgable enough to book the flight, but still... this is fantastic value, is it not? Just wish I knew what the taxes and charges were. Anyone know offhand before I go searching?
Yep, it's an incredible award chart - but is it bookable? I've been meaning to do a proper experiment for a while but haven't had the time (or, frankly, the will to deal with Etihad customer service!).
Just done a bit of searching, and loads of people find it nigh on impossible to book any of them. Oh well!
Good rates for redemption against Ukraine International Airlines. Odessa to Istanbul is 2000 one way in Y.
I'd just like to thank Etihad Guest for helping me decide what to do with my orphan miles. I was mulling over a trip to Belgium with Brussels Airlines, but as the cost of a return flight from LHR has now increased from 2060 miles to 18 THOUSAND, I may as well just transfer them to PointsPay instead... Brussels to JFK in business has gone up from 36k to 88. I can only assume that using points for Brussels Airlines has become so popular that Etihad weren't getting any benefit out of it. Another program devaluation... sigh.
Was Brussels Airways actually bookable via Etihad Guest? I seem to recall that Etihad Guest was a lot like Virgin Flying Club in this respect. Publish a partner award, but basically don't make any effort to ensure award space is available. Surely 36K Amex MR points for a J return to the US would have gone viral long ago if it was easy and widely available?
Yeah, it was possible (and quite widely posted about, though not 'viral'). It certainly wasn't easy though - requiring competent agents AND Return Business award space.
Plenty of tales in the 'Booking Etihad Partners' thread on Flyertalk: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/etih...ards-ey-partner-airlines-24.html#post28172377
