ETIHAD AIRWAYS: New points redemption award charts. Some winners, some losers

We were warned last month that Etihad Guest, the airline’s award program would be changing its redemption rates. This is rarely a good sign!

However, the new rate charts are a mixed blessing, especially on the new simplified applies-to-all partner redemptions – some are up nearly 125%, and some are lower by almost 50%.

The new award charts take effect immediately (Thursday 9 March 2023) – but, given Etihad is having a huge tech systems overhaul, you won’t be able to make any redemptions until at least tomorrow (Friday 10 March 2023). On the upside you will soon be able to make award bookings for Virgin Australia flights on the Etihad website – other Etihad Guest partner airline booking will still need a phone call.

One person’s anomaly is another’s sweet spot

We have lost some of the former sweet spots from the Etihad redemptions, but gained some others. I’ve listed a few later in this post. In the main, however, redemptions on partner airlines such as Brussels, Air Serbia, American, Oman and Royal Air Maroc require more of those Guest miles/points.

New Chart for Etihad Airways Guest Seats

Etihad has introduced fixed award zones for Guest seats on its own flights. See the chart below:

Spend your miles on a GuestSeat with Etihad Airways

A simplified redemption table will be applied starting from 9 March 2023. The rates will be based on zones across Etihad Airways.

A premium redemption fare will be applied based on demand and availability.

Use our mileage calculator to search for a GuestSeat by the number of miles you’d like to spend, or by where you’d like to fly to.

You can also use your miles to book an OpenSeat or to upgrade your flight.

Distance range	Economy	Business	First
0-500	7,000	20,000	40,000
501-1000	11,000	25,000	50,000
1001-1500	13,000	30,000	60,000
1501-2000	17,000	45,000	90,000
2001-2500	22,000	50,000	100,000
2501-3000	27,000	60,000	120,000
3001-4000	32,000	70,000	140,000
4000-5000	37,000	75,000	150,000
5001-6000	45,000	100,000	200,000
6001+	60,000	110,000	220,000

Like the perhaps more familiar Qantas concept, Etihad has Classic Flight Rewards, which Etihad titles ‘GuestSeats’, and plain old Reward Seats, which make any seat available for a massive amount of points. Etihad has a similar scheme called OpenSeats – more widely available but usually much, much more expensive.

There is also some mystery terminology, which I interpret as meaning they will charge whatever points they want to for Business and First. The actual turn of phrase above is: ‘A premium redemption fare will be applied based on demand and availability.’ – yep, your guess is as good as mine, maybe better?

New Chart for Partner Airline Redemptions

Etihad used to run award charts by airline partner – well now they have smoothed this, and have one chart that applies to all partners:

Spend your miles with our airline partners

Members can book a redemption flight on American Airlines and Virgin Australia using your miles directly through Etihad’s website.

Any other partner bookings can still be done through our call centre.

Distance Range	Economy	Premium Economy	Business	First
0-500	6,000	7,500	10,000	14,000
501-1000	12,000	13,000	20,000	27,000
1001-1500	15,000	19,000	30,000	40,000
1501-2000	23,000	25,000	40,000	54,000
2000-2500	28,000	31,000	50,000	67,000
2501-3000	34,000	37,000	60,000	80,000
3001-4000	45,000	49,000	80,000	107,000
4001-5000	60,000	62,000	100,000	134,000
5001-6000	67,000	74,000	120,000	160,000
6001+	75,000	90,000	140,000	200,000

OK, OK, so you don’t know how many miles there are between Sydney and London? No problem, there are many websites that will help you out with that. Try Great Circle Mapper or Air Miles Calculator.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

While many trips will now cost your more Etihad Guest Miles, there are a few that will cost you less. Here is a sample of some winners:

Airline	Route	Cabin Class	Previous Miles Required	New Miles Required
Air New Zealand	Auckland-Christchurch	Economy	13,000	6,000 (-54%)
Air New Zealand	Auckland-Tokyo	Business	210,000	120,000 (-43%)
Gulf Air	Singapore-Bahrain	Business	94,000	80,000 (-15%)
Virgin Australia	Sydney-Melbourne	Business	13,800	10,000 (-27%)

2PAXfly Takeout

Look is this good? In the main, no. Is it a disaster? Not really, increases of 125% in redemptions are not particularly out of the ordinary, given the trajectory of rewards programs is increased points for redemptions, and decreased points/credits earned for flights.

Finally, if you have a head for figures and a body for travel, and can pan through these award charts and find some gold – tell me about it in the comments.