Buying miles & points strategically can represent a great value, especially for luxury travel. The Etihad Guest program has just launched a promotion on purchased miles. This is among the best offers we’ve seen from the program in quite some time.
In this post:
Promotion on purchased Etihad Guest miles
Through Wednesday, December 21, 2022, Etihad Guest is offering up to a 45% bonus on purchased miles. The bonus is tiered, as follows:
- Buy 5,000-20,000 miles, get a 25% bonus
- Buy 21,000-40,000 miles, get a 35% bonus
- Buy 41,000-100,000 miles, get a 45% bonus
How much does it cost to purchase Etihad Guest miles?
Etihad Guest ordinarily charges 2.0 cents per purchased mile, and there are no further taxes and fees. That’s before any bonuses or discount. With the 45% bonus, if you maxed out this promotion you’d receive a total of 145,000 Etihad Guest miles at a cost $2,000, which is a rate of 1.38 cents per Etihad Guest mile.
In the past we’ve sometimes seen a bonus of up to 50% on purchased Etihad Guest miles, though that only gets you a marginally lower cost. Furthermore, it has been many months since we’ve seen such an offer.
How many Etihad Guest miles can you purchase?
Etihad Guest limits members to purchasing 100,000 Etihad Guest miles per account per calendar year, before any bonuses. The exception is Etihad Guest Platinum members, who can purchase up to 150,000 miles per year, before any bonuses.
If you do buy Etihad Guest miles, it can take up to 72 hours for them to post to your account, but they ordinarily post much faster than that.
Which credit card should you buy Etihad Guest miles with?
Etihad Guest mileage purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending. Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach minimum spending, or otherwise a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending.
In this case the best option is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review), which offers 2x miles and has no foreign transaction fees. Usually the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) or Citi® Double Cash Card (review) would also be good options for maximizing everyday spending, but the cards have foreign transaction fees, so wouldn’t be a good option in this case.
See this post for more on which credit cards are best for buying points.
- Earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase, earn 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase
- $0
- Earn 3% Cash Back on Dining
- Earn 3% Cash Back at Drugstores
- Earn 1.5% Cash Back On All Other Purchases
- $0
- Earn 2x Venture miles on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check Credit
- $95
- Earn 2x Venture miles on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary
- $395
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
Is buying Etihad Guest miles worth it?
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways doesn’t belong to any of the global alliances, but the airline does have quite a few airline partners, so there are several good value ways to redeem Etihad Guest miles. While I wouldn’t speculatively pick up miles at this cost, here are some of my favorite ways to redeem them:
- For redemptions on Etihad Airways, Etihad Guest has some of the best award pricing, especially in first class and business class; there will also be a lot more enthusiasm among some when it comes to flying Etihad, given that the A380s are returning in 2023
- You can redeem just 44,000 Etihad Guest miles for a one-way one segment business class ticket anywhere Royal Air Maroc flies; unfortunately this isn’t quite as useful as it used to be, as you’re now limited to one segment, and can’t have a connecting itinerary
- You can redeem 64,082 Etihad Guest miles for a one-way flight between New York and Belgrade in Air Serbia business class
- You can redeem 32,500 Etihad Guest miles for a one-way flight between New York and Los Angeles in American’s A321T first class
Those are just a few examples, but there are lots of other redemption opportunities.
How much are Etihad Guest miles worth?
Everyone will value mileage currencies differently, but personally I value Etihad Guest miles at ~1.1 cents each. I tend to value points pretty conservatively, and there are many ways to get more value from Etihad Guest miles than that.
Do Etihad Guest miles expire?
Etihad Guest miles don’t expire as long as you have at least some account activity once every 18 months. Earning or spending miles (including outright purchasing them) would reset the expiration date of your miles.
What other ways can you earn Etihad Guest miles?
The cost to purchase Etihad Guest miles here is really attractive, though I’d note that there are many other ways to earn these miles. For those with credit cards in the United States, Etihad Guest is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou, so those are some great alternatives for earning Etihad Guest miles.
However, at a reasonable cost, some people may prefer just outright buying miles, rather than transferring them.
- 4x points at restaurants
- 4x points at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases annually
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com
- $250
- Earn 4x Membership Rewards points on airfare purchased directly from airlines
- Access to Amex Offers
- Redeem Amex Points Towards Airfare
- $295
- Earn 5x points on flights purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel (up to $500k/year)
- $200 Annual Uber Credit
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- Earn 1.5x on purchases of $5,000 or more in a single transaction on up to $2MM per calendar year
- Redeem Points For Over 1.5 Cents Each Towards Airfare
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
- Earn 3x Points on Airfare
- Earn 3x Points on Hotels
- Earn 3x Points at Restaurants
- $95
For those who don’t have access to lucrative credit cards and/or who would rather pay 1.54 cents per mile than transfer points, buying Etihad Guest miles could represent a good deal.
Bottom line
Etihad Guest is selling miles with up to a 45% bonus, which translates to a cost of 1.38 cents per mile. That could be a good deal for premium cabin redemptions. However, I’d recommend only buying miles with a specific use in mind, since miles do devalue over time.
Does anyone plan on buying Etihad Guest miles with this offer?
Am I missing something? I clicked the links and don't see the offer, seems to just price at 2c US/mile.
The award price is 25,000 Etihad Guest miles for a one-way flight between New York and Los Angeles in American’s A321T first class, not 32,500. Tremendous value for my family when I can find space for 5-6 passenger on one of the late evening flights months in advance.
I would rather (and do) use Aeroplan miles to fly Etihad premium cabins, although snagging a good F class on many routes can be difficult.
I have bought Etihad miles before when they offered a bonus.
Now, when I look at my account at Etihad website, it shows my miles AND the bonus.
BUT when I try to use my miles for redeeming an award travel ticket, it only shows my miles WITHOUT the bonus miles?
When I go to the buy miles page it doesn't reflect the bonus, any idea what may be happening?
same here