It’s so fun when airline loyalty programs offer gamified promotions, since it’s great for creating engagement. In 2024, we saw SAS EuroBonus offer its million points promotion, to celebrate the transition from Star Alliance to SkyTeam. Now we’ve seen Etihad Guest introduce a fun promotion, though it’s a bit more challenging.
In this post:
Etihad Guest’s incredible five million mile promotion
Etihad is growing quite a bit at the moment, and to celebrate that, the airline has introduced a promotion encouraging members to fly to the carrier’s new destinations. The goal with this promotion is to fly to the carrier’s 15 newest destinations in the shortest cumulative time.
The person who does it the fastest earns five million bonus miles, the person who does it second fastest earns three million bonus miles, and the person who does it third fastest earns one million bonus miles. The challenge is valid for travel between May 26, 2025, and May 25, 2026.
The winner will be notified by June 15, 2026. However, there will be a leaderboard, showing rankings for everyone who has completed the challenge. The required destinations include the following:
Algiers (Algeria), Atlanta (U.S.), Chiang Mai (Thailand), Hanoi (Vietnam), Hong Kong (Hong Kong), Krabi (Thailand), Medan (Indonesia), Peshawar (Pakistan), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Taipei (Taiwan), Tunis (Tunisia), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Sochi (Russia), Prague (Czech Republic), Warsaw (Poland).
In the event that a route gets canceled, it will be exempt from the challenge, and the challenge will go ahead with the rest of the remaining routes. In the event there’s a tie, the person who is enrolled in the promotion longest will be the winner. Also note that GuestSeat award tickets are excluded from this offer.
This is a fun promotion, but challenging…
It seems that SAS has inspired some other airlines, and I’m happy to see that, as these kinds of offers are always fun. Obviously five million bonus miles is a massive prize, even if Etihad Guest miles aren’t my favorite mileage currency. That being said, there are a couple of aspects of this challenge that will be complicated.
I think the first challenge is the specific destinations involved, including the visa requirements. For example, for people from many parts of the world, traveling to Russia right now probably isn’t that practical, or something that people are comfortable with.
I think the second challenge is that you could invest a lot of time and money into this, only to not actually earn anything. With the SAS EuroBonus challenge, there were specific tasks that unlocked specific rewards, regardless of what others were doing (I suspect this made the promotion pretty costly for SAS, in the end). In this case, you could spend $20,000 booking flights, only to not actually win anything.
For that matter, you’re also reliant on flights operating on-time, so a delay outside of your control could destroy your chances of winning.
I certainly could be wrong, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see anyone travel to all 15 destinations for close to a year, until shortly before the end of the competition. After all, it’s not advantageous to set the record early, when you give others nearly a year to then beat you. I look forward to revisiting this offer in nearly a year, to see where things stand.
Bottom line
Etihad Guest has just launched a fun promotion, offering nine million miles worth of prizes. With the Abu Dhabi-based airline expanding, the idea is that those who fly to all 15 of the carrier’s new destinations in the shortest cumulative time can win rewards. The first place prize is five million miles, the second place prize is three million miles, and the third place prize is one million miles.
This promotion has some unique challenges, including visa requirements, so I’m curious how many people try to “compete.”
What do you make of this Etihad Guest promotion?
"Be the first to fly to all 15 of our new destinations..." This would not mean fly from the destinations.
Notice is says "fly to," NOT fly from. So, does this mean, that all flights have to originate from Etihad's hub?
While this is still wildly unattractive for numerous reasons, I don’t think it would 15 flights out of AUH to win. Given the proximity of some of the destinations, I imagine the best strategy would be to try to pair nearby cities together so you are always flying to or from Abu Dhabi from a new destination.
For example, you could fly from AUH to WAW, then WAW to PRG, then PRG to AUH...
While this is still wildly unattractive for numerous reasons, I don’t think it would 15 flights out of AUH to win. Given the proximity of some of the destinations, I imagine the best strategy would be to try to pair nearby cities together so you are always flying to or from Abu Dhabi from a new destination.
For example, you could fly from AUH to WAW, then WAW to PRG, then PRG to AUH in one turn. Similar combinations could be made with Algiers and Tunis or the SE Asian destinations. I have to imagine that’s cheaper and faster than going back to AUH between each destination.
Several commenters have already pointed out a number of issues with this that make it unattractive, but ultimately, the fundamental difference in my mind (even setting aside the fact you might not win anything) is that you have to keep going back and forth to Abu Dhabi for each trip. The SkyTeam challenge was exciting in that each traveller could complete it in a different way by putting together an itinerary that suited them as...
Several commenters have already pointed out a number of issues with this that make it unattractive, but ultimately, the fundamental difference in my mind (even setting aside the fact you might not win anything) is that you have to keep going back and forth to Abu Dhabi for each trip. The SkyTeam challenge was exciting in that each traveller could complete it in a different way by putting together an itinerary that suited them as the effectively bounced around the world. Hardly as interesting as simply going to and from Abu Dhabi 15 times.
Agree with the suggestion that Etihad likely could have had a lot better uptake by guaranteeing something to everyone who completed it... they'd still come out ahead anyway.
If I were in marketing for one of the major alliances, I'd absolutely be putting together promos similar to SAS.
This seems like a very interesting promotion to me, but the issue for me is that there is only one winner, so you aren't guraranteed a prize. However, it does seem like there will be much less people attempting this challenge compared to the SAS one, so that works in my favor.
I like the destinations associated with this campaign, as they are all very interesting and exotic to me. This is what travel...
This seems like a very interesting promotion to me, but the issue for me is that there is only one winner, so you aren't guraranteed a prize. However, it does seem like there will be much less people attempting this challenge compared to the SAS one, so that works in my favor.
I like the destinations associated with this campaign, as they are all very interesting and exotic to me. This is what travel should be like. I also don't mind all that flying with Etihad in Economy. It honestly sounds pretty fun. With a quick preliminary search, I was able to find decent fares to complete this challenge in all markets. If the prize was 1 million Etihad Guest miles for completing this challenge, I would do this in a heartbeat (I also have a very good use for these miles, so that helps). But since there is no guaranteed prize, I will likely pass. Not willing to risk thousands of dollars on a possibility.
Oh what a surprise, there’s a Russian destination. Commerce 1 Morals 0
Lots of content creators who live in UAE one of them will definitely do this by booking quick round-trips
This race has a very expensive entrance fee.
Hard pass
…. and the winner is Etihad, still laughing all the way to the bank.
I don't think they'll find many people willing to bite, unless they strike lucky with an youtuber or two hoping to monetise the videos that don't get confiscated by the authorities in Algeria etc.
This isn't anything like the SAS campaign, both because you have to keep flying to/from the same place and, more importantly, because there's no way of controlling how quickly anyone else manages to do it. If they were giving out a million miles (which are worth less than 1m SK points) to everyone that does the 15 destinations plus a bigger prize (e.g. 15 million) for the fastest person it would be a competition worth...
This isn't anything like the SAS campaign, both because you have to keep flying to/from the same place and, more importantly, because there's no way of controlling how quickly anyone else manages to do it. If they were giving out a million miles (which are worth less than 1m SK points) to everyone that does the 15 destinations plus a bigger prize (e.g. 15 million) for the fastest person it would be a competition worth entering into. They're just trying to be clever and grab the headlines for a moment.
As reader Albert notes, there's only ONE person who will win the 5 million points. And, let's not forget Etihad's draconian points expiration rule.
Congratulations to the senior commercial leadership team at Etihad for coming up with this incredible, world-leading, innovative and likely away-winning campaign. The new destinations Etihad plans to serve is inspiring and it wouldn't surprise me if other airlines were looking to poach the amazing talent pool at Etihad. Well done team.
Arik De, is that you?
I am characterizing this comment as completely sarcastic !
If the purpose of this promo is engagement and attention, let's compare the sustained attention SAS' thing got, to how much we're reading or talking about this thing two weeks from now. The design of this one is NOT equally appealing worldwide, as the SAS promo was. It is NOT as low risk for the traveller as the SAS promo was, because as Ben points out, a real enthusiast could invest USD$20k and fail to...
If the purpose of this promo is engagement and attention, let's compare the sustained attention SAS' thing got, to how much we're reading or talking about this thing two weeks from now. The design of this one is NOT equally appealing worldwide, as the SAS promo was. It is NOT as low risk for the traveller as the SAS promo was, because as Ben points out, a real enthusiast could invest USD$20k and fail to win anything. Etihad got a burst of attention now, by announcing it. After this, they'll enjoy only a fraction of the attention SAS got.
Sorry if that was longwinded. I could have just said "nothingburger".
I think the inclusion of Algeria, Pakistan and Russia is to drag this out as long as possible and squeeze as much ticket sales as they can before a winner can be named
Chances are the winners will be based in UAE/ME; not as practical for others to travel via AUH *15 times. Also, is there another clause for situations in which there is no one completing the challenge, winners will be determined by the number of destinations unlocked ;)
The big problems are visas and no guaranteed prize. If someone has two of the right passports, it's much easier. For example, a dual citizen of Malaysia and a Western European country (not UK). The former would get you into Algeria and the latter would allow a Russian e-visa.
The inclusion of Pakistan and Russia are very odd choices. The former is not safe and it does leave a very complex situation in case the immigration officers in India or US notices it. Russia meanwhile can be done since e-visa exist and vast majority of Europeans and Russia friendly countries can apply through it. It is simple and technically the e-visa is just a payment obstacle more then anything procedural. They literally issue the...
The inclusion of Pakistan and Russia are very odd choices. The former is not safe and it does leave a very complex situation in case the immigration officers in India or US notices it. Russia meanwhile can be done since e-visa exist and vast majority of Europeans and Russia friendly countries can apply through it. It is simple and technically the e-visa is just a payment obstacle more then anything procedural. They literally issue the visa on the day you pay but make you wait 4-5 days due to “processing” and “verification” and other fake placeholder status. But not the brightest idea to include a politically risky country like Russia. Americans and Brits should approach this with caution.
I think better options would have been to use India and one of the many CIS (former Soviet Union countries) countries where Etihad flies
I think this is a super smart campaign where they make the marketing headlines, and also block the silliness (from a cost perspective) of the SAS campaign. As an UAE based airline, the key demographics probably don't have a problem with visas to Russia, Pakistan, etc.
Ben, could you clarify from Etihad how many people have signed up?
I agree with you though. It is fun to see airlines doing cool stuff, and Etihad...
I think this is a super smart campaign where they make the marketing headlines, and also block the silliness (from a cost perspective) of the SAS campaign. As an UAE based airline, the key demographics probably don't have a problem with visas to Russia, Pakistan, etc.
Ben, could you clarify from Etihad how many people have signed up?
I agree with you though. It is fun to see airlines doing cool stuff, and Etihad seems to be enjoying these av-geek type things after the 10 destination reveal video.
Etihad intro says "be the first" which suggests first to finish.
Term 5C says "shortest cumulative time" which could mean:
- shortest from start of first flight to end of 15th flight - in line with your comment about waiting till May 2026.
(could be scheduled timing or actual timing)
- shortest hours in the air - surely not
- short time from 2025/05/26 - in line with "be the first"
Have you clarified exactly what they mean?
I would actually read it as the shortest time spent in the air in total (in fact maybe even from off blocks to door opening), just as in a rallye race where your total time is the addition of all times needed for the individual stages... meaning wind, ATC etc... could be of relevance... but then what do i know...
Algeria, Pakistan, and Russia certainly constitute some interesting visa complexities. What's the best passport for this?
They are probably thinking of Emirati?
That Sochi route will rule out most people considering taking this challenge
Well Russia has e-visas now. But as a French national, I felt the same about Algiers
Sorry, this is probably a stupid question, but do you have to fly Etihad to all 15 of those destinations? Or can you fly their codeshare partners, or any of their partners? (or maybe any airline to those cities, that's a long shot, but I'm still gonna ask)?
@ JB -- You have to fly Etihad to those destinations on the carrier's new routes.
Thank you Ben!
Honestly, this is quite tempting for me. I can already envision an itinerary to complete this challenge. With my passports and nationalities, the only challenging destinations are Algiers and Sochi, but I can just do a same-day turn with the former and apply for a visa for the latter (but as a US resident, that may be a little challenging).
What does it mean by "cumulative time"? Is this challenge based...
Thank you Ben!
Honestly, this is quite tempting for me. I can already envision an itinerary to complete this challenge. With my passports and nationalities, the only challenging destinations are Algiers and Sochi, but I can just do a same-day turn with the former and apply for a visa for the latter (but as a US resident, that may be a little challenging).
What does it mean by "cumulative time"? Is this challenge based on who finishes the fastest time starting from the first flight, or the first person to finish it period (meaning if you want to do it, you should do it now/when the routes launch?)
Term 5C: on Etihad operated flights (excluding GuestSeat, discretionary and staff tickets);