Air France-KLM and Etihad have just expanded their partnership, and this includes reciprocal award redemptions. The most exciting development here is the ability to redeem Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles for travel on Etihad, so I wanted to go over the redemption possibilities in this post.
In this post:
The basics of redeeming Flying Blue miles on Etihad
It’s now possible to redeem Flying Blue miles for travel on Etihad directly through the Flying Blue website and app. A few things to note about these redemption opportunities:
- The award pricing seems to be route based, so pricing isn’t consistent by region
- Award pricing is per segment, so if you fly multiple segments, the pricing is additive
- Flying Blue allows stopovers on one-way awards, but that’s not of much value when pricing is additive, since you’re paying the per segment pricing anyway
- Flying Blue is imposing surcharges on these redemptions, though they’re fairly mild in the scheme of things (at most $200 for a long haul flight)
- As of now I see redemptions available in business class and economy class, though I don’t yet see first class redemptions; I’m curious if these are rolled out, given that Flying Blue is increasingly offering partner first class redemptions
So, what is pricing like? A one-way Abu Dhabi to Muscat business class award will cost you just 6,000 miles, plus $112.70 in taxes and fees.
A one-way Abu Dhabi to Geneva business class award will cost you 45,000 miles, plus $207.70 in taxes and fees.
A one-way Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur business class award will cost you 51,000 miles, plus $207.70 in taxes and fees.
A one-way Abu Dhabi to Washington business class award will cost you 87,500 miles, plus $246.60 in taxes and fees.
Where I see value with this redemption opportunity
Flying Blue’s redemption rates on Etihad aren’t amazing, but I still think there’s a lot of value here. Keep in mind that when it comes to redeeming for Etihad business class, historically the best programs have been American AAdvantage and Air Canada Aeroplan. However, Aeroplan currently doesn’t have access to Etihad first and business class award space, meaning that there’s only AAdvantage (and partner programs in general are having issues with Etihad award space).
With that in mind, a few thoughts:
- This opportunity is useful for those with transferable points currencies, since Flying Blue partners with all major transferable points currencies, while AAdvantage doesn’t
- Flying Blue often has bonuses from transfer points currencies, where you can often get a 25% bonus when transferring points, so you can get even more value that way
- Flying Blue has particularly good Etihad redemption rates for short haul flights, so that’s a great competitive advantage
I wouldn’t say this redemption opportunity is the most exciting thing ever, but there are definitely situations where I could see myself redeeming this way.
Bottom line
Flying Blue has rolled out award redemptions on Etihad, which is a cool development. Redemption rates are reasonable, though there are some mild carrier imposed surcharges on these awards. This is a great way for those with transferable points currencies to redeem miles for Etihad.
What do you make of redeeming Flying Blue miles on Etihad?
Or you can book Wizz Air from Abu Dhabi to Muscat for a grand total of $11.
I wouldn't be too excited about this. Pricing from Europe looks bad. MUC-AUH-SYD costs 70k Miles + €266 in economy!! on a given day in March. In business that will probably turn out to be 150k+ and lots of cash.
The taxes are less when flying via SIN where i see availability with AF+QF for 66k miles + €239 in economy. Business class is basically non-existent.
Those examples with short distances from AUH are hardly anything to crow about.
Lucky - how are you pricing out the short haul flights? When searching via Air France website, the short haul flights from AUH prompt a message saying no routes available. I've tried MCT/ISB/DOH and got the same message from all.
Also note your screenshot for MCT doesn't look like its from Air France website?
All good.. may have been a temporary lapse on the website
Expect taxes to be additive too (when there's a connection in AUH). Example SIN-AUH-CDG in business is pricing to be 90k+ in miles and $400+ in taxes. FB definitely provides an alternative to using AA miles but taxes add up if you have multiple people on the itinerary.
AUH-MCT for 6000 miles + $112 is a ripoff.
You can fly Air Arabia for half that with bags and exit rows
Its a 40 minute flight with zero service on Etihad anyway.
In theory, this look good. In practice, however, I have my doubts.
Currently, if you take a look at Etihad's award pricing for its own members, it is deliberately pricing the cheaper awards in such a way so as not to trigger partner availability.
Business Class AUH-JFK priced at 110,005 miles, Business Class AUH-NRT priced at 100,004 miles, Business Class LHR-AUH priced at 70,003 miles and First Class LHR-AUH 140,006 miles are all awards that...
In theory, this look good. In practice, however, I have my doubts.
Currently, if you take a look at Etihad's award pricing for its own members, it is deliberately pricing the cheaper awards in such a way so as not to trigger partner availability.
Business Class AUH-JFK priced at 110,005 miles, Business Class AUH-NRT priced at 100,004 miles, Business Class LHR-AUH priced at 70,003 miles and First Class LHR-AUH 140,006 miles are all awards that are priced at just 3-6 miles above the cost of an award that would trigger partner award availability. I wonder why?! :)
If that's the sort of games that Etihad is going to play, the FF agreements that it enters into don't really mean all that much (from a redemption point of view).
what date did you see that AUH-IAD award? On the date I want to travel, all there is is Air France via CDG.