From May 1 to May 31, 2024, you can earn 20% more Etihad Guest Miles when transferring your American Express Membership Rewards points.
The usual transfer ratio between American Express Membership Rewards and Etihad Guest is 1,000 Membership Rewards points = 750 Etihad Guest Miles.
So, as part of this promotion, you’ll get a better transfer ratio: 1,000 Membership Rewards points = 900 Etihad Guest Miles.
So, is it worth transferring Membership Rewards points to the Etihad Guest program?
Etihad Guest does not belong to one of the three airline alliances (Star Alliance, SkyTeam, Oneworld). However, the airline has forged partnerships with a number of other airlines:
Please note that you can only book online on the Etihad Guest website with these airlines: American Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, KLM, Royal Air Maroc, SriLankan Airlines, Virgin Australia.
For all others, you must call the Etihad Guest reservation center.
To book a flight with your Etihad Guest Miles with a partner airline, Etihad Guest has a fixed reward chart based on the distance flown.
As you can see, it can cost as little as 6,000 Etihad Guest Miles to travel up to 500 miles.
It’s confirmed by visiting the Etihad Guest website to book a short-haul flight with Air Canada, American Airlines, or Air France, as you’ll see in the sweetspots mentioned below.
Etihad Guest Miles expire after 18 months if no transactions have been made in your Etihad Guest account. To extend the expiry date, simply carry out a transaction (such as a new Membership Rewards points transfer).
The transfer between American Express Membership Rewards points and Etihad Guest takes between 3 and 5 days. So don’t wait until the last minute to transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points to Etihad Guest.
For example, a flight between Montreal (YUL) and Toronto (YYZ) on Air Canada costs as little as 5,944 Miles and $99 in taxes:
Compare this to Aeroplan’s posted rates of 14,700 Aeroplan points and $57 in taxes for identical flights:
Another example is a flight between Boston (BOS) and Toronto (YYZ) on Air Canada, which costs 6,000 Miles and $39 in taxes:
Compare with Aeroplan fares starting at 27,600 Aeroplan points and $39 taxes for identical flights:
Another example, this time against Aeroplan, for a flight between Montreal and Miami. With Etihad Guest, you can get this direct flight for 15,000 miles and $155 in taxes:
Compare this to Aeroplan’s posted rates of 9,100 Aeroplan points and $123 in taxes for identical flights:
As Etihad Guest is a partner airline of Air Canada/Aeroplan, you will only have access to seats released by Aeroplan for partners. While Aeroplan gives you access to all available Air Canada flights, with a dynamic points-based fare (fluctuating according to demand).
However, it may be worth checking the fare on Etihad Guest for your desired itinerary.
Here’s another example of a flight between Nice (NCE) and Paris (ORY) on Air France that costs as little as 5,944 Miles and $99 in taxes:
Compare this to the Flying Blue fare of 8,500 Flying Blue Miles and 29 euros in taxes for an identical flight:
You can transfer Membership Rewards points to Flying Blue or Etihad Guest at the same transfer ratio (1,000 Membership Rewards points = 750 Miles).
So it may be a good idea for you to transfer Membership Rewards points to Etihad Guest during a promotional period in order to book an Air France flight.
Here’s the example seen above of a flight between Montreal (YUL) and Miami (MIA), this time on American, which costs 15,000 Miles and $127 in taxes:
If you have British Airways Executive Club Avios Miles (via a points transfer with American Express Membership Rewards or RBC Avion Rewards), you can get this same flight for 14,500 Miles and $80 tax:
If you have American AAdvantage miles (via a points transfer with RBC Avion Rewards), you can get this same flight for 13,000 miles and $64 tax:
As you can see, the benefits of using Etihad Guest to book an American Airlines flight are not significant. But it’s an option to keep in mind.
As you can see, in certain circumstances, it makes sense to have an Etihad Guest Miles balance to book short-haul flights, which can be expensive, even with airlines such as Air Canada, Air France or American Airlines.
Here are the best American Express Membership Rewards Card offers available right now:
Savings are here:
