Bits: get 15% off Leading Hotels of the World, Etihad buying Air Malta

News in brief:

Get 15% off Leading Hotels of the World with American Express

American Express has teamed up with Leading Hotels of the World to offer a 15% discount on stays of two or more nights.

Stays must be completed by 12th August and you need to book a specific rate code. Full details are on the Leading Hotels website here.

Etihad to buy a major stake in Air Malta

The Maltese Government is expected to sign contracts with Etihad over the next couple of days to sell a ‘substantial’ stake in Air Malta.  This is likely to be the maximum 49.9% allowed under European Union rules.

This does seem a little bizarre.  There is some logic in their investments in airberlin, Alitalia, Jet, Air Serbia etc which can provide regional ‘feed’ into an Etihad hub.  Passengers can then be whisked off to Abu Dhabi and from there to pretty much anywhere.

Malta, population 400,000, is unlikely to provide huge amounts of ‘feed’.  The Air Malta fleet of, erm, 10 aircraft is unlikely to justify the time and money that Etihad will invest.

The upside is that Air Malta flights will become available for Etihad Guest redemptions.  You can, of course, already redeem Avios for Air Malta flights via avios.com as I discussed here.

More details on the deal can be found here.

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How to earn Etihad Guest miles from UK credit cards (April 2025)

Etihad Guest does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Etihad Guest miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 20,000 Etihad Guest miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 50,000 Etihad Guest miles.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 10,000 Etihad Guest miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Etihad Guest miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Etihad Guest mile.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it, not just with Etihad but with any airline.