Bits: £1350 Etihad business class flights to Asia, Etihad Guest 20% points transfer bonus

News in brief:

Book Etihad business class flights to Asia from £1,350

Courtesy of Flyertalk comes an interesting Etihad promotion from Germany (pick your starting point – Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf) to many parts of Asia.

As a typical fare, Dusseldorf to Bangkok comes out at €1596 (£1350) return.  Similar fares are available to Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur and potentially elsewhere.

You must travel outbound between 18 April and 30 June.

From Dusseldorf, you want the daily 787 flight in order to get the impressive new Business Class Studio I reviewed here.  This is the best option.  If you fly from Berlin the first leg will be on airberlin and not on Etihad so that is less interesting.  (You can’t credit the airberlin flight to British Airways as it has an Etihad flight number.)  Frankfurt has the older A330 seating, as does Munich.

You can either credit the miles to Etihad Guest (and top them up later via Amex Membership Rewards, the UK Etihad credit card, Heathrow Rewards etc) or a partner.  American Airlines is an obvious one given that you could redeem the miles on BA.

The Etihad home page is here.  The Etihad page showcasing the Business Class Studio is here.

Etihad launches a 20% conversion bonus

Speaking of Etihad, Etihad Guest has launched a 20% bonus on points you transfer into their scheme.

You can find details of participating Etihad’s partners on the Etihad website here.

Relevant partners for UK readers are:

Heathrow Rewards
HSBC Premier
Club Carlson
Hilton Honors
IHG Rewards Club
Le Club AccorHotels
Marriott Rewards
Shangri-La Golden Circle
Starwood Preferred Guest
World of Hyatt

The bonus also applies to ADCB TouchPoints, Citibank UAE, Emirates Islamic Bank, Joyalukkas, NBAD Stars, Boubyan Bank and Etisalat Rewards transfers.  Note also that the promo website has a mistake where it discusses Starwood – the correct number of miles for a 20,000 point conversion is, pre bonus, 25,000.

It does NOT apply to transfers from American Express Membership Rewards.

The deadline for transfers is 30th April. Transfers must be initiated by that date.

My review of my recent Etihad A380 First Class Apartment flight will run next week.

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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.