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Etihad partners with Air Europa, opening up new SkyTeam opportunities

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Etihad and Air Europa announced a new frequent flyer partnership yesterday.  

Whilst you might not know Air Europa, it is a Spanish-based airline which is part of the huge SkyTeam alliance, flying domestically and to Latin America and the Caribbean.  From the UK, it flies from London Gatwick to Madrid.

This opens up some interesting options.  Here are a few things you can now do as part of the new partnership:

Fly Etihad and credit the miles to Air Europa.  Looking at the relevant page of the Air Europa website, it appears that Etihad flights will earn ‘level’ miles which count for status.   The English translation here is not great and it is possible that only Etihad flights operated as Air Europa codeshares count for status, but that isn’t how I read it.  This means that you can potentially earn SkyTeam status by crediting your Etihad flights to Air Europa and not to Etihad Guest. 

Fly Air Europa and credit the miles to Etihad Guest.  This page of the Etihad website shows you what you will earn.  This is a sensible option if you don’t collect SkyTeam miles and end up doing the occasional Air Europa flight.  Note that booking classes  X, O, F, G, Z, N and A earn nothing in Etihad Guest.

Redeem Etihad Guest miles on Air Europa.  Given Air Europa’s niche route network this is only likely to make sense in a few scenarios but the option is at least there.

Credit your SkyTeam flights to Air Europa in order to get access to Etihad redemptions.  This is not necessarily a great idea – because it may be easier to earn status with other SkyTeam partners and you can’t top-up Air Europa miles easily as they have few partners – but the option is there.

It isn’t clear if Etihad Guest status card holders get any benefits when flying with Air Europa, or vice versa.

How to earn Etihad Guest miles from UK credit cards

How to earn Etihad Guest miles from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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:

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 Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.

Category

Etihad and Etihad Guest, SkyTeam alliance partners

Comments (217)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Crafty says:
    25 Sep25 September 10:10

    +1. Until stacks of evidence otherwise. I shall be removing Curve from my wallet.

  • Vasco says:
    25 Sep25 September 10:34

    I read the Spanish version of the Air Europa Etihad page, and can confirm that it says any Etihad flight which earns award miles also earns status miles.

  • MrK says:
    25 Sep25 September 10:57

    OT:

    Made a pre-paid booking at one of the SPG hotels last month but don’t think the payment went through as the credit card I used for the booking might’ve been maxed out at the time.

    Does my reservation still stand and should I contact SPG/Marriott?

  • The Lord says:
    25 Sep25 September 11:20

    OT – Any one had experience of China Eastern/Southern? Looking at NZ for Xmas/NY and they are coming up significantly cheaper but I was once told, if something looks too good to be true….

    • Mark2 says:
      25 Sep25 September 12:00

      Not personally, but my niece flew on Southern to Australia and it spoiled her holiday.

      • Sam says:
        25 Sep25 September 12:54

        Flew Southern to China over the summer at just under half of the cost of other operators in Y. Food was ok on the way out but not good on the way back (catered to Chinese tastes and I’m Chinese)

        I’d do it again

    • Lumma says:
      25 Sep25 September 19:12

      I flew to Australia on Air China a couple of years ago (I know not the same airline but I imagine the experience would be similar). If the savings are good enough I’d go for it, but I’d definitely take extra snacks and drinks and a tablet/laptop for my own entertainment. I was in economy and the miniscule servings of drinks drove me round the bend – think 50ml shots of wine or even coca cola. The only thing you were given the whole can for was Pepsi Max or beer.

      Having said all that, it was £450 when the cheapest alternative was £670 on Malaysian so I’d say it was worth it. They hadn’t long started doing the 72 hour travel without visa scheme at the time too, so that was a extra bonus if visiting China is something that someone wished to do

    • Concerto says:
      25 Sep25 September 21:31

      Very good. Flew to S Korea this summer on MU in Economy and to Hong Kong a couple of years ago on CZ in Economy, and both were fine. CZ was better though.

  • Wongster says:
    25 Sep25 September 12:21

    Oooooo, my deposit using Curve into my prepaid debit card is now showing on the linked credit card statement as “financial services” – previously it was “professional services”…. looks like the MCC has been passed through from Curve to the linked credit card…

    Does this new MCC for “financial services” mean it is considered as cash transaction? Or will it still go through as purchase? Lloyds Avios MC by the way.

    Thanks!

  • Karen says:
    25 Sep25 September 12:52

    Made a cash withdrawal with curve form my Hilton Barclaycard on Friday 21st. No extra charges so far.

    • The Original Nick says:
      25 Sep25 September 15:15

      I made an ATM transaction using my Curve card linked to my Virgin cc on Saturday in Abu Dhabi. No extra charges so far.

  • Wayne says:
    25 Sep25 September 12:55

    Does anyone know if a payment made to an investment fund will be treated as cash or can I get some extra points by using curve over normal debit card?

    • RTS says:
      25 Sep25 September 13:36

      I did a trial to one of the largest investment platforms in the UK. MCC coded as professional services albeit that was on Thursday and posted on Friday.

    • Rob says:
      25 Sep25 September 14:23

      Depends on the fund unfortunately and how they code the transaction.

  • Rts says:
    25 Sep25 September 13:46

    I’ve just done a curve linked to virgin money ATM withdrawal. MCC coded as 6540. I believe this is a cash advance code.

    • James says:
      25 Sep25 September 14:17

      Hi rts

      Thanks for posting. Not what I was hoping to hear. When the transaction actually clears, please can you confirm if you incurred fees. I use Curve with my Virgin a lot for withdraws. Thanks

      • Rob says:
        25 Sep25 September 14:21

        One of the card companies (can’t name it) told me this morning that they are definitely not treating Curve ATM transactions as cash. Tesco may be the outlier.

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