Etihad & SAS announce a new codeshare deal

SAS management can now concentrate on the future. Earlier this month it was announced that a consortium led by Air France KLM would take over the airline as it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US. The airline confirmed that it would leave Star Alliance, of which it was a founding member, and eventually join SkyTeam.

That deal is due to complete in the second quarter of 2024. In the meantime SAS is already cosying up to some of Air France KLM’s partners, including Etihad.

Whilst not part of any airline alliance, Etihad has very strong ties with Air France KLM. In September, all three airlines announced they were looking at working closer together and in particular allowing “frequent flyers of both Flying Blue and Etihad Guest to earn and redeem miles with Air France, KLM, and Etihad.”

It’s no surprise that Etihad is following up with an SAS deal, having launched flights to Copenhagen this month. The codeshare mostly covers Northern Europe and India, as you can see on the map below.

It also includes Etihad’s flights to Johannesburg, the Seychelles, London, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Munich and Milan.

However, and this is the interesting bit, you’ll be able to cross-credit flights to Etihad Guest or SAS EuroBonus across ALL flights, not just those under the codeshare. This means you’ll be able to earn EuroBonus points from all Etihad flights and Etihad Guest miles from all SAS flights.

It’s not clear if it will be possible to cross-redeem, although it would be surprising if you couldn’t.

The codeshare will go live at the end of December in time for travel in January.

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How to earn Etihad Guest miles from UK credit cards (December 2023)

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.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 30,000 Etihad Guest miles.

• 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive 30,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 30,000 Avios) with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. You receive 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months and a further 5,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 9th January 2024, you will receive a huge 100,000 Membership Rewards points (convertible to 100,000 Avios) with The Platinum Card. You receive 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months and a further 25,000 points if you hold the card for 15 months. You can apply here.

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.