Etihad Guest, the frequent flyer programme of Etihad Airways, revealed some significant updates to award pricing earlier, which went live on March 9, 2023. The loyalty programme had earlier hinted that they would change how pricing for redemption flights would work. However, they still needed to elaborate on the details. This has worked out, and there is good and bad news.

Etihad Guest announces zone-based award charts.

So far, Etihad Guest used to price Etihad Airways flights without a simple formula (for passengers) and more likely linked to the route. For partner airlines, which Etihad has a tonne of, Etihad had a different award chart for each partner airline. This led to many opportunities with partner carriers, where some flights might be cheap redemptions and make a sweet spot.

As of March 10, 2023, Etihad has introduced a new award chart for all flights. There are two charts, one for Etihad Airways redemptions and one for partner airline redemptions. Both charts work on the zone-based redemption pricing, meaning you will pay miles depending on how far you travel.

Here is the Etihad Guest award chart for travel on Etihad Airways.

And here is the Etihad Guest award chart for redemptions on airline partners.

My take on the Etihad Airways Award Charts

First and foremost, in a world where everyone is moving to dynamic awards, thank Etihad Guest for moving to award charts. This keeps things transparent and straightforward for the programme’s customers, allowing for more engagement. The award chart looks spot on, having considered many factors for pricing. There are some losers in the process, such as the sweet spots on American Airlines and Royal Air Maroc.

On another note, you will also (finally!) be able to book American Airlines and Virgin Australia redemptions directly on the website of Etihad Airways. The other redemptions for partner airlines still need to be booked on the phone. There are 20 partner airlines, so that still leaves a lot of partner airline redemptions to be taken care of on the phone itself.

Bottomline

Etihad Guest is moving to a distance-based award chart effective March 10, 2023. Here on, you should also be able to book American and Virgin Australia redemptions online. Unfortunately, some sweet spots are gone, but overall, this is a good implementation towards simplifying the partner redemptions of Etihad Guest (apart from Etihad as well).

What do you think of these Etihad Guest redemption changes?

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