One of the key reasons for me to have signed up with the Citi Prestige Credit Card which was launched in India earlier this year, was the plethora of status it comes with in terms of travel. Some of it I need, some of it I don’t. One of the first requests I filed in to get a Status upgrade was on Etihad. Etihad offers Gold status, which is their second-from-top status to Citi Prestige Members. This could be useful for members in India since you are getting an alternative to Jet Airways’ Gold status, and it comes with pretty much similar benefits on Jet Airways as Jet Airways’ Gold status, apart from being useful on other airlines such as…
Etihad
Tag Archives for Etihad.
Etihad Guest offers 20% bonus on Amex & Citi points to miles conversion
Etihad Guest is the loyalty program of Etihad Airways, and I am trying to get a hang of it ever since they have been associated with Jet Airways. The thing is, Etihad is not such a great program on its own for mileage earning and burning, because the burn on Etihad’s own flights is dynamic and too darn expensive. However, Etihad Guest offers some hidden gems for those of us in India. Etihad, just like for all their Etihad partners, offers a redemption chart of Etihad Guest miles on Jet Airways as well. Here is the chart in PDF for Domestic and International Routes. This can be a pretty useful chart since you get to travel with lesser number of…
Etihad launches its new livery on the B787 & the A380
Etihad has been undergoing a secret makeover for months, but they don’t make a secret of it when they are ready. As a 11-year young airline, I really love their luxury product in the First Class, however, they’ve been upping the game with their new cabin products, including the Residence which they will launch on their A380 later this year. Not just that. There has been a lot of discussion around the interwebs of a new livery that would come in on the new planes. I absolutely love the old one, but the new livery was just introduced a couple of days back on the A380 that Etihad has on order… And then just a short while back, on the…
Double miles on Etihad flights by JetPrivilege / Etihad Guest
Etihad is trying to be a prominent player in India, and in this regard, they are working out as hard as they can to get an uptick on traffic from India. Considering they now majorly own the JetPrivilege program, they in a way, JP Miles are also a sort of Etihad currency. Etihad is offering double miles in the JetPrivilege program, or the Etihad Guest program, if you book your tickets between September 22 and October 6, 2014 and travel between September 23, 2014 to December 15, 2014. To participate in this promotion, you need to register beforehand using your Etihad/JP number, at this link. The promotion is valid for Etihad Airways flights on any destination on the Etihad Global…
Jet Airways and Etihad Airways announce reciprocal benefits
Last year, Etihad completed the purchase of 24% equity stake in Jet Airways, as a part of building its own equity alliance. As a part of the alliance, usually most other airlines enter into a reciprocity with Etihad’s own loyalty program whereby the guests of both programs are granted privileges on each other’s metal. With Jet Airways, this has been a long time coming, and I suppose Etihad has been waiting to complete their acquisition of 51% of Jet Privilege to be able to integrate the two. This transfer only completed as of April 2014. Anyhow, the good news is, that as of today, the reciprocal benefits have been announced by both the carriers. First lets take a go at…
Etihad’s new First/Business products on A380 & 787s
Etihad has been silent for the longest time on a cabin refresh, and yesterday, they shared details of what could be the most luxurious products in the air. Stay with me, they are creating, Apartments and full Residences in the air. Also Studios. The Suites class product is a few year old, and Etihad has a fully enclosed suites as well on its aircraft, along with Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Jet Airways amongst others. So, they took this opportunity to have new aircraft to do something new altogether. Since 2008, Etihad worked with 3 different companies, no less, to design the new experience and product for their upcoming planes. The Residence, which will be single or double occupancy, is targeted…
More information on US Pre-clearance from Abu Dhabi
Not so long ago in January 2014, the US Customs & Border Patrol Pre-clearance facility at Abu Dhabi was established. Now, Etihad put up a new short and sweet video on their website to show how it works (no wonders here). The details are however more interesting. Etihad now operates multiple flights to the USA. They’ve in fact engaged Jet Airways’ Boeing 777-300ERs to operate one of the flights (EY103) between Abu Dhabi and New York JFK as well. As it turns out, Etihad would offer the US Pre-clearance facility only on the following flights, which are operated on its own metal: Etihad Airways operates flights to three destinations in the U.S. – New York (EY101 only), Chicago (EY151) Washington…
Etihad Guest offering a status match to Gold
Etihad offers a Gold Guest status match every now and then, and they are now inviting frequent travellers to sign up for the next round. For those of you who are interested, this round of the status match will be valid for applications received till February 22, 2014. Of course, the requirements are that you should be a Gold member of another frequent flyer program, that means one less than the top or the top most tiers in most programs. You should send in your existing gold card/higher, your latest statement along with your Etihad Guest membership number to guesttiermatch@etihad.ae before 22 February 2014. The members who will be matched, will be informed within a month of application, although Etihad…
Etihad’s 50.1% stake buy in JetPrivilege cleared
Back in 2012, I had written about JetPrivilege, the loyalty program of Jet Airways, being spun off into a separate company. Some of the biggest Mileage programs around the world are run as independent companies, and I saw this approach as no different. However, it came handy when the deal was to be made between Jet Airways and Etihad for a strategic alliance. Etihad typically uses the loyalty programs to fund a lot of money for the airline. They infused a huge amount into the TopGuest program of Air Berlin, and then they bought out a majority stake in JetPrivilege for about $150 million. When this deal was formalised, I’d hazard a guess that I must be worth $250 as…
$1450 business/first R.T. to the USA and back from Colombo
[Update: Deal now appears to be pulled] A new fare has emerged for travel from Colombo to Dallas/Fort Worth and back to Colombo, which includes Business Class on Sri Lankan/Etihad, First Class on Etihad and First Class on American Airlines, which is $1450 all inclusive. For positioning, Indians could always use a flight from Jet Airways or Sri Lankan, while other South East Asian nations should also not be hard to position. The fare is available for $1300 onwards, if you book Colombo – Abu Dhabi – Chicago – Dallas, but this would be an all business class fare. If you route yourself via Paris, you’d also get to experience the wonderful Etihad First class along the way, and get…
Republic Day Deals: Cathay Pacific, Emirates & Air France/KLM offering special fares
26th January is a great day for airlines to roll out offers for Indians travelling around the world, and this year is no different. I tried summarising a few offers for all of you in this post: Emirates is offering 10% to select destinations across the world from India for booking it up by 26 January 2014 and travel upto 10th April 2014. Destinations include Sao Paulo, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Nice, Prague, Seychelles & Cape Town. Etihad is offering business class deals to Africa, Europe & the UAE, and is valid for booking till 28th January 2014, and travel till June 30, 2014. Virgin Atlantic is offering special fares to London and onwards to the USA from Mumbai and Delhi which…
