Etihad is Now Selling Miles – and Regular Price is Just 2 Cents Each

by Gary Leff

Etihad is now selling miles, the price is reasonable, so this could:

  1. Be useful to top off an Etihad account
  2. Take the place of transfers from American Express or Citibank, saving those points for something else
  3. Work in conjunction with transfers, you may not have enough Amex or Citi points on their own for the award you want but this option leverages your transferrable points.

They’re selling points via Points.com for 2 cents apiece, up to 60,000 miles per transaction and 100,000 per year. No tax is added for US residents since it’s not a US frequent flyer program, either.

This is regular price and covers Points.com’s commission, it’s possible that they will discount further at some point on a limited-time basis.

Etihad’s awards get much more expensive in premium cabins and for longer flights, but even so flying the First Apartment may be a deal straight buying miles (one account could buy enough miles for a one-way Europe – Abu Dhabi, a second account could buy the return).

American Airlines awards booked via Etihad cost the same number of points that AAdvantage used to charge their own members before the March 22, 2016 devaluation. Czech awards have great value, and there are partners you wouldn’t expect like Royal Air Maroc (fly US to Casablanca for 44,000 miles each way in business class).

Bear in mind of course that Etihad Guest miles expire so the program isn’t a great store of value, don’t buy miles unless you know you will use them right away.

Terms and conditions:

Miles may be purchased for $0.02 USD per mile. Additional GST/HST will be charged to Canadian residents. A maximum of 100,000 miles can be purchased within a single calendar year, with a maximum of 60,000 miles per transaction. Purchased miles are not refundable and are applicable towards all Etihad Guest awards. Miles purchased using this option will post within 24 hours. Purchased miles do not count towards status upgrades. All standard Etihad Guest program rules and conditions apply.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Doesn’t Etihad allow you to buy up to 25% of the required mileage during an award booking at a rate of $.009? That would be better?

  2. Etihad Rewards programme is rubbish….Customer service non-existent. And this from an 7 year Gold / Platinum member. Had over several million miles and finally just booked the last 400,000 – thankfully! Still have 60,000 to burn and will likely just use them for something useless like a voucher as can’t handle dealing with their rewards.

    Using the miles for partner rewards is tremendously challenging. You need to speak to someone in Manchester.

    There is no availability in F from JFK or IAD to AUH 1 year in advance…check for yourself.

    Miles required for redemption is very high compared to other airlines and service levels are hit-and-miss. The on board chef, nanny, etc… are all marketing gimmicks. Lounge in DFW is poor.

    Removing spa facilities shows more cost cutting.

    Asian carriers (and Lufthansa or Swiss) still way ahead when looked at holistically (on board and if there are any issues post travel).

  3. Maybe it’s just me but if t takes 85-100K miles for a $1,200 ticket. Then it would be cheaper to buy a ticket

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