Etihad Guest will award 5 million miles to the first member who flies to or from each of the carrier’s 15 brand-new year-round destinations during the coming 12-month window. Two runners-up will pocket 3 million and 1 million miles.

Key Details

Etihad estimates that haul can fund 500+ economy returns, 70+ business class trips or 40+ first class itineraries.

How To Win

1. Register for the campaign after logging in to your Etihad Guest account (new members welcome).

2. Add your Etihad number to every flight you intend to count.

3. Fly, in either direction, on Etihad-operated flights to all 15 required cities within the contest window. GuestSeat awards and staff tickets are excluded (it is not clear whether other types of award tickets besides GuestSeat would count).

4. Important: The timetable that matters is “shortest cumulative time” from wheels-up on your first segment to wheels-down on your 15th. In a tie, Etihad looks at who enrolled earliest, so sign-up timing can matter.

The 15 Destinations

Addis Ababa (ADD) • Algiers (ALG) • Atlanta (ATL) • Chiang Mai (CNX) • Hanoi (HAN) • Hong Kong (HKG) • Krabi (KBV) • Medan (KNO) • Peshawar (PEW) • Phnom Penh (PNH) • Taipei (TPE) • Tunis (TUN) • Sochi (AER) • Prague (PRG) • Warsaw (WAW)

If Etihad drops a route, it disappears from the checklist. If nobody finishes all 15, entrants who manage at least 10 may still be considered for the podium at the airline’s discretion.

A public leaderboard will show elapsed times once competitors start finishing, but real-time placement isn’t guaranteed.

Strategy

• Visas and politics – Russia (Sochi) and Pakistan (Peshawar) alone will make this a non-starter for many.  And then you still need an Algerian visa.

• Cost risk – Unlike SAS’s 2024 “everyone wins” promo, here only three people get paid. You could burn tens of thousands of dollars and walk away empty-handed.

• Scheduling – Expect to build itineraries through Abu Dhabi with tight turns; every long layover inflates your cumulative clock. But your whole plan could blow up due to irregular operations.

• Register now – Early enrollment is the official tie-breaker. Even if you haven’t mapped the trip, lock in your timestamp today.

Spend A Lot Of Time At Abu Dhabi International Airport

Are 5 Million Etihad Miles Worth It?

At just 1¢ per mile, the headline prize is worth $50 000.  Of course you can redeem for far greater value than this. However booking this will not be cheap and there’s no guarantee you walk away the winner.

This “Extraordinary Challenge” is a fun idea with big numbers and there will be members in a position to access all of these destinations.  It seems impractical for most Americans.  And to do this where the economics work out, it’ll mean a lot of travel in coach.  Once you factor discomfort and time, the numbers don’t look as good.

Nonetheless, tt looks possible to hope on Atlanta – Abu Dhabi and complete this in 8 days, 19 hours from takeoff. You might fly Abu Dhabi – Addis Ababa – Abu Dhabi – Tunis – Abu Dhabi – Algiers- Abu Dhabi – Hong Kong – Abu Dhabi – Medan – Abu Dhabi – Phnom Penh – Abu Dhabi – Chian Mai – Abu Dhabi – Hanoi – Abu Dhabi – Prague – Abu Dhab – Warsaw – Abu Dhabi – Sochi – Abu Dhabi -Taipei – Abu Dhabi – Krabi – Abu Dhabi and finally fly to Peshawar.

Abu Dhabi International Airport

It may be cheaper to take connections on another carrier in one direction, since you only need to fly to each destination one way – but that will eat up extra time.