Etihad Guest, the renowned frequent flyer program of Etihad Airways, now integrates seamlessly with AwardFares, bringing you even more opportunities to maximize your travel rewards. What sets Etihad Guest apart is its flexible earning and redemption options, along with generous stopover programs in Abu Dhabi and frequent special promotions. Additionally, its innovative features like Milesbooster and Family Membership make it easier and faster to accumulate and redeem miles.

Join us as we unveil how AwardFares can help you navigate the dynamic world of Etihad Guest, ensuring you get the best value from your miles. Let’s start!

What’s New?

Why Etihad Guest?

Etihad Guest, the frequent flyer program of Etihad Airways, stands out for its flexible earning and redemption options, plus a great overall availability. With generous stopover programs in Abu Dhabi, frequent special promotions, and a strong focus on customer service, Etihad Guest provides a premium and rewarding experience for frequent travelers, particularly those traveling to or through the Middle East.

Etihad’s extensive partner network also enables earning and redeeming miles on numerous airlines globally. Some key innovative features of the program are Milesbooster, Cash+Miles, and Family Membership (pooling) for quicker mile accumulation and easier redemptions.

How to find Etihad Guest Award Flights in 2025

What’s New With Etihad Guest in 2025?

  • Program Relaunch in June 2024: Etihad Guest underwent a significant overhaul in June 2024, introducing personalized rewards and a new elite tier structure.
  • Earning Miles: The program has eliminated Tier Segments; members now earn Tier Miles exclusively. Both Tier Miles and Etihad Guest Miles are awarded at the same rate, influenced by fare class, destination, and class of travel. To qualify for elite status, members must meet specific Tier Miles thresholds, with a portion earned through actual flight activity.
  • Redeeming Miles: Award redemption rates have been adjusted, with reductions on several popular routes. For instance, economy-class redemptions now start at 5,000 miles, and business-class at 15,000 miles. Additionally, members can redeem miles to upgrade to “The Residence” on A380 flights between Abu Dhabi and destinations like London and New York.
  • Mileage Expiry Policy: Miles remain valid for 18 months and can only be extended by undertaking a flight with Etihad or a partner airline within that period. This is a shift from the previous policy, which allowed any account activity to extend mileage validity.
  • Award Cancellation Fees: New cancellation fees have been implemented for award bookings. Canceling more than 21 days before departure results in a 25% mileage penalty; canceling between 8 to 21 days incurs a 50% penalty; and canceling within seven days of departure leads to a 75% penalty.
  • Elite Status Tiers and Benefits: A new Diamond tier has been introduced for members spending at least $150,000 (USD) with Etihad Airways within 12 months. Elite members now enjoy Core Benefits and can select Custom Benefits annually, with the number of selectable perks increasing at higher tiers. Beyond Benefits are also available for Gold and Platinum members who exceed their tier thresholds, allowing them to gift rewards to friends or family.
  • Partnership Changes: Effective June 1, 2025, Etihad Airways will end its codeshare agreement with Virgin Australia, reflecting a divergence in strategic directions. Consequently, passengers will no longer be able to book Virgin Australia-operated flights through Etihad’s channels, and members cannot earn Guest Miles on Virgin Australia flights.

What AwardFares Offers to Etihad Guest Members

  • Real-time Etihad Award Seat Availability: Find the latest award seat availability for Etihad Airways flights directly through AwardFares.
  • Flexible Date Search: Search for specific travel dates or use AwardFares’ Timeline View to explore award options across a wider date range.
  • Compare Programs, Find the Best Deal: Compare Etihad Guest award options with other loyalty programs (like other Etihad Guest partners or programs like Qatar Airways Privilege Club) to ensure you’re getting the best value for your miles. This is particularly helpful when you have point transfer partners such as credit card loyalty programs with transferrable points.
  • Maximize Etihad Guest Miles: AwardFares helps you find the most cost-effective ways to redeem your Etihad Guest Miles, allowing you to stretch your points further.

Understanding Etihad Guest Award Chart

In the past, Etihad Guest offered a traditional award chart outlining the exact number of miles needed for flights based on distance and cabin class. However, in 2024 Etihad Guest switched to a dynamic award system. This means there’s no longer a published chart, and the miles required for a specific flight can vary depending on factors like demand, seasonality, and availability.

While this might seem less transparent, Etihad Guest offers a Miles Calculator on their website. This tool allows you to easily search for the miles needed on your desired route and travel dates.

Here’s what to keep in mind:

  • GuestSeat Awards: These are fixed-mileage redemptions for Etihad Airways flights, offering the best value when available.
  • Miles & Cash: This option allows you to combine miles with a cash payment for more flexibility in booking flights.

How To Find Etihad Guest Award Availability (Step-by-step)

1. Go to AwardFares

Creating an account is optional, but registration is free and unlocks additional features. Sign up here to get started.

2. Choose Etihad Guest in the Loyalty Program Field

Select Etihad Guest from the dropdown menu to search for your award flight.

Select Etihad Guest in AwardFares.

3. Enter a Route

Add your origin and destination airports, and AwardFares will search for available award flights, including those with stops. Filters for non-stop flights are also available.

In this example, we search for flights between Abu Dhabi (AUH) to London (LON).

Select a route when searching a Etihad Guest in AwardFares.

4. Explore Dates for your Flights

Either input specific dates or use the Timeline View to explore availability over different periods. This view helps you easily compare the availability and class of service across various days.

Explore Etihad Guest award flights for different dates in AwardFares.

You’ll see the result list right below:

Explore Etihad Guest tickets for different dates in AwardFares.

In addition, you can tap anywhere on the flight to display more details in an expanded view, such as aircraft type, and even get the current seat maps to see which seats are free or occupied.

Expand details for a given flights when searching an Etihad Guest Rewards award in AwardFares.

5. Sort by Price

Whether you are exploring dates using the Timeline View or have selected a specific day, AwardFares will show you the available seats (with real-time data) within seconds in the result list below.

You can tap on the different header columns to sort the results by price. Use the Eco, Prem, Biz, and First class tags to find cheap awards across multiple dates, itineraries, and airlines.

Here’s an example of the cheapest redemptions in First Class:

Find the cheapest Etihad Guest rewards in First Class.

And here’s an example of the cheapest redemptions in Economy Class:

Find the cheapest Etihad Guest awards in Economy Class.

6. Build Round Trips

Use our Journey Planner feature to add flights to your journey and build round trip itineraries! Learn more about the Journey Planner in this full guide.

Find round trip Etihad Guest Flights using AwardFares.

7. Book via Etihad’s Website

Once you find your desired flight, click the Book button.

Book Etihad Guest flights from AwardFares.

AwardFares will redirect you to Etihad’s website to complete your booking without re-entering your search criteria, as it will be pre-populated.

Book Etihad Guest award flights from AwardFares.

Top Etihad Guest Routes

These are our favorite ways to use Etihad Guest miles, and where you can get the most value out of them.

  • Short-haul flights in Zone 1: This includes destinations within the Middle East like Riyadh, Jeddah, and Bahrain. You can find GuestSeat award prices starting at just 5,000 miles for economy and 15,000 miles for business class.
  • Muscat, Oman: This short flight from Abu Dhabi is a great way to experience Etihad’s Business Class for a low award cost, starting at 12,000 miles.
  • Abu Dhabi to London (First Class): Experience Etihad’s luxurious “Apartment” First Class Suite on the A380 aircraft. This award flight starts at 140,000 miles.
  • * Business Class to Various Destinations: Etihad offers excellent Business Class service across its network. Some popular routes include Abu Dhabi to Melbourne, Sydney, or New York, all starting around 70,000 miles in Business Class.

Etihad A380 The Residence (First Class Apartment).

Become an Etihad Guest Pro

You can try AwardFares for free. We regularly roll out new features and improvements, so sign up for our monthly newsletter to stay on top of the latest news, announcements, and pro tips.

With our Gold and Diamond tiers, you can access premium features such as unlimited daily searches, alerts, seat maps, flight schedules, and more!

Learn More

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