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This Etihad buy miles promotion has ended. However, you can still buy Etihad miles here.
Etihad Guest just launched its first promotion of 2025, allowing members to buy miles with up to a 25% bonus. Now through March 2, 2025, members can grab Etihad Guest miles for as little as 1.6¢ each.
We don’t typically recommend buying miles unless you can get more value from them than what the airline sells them for. But in the right situation, this promotion can be a solid deal. Let’s take a look at when it might make sense to buy Etihad Guest miles while they’re on sale.
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A Note on Buying Miles
First, we need to emphasize: We never recommend buying miles speculatively. Programs generally devalue over time, long-term travel plans can change, and the last thing anybody needs is a substantial pile of miles they can't use.
However, that doesn't mean buying miles is always a losing proposition. If you're right at the cusp of being able to book your next redemption, buying miles can be an easy (and affordable) way to make it happen. Additionally, buying miles can sometimes be a fantastic way to book premium cabin travel at a significant discount compared to paying the cash price.
This used to be especially true with Etihad Guest when partner award charts were full of sweet spots to maximize. However, Etihad Guest overhauled its mileage charts in 2023 and made further changes in 2024 — so it's important to check current award rates before pulling out your wallet.
Etihad Buy Miles Key Terms
- This 25% bonus promotion is valid through March 2, 2025.
- Etihad Guest members can purchase a maximum of 100,000 miles annually before the bonus (150,000 maximum for Platinum members).
- Members must purchase at least 25,000 Guest miles to receive any bonus (20%).
- Members must purchase at least 50,000 Guest miles to receive the maximum bonus (25%).
- Purchased miles typically post instantly, although some purchases may take up to 72 hours.
- Purchased miles do not count toward status upgrades.
- Mile purchases are non-refundable.
There are three tiers when buying Etihad Guest miles — with two offering a bonus:
- 1,000–24,000 miles: No bonus (2¢ per mile)
- 25,000–49,000 miles: 20% bonus (1.67¢ per mile)
- 50,000–100,000 miles: 25% bonus (1.6¢ per mile)
If you buy the maximum number of miles during this promotion, you can purchase 125,000 Etihad Guest miles (100,000 base + 25,000 bonus) for $2,000. That comes out to 1.6¢ per mile.
When Does It Make Sense To Buy Etihad Miles?
Etihad doesn't belong to any of the major airline alliances (Oneworld, SkyTeam, or Star Alliance). Instead, it maintains individual partnerships with 20+ other airlines.
Etihad used to have different rules and award charts for each airline partner. That went away in March 2023 when Etihad Guest streamlined award redemptions by publishing two award charts: one for Etihad flights and one for all its partners. While partner award pricing remained the same after the June 2024 changes, Etihad employed dynamic award pricing for its own flights.
Between the two changes, most sweet spots have disappeared. However, one of the few positive changes is for booking American Airlines flights under 500 miles. Those flights can now be booked for just 6,000 Etihad Guest miles — making it one of the best ways to book American Airlines awards using partner miles.
Also, make sure to familiarize yourself with Etihad's award change and cancelation policies before you buy Etihad miles. Etihad's award cancellation policy is punitive, so ensure your plans are set in stone before you make an Etihad Guest redemption.
Abu Dhabi–Sydney in Etihad business class
Using miles on Etihad can be astronomically expensive — especially in business and first class. But, you may get lucky and find some gems by using Etihad's search function or queuing up Seats.aero.
For example, the flight below from Abu Dhabi to Sydney in business class will run you (on average) upwards of 600,000+ Etihad Guest miles plus taxes. But some dates price at just 120,000 Etihad Guest miles one-way — but mind the taxes and fees.
Also not bad, is an economy ticket for 60,000 Guest miles — as this is quite a long journey on one of the premier airlines in the world. But if you have the miles and can afford to drop them on Etihad's business class experience, it's a no-brainer.
- Mileage rate: 120,000 miles + $648 taxes one way
- Typical cash price: $9,397 round trip
- Redemption rate: 3.38¢ per mile
- Cost to buy 120,000 Etihad miles (with a 25% bonus): $1,920 one-way
- Cost to buy exactly 240,000 Etihad miles (at optimal 1.6¢ rate): $3,840 round trip
Tokyo–Los Angeles in ANA business class
Although specific sweet spots in Etihad's partner charts are now gone, Etihad's new awards charts are at least consistent. Depending on what types of mileage currencies you have, it could make sense to book through Etihad on partners like All Nippon Airways (ANA).
On some dates, you can grab a flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles in business class for almost 57% of the typical cash rate — assuming you buy miles during this 25% bonus promotion.
- Mileage rate: 120,000 miles one way
- Typical cash price: $8,902 round trip
- Redemption rate: 3.71¢ per mile
- Cost to buy 120,000 Etihad miles (with a 25% bonus): $1,920 one-way
- Cost to buy exactly 240,000 Etihad miles (at optimal 1.6¢ rate): $3,840 round trip
Vancouver–Seoul in Air Canada business class
Although there are no specific sweet spots, you can definitely make good assumptions on which routes will yield the best return. Flights that are long-distance and on nice airlines with expensive business class will be your “sweet spots” in this scenario.
Air Canada's business class is solid. So grabbing an 11.5-hour flight from Vancouver to Seoul is a great use of this Etihad promotion to buy miles at a lower cost than paying for the flight straight up. For this flight, you'll save close to 34% of the cash rate!
- Mileage rate: 120,000 miles one way
- Typical cash price: $5,791 round trip
- Redemption rate: 2.41¢ per mile
- Cost to buy 120,000 Etihad miles (with a 25% bonus): $1,920 one-way
- Cost to buy exactly 240,000 Etihad miles (at optimal 1.6¢ rate): $3,840 round trip
Etihad Buy Miles History
Etihad releases promotions for buying miles a few times a year — five at the most. So it's tough to keep track and know when to expect them. You know what you're getting with Etihad, as the promotions rotate between the same bonus and discount amounts.
This current 25% bonus isn't the best we've seen out of Etihad — but depending on your situation, it could still prove valuable:
| Promotion Ended | Max Bonus/Discount | Min Cents per Mile |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-03-02 | 25% Bonus | 1.6 |
| 2024-12-03 | 30% Bonus | 1.54 |
| 2024-08-25 | 30% Bonus | 1.54 |
| 2024-07-14 | 30% Bonus | 1.54 |
| 2024-05-06 | 25% Bonus | 1.6 |
| 2024-02-26 | 30% Bonus | 1.54 |
| 2023-12-13 | 50% Bonus | 1.33 |
| 2023-06-24 | 50% Bonus | 1.33 |
| 2023-03-27 | 20% Discount | 1.6 |
| 2022-12-21 | 45% Bonus | 1.38 |
| 2022-09-25 | 30% Bonus | 1.54 |
| 2022-06-30 | 50% Bonus | 1.33 |
| 2022-06-01 | 45% Bonus | 1.38 |
| 2022-03-27 | 20% Discount | 1.6 |
| 2021-12-05 | 50% Bonus | 1.33 |
| 2021-11-22 | 70% Bonus | 1.18 |
| 2021-08-27 | 60% Bonus | 1.25 |
| 2021-06-29 | 60% Bonus | 1.25 |
| 2021-03-31 | 30% Bonus | 1.54 |
| 2020-12-22 | 20% Bonus | 1.67 |
| 2020-10-30 | 20% Bonus | 1.67 |
| 2020-06-18 | 60% Bonus | 1.25 |
Maximizing Your Purchase
Purchases of Etihad Guest miles are processed by Points.com, so it won't code as travel on your credit card. Therefore, it would be better to use one of these cards to buy your Etihad miles:
- Any credit card where you're working on a sign-up bonus. These are the best welcome offers available right now.
- Any credit card with perks you can unlock from spending, such as hotel free-night awards, hotel elite status, or airline elite status.
- Your best credit card for everyday spending, such as the Citi Double Cash® Card or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
Related: Which Credit Card Should You Use to Buy Points and Miles?
Other Ways To Earn Etihad Miles
You don't have to buy Etihad miles if your balance is short of what's needed for an award that you want. Etihad Guest miles are pretty easy to come by. Other than flying on cash fares or buying miles, Etihad is a transfer partner with multiple transferable currencies:
Sharing Etihad Guest Miles
Etihad Guest allows members to share miles. If you're just short of your next redemption or your friend doesn't have enough miles to use, you can initiate a transfer with a small fee. Note these rules:
- To give miles via a transfer, accounts must have at least 1,000 miles.
- Etihad levies a 10% service fee for mile transfers. For example, if you transfer 50,000 miles, Etihad will keep 5,000 miles as a fee.
This is a decent way to pool miles between friends. However, note that you can create a family pool to share miles freely with your family, creating a central pool from which to redeem for future flights.
Bottom Line
Paying 1.6¢ per Etihad Guest mile is a solid deal in the right situation, even if it isn't the best deal we've seen to buy Etihad miles. The best deal we've seen from Etihad offered miles at 1.18¢ apiece. We don't know when (or if) that kind of promotion will ever return. It's been quite a while since Etihad's best buy-miles promotion was offered — not to mention its promotions aren't very regular.
If you have a specific redemption in mind, this 25% bonus promotion could be worth considering before it ends on March 2, 2025. It can still present a reasonable deal against buying a ticket with cash. Just be sure to do the math beforehand.
Are you considering buying Etihad Guest miles at 1.6¢ per mile?
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
It doesnt seem to reflect the bonus when I login, any tips?
Excelente opção para quem precisa viajar de urgência, muitas vezes a compra de milhas se faz super em conta e necessário,
Muy buena noticia
this looks like a good deal! i will be signing up! great offer!
$1.33 cents per mile is really a bargain, what an excellent offer
Been itching to try this airline… This just might be the ticket
Some really good sweet spots on partners. Any idea how easy it is to book. search via web site and general availability? Also would be helpful to highlight on all these points purchases if points expire or not.
Ed – a good point about expiration. We’ll include this going forward. For reference, Etihad’s miles expire after 18mo of no activity in your account. For bookings, it depends on which partner you want. Unfortunately, all partner bookings require a phone call for reservations. To find availability, I’d search on your preferred program in that alliance (oneworld, SkyTeam, etc.) or on Expert Flyer to confirm award space exists, then call with a plan A and plan B. I’ve found that feeding them “I want flight 123 on December 10, departing Miami at 10:05am” makes things go super fast, rather than waiting for them to do a search.
Amazing deal considering some of the fabulous premium-class redemptions possible. Great to share with friends and family.
Somewhat concerned due to feeling like Etihad is downsizing/downgrading their flight offering, but I guess that’s less of a concern to use sweet spots on partners.
It just feels “Avianca” to me 🙂
I think this is an excellent promotion for topping your balance account
Great price, Etihad miles still make great value in spite of recent changes
Do EY still have hard expiring miles?
Otherwise, great way to get cheap VA redemptions, better than Velocity itself.
Try other ways to earn miles before you buy. Buy when you need to top up your account.
Pretty easy to get more than 1.25c in value out of these miles.
Anyone know why the bonus offer wouldn’t be appearing when I log into my account to buy miles? Are there any eligibility requirements such as earned miles?
Hi Kevin, I’m getting the same thing when I log into my account. Maybe the promo was removed early? Is anyone still seeing this bonus?
Normally I wouldn´t buy miles except if they have a bonus, I think this is a good bonus percent
Buying miles is never a good deal.
As someone who’s bought plenty of miles/points, I disagree with this statement. However, I will say that buying miles should be the last resort if you aren’t able to generate miles/points through other means (credit card sign-ups, transferring points, etc.)
This statement is just plain wrong, sometimes buying miles can represent outstanding value. Of course obtaining the points by other means is usually better, but compared a cash far buying the miles can sometime come out way, way ahead.
thanks for the info…
I prefer to transfer miles. Buying miles is never typically a good deal.
Agreed. Transferring miles is almost always better than buying miles. However, if you’re tapped out of points/miles, buying miles can make sense in some cases – especially at this rate!
I just purchased it with 60% bonus. I usually redeem EY miles for SV (Saudia) biz class. Also the SV Biz flight between Riyadh-Abu Dhabi biz costs 10K EY miles. Better purchase at this price rather than transfer TYP points.
That’s a great redemption rate!
Are any of the countries that Etihad fly to open to Americans without testing?
You’ll need a COVID test to enter Abu Dhabi, not sure about purely transferring through.
the bonus would make buying worthwhile- thanks for the update!
Whilst Etihad (and Emirates) have an impressive list of partners, I would much rather see them in one of the alliances. There are some very impressive redemption offers shown though.
Why buy miles and not buy the ticket directly? it’s cheaper?
I loved this Air Morocco business. Etihad is a very good airline. But all redemptions shown are from partners…
Unless you’re going to Abu Dhabi/Dubai not worth it!
volar por Etihad es un placer!! El programa de premios es de lo mejor al que he podido acceder, he obtenido varios premios . Interesante es la propuesta de la compra de millas, no sabia que podia hacerlo. Gracias por la info.
Although there are some outsized awards on Etihad or its partner airlines, it might be hard to book them so make sure that you will be able to use the miles that you buy.
If you aren’t really familiar with the airline in question’s redemption processes, fees, and blackout dates, it can make getting bang for your buck really tricky with buying miles….
It’s true that there are very good redemptions with some partners but the big disadvantage is that to book you need to call and their customer service is not one of the best.
Its very important información, thanks very much
What are redemption fees and surcharges like?
Ir seems it is worth buying miles for future redemptions.
very good information, thank you very much
I like Etihad, but the allure of the apartment was a lot of that. Hard to see me not looking elsewhere now for luxury trips.
There is always going to be good deals with miles but you have to travel at specific dates /flights where the deal is available. But in these times I wont buy miles nothing is certain covis19 cases are up ,part of europe is going to lockdown and if it takes a while that you can’t use the miles and the airline decide to devalue the miles. It was all for nothing.
Unless you need the miles right now for a specific plan, it would be better to wait for when they can be bought at 1.2c each.
A decent enough promotion. So many people ignore how useful a program Etihad is.
Agreed. And I think that keeps the sweet spots sweet for those of us who pay attention to it!
I’ve always wondered if these purchase deals were worth it. Thanks for the great write up!
Is it safe though engaging right now in buying miles that we don’t necessarily know we will be able to use?
Very rare Etihad gives such bonus, only problem is when you want to use these miles in biz class you will not find a seat unless you are their elite member
Overall – how would you rank Etihad safety wise? (Covid-19 percautions, as well as the usual)
Normally I would have considered it, as their first class Apartment is such a great deal (flew it from Australia once on AA miles) but since they are not using their A380 for a while and there is even a risk of a total restructure of the airline looming, I’ll pass.
Nice deal there. Still doesn’t beat the $200 round trip mistake fare I bought a few years ago from the US to Abu Dhabi. Let’s get another one of those!
I remember that mistake fare and being frustrated that my schedule didn’t allow me to take advantage of it. I’ve gotten other ones though,
JFK-BRU is a really cool redemption, but Brussels Airlines hardly releases award seats on this route IME.
This airline is good , actually their on board service very good compare to the many garbage airlines like united delta american etc…
The problem with Etihad is when you want to use your points(miles) say between JFK-AbuDhabi-JFK, the rate they want is over 750,000
They might as well add one kidney (for one way) both kidneys for round trip …..PATHETIC !!
Standard award rates have really gotten out of hand. In case you aren’t aware, they have a subset of awards called SaverGuest that are much more reasonably priced—but they have limited availability. You might also want to look at partner airlines. Etihad has a great lineup of partners and the pricing is also quite good with many of them.
the bonus miles seems to be a good deal. they give ample amount so thats good. Never flown with Etihad before, so I am looking forward to it
I’ve always wondered if these purchase deals were worth it. Thanks for the great write up!
Although this might be a good deal for redemptions right now, and I would love to experience their in flignt offerings, I just don’t think it is worth the risk.
Yes, I agree. I would only buy them before I knew 99% that I was ready to take a trip, and that there was availability for that trip.
Is this applys in wich countries?
This promotion doesn’t seem limited to particular countries. Let us know if you see something different!