AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
American Express is set to lose Etihad as a transfer partner. This announcement comes just a month after American Express devalued transfers to Cathay Pacific, and less than a year after Bilt added Etihad Guest as a transfer partner. Although Etihad Guest isn't an incredibly popular program, fewer ways to use your points inherently make those points less valuable.
Here's what you need to know about American Express' latest update.
Amex to Lose Etihad as a Transfer Partner
It's official — American Express will drop Etihad as a points transfer partner on June 30, 2026. Luckily, that means you still have a few months to transfer your Membership Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio. Although American Express has yet to make an official announcement, rumors have been circulating all day.
But AwardWallet reached out to American Express for comment, and this is what they said:
“American Express® Card Members will no longer be able to transfer Membership Rewards® points to Etihad Guest Miles, effective June 30, 2026. Eligible Card Members can continue to use points to cover all or part of an Etihad Airlines flight using Pay with Points at Amex Travel™.”
Considering that AwardWallet users typically redeem Membership Rewards points for 1.99¢ apiece, it doesn't make much sense to use them to book Etihad flights through American Express Travel® at a flat rate of 1¢ per point.
If you value Etihad as a transfer partner, you aren't out of luck. You can make any last-minute Membership Rewards transfers through June 30, 2026, and transfer your Citi ThankYou® Points, Capital One miles, Bilt Rewards, and Rove Miles at a 1:1 ratio:
Related: Making Sense of Etihad Guest's Confusing Award Refund Policy
Bottom Line
While losing access to a transfer partner isn't ideal, at least Amex isn't losing a high-value partner. However, if you're keeping track, this means American Express will now have fewer than 20 total transfer partners, while other programs like Bilt Rewards have 24 partners. It is interesting to watch points and miles pioneers get surpassed by newcomers.
Page Contents
Dropping American Express, combined with Etihad’s labyrinthine award rules and need to call with long wait times for certain rewards and changes suggests that Etihad is not really that enthusiastically committed to the loyalty (points and miles) part of the travel business.