[ANALYSIS] Etihad Airways’ Etihad Guest

Oddly enough, Etihad Airways is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards. Since it has the attention of American Express Canada, I believe that Etihad Airways merits a post.

Also puzzling is that Etihad Airways only operates out of the Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) to Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH), which makes it even more curious as to why American Express has decided to partner with Etihad in Canada.

When you fly with Etihad Airways, you can earn Etihad Guest points. However, they are not part of any airline alliances. You can stockpile Etihad Guest points through the methods below:

You can convert your American Express Membership Reward points to Etihad Guest points:

• 1,000 Membership Rewards points = 750 Etihad Guest points (increments of 100 thereafter)

The other two easy ways for Canadians to earn points are through the E-Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs.

You can transfer your E-Rewards dollars in the increments:

• $25 = 500 Etihad Guest points
• $50 = 1,000 Etihad Guest points
• $100 = 2,000 Etihad Guest points

Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints transfer at a 1:1 ratio. Just remember that for every 20,000 Starpoints that you transfer, you get 5,000 bonus airlines points, which means 25,000 Etihad Guest points.

I would not go out of my way to earn Etihad Guest points, but if I knew that I wanted to make a trip to the United Arab Emirates, I would definitely consider moving some E-Rewards dollars, Membership Rewards and/or Starpoints to conjure enough points for a free trip out of Toronto.