Got the Etihad credit card? Get a free upgrade to the Heathrow Rewards premium tier

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A lot of Head for Points readers will have applied for the Etihad Guest credit card in recent weeks. This is due to the exceptionally generous 25,000 miles sign-up bonus – the most generous bonus on a free travel credit card for two years.

If you have signed up, there is an extra bonus you may not be aware of.

Etihad credit card holders get a free upgrade to the Heathrow Rewards premium tier.

The premium tier usually requires £500 per year of spending. The one and only benefit is double Heathrow Rewards points on all of your spending, ie 2 points per £1.

Registration is easy.

Go to this page on the Etihad website and click through the link to the Heathrow Rewards site. You must be logged out of Heathrow Rewards or it will not work.

It is not clear how long you will keep the status. It works on calendar year, so I would imagine that – even if you cancel your Etihad credit card tomorrow – you would retain it for the rest of 2015 and all of 2016.

How to earn Etihad Guest miles from UK credit cards (December 2021)

Etihad Guest does not have a UK credit card. However, you can earn Etihad Guest miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards. These are:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 20,000 Etihad Guest miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with two free airport lounge passes.

The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 30,000 Etihad Guest miles.

American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 5,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 5,000 Etihad Guest miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Etihad Guest miles which is an attractive rate. The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Etihad Guest mile. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.

Etihad Guest is also a partner with the HSBC Premier Mastercard (0.5 miles per £1 spent) and HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard (1 mile per £1 spent).

Category

Etihad and Etihad Guest, Heathrow Rewards

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Adam W says:

20 Jun20 June 04:18

The credit card offer was indeed generous………..assuming the miles actually post before devaluation. I hit the spend immediately and the card was statemented on 18th June. Any ideas how long after the statement they actually hit the Guest account?
- James67 says:
  
  20 Jun20 June 06:16
  
  Mine was a week after statement date and dads was only two days. Some people will be disappointed because mbna sometimes do not post the bonus until the second statement even if spend target was reached before the first was issued. If you have any spg points to use they took four days to tra sfer for me. Dad tra sferred his on Tuesday so he’s hoping they will hit his account today.
  - Adam W says:
    
    20 Jun20 June 09:10
    
    Thanks James67! I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
    - James67 says:
      
      20 Jun20 June 10:36
      
      I’ve never had an mbna credit to any scheme take more than a couple of weeks so Im sure everything will be fine
Maciek says:

20 Jun20 June 09:00

damn… “Thank you for your interest in this promotion.
It seems that this promotion is not available to you.”
- Matthew says:
  
  20 Jun20 June 14:49
  
  I’m getting that too, when you click via the ‘Already a Heathrow Rewards member’.
  - Matthew says:
    
    20 Jun20 June 14:52
    
    Second time it worked, it may have thought I was logged into Heathrow Rewards from another tab. Logout Heathrow Rewards and close that tab, and reload the offer from Etihad website. (As per Rob’s instructions above).
    - Lostantipod says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 15:17
      
      Tried clearing my browsing history, closing tabs etc….tried doing it while logged into EY Guest…. I cannot get the link to allow me to enrol.
What's the Point says:

20 Jun20 June 13:22

Our Etihad points and bonus points posted within 5 days of statement being issued.
2 x bonuses + 40,000 Amex bonus conversion and I have just booked 2 x ow LHR to AUH in First on the A380.
Had to change our travel plans a few times, but would have rather done that than spend more points after the devaluation.
- Rob says:
  
  20 Jun20 June 14:09
  
  Very nice. Have the same booked for Dec with a Qatar A380 F back.
What's the Point says:

20 Jun20 June 13:32

This might be a stupid question, but do you collect Heathrow Reward points on everything you can buy at the Airport?
- Rob says:
  
  20 Jun20 June 14:05
  
  Yes, except Louis Vuitton in T5. HEx tickets earn, even under the MasterCard discount rate as long as your number is in your HEx profile.
  - What's the Point says:
    
    20 Jun20 June 17:37
    
    Would you also earn Heathrow Points on a purchase at The Rolex outlet in T5?
    - Rob says:
      
      20 Jun20 June 20:06
      
      Think so. The Heathrow Rewards terms and conditions list the exceptions. I bought my wife a Jaeger LeC watch in Watches of Swizerland at Heathrow a few year ago. Near Christmas they offer huge numbers of bonus points on big purchases – I think I got 12,500 plus double base points as I had a premium HR card, about 20,000 in all.
- James67 says:
  
  20 Jun20 June 15:40
  
  I seem to recall a comment on an earlier post that buying giftcards at some outlets (whsmith?) didn’t qualify.
  - Rob says:
    
    20 Jun20 June 20:07
    
    With the Amex promos you can buy absolutely anything.
What's the Point says:

20 Jun20 June 23:43

What “User ID” are people putting into the web form?
- TimS says:
  
  21 Jun21 June 06:59
  
  Your Hrewards
- TimS says:
  
  21 Jun21 June 07:02
  
  Your Heathrow Rewards username.
  They then email you to tell you to enter your Etihad Guest number in your Heathrow Rewards profile.
  
  They’ll then verify the number with Etihad apparently before confirming status match.
What's the Point says:

21 Jun21 June 12:14

Thanks, will try it again!
What's the Point says:

22 Jun22 June 19:02

It worked when putting in my email address to the “user id” section.
What's the Point says:

5 Jul5 July 17:12

Anyone had their new Premium status appear on their Heathrow Rewards account yet?
- Rob says:
  
  6 Jul6 July 08:23
  
  Looks like it won’t be kicking in for another few days.