Etihad announces unwelcome changes to its luggage allowances

In yet another move to help shore up its finances (after cutting chauffeur transfers outside the UAE, closing the London lounge spa, selling lounge access to economy passengers, cutting spend on food and drink etc), Etihad has tweaked its baggage allowances to raise cash.

These are the new rules for tickets booked from 31st January:

• Economy Deal 23kg
• Economy Saver 30kg
• Economy Classic 30kg
• Economy Flex 35kg
• Business 40kg
• First 50kg

Not everyone loses, but most do.  Business Class drops from 2 x 32kg to a combined total of 40kg, whilst First drops from 2 x 32kg to a combined 50kg.  Economy Classic and Flex customers see their previous 2 x 23kg allowance fall by 16kg and 11kg respectively.  Economy Saver actually goes up by 7kg whilst Economy Deal is unchanged.

Etihad Guest status members will continue to receive additional allowances based on card colour and route.

There is now no individual bag limit.  You can check in as many pieces as you like as long as the combined weight does not exceed the limits above.

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).