Etihad launches its 15th Birthday sale – and get a free stopover in Abu Dhabi

Etihad is running a number of offers at the moment as part of its 15th birthday celebrations.

For UK residents, the most interesting is a short sale in both Economy and Business.

The deadline dates are:

• Book by 12th November
• Travel between 15th January and 15th June 2019

Headline business class prices include:

• Bangkok £1,815
• Singapore £2,015
• Mumbai £1,815
• Hong Kong £2,015
• Tokyo £2,015

These fares are valid from either London or Manchester.  Full details of all sale fares in Economy and Business are on this page of the Etihad website.

We came back from Abu Dhabi in the Etihad A380 Business Class Studio on Saturday and it remains at excellent product.  The new Acqua di Parma toiletry bags are lovely too – and we got four of them!  The photo below is brown but ours came in the traditional AdP yellow.  I will do a quick review over the next couple of weeks – my original Etihad Business Class Studio review from 2015 is here.

Get a free stopover

If you book any fare (Economy or Business) as part of the 15th Birthday sale, you can book two free nights in Abu Dhabi at any of the hotels below.  This is an excellent way to add a 2nd short holiday onto your main break.

The hotels available are:

• Radisson Blu Yas Island
• Holiday Inn Downtown
• Crowne Plaza Yas Island
• Courtyard by Marriott World Trade Centre.
• Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi
• Le Royal Meridien
• Ramada Corniche

To book this, you need to use the multi-city function to book your flight with a two night gap.  For example, you’d book your outbound as two legs Manchester to Abu Dhabi 1st February, Abu Dhabi to Bangkok 3rd February.  Once booked, you go to this page of the Etihad website and book your two free hotel nights. In addition, if you are not already an Etihad Guest member, you can sign up here and receive 500 bonus miles.

Your best option to maximise your miles when paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold.  This offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.

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).