An excellent Etihad Business Class flight deal to Singapore – for the committed

Yesterday we looked at an attractive Qatar Airways deal to Hong Kong out of Sweden.

Etihad also has a very interesting deal from Stockholm – in this case, it is to Singapore, for just £1091 (SEK 12800) in Business Class.

There is a snag though.  Etihad does NOT fly from Stockholm to Abu Dhabi.  You cannot route Stockholm – Abu Dhabi – Singapore.  You will be flying Stockholm – [somewhere in Europe] – Abu Dhabi – Singapore.  Let’s not forget that you need to get from the UK to Stockholm too.

You don’t earn Avios or British Airways tier points with Etihad although Etihad Guest is not a bad loyalty scheme.  You can top up your miles using American Express Membership Rewards points.

You need to book by 31st July.  Outbound travel must be between 11th August and 30th November.

If you don’t have a credit card with 0% foreign exchange fees, your best option for paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers triple points – 3 per £1 – when you book flight tickets in a foreign currency.  This is because the transaction triggers the ‘double points for airline spend’ and the ‘double points for foreign spend’ bonuses.

Above is a sample itinerary, click to enlarge. You can book via the Etihad website 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).