Changes to Etihad guest
 

Seems like there are some changes coming to etihad guest program. they are focusing attention on the fact that there will be more availability on guest seats and some will drop in amount of miles but looks like low class fares will receive even less miles and redemption is globally going to be more expensive.


Dear XXX,

Etihad Guest was created in 2006 to recognise and reward customers of Etihad Airways and its airline partners. The programme has grown significantly since then and now has more than 100 non-airline commercial partners and more than three million members.

In light of the increasing demand for seats, we have conducted a comprehensive review of the Etihad Guest programme and, as a result, will be making some changes on 8 July 2015 to ensure it remains attractive, competitive and sustainable.

Members will continue to enjoy no blackout periods, with GuestSeats being available in Economy Class and Business Class on every route, every day, at our fixed, lowest price. At the same time, OpenSeats will still allow members to book any available fare using Etihad Guest Miles, even if it is the last seat on the plane.

An overview of the changes

Earning Etihad Guest Miles when flying

On certain fare classes, we are adjusting the number of Etihad Guest Miles being awarded to members when they fly with Etihad Airways. Five fare classes will now offer more miles than they do today, and two will offer fewer.

More GuestSeat availability

In line with the growing demand from members, the minimum number of GuestSeats available in Business Class on some of our highest demand routes will increase by 20 per cent. This will result in Etihad Airways releasing around 1,000 additional seats in Business Class each month on popular routes.

There will be a minimum of five GuestSeats available in Economy Class on every flight.

Using miles for GuestSeats

The number of Etihad Guest Miles required for a GuestSeat in Economy Class will reduce for sectors over 6,000 miles. This means that flights such as Abu Dhabi to Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Toronto and New York will be available for 25 per cent fewer miles than today. For sectors under 6,000 miles, the number of Etihad Guest Miles required for a GuestSeat in Economy Class remains the same.

The number of Etihad Guest Miles required for a GuestSeat in Business Class will not change on sectors over 6,000 miles, although they will increase on all other sectors.

The number of Etihad Guest Miles required for a GuestSeat in First Class will increase on all sectors.


Using miles for OpenSeats

For the first time, members will now be able to use their Etihad Guest Miles towards our lowest available Breaking Deals fares in Economy and Business Class.

Members who wish to buy a Business or First Class OpenSeat with miles to some of our most popular routes - such as Abu Dhabi to Istanbul, London, Bangkok and Sydney - will receive a member-only discount of up to 30 per cent on the commercial fare. To access the discount members will need to contribute a fixed minimum number of Etihad Guest Miles towards the fare.

On all other routes and classes, members can still contribute as little as one Etihad Guest Mile towards the price of the OpenSeat ticket.

Using miles for Upgrades

The number of Etihad Guest Miles required for upgrades will also change. The route, cabin and fare class of the original booking will determine the number of miles required for the upgrade but, overall, the number of miles required for an upgrade will increase.

Members who purchase a Breaking Deals fare from 8 July 2015 will no longer be able to use miles to upgrade.

Surcharges

The fuel surcharges that have traditionally been levied on some GuestSeats into Abu Dhabi will be removed. However, a carrier charge will now be included on all GuestSeat bookings and will be calculated based on the number of sectors and the travel class: US$50 per sector when travelling in Economy Class, US$100 in Business Class and US$150 in First Class.


All changes being implemented ensure that we are able to release more seats to our growing member base, whilst remaining competitive and sustainable.

As per clause 12.1 of the terms and conditions of the Etihad Guest programme, these revisions shall apply with effect from 8 July 2015. The existing booking you have with Etihad Airways will not be affected by these changes. For more detailed information, please visit etihadguest.com/changes


Thank you for your ongoing support of Etihad Guest, as well as Etihad Airways and its partners. We look forward to welcoming you on board again soon.

Yasser Al Yousuf
Managing Director, Etihad Guest

Think there are now two treads on the same changes.. mods??

The number of Etihad Guest Miles required for a GuestSeat in Business Class will not change on sectors over 6,000 miles, although they will increase on all other sectors.

The number of Etihad Guest Miles required for a GuestSeat in First Class will increase on all sectors.


I wonder what the changes to the miles required will actually be??

been checking miles needed to upgrade on certains routes and went up by quite a bit.

NEW ;
Cost in miles - From Paris to Abu Dhabi ( Oneway )
From Coral Economy to Pearl Business
54820 Etihad Guest miles if booked in U,V,G classes.

38159 Etihad Guest miles if booked in L,Q,M,K classes.

31494 Etihad Guest miles if booked in B,H,Y classes.

From Pearl Business to Diamond First
33323 Etihad Guest miles


OLD ;
Cost in miles - From Paris to Abu Dhabi ( Oneway )
From Coral Economy to Pearl Business
31112 Etihad Guest miles if booked in Y,B,H,K,M,Q classes.

37445 Etihad Guest miles if booked in G,L,U,V,E classes.

From Pearl Business to Diamond First
25112 Etihad Guest miles

On short/mid haul there's a devaluation of about 50 percent!!!!!!!!.
Example AUH-BEY in J which is 16951, will become 25426!

On long haul the devaluation in F is less severe, for example AUH-SYD which is 121598 will become 128780, so about 6 percent.

Two thumbs down. I still have about 50k miles that I'll gladly burn off ASAP. Hopefully they won't institute repricing on tickets issued prior to 8 July in case of future changes.

Once again the blogs have seriously f*cked us over. Too much publicity. Dang shame. It was good while it lasted. Thankfully burned most of mine, I could see it coming.

Hi edy4eva,

We would like to confirm there will be no changes or repricing on tickets booked prior to July 8.

We also regret to hear your disappointment about the changes to our program. These changes are important to ensure our loyalty program remains competitive and sustainable, so we can continuously provide you with innovative products and services.

We hope you noticed that it also provides you with greater access to seats and upgrades, booked with Etihad Guest Miles, particularly in premium cabins, based on their commercial value.

Hopefully we'll see you on board again soon :) *JP

OscarTheGrouch,

We are sorry to hear you feel this way. Please believe, it was not our intention to leave you feel this way and the changes to our program have been taken in order for our program to sustain and remain competitive.

Did you see that we have also updated our seat availability for Guest Seats and Open Seats for Etihad Guest members?

*JP

Etihad Guest Miles awarded per mile flown on Etihad Airways flights:

CABIN FARE CLASS* CURRENT MILES EARNED NEW MILES EARNED
Economy Class T 0 0.25
Economy Class E 0.5 0.25
Economy Class U, V, G 0.5 0.5
Economy Class L, Q 0.5 0.75
Economy Class M, K 0.75 0.75
Economy Class H, B, Y 1 1
Business Class Z 1.3 1.15
Business Class W 1.3 1.3
Business Class D 1.3 1.75
Business Class C, J 1.75 1.75
First Class R 1.8 2.5
First Class A, F 2.5 2.5
The Residence P 4 4

Yes, thanks for the reply. I note that most flights currently have 2 guest seats available in business class. This is supposed to increase by 20% with the changes.

Not sure how that will work.. 3 guest seats twice a week?? This would have been most useful to me, however if the miles required to get them seats is to increase substantially then there's no way I can book them..

This is bad news, we (both Platinum) will start considering other carriers again because of this.

My biggest concern is that with the "Breaking Deals" fares no longer eligible for upgrade, the price differential between EY and other carriers will no longer be worth it. We used to be happy to pay €100-200 more on a fare with EY instead of, say, EK, but if that fare is not eligible for upgrade, the benefit of flying with EY evaporates. On the other hand, it will be very hard to justify paying a higher fare to have something eligible for upgrade - because upgrades are of course not guaranteed.

@etihadhelp - seat availability for Guest & Open seats is irrelevant for our usage. We never redeem full flights - our company pays for Economy tickets and we use miles to upgrade. Company buys EY at a slight premium because it knows this is possible. If this is no longer possible, we'll start shopping around again, i.e. EK, QR (always much cheaper) and GF.

Just our 2 cents.

This was expected anyway. First EK started the bug and now EY starts to follow as well. Worse still is the replies of the EY help just harping upon more availability. Useless and I just want to finish off my miles with them .

Totally agree with you. I either have E, or Z tickets and those 2 categories have now become un-upgradable. with Z tickets having gone up 20-30% on my regular routes in the past few months i opt for E with possibility of upgrade but now seems it will cost me even more miles to do so. I understand that etihad wants to keep its program sustainable but this is a huge change in terms of value of miles. Will be earning less miles on those 2 booking classes as well as having to pay more for upgrades so overall my miles are worth about half as much as before.

Does anyone care about OpenSeats? The mileage required is so gigantic it would wipe out my entire account with a single booking.

Existing mileage required for guest seat one way business AUH MCT is 6,450 miles. From 8 July it will be 12,900 miles. Well done Etihad Guest. That's a 100% increase. That's great news for all your loyal guests who have been with you for many many years. You certainly know how to reward your guests and go that extra mile to ensure their continued loyalty.

Another example, guest seat one way business AUH BKK. Currently 39,874 miles. After 8 July will be 59,811 miles. That's a 50% increase. Once again, I thank you guys most profusely. You certainly know how to make your once loyal guests look around for alternative carriers. Keep up the good work!

What in the world do blogs have to do with this?