As noted by Miles Talk yesterday, American Express Membership Rewards will be dropping Etihad Guest as a transfer partner on June 30, 2026. That means that you can still transfer points from Amex to Etihad through June 29, 2026, but you will no longer be able to do so beginning on June 30th. That’s not a huge loss since Etihad has what is among the most punitive award cancellation policies, making the program of limited use. However, for the right use cases, Etihad Guest can work out well, so it is still disappointing to see this partnership end.
Etihad has an awful award cancellation policy, but is sometimes useful
I generally don’t recommend the Etihad Guest program because of its awful award cancellation policy. If you cancel an award far in advance, you’ll lose 25% of the miles used for the redemption. That number jumps to 50%, 75%, and then 100% of the miles as you enter the weeks prior to departure. For an expensive award, losing half or three-quarters of the miles used for the redemption in order to cancel would be a massive penalty. Since plans can change, I don’t recommend using Etihad guest miles for redemptions far in the future.
However, Last summer, I discovered how useful Etihad Guest can be for shorter JetBlue routes. That’s especially true close in, when cash prices (and award prices through JetBlue) can be high, yet award availability sometimes exists that is accessible via Etihad Guest. For instance, I booked flights to Martha’s Vineyard about a month prior to departure when cash prices were very high, and paid just 6,020 Etihad Guest miles one way. I even had to cancel and award like that, and the cancellation penalty ended up being more reasonable than I expected.
Similarly, Etihad Guest can sometimes present a great value for booking American Airlines itineraries, and if you want a book Etihad Business or First Class far in advance, Etihad Guest is usually your only option is usually your only option. It is disappointing to see this transfer partnership end, even if it is of limited use.
Amex transfers to Etihad Guest available through 6/29/26
Speaking of the end of the partnership, you will no longer be able to transfer Amex Membership Rewards to Etihad Guest as of June 30th, 2026. That means you have through June 29th to make a transfer.
I don’t actually see this noted when I log into my American Express account, but as mentioned at the top, this was reported at Miles Talk (and several other sites like The Points Guy and Upgraded Points) yesterday, so I expect it is probably showing up on statements generated in April.
Keep in mind that Bilt Points, Capital One Miles and Citi Thank You Rewards still partner with Etihad Guest, and we haven’t seen any news about those partnerships ending, so we expect that there will still be options to earn transferable points that can transfer to Etihad.
However, if you primarily have American Express Membership Rewards and are looking to transfer to Etihad Guest, you’ve got a couple of months left to do so.
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I only use these rigid programs for trips that are close in with super low probability of cancellation, otherwise they’re a no touch.
They used to be so good for AA awards.
I totally get that there are financial terms I dont understand with these partnerships, but itsnt the timing for this very strange on Etihad’s end? I would think they are going to have an awful hard time getting traffic to Abu Dhabi (or in connections) given the situation in the Gulf… shouldn’t they be looking to fill seats however they can?