(EXPIRED) Etihad transfer bonuses: up to 30% bonus

Etihad Guest is offering transfer bonuses when you convert points from hotel programs and transferable currencies, with bonuses ranging from 20-30% depending on the partner from which you convert. This probably doesn’t make sense for most people given the current state of travel, but if you need to top off an account for a valuable redemption it may be worth it.

The Deal

• Etihad Guest is offering transfer bonuses from hotel and credit card partners as follows:
  • Hotel partners:
    • Accor Live Limitless: 20% bonus (normally a 2:1 ratio) (minimum transfer = 4K points)
    • Marriott Bonvoy: 20% bonus (normally 3K Marriott Bonvoy: 1K Etihad or 60K Marriott Bonvoy : 25K Etihad — bonus means 3K Marriott: 1.2K Etihad or 60K Marriott to 30K Etihad) (minimum transfer = 3K points)
    • Shangri-La Golden Circle: 20% bonus (normally 1:1 ratio — bonus means 2.5K Shangri-la = 3K Etihad) (minimum transfer = 2.5K Shangri-La points)
    • World of Hyatt: 20% bonus (normally 2.5 Hyatt : 1 Etihad ratio — bonus means 2.5 : 1.2) (minimum transfer = 5K Hyatt points)
  • Credit card partners:
    • Capital One miles: 30% bonus (normally 2:1.5 ratio; bonus means 2 : 1.95 ratio or 1K Capital One miles = 975 Etihad miles)
    • Citi ThankYou points: 30% bonus (normally 1:1 ratio; bonus means 1K Thank You = 1.2K Etihad)
• Direct link to this promotion

Key Terms

• The offer is valid for all Points to Miles conversions made between 01 October 2020 (00.00am) and  31 October 2020 (23.59pm) both days inclusive.
• Partners included: Citibank (UAE), ADCB Touchpoints, Emirates Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, FAB Stars, AIMIA (Air Miles/My Reward Points), Hyatt, Le Club Accor Hotels, Shangi-La, Marriot, Etisalat, ADNOC, Joyalukkas, SHARE points, SCB UAE, SCB Bahrain, SCB Brunei, SCB Singapore, Livelo Brazil, CITIC China, Ping An China, JD Coin China, Hana Korea, Inbursa Mexico, Cathay United Taiwan, Krungthai Thailand, Capital One USA.
• Once the Miles transfer request is initiated it cannot be reversed.
• This offer is subject to the Terms & Conditions of the Etihad Guest Programme.
• A valid Etihad Guest membership number is required to successfully perform the conversion.
• The Etihad Guest member will be responsible for quoting the correct Etihad Guest membership number to the participating conversion partners for the conversion activity.
• Terms and conditions governing the existing points transfer partners will apply.
• The promotion is applicable for any member who transfer’s their points from a qualifying Partner loyalty programs to Etihad Guest Miles. The eligibility of the bonus miles for a specific member will be done based on the validity of the promotion and the date of conversion provided by the partner for that respective member.
• Base Etihad Guest Miles transferred by the member will be awarded as per the applicable conversion ratios of each respective partner.
• Bonus Etihad Guest Miles earned during this promotion will reflect in the member’s Etihad Guest membership account within 10 working days of the end date of the promotion.
• This offer construct is valid only for the all Points Transfer Partners, which fall under the Points Transfer programme and governed by the transfer ratios and minimum thresholds applicable for these respective partners.
• Bonus Etihad Guest Miles will not be calculated on a retroactive basis under any circumstances i.e. credit card/ hotel reward points transferred to Etihad Guest Miles and posted into the membership account during the promotion period but for which the transfer request was placed outside the promotion period will not qualify for the bonus miles promotion.
• Etihad Guest reserves the right to withdraw or cancel the promotion or modify or alter the terms and conditions of such promotion at any time.
• Participation under this promotion is purely voluntary for the members.
• The decision of Etihad Guest will be final and binding under this promotion and no disputes will be entertained in this regard.
• This offer cannot be clubbed with any other transfer offer.

Quick Thoughts

A key note here is that bonus points will post within 10 days of the end of the promotion. You won’t see these bonuses reflected while transferring but rather the bonus is added on Etihad’s side within 10 days of October 31, 2020.

The Capital One transfer bonus makes it very nearly a 1:1 value with Capital One “Miles”, which is a particularly good ratio for Capital One. The bonus from Citi ThankYou points could also be attractive given that Etihad is one of Citi’s better partners (though not necessarily the best).

Personally, I wouldn’t be in any particular hurry to make a transfer given the current travel environment. Ethiad had some good sweet spots (key sweet spots are being able to fly American Airlines at American’s “old” award chart prices, business class on Royal Air Maroc to Casablanca for 44K miles, and the old Czech Airways flight from Prague to Seoul for about 26K miles in business class if that even operates anymore), but without a clearer picture as to when travel will more closely resemble “normal”, it probably doesn’t make sense to make a speculative transfer. On the other hand, if you’re pretty confident about plans and/or just need a small amount to gather enough to book something, this obviously beats no bonus.

H/T: One Mile at a Time

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