This post provides a step-by-step guide to booking hotels using Etihad Guest Miles.
I doubt I am the only expat in the UAE surprised to discover that COVID-19 lockdowns have been kind to our miles-and-points balances. I am currently sitting on my healthiest stash of Etihad Guest Miles ever.
Grounded aircraft and travel restrictions may have meant fewer opportunities to earn miles. On the other hand, it provided very few opportunities to redeem miles for travel.
Suppose you’re one of those smart people with an Etihad co-brand credit card. In that case, all of that online shopping and food delivery spend during lockdown contributed every month to your growing stash of miles.
With the half-term school holidays coming up and the no international travel on the horizon for many, the temptation to spend some of those Etihad Guest Miles to book a staycation is understandable.
How do you book hotels using Etihad Guest Miles?
To book a hotel with Etihad Guest Miles head over to the Etihad Guest Travel Rewards site. There are over 300,000 hotels around the world available to book along with plenty of options throughout the UAE.
You will find everything from budget hotels (think Holiday Inn Express and Premier Inn) to iconic luxury (Emirates Palace and Zaya Nurai) as well as everything in between.
How much does it cost to book hotels with Etihad Guest Miles?
The price range available is mind-boggling. A quick search found rooms available over the next month from 5,000 miles per night up to a staggering 1.8 million miles per night in the middle of the half-term school holiday.
There are two options for paying for a Travel Rewards hotel booking. You can pay for the entire booking using your Etihad Guest Miles if you wish.
Alternatively, you can pay using a combination of Miles & Cash. The latter option is useful if you do not have enough miles. In some cases, it may also offer better value than paying for the whole booking with miles.
If your balance is a little short, Etihad Guest has a current promotion that might help. You can earn up to 30% extra miles when you transfer loyalty points from some other programmes to Etihad Guest before 31 October.
What’s the downside of booking using Etihad Guest Miles?
It is important to remember that there are a few downsides to booking hotels using airline miles, particularly for anyone with elite status in a hotel loyalty programme.
You will not get any of your status benefits such as room upgrades, late check-out or complimentary breakfast when booking through Travel Rewards.
A stay booked with Etihad Guest Miles will also not earn any points in a hotel loyalty programme or contribute towards elite status qualification or renewal.
Comparing three Abu Dhabi staycation options
Let’s compare the cost of a two-night weekend break at three classic Abu Dhabi staycation hotels in early November for a family of three.
Mandarin Oriental Emirates Palace (Diamond Room)
- Using Miles: 104,300
- Miles & Cash: AED 2,808 + 2,300 Miles
- Book directly: AED 2,945
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel & Villas Saadiyat Island (King)
- Using Miles: 96,500
- Miles & Cash: AED 2,604 + 2,000
- Book directly: 2,402
Al Wathba, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa (Superior Room)
- Using Miles: 76,300
- Miles & Cash: AED 1,983 + 4,300 Miles
- Book directly: AED 2,305
At all three hotels, you are getting less than 1 cent USD per mile. That’s not a great rate of return—more on that below.
It turns out the Miles & Cash option at the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Saadiyat is more expensive than booking with the hotel directly. Nevermind the fact that you’ve used up some of your Etihad Guest Miles and will not be earning any points for the stay.
The only option which strikes me as worth considering is the Miles & Cash option at Al Wathba. In that case, you are getting just over 2 cents USD for your miles which is not bad.
Is booking hotels with Etihad Guest Miles worth it?
Full disclosure. I am a bit of a sceptic when it comes to putting a specific value to airline miles.
There are so many variables in terms of how individuals earn and spend miles that assigning a definite value is a little misleading. What is important is that you feel you are getting a good return for your miles.
That said there are better and worse value redemptions and it is in your interests to try and get the most of out your miles.
The best piece of advice is to be flexible in terms of dates and location if you want get the most value out of booking a break using Etihad Guest Miles. There seems to be quite a bit of variation in pricing, particularly when it comes to the discount on offer with Miles & Cash.
My rule of thumb is that you generally get the best value by using airline miles for airline redemptions and hotel points for hotel reservations. Mixing up the two is rarely good value.
But, we’re not in usual times. If you’re sitting on a large stash of Etihad Guest Miles at the moment with no prospect of spending them on a flight then using them to book a luxury UAE staycation may be worth it. Only you know that.
Staycations are the new vacation
With overseas travel severely curtailed, for the time being, the staycation is here to stay. Arguably that makes hotel status even more valuable than airline status. If you are considering a staycation take a look a how to get free elite hotel status with UAE credit cards.