How to claim missing Etihad Guest Miles and Tier Miles

This post contains everything you need to know about claiming missing Etihad Guest Miles and Tier Miles. Read about how to claim for missing Skywards Miles here.

This is a gentle reminder to always check your monthly Etihad Guest statement for errors. I recently learned this the hard way and want to save you the pain. 

Missing miles used to be more common

When I first signed up for Etihad Guest over ten years ago, the programme was notorious for miles posting incorrectly. This was particularly the case for tickets upgraded with Guest Miles or cash. These would invariably post as redemption or reward bookings earning no Guest Miles or Tier Miles. 

Every time the family or I upgraded a flight, we would have to submit a claim for the missing miles after the fact. However, this gradually improved, and over the years, I admit I had become complacent at checking my Etihad Guest monthly statements. 

Why is it so important to check? 

When a flight does not post correctly you miss out on both Guest Miles and Tier Miles. 

Missing out on Guest Miles you have earned means fewer miles available to spend on redemptions and upgrades. 

Missing out on Tier Miles is potentially even worse. It can make the difference between moving up a tier level or make it harder to retain an existing one. 

This will become even more important when the new Etihad Guest programme launches on 1 June. The new programme changes the criteria for attaining elite status. 

A certain portion of Tier Miles must now be earned from flying in order to earn or renew a tier. The threshold has been set at 10,000 Tier Miles for Silver, 20,000 Tier Miles for Gold and 40,000 for Platinum Tier.  

You also have a limited time frame to correct mistakes. Etihad Guest imposes a six-month time limit to make retro claims for missing miles. If you do not notice the error until a tier upgrade or renewal does not come through, it may be too late to do anything about it. 

My experience over the last year

Over the last year, I had noticed an uptick in the frequency of flights either not posting at all or posting incorrectly. 

Towards the end of the year, I realised one flight from earlier in the summer, a cash ticket upgraded with Guest Miles, had not been posted at all. 

I submitted a retro-claim to Etihad. The Etihad Guest number was on the booking and on the boarding pass. Based on my status, I had no issue accessing the Business Class Lounge in Abu Dhabi during the trip. Everything had clearly been in order.  

However, Etihad Guest rejected the claim and would not credit the missing miles as the flight had taken place over six months before the claim was submitted. 

This turned out to be particularly unfortunate for me. If those missing Tier Miles had been credited correctly, I would have already renewed my Etihad Tier status. As it stands, I may need to switch an upcoming flight to Etihad to hit the Tier Miles needed to maintain the status. 

How can I claim missing Etihad Guest miles? 

If you do notice any missing Etihad Guest Miles, there are two ways to make a claim. 

Online form 

You can submit a claim using this online form on the Etihad Guest website. 

You will need to provide the following information: 

• Date of flight
• From 
• To 
• Flight number 
• Cabin class
• Booking reference 
• Ticket number  

Unfortunately, Etihad Guest does not send an email to confirm that the online form has been submitted successfully. That is not ideal, but it is normal. 

By email 

Alternatively, you can also email Etihad Guest: <guest@etihadguest.com> with the same information below. 

• Date of flight 
• From 
• To 
• Flight number 
• Cabin class
• Booking reference 
• Ticket number  

If you have Silver, Gold or Platinum Tier status, it is best to use the dedicated email address, which you can find at the top of your Account Summary in your Etihad Guest account. 

In my experience, Etihad Guest respond more quickly to emails than the online form. Email is also the better option for complex claims, such as cash tickets that were later upgraded with Etihad Guest Miles or a voucher. 

The trip isn’t over until the miles have posted

Always check your monthly Etihad Guest statement to make sure your flights have been posted correctly and claim for any errors as soon as you can. I have a spreadsheet for tracking all of our family flights. This year, I added an extra column to verify that the correct miles and Tier miles have been posted.

Missing Skywards Miles?

Read our complete guide on how to claim missing Skywards Miles for travel with Emirates, flydubai and Skywards partner airlines.