What are the benefits of Etihad Guest Gold status?

This post explores the main benefits of earning Etihad Guest Gold Tier status. 

Gold is one of the four tier levels in Etihad Guest, the loyalty programme for Etihad Airways. The four tiers are Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. 

Bronze is the entry-level tier. You will be assigned this status when you first join the programme. Silver, Gold and Platinum are elite tiers. These tiers are attained by earning tier miles or flying segments on Etihad Airways. You can read about what you must do to get Etihad Guest Gold Tier status here.

Gold is the middle elite tier level, sandwiched between Silver and Platinum. It is probably the most valuable tier as it comes with most of the perks you would expect and want from an airline loyalty programme. At the same time, it is relatively achievable for anyone in the UAE who travels fairly frequently with Etihad. 

Etihad Guest Gold Tier benefits

The main perks of holding Etihad Guest Gold status are: 

• Earn 50% Bonus Etihad Guest Miles on Etihad Airways flights and a handful of airline partners 
• Etihad Chauffeur service on Business and First Class rewards bookings 
• Business Class check-in worldwide
• Fast-track immigration and baggage
• Priority boarding 
• Reserve two standard economy seats for free
• 50% discount on the price of extra legroom seats for up to two guests
• Access to the Business Class Lounge at Abu Dhabi Airport (AUH) for self plus one guest 
• Access to Business Class worldwide lounges where available 
• Complimentary excess baggage allowance (15 kgs on weight routes and one extra bag on piece concept routes)  
• Avis Budget Tier match 

The comprehensive list of Etihad Guest Gold Tier benefits is available on Etihad Guest here. 

As you can see, Gold offers significantly more and better perks compared to Silver. Three that stand out for me as most valuable are worldwide lounge access, complimentary Etihad Chauffeur on First and Business rewards bookings and free seat selection/discounted Extra Legroom seats in Economy. 

The Etihad Chauffeur benefit is worth about AED 1,000 to our family annually. And we save a similar amount in seat selection fees in Economy. 

Sadly, Etihad Airways is not part of a global airline alliance, so you do not automatically get elite benefits on a collection of other airlines. However, there are a handful of airline partners that do recognise Etihad Guest Gold Tier status. The full details of which airlines offer benefits to Etihad Guest elites can be found here.  

What’s next?

The next tier above Gold is the Etihad Guest Platinum Tier, the top tier in Etihad Guest. You can read all about the benefits of Platinum Tier status here.