China’s Ping An E-wallet has two new promotions this month, via which you could buy cheap Etihad and Flying Blue miles. Both promotions are valid in October.
Etihad Airways
- Standard ratio: 50:1 (plus 10% handling fee)
- 40% bonus on any transfer of 50,000 miles or more
- Bonus will post within 15 business days after the promotion ends
There’s no limit on the bonus, but beware of the potential delay of posting. We’ve explained last time how to acquire Ping An points, and it costs about 0.739 CNY or 0.76p per point in the end.
Etihad Airways revamped their loyalty program a couple of years ago, making it much less appealing. In terms of redeeming their own flights, the main highlight lies in its first class cabin, currently available in the following routes (with one-way pricing):
- London – 120,000 miles
- Paris – 120,000 miles
- Geneva – 120,000 miles
- Singapore – 140,000 miles
- New York – 160,000 miles
The approximate cost for Singapore is £13k, or £16k for New York, with taxes and surcharges included. I’ve flown in their standard first class cabin and wasn’t hugely impressed, but the First Apartment on A380 should be a totally different story.
Another interesting redemption option is Air Serbia. I’ve written about it before – although the two programs share miles, you must call Air Serbia’s customer service to book, since Etihad’s own booking system uses a different award chart.
Here are a few sample one-way business class rates from the Air Serbia chart:
- Athens – 7,296
- Frankfurt – 9,334
- Amsterdam – 12,469
- London – 14,834
- New York – 64,082
- Shanghai – 74,585
- Guangzhou – 74,727
You can search for availability and taxes via Air Canada’s website or app, and there’s almost no surcharge, making these pretty good deals. Be careful that Etihad miles expire after 18 months, and can only be extended by flying Etihad or partner airlines, including award tickets.
Air France–KLM Flying Blue
- Standard ratio: 46:1 (plus 10% handling fee)
- 20% bonus on any transfer
- Bonus will post within 7 business days after redemption
That puts the cost at roughly 0.793 CNY / 0.82p per mile. Flying Blue is great for short-haul partner flights in Asia, Americas and the Middle East. One-way flight starts at 5,000 miles only.
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