Hi - Am a newbie here but have thoroughly enjoyed lurking. Thought I might pose my question …
I am mainly interested in reward points for redemption on J or F flights to Europe. Am a bit of an EY fan and have always focused on collecting Etihad Guest miles - primarily through EY travel supplemented by points via Amex Platinum Edge.
After reading most of the material on Point Hacks I am coming to the conclusion I would be better off collecting Velocity points - even for Etihad flights. Redemption seems to be at a better rate and more opportunities to supplement via BP Fuel, good Amex rate, etc.
Have a EY trip in F to Europe coming up so trying to decide where to put those miles.
Great question. I have two back for you! What are your Etihad flying patterns, and what’s your preference when it comes to points redemptions - redeeming for similar flights to your paid fares or completely different?
Hi K … I usually make 1 or 2 paid J or F flights per year with EY to Italy. The UAE-ITA legs are Alitalia which has a great 300% miles award for EY Guest (and nothing for Velocity).
For redemptions, I aim for one J or F flight to Europe (Paris/London/Geneva) per year and supplement my EY Guest miles with Amex points or if I am just a bit short I might buy some miles via SPG (but not so much now with the exchange rate).
I suppose one of other reasons for focusing on Velocity points is it gives me some options to try different metal … I’m a bit peeved about the EY ground facilities in AUH. First world problem I know - but man does not live by EY alone.
