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Now Etihad launches a miles challenge
SAS seem to have started a trend when they launched their one million mile challenge last year. First came Lufthansa with their easier but targeted challenge, now Etihad is launching an interesting competition where you can win up to 5 million miles and have a year to do the flying. The catch is that the challenge winners will be those who complete it first. There are only 3 prizes.
Etihad has launched its competition today, inviting new and existing Etihad Guest members to win up to five million miles by flying to each of the airline’s 15 new year-round destinations launching in 2025.
Mark Potter, Managing Director Etihad Guest, said, “This challenge embodies Etihad’s purpose to give flight to ambition. We’re inviting our adventurous members and travellers to explore 15 incredible destinations while competing for our largest-ever miles prize.”
First, Second, and Third place will be determined by the first three Etihad Guest members to complete The Extraordinary Challenge. The First winner will receive five million Etihad Guest miles, the second place winner will receive three million miles, and the third place winner will receive one million miles. Five million Etihad Guest miles can equate to over 500 Economy flights, or more than 70 trips in Business, or more than 40 unforgettable journeys in First.
Etihad Guest members starting the challenge will be able to see where they are on a dedicated race dashboard, featuring a digital passport that gets stamped with each destination visited.. The live leaderboard will also illustrate to members their position in the race against other members, creating friendly competition among a community of like-minded travellers. This is by far the hardest of the airline challenges as there are few shortcuts since they must be Etihad-operated flights. Luckily, they can be to OR from the destinations, which gives some options to save time and money. Obviously, you could do some easier open jaws, such as Tunis and Algiers, or the South East Asian airports, which are relatively close and could be flown between fairly quickly and cheaply.
To win, you have to fly on an Etihad-operated flight to or from each of the new destinations
- Addis Ababa,
- Algiers,
- Atlanta,
- Chiang Mai,
- Hanoi,
- Hong Kong,
- Krabi,
- Medan,
- Peshawar,
- Phnom Penh,
- Prague,
- Sochi,
- Taipei,
- Tunis,
- Warsaw.
The flying must be completed by 25 May 2026.
You can register for the competition at https://www.etihad.com/en/etihadguest/race-to-fly. If you have flown to any of the destinations in the last six months, you can claim them retrospectively by opting into the competition and claiming the miles to your Etihad Guest account if you have not already.
Members are encouraged to use the hashtag #EYextraordinarymiles when sharing their journey to the finish line on social media channels.
American Express to BA Avios transfers become instant
One of the reasons we always recommend having an Amex Gold or Platinum is that the Membership Reward points can be transferred into lots of different airline and hotel schemes meaning that if you keep your points until you are ready to use them, you are somewhat protected from devaluagtions as you can simply move them to a different scheme. However, the downside has always been the amount of time transfers take, as you want to transfer the points just before you book, which is annoying if you know you will have to wait for the conversion. While transfers to Qatar’s Privilege Aviso were instant, BA’s were not, which also slowed things down if you wanted to book a redemption from the BA Club. The good news is that Avios transfers are also instant, which will make life a lot easier.
The other schemes you can instantly transfer Amex points into are:
- Delta Air Lines
- Emirates
- Marriott Bonvoy
- Qantas,
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club and Emirates
- Virgin Atlantic
Five Guys to open at Heathrow T5
With the BA lounges still often being too crowded, I sometimes prefer to dine at one of the restaurants, such as Plane Food by Gordon Ramsay for a quieter experience. Soon, there will be another option for burger fans with the opening of Five Guys.
Five Guys and Heathrow have announced that the burger brand will be opening a new restaurant at Heathrow Terminal 5 later this year. The 2,500 square feet unit will be situated on the upper level of Heathrow T5, and is predicted to seat 90 people as well as offering a speedy takeaway option for travellers. I definitely welcome another option, but would not want to be sitting next to someone on the plane eating a burger and chips, particularly with the takeaway option! This will be the only proper “fast food” style offering at T5. I was always under the impression there were strict controls at Heathrow over things like fryers which is why they never had any fast food outlets compared to other airports.
Opening from first flight to last flight, Five Guys will be offering daytime and breakfast menu options with exclusive elements tailored for Heathrow. Design enhancements will include an increased number of ordering kiosks in 6 different languages and “travel friendly elements” whatever that means.
