This fall, there was the best promotion seen in decades, which gave 1 million airline points (SAS/Scandinavian) very easily (I’ve mentioned it to you often). A new promo has just been announced by Etihad Airways… it seems similar, but it really isn’t. The “Extraordinary Challenge” that gives 5 million miles is a race, NOT a guarantee of getting points.
Just to give you an idea of how crazy it was that SAS gave 1 million points to everyone who wanted them, I’m currently in Europe and my inbound flight in a luxurious lie-flat business class pod seat worth $4000+ was paid for with those points (I used awesome Aeroplan points for the outbound flight in business class too, as I explained in that article).
My 1 million SAS points give me 20 one-way flights like that, so $80,000 in free flights! That’s the beauty of airline points that have unlimited value and that allow you to easily travel in business class for less than economy class.
But this promotion is far from being similar, even if it might seem so at first glance. I want to make sure you don’t get your hopes up if you see the promo, and that’s why I’m talking about it (NOT so that you take part in it).
Here are the details of the Etihad “Extraordinary Challenge” promotion that gives away 5 million miles.
Overview of Etihad’s “The Extraordinary Challenge”
Several people have already written to me asking if I am doing this challenge too… and I’ll be very clear: I’m pronouncing the “F” in “F*** no” as hardly as possible. The Emirati airline is fantastic, and so are its points… but I’ll pass.
Here are the basics of Etihad’s “The Extraordinary Challenge”:
- It’s a speed race
- Not a prize everyone can get
- The winner must take 15 specific flights
- In the shortest time
- The fastest person gets 5M miles
- 2nd place gets 3M and 3rd place gets 1M
- The challenge has already started
- Some fanatics have surely already begun
- Registration for the promotion is mandatory
- As with all promotions
- In case of a tie, the registration date comes into play
- The earliest to register gets priority
- So do it now if you think you want to try it
It’s not at all like the SAS promotion from the fall… that’s the one you should’ve done. This one is really very uninteresting.
Yes, 5 million Etihad Guest miles are worth a lot (value of ≈ $50,000 to UNLIMITED). But spending thousands of dollars with the very plausible risk of getting absolutely nothing at the finish line is not that savvy (whereas doing the SAS promotion was obviously a no-brainer if you had the time, as I told you repeatedly).
Differences between Etihad’s “The Extraordinary Challenge” and the SAS promotion
Here are the 5 main differences from the SAS promotion:
- With SAS, you were guaranteed to get the million points
- If you completed the challenge
- With SAS, all 15 flights were cheap
- Except the 3 transcontinental flights
- With SAS, the routings were way more flexible
- You had to fly 15 airlines, not visit 15 specific cities
- With SAS, you could do it without having to take any extra flights
- You could build a logical itinerary with no backtracking
- With SAS, you had time to enjoy the destinations at least a bit
- If you could take the time
With the Etihad promotion, you could do the challenge and have nothing at all at the end of the line (almost certainly even, unless you can do a crazy trip right now).
With the Etihad promotion, you have to take 15 flights on their own routes and not on partners… and Etihad is one of the most luxurious, premium, and expensive airlines in the world (you’ll pay a lot more than the $1205 net I paid for 1 million SAS points).
With the Etihad promotion, you have even less flexibility because you have to visit 15 specific cities, not choose literally any flight from an airline’s network (oh, and also… you have to go to Russia, which is a strange choice on their part, considering the current context).
With the Etihad promotion, you need to do 15 flights that you can’t do one after the other, because you have to return to Abu Dhabi airport each time (so a minimum of 30 flights).
With the Etihad promotion, you have to do it quickly (taking the time to enjoy the destinations will most likely cause you to lose).
In short… it costs a lot more to do the promotion, and you risk having nothing at the end of the line, in addition to probably not even having enjoyed the destinations.
Required destinations for Etihad’s “The Extraordinary Challenge”
Etihad has a fleet of 97 aircraft and is growing rapidly. The challenge is to promote 15 of their new destinations.
Here are the 15 destinations you need to visit first to win the challenge:
- Sochi, Russia 🇷🇺
- Prague, Czechia 🇨🇿
- Warsaw, Poland 🇵🇱
- Atlanta, United States 🇺🇸
- Taipei, Taiwan 🇹🇼
- Peshawar, Pakistan 🇵🇰
- Medan, Indonesia 🇮🇩
- Phnom Penh, Cambodia 🇰🇭
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 🇪🇹
- Krabi, Thailand 🇹🇭
- Tunis, Tunisia 🇹🇳
- Hanoi, Vietnam 🇻🇳
- Chiang Mai, Thailand 🇹🇭
- Hong Kong, China SAR 🇭🇰
- Algiers, Algeria 🇩🇿
Etihad’s promotion page only specifies that your Etihad Guest membership number must be on a flight involving those destinations; it’s not explicitly stated that flights booked with points are excluded, but unfortunately, nothing is clear.
Here’s what that would look like, with so much backtracking to Abu Dhabi (AUH).
It’s really not as efficient as the round-the-world itinerary for the SAS promotion.
And sure, you can save money by flying Etihad for just 1 of the one-ways to each city and by choosing a cheaper option for the other (it doesn’t have to be a roundtrip on Etihad). But that’s probably going to be longer and make you lose!
If you know the basics and you’ve read about the 7 airline point currencies easily accessible to Canadians, you already know this, but I want to take this opportunity to highlight 3 important concepts:
- Transferable bank points are the best
- Amex points are transferable to Etihad Guest
- Flights with points are very often better on partner airlines
- It’s sometimes better to book Etihad flights with Aeroplan or AAdvantage
- Amex points are transferable to Aeroplan
- RBC Avion points are transferable to AAdvantage
- First class and business class are not the same thing at all
- Contrary to what many believe
The last concept is relevant to Etihad, because the airline is known for its completely frivolous first class, “The Residence”: you have 3 complete rooms to yourself on the plane (a bedroom, a living room, and a shower room).
Premium cabin flights are easy to get for cheaper than economy class thanks to points if you’re flexible, but Etihad’s are among the most luxurious and also among the most difficult to access. More details to follow soon if you’re interested!
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Summary
Etihad’s “The Extraordinary Challenge” promotion does indeed give 5 million miles, but to just one person and not to everyone who completes the challenge, unlike with the incredible “Millionaire” promotion from the fall. It also costs a lot more, and you could spend all that for nothing. And if you want to win the race to get the prize (or the 2nd and 3rd place prizes), you have to do it quickly, so without really enjoying the destinations at all.
What would you like to know about Etihad’s “The Extraordinary Challenge” promotion? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Prague, Czechia (photo credit: Anthony Delanoix)
