The problem with UAE airlines...

[ColinD]

I'm hoping somebody might be able to correct my disillusionment with Emirates and Etihad.

I've been a Skywards member for a couple of years - the Citi / Emirates card is attractive to me, because as an "infrequent flyer", it gives me a good chance to accumulates rewards points and use them for an upgrade maybe every year or two. And the free annual limo service pays for the card fee.

Problem 1: is looks like there's no way to get Skywards points on Australian domestic flights anymore. Is this correct?

Recently flew Etihad using Velocity points and loved the experience. So there's no problem using domestic flights to accumulate points there.

Problem 2: Etihad does not belong to any card rewards scheme. Ok I can redeem Velocity points, but not for an upgrade (only for outright purchase ... very expensive use of points).

Should I just give up on the two of them? The where to? My main interest in a loyalty program is upgrades! Used to belong to QFF but will never get above "dirt" tier and they just don't want such folks in their lounges and comfy seats The fact that you can't get confirmation of an upgrade until a few hours before the flight on QFF is insulting. Emirates will tell me *before* the reservation whether I can get an upgrade.

cheers
Colin

 

[clifford]

The qustion is, do you need to go to the middle east?

If not, the world's your oyster.

 

[ColinD]

Nope, no need to go to Middle East at all. Just looking for a rewards scheme that lets me accumulate most of the points by credit card, and to know in advance whether a given flight will have an upgrade (just like on Emirates). But a scheme without a domestic partner is less than ideal.

 

[dajop]

Problem 2: Etihad does not belong to any card rewards scheme. Ok I can redeem Velocity points, but not for an upgrade (only for outright purchase ... very expensive use of points).

But Etihad's Velocity points are not that expensive when using reward flight. J to Europe for 125K velocity pts (slightly less than QF's 128K), and NO FUEL FINES, which makes it extremely attractive. If you want a program that includes domestic earning, (the chance of) an upgrade and credit card earn you have stick to QF.

 

[mickle_john]

Recently flew Etihad using Velocity points and loved the experience. So there's no problem using domestic flights to accumulate points there.