Etihad Launches Bizarre 5 Million Miles Contest

I love it when airline loyalty programs launch creative challenges. Last year we saw SAS do just that, and now it appears Etihad Guest has come to the fore with a new challenge: fly to all 15 of their new destinations in the shortest possible time. Winner takes all, with second and third place prizes also on offer.

How it works

To enter, you’ll need to be an Etihad Guest member and register for the promotion. Then fly to or from all 15 specific destinations: Algiers, Atlanta, Chiang Mai, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Krabi, Medan, Peshawar, Phnom Penh and Taipei (with the remaining destinations presumably announced soon). The clock starts from 26 May 2025 and ends on 25 May 2026, so there's a full year to complete the challenge. Early registration gives you an edge, as the winner must also have the longest active enrolment period.

You may not win anything

While in theory this is a fun promotion, there’s no actual way of knowing if you’re in the lead until the winner is announced sometime next year.

This means you could go out of your way to fly to 15 destinations and end up winning nothing. To me, this is where the contest falls short. There’s no way to track your position in the "race". There’s no leaderboard, and Etihad reserves the right to interpret and assess eligibility at their discretion. What would make things more interesting is either a public leaderboard or a guaranteed prize for everyone who completes what is already a huge challenge. Flying to 15 destinations with Etihad isn’t going to be cheap, so anyone attempting it would want some sort of certainty on the other side. This is where SAS nailed it with their campaign. It was wild and demanding, but participants knew that completing it meant they’d win something.

SAS Million Mile Copy?

This promo is clearly a spin on the SAS Million Mile campaign, where the challenge was to fly 15 airlines to earn 1 million miles. In Etihad’s case, it’s 15 destinations and maybe you’ll win 5,000,000 miles.

Terms Of The Competition

It’s also worth noting this isn’t a game of chance. It’s officially classified as a game of skill, which means the winner is chosen based on performance criteria: how quickly you fly all 15 routes, your creative merit (though what that entails is unclear, poor choice of wording maybe?), and how early you joined.

If you don’t manage all 15, there’s still a chance to be in the running if you hit at least 10 destinations and have a solid track record. However, this is completely up to Etihad’s discretion. If a route is cancelled, Etihad will remove it from the list and assess your progress against the remaining ones.

There are three prizes in total: 5 million miles for first place, 3 million for second, and 1 million for third. Winners will be contacted no later than 15 June 2026 using the contact details in their Etihad Guest profile.

Importantly, this is a solo challenge. Group travel doesn’t count, and there are no retroactive claims after the deadline. If you’ve been flying without registering, you’re out.

Lastly, the contest is open globally to anyone over 18, as long as you’re not a travel agent or Etihad employee (or their family).

Summing Up

I applaud any airline loyalty team that gets creative and launches campaigns like this. It speaks to their core fan base and the avgeek/points community. That said, this particular promo feels poorly designed. There’s no clear way of knowing if you’ve won, and considering the scale of the challenge, the prizes could have been more generous.

To register, visit this page.