MBNA launches first UK Etihad Guest air mile credit card

We take a look at how the latest air mile reward credit card from MBNA and Etihad stacks up against the competition.

MBNA has launched a new credit card in partnership with Etihad Guest, the loyalty programme for Abu Dhabi’s national airline Etihad Airways.

The card can earn you Etihad Guest Miles that can be used to pay for or get discounts on Etihad flights and upgrades as well as rewards.

According to MBNA, this is the first time that the Etihad Guest scheme has partnered with a credit card in the UK to increase the earning potential for Etihad Guest Miles.

So let’s take a look at how you can rack up the points, what they can get you and how the card compares.

Earning potential

The MBNA Etihad Guest Credit Card will enable you to earn Etihad Guest Miles when you spend.

Like some other air mile reward cards you get two credit cards, one American Express and one Visa, which each have different reward levels.

You can earn 1.5 Etihad Guest Miles for every £1 spent on the Etihad Guest American Express part of the duo or 0.75 Etihad Guest Miles for every £1 spent on the Etihad Guest Visa.

If you’re able to spend £250 on either card within 90 days of opening the account you will get 5,000 bonus Etihad Guest Miles.

You can also collect triple Etihad Guest Miles when you purchase first class Etihad flights or double them up when you purchase a business class Etihad flight during the first three months with the cards.

And if you apply before 30th June, every purchase made during the first 30 days will count as an entry into a prize draw where you could be one of four people to win 250,000 Etihad Guest Miles.

That sounds like a pretty generous deal for a fee-free air mile credit card, but how do the miles convert into rewards?

What you can get

The MBNA Etihad Guest Credit Card offers a robust range of rewards in the form of over 6,000 luxury treats from the Etihad Guest Rewards Shop and the option to convert miles into cash, but most will be interested in the flight rewards. 

Etihad Guest members can redeem their miles against a selection of flights and flight upgrades on more than 2,000 routes. But sadly racking up Etihad Guest Miles doesn’t seem to get you very far.

Here are a few examples of the extraordinary amount of points you need to fly from London found using the Etihad Guest Mileage Calculator.

The MBNA Etihad Guest Credit Card doesn’t come with an annual fee but it does strike me as one for the big spenders or at least those that fly regularly enough with Etihad Airways.

To fly from London to Abu Dhabi - the home of Etihad Airways- you will need 62,043 Etihad Guest Miles. After spending £250 and earning a 5,000 point bonus you would need to spend around £38,000 more on the Etihad Guest American Express alone to rack up enough miles for a free economy flight after taxes. If that spend is split between the Visa, the cost rockets to over £50,000.

That seems like a lot of money to spend in pursuit of some savings on flights.

The introductory offers like triple and double points on first and business class Etihad flights can get you to your Miles target sooner. Plus if you win the 250,000 Etihad Guest miles bonus you could travel practically anywhere. But the chances of winning are slim- only four can bag the top prize and if you're not the type to fly using the top classes or even Etihad Airways you won't be able to benefit from the temporary boosters.

So for the average person looking for an air mile credit card that doesn't require an extraordinary amount of spending this card isn't a great fit. 

How it compares

Let’s take a look at some other air mile reward credit cards to see if there is a better deal available for those interested in international flights.

British Airways American Express is another fee-free air miles reward credit card that offers customers the chance to build up Avios, which you can also exchange for a range of rewards including flights. You can get 3,000 Avios points when you spend £500 in the first three months with the card.

But unlike the MBNA Etihad Guest card you can quickly convert this bonus into a flight. You only need 6,000 more points to get a return flight to Berlin. Which you can earn by spending £6,000 as you get one Avios for every £1 spent. You also get a complimentary companion voucher if you manage to spend £20,000 within a year.

Another great fee-free offer is the Lloyds TSB Duo Avios Credit Card. You can get a whopping 15,000 Avios when you spend £500 a month on the American Express side of the duo in the first three months. That’s enough for a return flight to Amsterdam, Paris, or even Rome.

However, you might find it a bit difficult to rack up points afterwards as although you can earn ones Avios for every £1 spent on the American Express card you only earn one Avios for every £5 spent on the Visa. But a redeeming feature of the card is that you can also collect 1,500 Avios for every £1,000 balance transferred. The card offers 0 % balance transfers for six months.

An alternative to the Avios reward scheme is Flying Club Miles which you can earn with the Virgin Atlantic White Card . It’s also fee-free and you can earn one Flying Club Mile for every £1 spent on the American Express or one Flying Club Mile for every £2 spent on the Visa. You get £3,000 miles with your first card purchase on either card. With 7,500 Flying Club Miles you can get money off any  Premium Economy Flight while just 2,000 gets you money off Economy return trip fares.

For more on the best air mile credit cards take a look at: The best reward credit cards .

Disguising a bad deal

Personally I think the MBNA Etihad Guest Credit Card is poor value for what most people will want it for - money off flights. You can get a much better deal elsewhere.

Regular fliers with Etihad could benefit with the MBNA Etihad Guest card, but anyone else is likely to get a raw deal.

> Fancy winning £50? We’ve got five £50 prizes in a draw for anyone who answers one of our Lovemoney surveys.

More on credit cards:

Compare air miles credit cards

The best cashback credit cards

The best 0% purchase credit cards

The best money transfer credit cards

The best 0% balance transfer credit cards

The best credit cards to use on your travels

The best low-fee balance transfer credit cards