In February 2024, Etihad Guest introduced the world’s most punitive cancellation fees for award tickets. This was announced as part of a larger overhaul of the Etihad Guest program.
I want to provide an update, as Etihad Guest has updated its change and cancellation fees on award tickets as of June 2025, though the changes are fairly minor. Still, they’re worth being aware of. Thanks to Abdulla for flagging this.
Details of Etihad Guest 25-75% award cancellation fees
For tickets issued as of June 19, 2025, Etihad Guest has updated the change and cancellation policies for GuestSeat award tickets. With these changes, some people will be slightly worse off, some people will be slightly better off, and some people will be just as well off as before.
These changes don’t really fundamentally change the lack of flexibility afforded by Etihad with award tickets, though it’s still worth understanding the details.
What we’re seeing is that Etihad has essentially aligned its fare bundles on award tickets with its fare bundles on revenue tickets, so the flexibility offered by an award ticket varies based on the type of ticket you book.
Just as an example, when you look up an Etihad Guest award booking, you might see both the Comfort and Deluxe options in business class.
So, how has the policy changed? When it comes to cancelling Etihad Guest award tickets, you’ll potentially be charged a percentage of the fare paid (for award tickets, in miles), factoring in how far in advance you cancel:
- Cancellations more than 21 days out are free on Deluxe bookings, and incur a 25% fee on Comfort and Value bookings
- Cancellations between eight and 21 days of departure incur a 25% fee on Deluxe bookings, and a 50% fee on Comfort and Value bookings
- Cancellations between one and seven days of departure incur a 50% fee on Deluxe bookings, and a 75% fee on Comfort and Value bookings
- Cancellations within 24 hours of departure incur a 75% fee on Deluxe bookings, and aren’t possible on Comfort and Value bookings
When it comes to changing Etihad Guest award tickets, you’ll be charged a fixed amount, factoring in how far in advance you make the change:
- Changes more than 21 days out are free on Deluxe bookings, and incur an AED 100 fee on Comfort and Value bookings
- Changes between eight and 21 days of departure incur an AED 100 fee on Deluxe bookings, and an AED 200 fee on Comfort and Value bookings
- Cancellations between one and seven days of departure incur an AED 400 fee on Deluxe bookings, and aren’t possible on Comfort and Value bookings
- Cancellations within 24 hours of departure aren’t possible on any kind of booking
These policies make me avoid Etihad Guest
As you can see, Etihad Guest has updated its change and cancellation fees on award tickets, though I wouldn’t consider the changes to be material. Some people benefit slightly, others are slightly worse off, but the reality remains that Etihad Guest has the strictest cancellation fees of any frequent flyer program in the world.
With many loyalty programs, airline award ticket cancellation fees are lower than ever before, reflecting how we’ve seen many tickets become a lot more flexible. Nowadays many programs don’t even charge any fees to cancel an award ticket, which is a great option to have.
Etihad Guest’s policy, meanwhile is the opposite extreme. On the one hand, I see where Etihad is coming from. The idea is that revenue fares and award fares are aligned in terms of policies. At the same time, when that’s counter to the industry norm, it’s a serious competitive disadvantage.
The truth is that I’d engage in the Etihad Guest program a lot more if it weren’t for this policy. I value flexibility a lot, and I simply don’t want to risk basically forfeiting a ticket (or 75% of the ticket value) if my plans change leading up to departure.
So I’m sad to see that these updates to Etihad Guest change and cancellation fees don’t undue the past changes.
Bottom line
Etihad Guest has updated its change and cancellation fees on award tickets. The program has the industry’s most stringent policies on this front, and that applies both before and after the most recent changes. I wish Etihad award tickets came with more flexibility, but I guess that’s not a change Etihad is planning on making.
What do you make of Etihad Guest’s award cancellation fees?
