Etihad Airways launches loyalty challenge with major prize

Celebrating the launch of several international destinations, Etihad Airways is conducting "The Extraordinary Challenge," a loyalty program initiative offering a prize of five million miles to one member. Due to its popularity, Etihad increased the prize pool and introduced additional rewards. Mark Potter, Director of Loyalty at Etihad Airways, explained the challenge's purpose.

Potter noted that launching 17 new destinations in 12 months was significant for the airline. The challenge aimed to promote these new routes while engaging members in travel experiences across four continents. "We needed something to be bold as a program that went out to market and talk about those destinations, but also allowed our members to be part of that journey," Potter said.

Initially, the challenge required participants to visit all 15 destinations. However, due to high demand, Etihad added more accessible challenges. For instance, members visiting five or ten destinations could earn smaller mile rewards. "[For] those members who don't have the ability to travel to all 15, we can still give them a reason to transact and hopefully engage in some of the new, exciting destinations we have," Potter stated.