Conscious Choices, a series of sustainable initiatives incorporated into Etihad’s loyalty programme Etihad Guest, will give members the ability to earn miles by making environmentally friendly choices.
With the new initiatives, members can earn miles for various ‘green’ choices, such as offsetting flights, flying lighter by carrying less baggage, and even making environmentally friendly choices on their own.
Conscious Choices
Conscious Choices will allow members to earn miles on carbon offsetting their flights and flying with less baggage. When not flying, members can offset their carbon emissions during various daily activities, such as driving, cooling your home, cooking your dinner and more. Offset options range from one month to one year and members can donate miles to green causes through the programme. Additionally, members can purchase sustainable products via the Etihad Guest Reward Shop, through Eithad’s partnership with Collinson and CarbonClick.
The airline also offers the option of a digital membership instead of a physical one. The reward miles collected from these choices will help members maintain existing membership tiers, as well as help to unlock new benefits in new tiers. The goal is to not only encourage conscious choices within the travel industry but also within travellers’ daily lives.
Sustainability First in the Industry
The move positions Etihad as the first airline to reward passengers for sustainable actions both in the air and on the ground. While the programme is now available for members to be rewarded for offsetting flights with miles and the ability to purchase products with rewards, the full benefits will be rolled out in January 2022.
The Conscious Choices programme supports Etihad’s overall sustainability ambitions of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The airline also has a goal to halve 2019 emissions by 2035.
The Greenliner programme, as part of Etihad’s sustainability initiatives over the past two years, has helped to significantly reduce CO2. From these learnings, Etihad operated its most sustainable flight ever in October, with a 72% reduction in carbon emissions in absolute terms compared to an equivalent flight that operated in 2019. Throughout 2021, the airline offset the emissions of the Greenliner – totalling approximately 80,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
“While Etihad has focused on developing technology and innovative solutions for operational efficiency that will actively reduce the CO2 emissions of flying, we have placed an equal focus on the guest. To that end we have been developing our sustainable loyalty programme for the last year, listening to member feedback and taking into account their priorities and expectations for travel. Through this we have refined a programme that will provide members with the ability and incentive to travel more sustainably, while further reinforcing our position as a planet-conscious travel and lifestyle brand.” – Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group
The airline is also focusing on using sustainable aviation fuels, choosing optimised flight paths, and reducing contrails. On the ground, sustainable initiatives include the operation of more electric vehicles, the adoption of thousands of mangroves, and partnerships with a shared vision for cleaner skies. Etihad’s current carbon offset programme supports Peru’s Cordillera Azul National Park project and Indonesia’s Katingan Mentaya project through a partnership with Respira, Shell, and CarbonClick.
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