Amex Canada to Remove Etihad Guest as a Transfer Partner

American Express Membership Rewards is dropping Etihad Guest as a transfer partner on June 20, 2026, removing one of the lesser-used redemption paths from the largest flexible points program in Canada.

This change affects Canadian Amex MR cardholders only, and you have until June 19, 2026 to move points across at the existing 1,000:750 ratio. After that, the option disappears from the transfer page entirely.

Etihad Guest was never a marquee partner for Canadian Amex MR. The 4:3 ratio meant 50,000 MR points became just 37,500 Etihad Guest miles, well below the 1:1 you get with Aeroplan, The British Airways Club, and Air France KLM Flying Blue. But it had a few specific use cases worth knowing about before the door closes.

What's Changing

Effective June 20, 2026, you can no longer transfer Membership Rewards points to Etihad Guest from a Canadian Amex MR account. The last day to initiate a transfer at the existing 1,000:750 ratio is June 19, 2026.

Note that the US Amex MR program is also losing Etihad Guest, but the timeline runs to June 30, 2026 at a 1:1 ratio. Canadians get an earlier cutoff and a less favourable ratio on the way out.

Affected cards include the Cobalt Card, Gold Rewards Card, Platinum Card, Business Platinum Card, and Business Gold Rewards Card. Anything that earns transferable Membership Rewards points is in scope.

Why the Loss Is Smaller than It Looks

For Canadian cardholders, Etihad Guest sat near the bottom of the transfer chart for a reason. At 4:3, every Membership Rewards transfer carried a 33% premium compared to the 1:1 you get when moving MR points to Aeroplan or Flying Blue.

Etihad Guest's most useful trick for Canadians was booking short-haul Air Canada or American Airlines flights through its distance-based partner chart. Flights under 500 miles cost just 6,000 Etihad Guest miles in economy, roughly 8,000 MR points, which often undercut Aeroplan or American Airlines AAdvantage when those programs were showing peak dynamic prices.

For most Canadians, the practical hit amounts to one niche use case shrinking. Booking Etihad Airways itself with MR points still works through Aeroplan and Flying Blue at the same 1:1 rate as before, and those paths were already the better deal.

How to Use Your MR Points Before June 19

If you've been sitting on a stash of MR earmarked for a specific Etihad Guest redemption, the next six weeks are your runway. Pull the trigger on the booking, then transfer just the miles you need.

If you don't have a specific itinerary in mind, don't speculatively transfer at 4:3 just to lock in the partnership. You'll end up with stranded miles in a program you don't otherwise use, with no good way to top them up after June 20.

One alternative path remains if you want to reach Etihad Guest after the deadline. Marriott Bonvoy still transfers to Etihad Guest at 3:1 (with a 5,000-mile bonus per 60,000 transferred), and you can move Canadian Amex MR to Marriott Bonvoy at a 1:1.2 ratio. The math is poor. 50,000 MR points becomes 60,000 Bonvoy points, which becomes 25,000 Etihad Guest miles, but the path is there if you need it.

Booking Etihad Airways After June 20

Etihad Airways isn't disappearing as a redemption option for Canadian Amex MR cardholders. The direct path to Etihad Guest miles is what's going away, not the ability to fly Etihad on points.

Aeroplan remains a partner of Etihad Airways and continues to book Etihad flights for Canadian Amex MR cardholders at a 1:1 transfer ratio. Aeroplan moved Etihad to dynamic pricing in March 2025, so Toronto–Abu Dhabi business class typically starts at around 75,000 Aeroplan points one-way and can climb above 100,000 points on peak dates.

Flying Blue is the second route. Air France KLM Flying Blue added Etihad as a redemption partner in late 2023 and prices Toronto–Abu Dhabi business class at 89,500 Flying Blue miles, which is a useful backup when Aeroplan is showing dynamic prices well above 90,000 points. We wrote about that addition here.

Both Aeroplan and Flying Blue accept Membership Rewards transfers at 1:1, which is a better effective rate than the 4:3 transfer to Etihad Guest ever offered.

AAdvantage Is Still the Best Way to Book Etihad Airways

One option Canadian Amex MR cardholders can't reach directly, but absolutely should know about, is American Airlines AAdvantage. AAdvantage remains the strongest program for booking Etihad Airways awards, particularly in first class.

AAdvantage prices Toronto to Abu Dhabi first class on the new A380 Apartments at 115,000 miles one-way, Abu Dhabi to London first class at 62,500 miles, and Abu Dhabi to Singapore first class at 50,000 miles, all without fuel surcharges. No other program comes close on Etihad first class.

The catch for Canadians is access. There is no direct transfer path from Amex MR to AAdvantage, and the only direct Canadian bank route into the program is RBC Avion at a 1:0.7 ratio. With a 15% transfer bonus (which RBC has run periodically), the effective rate climbs to roughly 1:0.8, which is workable for a high-cents-per-point redemption like Etihad Apartments.

If you split your earning between Amex and RBC, or have an Avion stash sitting around, AAdvantage is the redemption to chase for Etihad first class.

What Canadian Amex MR Looks Like After June 20

Even with Etihad Guest gone, the Canadian Amex MR transfer chart still runs deep. The 1:1 partners that matter most for Canadian travellers are Aeroplan, The British Airways Club, and Air France KLM Flying Blue.

Hilton Honors transfers at 1:1 with periodic bonuses, and Marriott Bonvoy comes in at a favourable 1:1.2. Asia Miles, Delta SkyMiles, and a handful of European programs round out the chart at the same 4:3 rate that Etihad Guest used to occupy.

Compared to the US version, the Canadian list is thin. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer both sit on the US Amex MR chart and would be obvious additions here, since reaching either currently means routing through Marriott Bonvoy.

For our full breakdown of where Canadian Amex MR points belong, see our guide to American Express Membership Rewards in Canada.

Conclusion

If you have a stash of Membership Rewards points and a confirmed Etihad Guest redemption you've been planning, transfer by June 19 and book the ticket. If you don't, skip this one entirely.

The smarter long-term play for booking Etihad Airways with Canadian Amex MR was already through Aeroplan or Flying Blue at 1:1, and that doesn't change on June 20. If you're chasing Etihad first class, American Airlines AAdvantage via RBC Avion remains the program to know. Losing Etihad Guest as a direct partner is a small inconvenience, not a hit to the program's value.

The bigger ask is that Amex Canada uses this retirement as an opportunity to add something new. Amex in other markets has been quietly adding Accor Live Limitless to its transfer chart over the past couple of years, and that might be a realistic next move for Canada too.