Etihad Airways’ award-winning loyalty program Etihad Guest awarded “Editors Special Award” for WalletPlus™ by Cards International

Abu Dhabi, 2015-3-30 — /Travel PR News/ — Etihad Guest, Etihad Airways’ award-winning loyalty program, has just been awarded “Editors Special Award” for WalletPlus™, by Cards International, for its new reloadable multi-currency prepaid Visa card that lets travellers earn Etihad Guest Miles as they shop at millions of Visa merchants worldwide.

The award, received in recognition of WalletPlus™ being one of the most innovative loyalty card products in the region, was presented to Shyam Sunder Iyer, Manager Partnerships at Etihad Guest LLC, at the Prepaid Summit Middle East 2015 conference in Dubai.

The significant benefit of WalletPlus™ is that members pre-load travel money in their home currency onto their Etihad Guest card and convert it to 10 different foreign currencies to spend whenever they are travelling abroad.

Pre-loading the card also means that members are immediately able to spend in the local currency upon arrival in another country, without having to firsexchange or transfer funds at a bank or foreign exchange.

Yasser Al Yousuf, Managing Director, Etihad Guest LLC, said: “WalletPlus™ is a highly innovative product and the first of its kind in the region which eases the complexity of making payments when travelling overseas. To win this award so shortly after launching WalletPlus™ in the UAE is a tremendous achievement and a resounding endorsement that we are on the right course.”

The new WalletPlus™ card adds the following benefits to the award-winning Etihad Guest loyalty card program:

Earn Miles Faster – Get 1 Etihad Guest Mile for every US$ 2 spent in the UAE and 1 Etihad Guest Mile per US$ 1 spent whilst abroad.

Go Global – Brought to you by Visa, Etihad Guest card with WalletPlus™ can be used at tens of millions of global merchants and you’ll be able to withdraw at more than 2.1 million ATMs. Gold and Platinum members can also make secure contactless payments using Visa payWave, by simply waving their card when prompted near a secure contactless reader.

Plan Your Travel Spending – Lock in the exchange rate when you transfer funds to a foreign currency wallet so you know how much you can spend. 

Spend In Your Destination Currency – Load money onto your Etihad Guest card with WalletPlus™ and convert those funds into 10 popular international currencies.

Manage Money On Your Smartphone – Use our dedicated WalletPlus™ mobile app to manage your account on the go.

Enjoy Peace Of Mind – Unlike cash, if the card is lost or stolen, funds can be put on hold and a new card replacement offered, in addition to the protection available from the Chip and PIN security features of the card.

Additionally, Etihad Guest members can download the Walletplus™ mobile application, available for iOS and Android users, to access account balance and transaction history, transfer money to other Guest members with an activated Walletplus™ account (UAE Dirham only), review where to load options, and report a card lost/stolen.

WalletPlus™ cards will be sent to members in the UAE in April. To learn more about the new Etihad Guest walletplus™ program and the complete list of features and benefits, please visit: www.etihadguest.com/walletplus

Ends 

About Etihad Guest:
Etihad Guest, the award-winning multi airline loyalty program of Etihad Airways, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, and Etihad Regional was launched in August 2006 and quickly established itself as one of the airline industry’s fastest-growing and most innovative loyalty programs. Etihad Guest now boasts more than 2.8 million members. The program offers members the opportunity to accumulate Etihad Guest Miles on flights with more than 40 airline partners, such as airberlin, Virgin Australia, Alitalia and Jet Airways. Members also enjoy accruing miles with global partners, ranging from hotel accommodation and car rental to retail and financial products.

Etihad Guest members can redeem miles against a selection of flights on more than 3,000 routes and thousands of products on the Etihad Guest online Reward Shop. Etihad Guest Miles can also be used to shop at more than thirty million retail outlets worldwide with PointsPay® – an unmatched loyalty proposition.

About Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways began operations in 2003, and in 2014 carried 14.8 million passengers. From its Abu Dhabi base, Etihad Airways flies to 111 existing or announced passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. The airline has a fleet of 111 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and more than 200 aircraft on firm order, including 69 Boeing 787s, 25 Boeing 777-X, 62 Airbus A350s and nine Airbus A380s.

Etihad Airways holds equity investments in airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Aer Lingus, Alitalia, Jet Airways and Virgin Australia, and is in the process of formalising an equity investment in Swiss-based Etihad Regional, operated by Darwin Airline. Etihad Airways, along with airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia, Etihad Regional, Jet Airways and NIKI, also participate in Etihad Airways Partners, a new brand that brings together like-minded airlines to offer customers more choice through improved networks and schedules and enhanced frequent flyer benefits.  For more information, please visit: www.etihad.com

Contact for further information:
Damian James, Corporate Communications
Etihad Airways
Phone: +971 2 511 1035
Email:  djames@etihad.ae

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