The Single Best Use of Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles

Consistent readers of The Alviator will know that lately I’ve partnered with Singaporean loyalty programme HeyMax to release a series on how to most effectively use certain different airline loyalty schemes. At the time, I promised that I would provide genuine opinions of loyalty programmes, as opposed to just promoting every single programme they had on as a transfer option. HeyMax was very supportive of this, which is one of the reasons I love working with them.

When HeyMax added Ethiopian Airlines as a transfer option a month or so ago, I’m not going to lie – I didn’t think much of it, as I didn’t see the value to using Ethiopian Airlines’ loyalty programme. After all, I’d never flown them before (and still never have), couldn’t find any great deals with them, and nobody else was really promoting them. However, I think I may have found the single best use of Ethiopian Airlines’ Shebamiles, which might actually be one of the best uses of miles for shorthaul premium cabin flying that I know (thanks to David from the HeyMax team for pointing this out).

Use Ethiopian Airlines Shebamiles for travel on their fifth-freedom flights

A fifth-freedom flight is a flight between two countries operated by an airline originating from a third country. For example, Cathay Pacific is a Hong Kong-based airline, though flies from Hong Kong to Tokyo via Taipei. The Taipei to Tokyo counts as a fifth-freedom flight, since the airline is allowed to sell tickets between those two destinations.

Ethiopian Airlines has the biggest fifth-freedom route network in the world. They have a whopping 22 fifth-freedom routes, compared to 15 on Emirates (the runner-up). This is mainly due to the high altitude of Addis Ababa Airport, which means that their aircraft have a lower maximum takeoff weight. As a result, the airline minimises fuel costs simply by flying more flights that cover more destinations before flying to and from Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian prices all of their shorthaul fifth-freedom routes at 15,000 miles one-way. This is the same number of miles that British Airways will charge you for their shortest international destinations in Club Europe, except we’re talking about a lie-flat seat with inflight entertainment. It’s also significantly less than what you’d pay for a Cathay Pacific flight within Asia (28,000 Asia miles one-way between Bangkok and Hong Kong), and still less than what Singapore Airlines charges for the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur flight (22,000 miles). It’s just ever slightly more than the number of Avios you’ll pay for a Malaysia Airlines flight (12,500) between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, though you’re getting a much better seat.

Ethiopian releases these seats solely to members of their own programme – I’ve not seen a seat on a Ethiopian Airlines fifth-freedom flight offered by a Star Alliance partner, though I have seen some longhaul flights via Addis Ababa.

I’ve never flown Ethiopian business class before, though my friend Rhys from Head for Points flew them from Manchester to Geneva a few years back. The soft product isn’t that far off from what you’d get on a comparable flight on British Airways or Lufthansa (I wouldn’t expect a hot meal), though I’d expect there to be a more extensive drinks menu, and obviously the seat is exponentially better.

The one thing to note is that Ethiopian has a few versions of each of their 787 and A350 aircraft (which operate a majority of their fifth-freedom routes). At worst, you’ll be getting a forward-facing lie-flat seat without direct aisle access. However, Ethiopian has 787s with reverse herringbone seats, and A350s with staggered seats as well.

One of Ethiopian’s many business class products

Not every route has much award space, though there are some gems. For example, in Europe and Asia, here are the three routes that I find a really good amount of Shebamiles award space, all for 15,000 miles:

• between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur
• between Bangkok and Hong Kong
• between Stockholm and Oslo

While I’d gladly redeem 15,000 miles for a lie-flat seat between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur or between Stockholm and Oslo, in my opinion the sweet spot here is the Bangkok to Hong Kong flight, which is twice the length (not to mention that I regularly position to Bangkok from Hong Kong anyway, so will be seeking out opportunities to take this flight).

You can fly from Bangkok to Hong Kong on Ethiopian for 15,000 miles

Ethiopian actually provides a better deal on their fifth-freedom flights than similar-length flights out of Addis Ababa – look at the below flight from Addis Ababa to Jeddah, which despite being shorter than the Bangkok to Hong Kong flight, costs 35,000 Shebamiles.

You can also fly in economy for 10,000 miles on these fifth-freedom flights, though I don’t consider that deal to be nearly as good.

What about Ethiopian’s longhaul fifth-freedom flights?

Most of Ethiopian’s fifth-freedom flights are either shorthaul within Africa, Europe, or Asia, though they do have two longhaul flights between Lomé, Togo and Newark and Washington. One-way flights from Lomé to Newark go for 80,000 Shebamiles. I’d say that’s a good use of miles if you’re going to West Africa, though otherwise roughly in line to what you’d expect when redeeming miles for a longhaul flight.

Funnily enough, Ethiopian actually asks for fewer miles if you’re flying out of Addis Ababa, despite the fact that the Addis Ababa to Lome flight is 5h 30m (!).

The transcon itself costs 40,000 miles, which might be creeping on the high end for a 5h 30m flight, though pricing runs quite inelastically on intra-Africa routes.

I thought it’d be fun to include this point of comparison – I don’t consider this to be as good of a deal as the intra-Europe and intra-Asia fifth-freedom segments, though this can be helpful if you’re looking to fly specifically from Africa to the U.S..

Other uses of Ethiopian Shebamiles

If you’re trying to fly from Europe to Asia, I’d say that Ethiopian can’t outprice their competitors when it comes to redeeming for award seats. American Airlines AAdvantage, Air Canada Aeroplan, and even Cathay Pacific Asia Miles have better redemption opportunities, and more award space. However, if you’d find it fun to spend a day in Addis Ababa (e.g. if it would be your first time in Africa), this could be a good way to spend Shebamiles if they’re easily attainable for you. If you’re specifically looking to fly Ethiopian you’ll also get a better rate with Shebamiles than Aeroplan miles, since Aeroplan prices their award tickets as per distance flown, and Addis Ababa is enough of a detour to knock the total price up to 110,000 miles one-way.

In terms of partner awards, I see the most award space on Turkish Airlines and Air China, though once again Aeroplan offers the better deal on those routes.

One-way awards on Turkish Airlines between Europe and Asia go for around 90,000 Shebamiles

How to earn Ethiopian Airlines Shebamiles

Ethiopian Airlines is part of the Star Alliance, so you can earn Shebamiles by crediting any Star Alliance flight to the airline. Other codeshare partners include Etihad, regional airline ASKY, Malawian Airlines, and GOL. You can even play games and answer surveys to earn (small amounts of) Shebamiles through Shebamiles Everyday.

There aren’t many opportunities to accrue Shebamiles in the U.S. and UK, though HeyMax in Singapore/Hong Kong has Shebamiles as an instant transfer option.

Conclusion

While Ethiopian Airlines’ award redemption rates aren’t the most competitive in the industry, I think that redeeming Shebamiles for a fifth-freedom flight intra-Europe or intra-Asia is one of the industry’s best sweet spots, assuming you have easy access to Shebamiles. While this blog post focuses mainly on intra-Europe and intra-Asia opportunities, do be sure to check out pricing for fifth-freedom flights within Africa as well if you’re based there.

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