Etihad Deal Update: Fly only outbound leg to skip hotel quarantine

This post is a follow-up of the amazing Etihad Business deal that I shared a couple of days ago.

In the previous article, I’ve missed one detail that would make this deal a lot more appealing to Singapore-based travellers who are planning to fly to Europe in the coming months:

You CAN get a refund in the form of Etihad credit even for partially flown tickets.

I’ve also double-checked the above with Etihad’s Twitter team:

Deal recap

Here’s a quick recap of the fares available to fly round trip Business Class from Singapore on Etihad.

City	Round trip fare from Singapore
Cairo, Egypt	S$1,286
Vienna, Austria	S$1,391
Milan, Italy	S$1,417
Brussels, Belgium	S$1,490
Amsterdam, Netherlands	S$1,499
Munich, Germany	S$1,520
Rome, Italy	S$1,564
Frankfurt, Germany	S$1,773

How to skip hotel quarantine upon returning to Singapore

As of now, these are the SHN rules that fully-vaccinated Singapore-based travellers will face upon returning to the city-state, depending on where they’ve been in the past 21 days.

Country	Quarantine in Singapore (SHN)	No. of PCR tests
Germany (VTL)	Nil	4
Germany (non-VTL)	7 days at home	3
Austria, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Egypt	14 days at home	3
United Arab Emirates	14 days in dedicated facility	3

To skip self-paid SHN in a dedicated facility upon returning to Singapore, you would have to skip the return leg of your Etihad reservation.

Because of Etihad’s generous ticket flexibility, you may cancel the return leg and get a refund in the form of Etihad Credit.

As you will be transiting in Abu Dhabi on your outbound itinerary, you will need to spend at least 21 days in the above-mentioned cities to skip SHN in a dedicated facility when you return to Singapore.

VTL example

Step 1: Book Etihad flights to a German city (Frankfurt or Munich) from S$1,520.

Step 2: Fly the first leg with a stopover in Abu Dhabi.

Step 3: Cancel the return leg (e.g. FRA-AUH-SIN) and get Etihad Credit for the value of the remaining flights.

Step 4: Spend at least 21 days in Germany.

Step 5: Book a designated VTL flight to Singapore (SQ325 and LH778 from Frankfurt, SQ331 from Munich).

Free hotel stay in Abu Dhabi

Etihad has a free stopover program where passengers can book 2 free nights in a 4-star hotel in Abu Dhabi.

There is also a “2 for 1” stopover program where passengers can get 1 free night in a 5-star hotel after booking a night.

To enjoy this benefit, book a multi-city itinerary with 1 or 2 days in Abu Dhabi.

Bottom line

If I am already planning to fly from Singapore to Europe in the coming weeks, it would be an easy decision to fly Etihad for my first leg since it’s not much more expensive than a one-way Economy flight.

The free hotel stay and higher mileage accrual almost pay for the difference, if you want to see it that way.

With the above method, you would end up with about S$800 in Etihad Credit with a 2 years validity.