Start here: Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles — joining, earning miles, tiers, awards and expiry

Step 1: What ShebaMiles is and who it suits

You will learn: what the programme is, which definitions matter, and who the terms are written for.

The terms define Ethiopian as Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise with corporate offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the ShebaMiles Program as the Ethiopian Frequent Flyer Award Program [1]. Base Miles come from basic consumption of qualifying goods and services; Bonus Miles are added-value or special-condition miles and their use may be restricted; Status Miles, also called Tier Qualifying Miles, are earned only by flying Ethiopian or Airline Partners that offer status miles [1].

As printed: the General section states that the terms are effective as at December 13, 2011 and may be amended from time to time, and also that in any conflict between this version and a version published on the ShebaMiles website, the published version prevails [1].

The terms are the basis of the programme and the member's responsibility to read; the Program Rules may be changed, varied, suspended or terminated at any time without notice, with reasonable efforts to post details to the ShebaMiles website, and use of the card or quoting of the membership number after a change is deemed acceptance of it [1]. Because miles accrue on qualifying flights and partner purchases and Status Miles only on Ethiopian or Airline Partners offering them, the programme is built around people who actually fly Ethiopian or its partner airlines [1].

Go deeper: ShebaMiles programme hub; Star Alliance guide

Step 2: Joining and your account

You will learn: who can join, how enrolment works, and the account rules that decide whether miles stay yours.

Membership is open to any individual who is at least two years of age, while online enrolment through the Ethiopian website is possible for individuals aged 18 and above; corporations, organisations, partnerships and other entities cannot be enrolled [1]. For applicants under 18, the home address on the form must be that of a parent or guardian, the applicant and a parent or guardian must sign, and a unique email address must be supplied by the parent or guardian [1]. The membership section states both that online enrolment is possible for individuals 18 years of age and above and that online access is permitted only for members above 18 years old [1].

Name changes must be notified in writing with the legal documentation Ethiopian requests, and members must keep mailing and email addresses current, since communications to the address on record count as delivered [1].

Membership terminates automatically on death or bankruptcy, with miles immediately cancelled, although Ethiopian may at its discretion reinstate miles for the heirs on application by the personal representative [1]. Ethiopian may suspend, cancel or terminate a membership or accumulated miles at any time; a member may cancel in writing or by returning the card, and all miles credited but not exchanged for awards, plus unutilised awards, are cancelled on ceasing to be a member [1].

Go deeper: ShebaMiles programme hub, where membership pages are grouped by task

Step 3: Earning miles

You will learn: where miles come from, how to make sure they are credited, and what earns nothing.

A member earns miles by taking qualifying flights or using qualifying Service Partner services on or after the enrolment date; transactions made 90 days before enrolment are not eligible [1]. Miles must be requested by producing the card or quoting the membership number during reservation, ticketing or check-in for flights, and at the point of payment for other goods and services [1]. A retroactive claim can be made at a service centre or online for any transaction after enrolment and within one year of its date; for claims through a service centre, the original tickets, boarding passes, transaction documents, receipts and any other documents Ethiopian requests must be provided [1]. Miles can be earned in one programme per flight or transaction unless a Service Partner states otherwise, only once per flight per member regardless of seats bought, and may take eight weeks or more to credit [1].

Miles are awarded only for goods and services actually supplied and only once a flight is completed — not for orders cancelled before use, not for unutilised tickets even if paid for, and not for flights or services taken by a family member, friend or anyone other than the member [1]. Employee, industry-reduced and agent-discounted tickets, non-revenue tickets, specially discounted military, diplomat or government tickets, free and award tickets, award tickets of other programmes, non-scheduled or charter flights and heavily or specially discounted tickets not showing published fares do not earn miles, and Ethiopian and its Airline Partners may exclude other fare types [1].

For Service Partners, the membership number or card is given at booking, check-in or check-out, and non-airline partner miles take at least 60 calendar days after the last date of service to credit; if they have not credited, the request goes to the Service Partner, and retroactive claims with non-airline partners can be made only within six months of the last date of service [1].

Go deeper: Missing miles claims; car rental loyalty points versus airline miles

Step 4: Tiers and what counts towards them

You will learn: how tiers are granted, what is excluded, and what the terms actually say about lounge access.

A member may be granted Platinum, Gold or Silver membership depending on the number of qualifying flights flown and/or Status Miles accrued in each calendar year; the number of Status Miles or qualifying flights required for each tier, and the benefits at each tier, may be changed at any time without notice, and the thresholds themselves are not set out in these terms [1]. Only Status Miles accumulated in each calendar year, or the number of qualifying flight sectors, is considered, and it is not carried forward to another calendar year [1]. Ethiopian may establish, upgrade or downgrade a member's tier at its sole discretion [1].

Six categories are excluded from tier qualification: flights and sectors on ShebaMiles or Airline Partner award and upgrade tickets; flight miles or sectors on revenue tickets on ASKY Airlines; miles from non-airline Service Partners; miles from purchasing miles from Ethiopian; all promotional bonus miles, except Ethiopian Airlines Cloud Nine or Business class bonus miles earned on eligible revenue tickets; and miles given as compensation for service deficiencies or other cases [1]. As printed: the Bonus Mile definition says bonus miles are not counted towards tier qualification "except for those granted on Ethiopian Airlines Cloud Nine flights on revenue tickets", while item 13.5 excepts "Ethiopian Airlines Cloud Nine or Business class bonus miles earned from flights on eligible revenue tickets" [1].

On lounges, item 5.1 states that Platinum and Gold members may access First and Business Class lounges across the Ethiopian network even when flying Ethiopian in economy, and may invite one guest, who must be travelling on an Ethiopian flight the same day from the same airport terminal and be accompanied by the inviting member, and the benefit applies only when travelling on an Ethiopian or Star Alliance member carrier flight [1]. Item 5.2 states that Silver members may access the ShebaMiles Silver Lounge at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, only when travelling on Ethiopian Airlines flights [1]. As printed: a note on item 5.1 records that, as a COVID-19 precautionary measure, the one-guest privilege for Platinum and Gold members is temporarily suspended at the lounges at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport [1].

Go deeper: Star Alliance status benefits; Ethiopian Cloud Nine lounge

Step 5: Using miles for awards

You will learn: how awards are booked and held, what they cost to change or re-credit, and which limits are printed in the terms.

Awards must be booked online at ethiopianairlines.com or directly with Ethiopian ticket offices, in person, through a legal delegate or by sending an electronic authorisation form from the member's online account, and miles may be redeemed only by that member, or by a parent or guardian for a member under 18 [1]. An award may be ordered for the member's own benefit or for a nominated beneficiary, and awards redeemed by a member or beneficiary are not for sale and cannot be exchanged for any form of payment; they are not transferable, negotiable or refundable, neither miles nor awards have any cash value [1].

Award tickets are valid for twelve months from the date of issue unless otherwise stated and cannot be extended, and expired award tickets and upgrades are not refunded, replaced or extended [1]. Miles may be re-credited if an award ticket is completely unused and valid, against US$100 for awards on Ethiopian or Airline Partner international flights and US$25 for unused and valid awards on Ethiopian domestic flights, with Platinum members exempt from the re-deposit charge [1]. Date changes on an award ticket within one year of issuance cost US$20 domestic and US$50 international, and the terms print a separate charge for date changes on class upgrade awards [1]. After the first issuance of a full award ticket or class upgrade award per flight sector, Silver members are allowed one free rebooking, Gold members two and Platinum members unlimited free re-bookings [1]. As printed: several award sentences carry missing words — each free rebooking allowance is described as being "before … of the trip" (unlimited for Platinum "before and after … of the trip"), an award should be requested "at least three weeks before … of travel", award travel may not be possible on "certain joint services or … services", an award ticket "cannot be endorsed … a carrier other than that named on the ticket", an infant not occupying a seat travels free "with an adult who is traveling on an award ticket or …", and some special or promotional tickets "may have a validity of … than twelve months" — the wording is incomplete as published and the gaps are not filled here [1].

Award tickets and upgrades can only be booked on scheduled Ethiopian flights, and the member must verify availability where award travel may not be possible; once ticketed, only date changes are allowed after paying the applicable service charge, and an issued award cannot be re-routed, so a reroute means re-crediting the valid award miles against the applicable service charges and issuing a new ticket [1].

Go deeper: Searching Star Alliance award space

Step 6: Your first concrete action

You will learn: the five things to do now, in order, so that miles credit and stay alive.

• Join — online through the Ethiopian website if you are 18 or over — and keep your mailing and email addresses up to date [1].
• Quote your membership number or show the card at reservation, ticketing or check-in on every qualifying flight, and claim any missing flight at a service centre or online within one year of the transaction date [1].
• For non-airline partners, give the number at booking or check-in, wait at least 60 calendar days after the last date of service, then direct any request to the partner, and claim within six months of the last date of service [1].
• In any year your miles are due to expire, register eligible activity on Ethiopian flights, Partner Airline flights or non-airline partner services, which extends the expiring miles for one more calendar year; flights on ShebaMiles or Partner Airline award tickets and award-mile redeposit transactions do not count towards the extension [1].
• Request awards early, keep the twelve-month ticket validity in mind, and budget for the date-change and re-credit charges if plans move [1].

Next: Mileage expiry calculator; ShebaMiles programme hub; the official ShebaMiles Terms and Conditions