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I recently received an email from Etihad with good news for airberlin topbonus members! Or, at least I think it is!
Topbonus insolvency
As you may know airberlin and topbonus filed for insolvency in August 2017, at which time, they advised that there would be no further opportunities to redeem or earn topbonus rewards. Bummer! Admittedly, I did not have a whopping balance in my loyalty account, but I was hoping to use them for a short hop to Europe.
If you have accumulated a significant balance however, this news may have been a great disappointment!
A ray of hope
So what’s the ray of hope on the horizon? This email advised that ‘topbonus Ltd. and the loyalty program are here to stay’.
‘Even if airberlin doesn’t survive (optimistic then?), topbonus members will still be able to earn and redeem miles with Etihad Airways. You will also continue to earn miles with airberlin partners on the ground.’
The offer applies to all flights to and from Germany and Switzerland for worldwide flights with Etihad. You can book flights until the 17 November 2017 for travel up to 28 March 2018. This means you will have to act quickly, and will also need to have a pretty substantial balance, as the minimum redemption is 25,000 miles. Full details can be found on the topbonus website and here is a link to their FAQs.
Is this good news for you?
So, this is good news for you if you are able to travel soon, can travel from Germany or Switzerland, and have enough reward points. For me, it’s nigh on useless, as I’m going to have to get to Germany, somehow accumulate a lot of points and fit in another trip when I have already made a number of plans.
If you only have a small balance in topbonus, this is unlikely to make much difference to you. It’s certainly a step in the right direction though, and is a sign that maybe topbonus is on the up?
What do you think?
Have you been impacted by insolvency announcement and if so how does this announcement benefit you?
Interesting, though I wonder if there is a catch. It is good that you can transfer the points to airlines like Ethihad. Definitely helps you from losing it all.
I have only flown Airberlin a couple of times in the past and I have enjoyed it. It is a shame about what is happening with them and I never knew about airberlin and topbonus filing for insolvency in August of this year. But it is good to know that Etihad will honour the topbonus miles. It is also good to know that they will try and build a better customer base if possible.
Wow this does sound like bad news to their customers, and I’d definitely be thinking about points too. What a thoughtful and clear to spell it out to people on what they should do if they have points.
Solvency of AirBerlin must have been a shock for many of its loyal customers! I am glad you put across this as a blog post as it will create awareness among all travelers on the precautions to take before taking a loyalty bonus of an airline!
I have flown Etihad a couple of times but do not know much about Airberlin and topbonus. However, I do think it is good that you can still redeem with Etihad as well as the other partners of Airberlin.
Saddened to know about the insolvency of AirBerlin. But I am glad to hear that Etihad will honour the topbonus miles and build a better customer base as well in hindsight.
In case, Air Berlin becomes defunct then I am sure Etihad will pick it up and rebrand it as an European carrier and have a wider reach.
That’s what I think!