CIMB Removes Flying Blue, Makes Etihad Guest Miles More Expensive, but Adds DragonPass.
Flying Blue is gone, and Etihad Miles became more expensive
We were looking through the CIMB Miles and Points Redemption Catalogue last week and noticed that the option to convert CIMB Bonus Points to Flying Blue miles had been removed. However, we couldn’t find any official announcement on CIMB’s website.
So BolehMiles reached out to CIMB team, and they confirmed that Air France-KLM Flying Blue has been removed as a miles transfer partner effective 11 October 2026.
Also, they clarified that this is not a temporary ‘out of stock’ situation, but a permanent change.
As for Etihad Guest miles, while we have not verified this with CIMB, we can see that the requirement to redeem 5,000 Etihad Guest miles has also been increased from 75,000 BP to 100,000 BP (a 33.3% increase), now the same conversion rate as JAL Mileage Bank.
CIMB applies the same miles conversion rate to all its cards. Here’s the new Etihad miles earning rates across different CIMB cards:
| Category |  |
|
 CIMB Travel World Elite |
Overseas Airlines Duty-Free |
0.50 MPR |
 CIMB Preferred VI |
Dining Overseas |
0.53 MPR^ |
 CIMB e-Card |
PayWave Online Shopping Auto-billing |
0.60 MPR# |
^ 0.53 MPR assumes bonus with RM10,000 spend, and 0.55 MPR with RM12,000 spend, with all spend on local dining and overseas.
# Valid for e-Day only (28th of each month). Limit of RM1,667 monthly.
Our take on this
Most of our readers use Enrich and KrisFlyer and Asia Miles only. While Flying Blue is less ‘mainstream’, it is popular among advanced mileschasers.
With Flying Blue, you can do multi-country trips with no stopover fee, redeem flights on Malaysia Airlines, and access sweet spots on KLM and China Airlines.
IIMMPACT (Every) used to offer FB miles, but they have also recently ceased its rewards portal. The only option left in the Malaysian market now is HSBC, but the conversion rate isn’t great.
With CIMB removing Flying Blue, we now effectively have one less FFP option to transfer to – which is a bummer.
As for Etihad, it’s not that popular to begin with. There are some interesting redemptions on Etihad partner airlines, including Malaysia Airlines, Gulf Air (particularly KUL–SIN), and even Starlux. But now that it has become more expensive to convert, demand will likely remain low.
| Route | Airline | FFP | Economy (Miles) |
Business (Miles) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KUL-SIN |  |
|
6,000 | 20,000 |
| TPE-NRT |  |
15,000 | 30,000 | |
| CGK-DPS |  |
12,000 | 25,000 |
Yay: CIMB Adds Mastercard Travel Pass by DragonPass !
Note: We have discussed this in our Telegram in early October, but now include it here on our website for our readers who are not in our Telegram.
CIMB has expanded its lounge options with Mastercard Travel Pass by DragonPass, offering access to over 1,400+ lounges worldwide. The cards offering DragonPass are:
- CIMB Private Wealth World Elite
- CIMB Travel World Elite (TWE)
- CIMB Travel World (TW)
| Card | Access Method | Lounge Selection | No. of Lounges | Free Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 or Physical card |
Plaza Premium First, Plaza Premium Lounge, and partner lounges and restaurants |
360+ | 12x per year (combined) |
 |
Overseas lounges, excluding Plaza Premium First |
1,500+ |
What’s nice about CIMB cards is that they have always offered access to Plaza Premium First, which is great for those who prefer a less crowded experience compared to regular Plaza Premium Lounges.
With access to both Plaza Premium First and DragonPass, CIMB’s lounge benefits are now arguably comparable to Maybank’s Amex Platinum Charge – albeit with fewer complimentary visits and supplementary benefits.
Here’s a comparison of lounge access benefit between the Maybank, CIMB and UOB:
| Card | Pass | Free Visits | Supp. Card |
Guest | Lounge Selection |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maybank PlatinumCharge |
 |
Unlimited | ✅ | ✅ | 1,900+ |
|
CIMB Private/ TWE/TW |
|
12 | ✅ | ❌ | 1,500+ (Excludes Malaysia lounges) |
UOB VI
|
|
12 | ❌ | ❌ | 1,500+ |
The CIMB lounge selection is now on par with UOB Visa Infinite’s DragonPass, with 1,500 lounges worldwide. The main catch is that CIMB excludes Dragonpass lounges in Malaysia, meaning no access to “special lounges” in KLIA such as Sphere Lounge, Sky Suite Lounge, or Kepler Sleeping Pod.
Still, this is great news for premium travellers, and we would now put CIMB second only to Malaysia’s king of lounge access – Maybank’s Amex Platinum Charge.
Conclusion
CIMB removed Flying Blue in early October, a key frequent flyer programme for advanced miles chasers.
Etihad Guest also suffered a devaluation, with the conversion requirement increasing from 75,000 to 100,000 CIMB Bonus Points for 5,000 Etihad Guest Miles. This effectively reduces the earn rate for CIMB TWE to 0.50 MPR.
On the positive side, CIMB has added DragonPass to its CIMB Travel Mastercards, a game changer considering that DragonPass was previously exclusive to UOB cards (UOB Visa Infinite – read our review here).
Overall, despite the setbacks with Flying Blue and Etihad Guest, we think the addition of DragonPass has strengthened CIMB’s overall value proposition, especially for frequent travellers.
What do you think of these changes? Let us know in the BolehMiles Telegram community!