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Etihad last minute award availability
Etihad used to be consistently generous with last minute award availability. You could track your desired cabin load and if there were several seats available then you could rely upon them releasing all but one, maybe two, seats for awards. This is no longer the case. When I started looking at ways to book my parents First Class tickets around the world I figured the Etihad Apartment space from Abu Dhabi to London would be some of the easiest to find last minute. There are 3 flights a day, 2:35, 8:10 and 13:50. Initially I booked my mom and I on the 2:35 flight and my dad on the 8:10 with the initial desire to move all of us to the 13:50. However, Etihad Last minute award availability isn’t what it used to be.
Early 2016, every flight would have 3 or 4, sometimes even 5 seats, available a couple days prior to departure.
As we progressed through 2016 I noticed the last minute award availability fluctuating quite a bit, no longer being as reliably generous as it was when the trip was first conceived. I’d seen some flights where they opened a seat or two, and then some where they flew the cabin half full. What’s even more interesting is that the avail comes and goes. If you see a few seats open at noon and check back at 6…they may still show empty on expertflyer’s seat map, but no longer available for “guest seat” redemption.
By the time 2017 came around, there wasn’t any consistency.
Using Expertflyer is the easiest way to snatch seats as they peel off and luckily about 6 weeks prior to departure I was able to move my Mom to the 8:10 flight with my dad. I was still on the 2:35 First Apartment until the day before we were scheduled to leave, and ultimately switched from the Apartment to the Business Studio on the 8:10 so we could fly all together. The last time I checked the load of the 13:35 there were 5 seats free in the Apartment cabin. None were released to Etihad Guest ( which is avail to partners) prior to departure.
As a data point, for week on ends the business studio had no seats available for the day we wished to fly, on any cabin. However, the night before travel, the 8:10 flashed 5 seats available as “Guest Seat.” Within a couple hours they were gone. No other flights opened any Business Studio. Very lucky.
If you’re thinking of flying Etihad in a premium cabin, I’d certainly set alerts on expertflyer, but if it’s important to fly together, on a specific day, or in a premium cabin…be obsessive. Be, be obsessed.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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