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If Etihad joins Star Alliance, 75k points may put you in First/Apartment to the Middle East
Yesterday OMAAT published a post saying, on good authority, Star Alliance was potentially welcoming a new member: Etihad. My mind started spinning. Would this mean the end of the AA partnership? Should I make another speculative placeholder redemption for Etihad First Class with my AA miles? See, I’m an AA Exec Plat, and am working on retaining it and Alaska’s MVPG 75k this year. If they joined *A who knows how long AA miles could lock down a ticket? I don’t really have many miles in Star Alliance. I have access to them via Chase, Amex, and Citi, but I don’t actively pursue Star Alliance revenue fares. Then I looked at Singapore Airlines award chart for the Middle East. HOLY COW. If Etihad joins Star Alliance, 75k points may put you in First/Apartment to the Middle East.
Yes, I’m talking the Apartment and Diamond First/ First Suite
Where am I getting 75k?
Singapore Airlines award chart. First class is 150k roundtrip for partner awards.
Why is this a “MAY put you in First/Apartment?”
Etihad opens up their first class awards to partners right now. In fact it costs 115k AA to fly it from JFK to AUH. However, this deal is a maybe right now, and we have no idea what the terms will be…Etihad could restrict availability to partners for their most coveted awards. Singapore holds back First Class/Suites from it’s partners and makes them only avail to their own loyalists. Swiss Air restricts as well. Air France, albeiet SkyTeam, only releases to their Top Tier status holders! You get my point…
Put out those good vibes!
What are some other rates?
American at 115k
Aeroplan at 115k
United is a whopping 140k!!!
To end on a high note…this would also mean that the INCREDIBLE Etihad Business Studio would come in at only 57,500 Singapore Krisflyer from the States to the middle east.
To go even further…look at Europe to the Middle East?! 35k!!!!
You can fly the Apartment on the A380 from AUH to LHR. THAT IS RIDICS!!!!
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
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 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)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
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® Card is great 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: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
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