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Etihad A380 has returned
Like an action hero of the 1990s…the Etihad A380 is now un-retired and ready for another payday. Wahoo! This means you can book the inimitable First Class Apartment and Residence with points and miles because these bad boys are on the schedule between London and Abu Dhabi. The award space has been coming in waves, late last night it was wide open, now early today it seems to have vanished. We actually saw this in December when the announcement was made and people had problems booking online and phone reps had issues as well. Currently, your best bet is calling American to book.
In the past, calling the AA Australia number was your best bet
In case you’re unfamiliar with why this is such an amazing deal…check out the A380 First Class Apartments which I flew in 2019.
I also have had the pleasure of flying the A380 in business studios a couple of times…and a downright steal for just 42.5k AA miles
How many miles would it cost to fly AUH to LHR in first or business class?
- American Miles ( Bilt Rewards )
- 62.5k in First
- 42.5k in Business
- Aeroplan ( Amex, Bilt, Chase, Capital One )
- 65k in first
- 45k in business
- Etihad ( Amex, Capital One, Citi )
- 87.750 in first
- 62,500 in business
You could also book with Asiana miles, but so few people have them, and they aren’t a transfer partner of any 1:1 currency that I haven’t detailed them. ( You can populate via Marriott, however ).
Currently, it’s just 62.5k American miles to book First Class between Abu Dhabi and London – you want to make sure the cabin shows Airbus A380 as Etihad does operate a dreamliner on the route as well.
Overall
It’s unclear how long Etihad will continue to operate the A380s, but this is an awesome development for anyone who has had their eyes and points set on flying this incredible product. I’d say it would make for a really cool way to fly from Europe to Africa, Asia, The Maldives, India, etc with a connection in AUH en route.
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
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 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, 2027.
- $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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