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Cross It off the Bucket List! Reader Cedric Showered In Style at 33,000 Feet!

  • Jason Stauffer

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    Welcome to the next installment of our Reader Success Series where Million Mile Secrets Readers share how they booked a trip with miles & points to get Big Travel with Small Money! Cedric is our newest reader success story to show folks it’s possible to travel without spending a lot of money.
    Experiencing an Etihad First Class Apartment Redefined Being a Couch Potato!
    A big thank you to him for sharing his story!

    What’s your name and how long have you been involved in the miles & points hobby?

    My name is Cedric, but most people know me as Ginger Around The World.  I currently work and live in Dubai.

    I often just fly wherever the cheap economy flights take me.  But last year I set a goal to experience Business and First Class!

    Here we are, 1 year later, and I have taken 5 First Class flights on Qatar and Etihad.  And I took an additional 8 flights in Business Class on Malaysia Airlines, Etihad, Emirates, and AirAsia!

    What was the goal of your trip?

    The goal of my most recent trip was to shower at 33,000 feet and enjoy the crazy luxury of Etihad’s First Class Apartments in the sky.

    Success! I Showered at 33,000 Feet!

    How long did you collect miles and points for your trip?

    I collected miles for ~6 months in order to book my Etihad First Class Apartment award ticket.

    Some of the miles were earned by booking super cheap Business Class deals.  The other miles I collected with a 60,000 Etihad mile sign-up bonus from an NBAD Etihad Guest credit card.

    Which points did you save to take your trip?

    For this particular trip, I collected Etihad miles.

    Some of the miles were earned by booking super cheap Business Class deals.  I found great deals on Etihad and Philippine Airlines Business Class tickets, and credited those miles to Etihad.  You can check out the video of my Philippine Airlines Business Class flight here!

    The other miles I collected with a 60,000 Etihad mile sign-up bonus from an NBAD Etihad Guest credit card.

    After My Shower, I Was Ready for a Nap!

    Which cards would you recommend to open for a trip like yours?

    I would recommend opening the following cards if you can:

    • NBAD Etihad Guest Infinite Card
    • ADIB Etihad Guest Card
    • Emirates NBD Starwood World Mastercard
    • Citi Prestige® Card

    How did you search and find the award flights?

    I found my award flight on the Etihad website.  I didn’t know about ExpertFlyer back then!

    What was the most challenging part about planning your trip? How did you solve it?

    It was a challenge to find an award seat on a date that was suitable for me.  But I got lucky and found a seat a week before I needed to travel from Abu Dhabi to London.

    When you start your miles and points hobby, the vocabulary and different ways to earn, transfer, and redeem miles are overwhelming.  But a lot of reading and research helps to make sense of it all!

    You Can Order Food Anytime in Etihad Apartment Class! I Got the Wagyu Beef!

    What would you say to folks looking to plan a similar trip?  Or to those who haven’t taken a miles & points trip yet!

    You should set goals before you earn and burn your miles and points.  But the most important thing is being flexible.  That’s how I got some of my First Class and Business Class flight deals!

    Sometimes it takes flying from Dubai to Cairo to Doha to Bangkok to Hanoi and all the way back to score great deals.

    Want to Share Your Story?

    If you’d like to be considered for our reader success story series, please send me a note!  Emily and I would love to hear about how you travel with miles and points!
    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)