An Asian Holiday: Part 3 – Using Miles for Two $8,000 First Class Seats to Mumbai, India
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Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers. Emily Jablon: Daraius and I celebrated Christmas in Macau and Hong Kong with his family for ~8 days. It was our 1st time to Macau and Hong Kong and we were very excited to visit!
An Asian Holiday – Trip Report Index:
- Part 1 – Using Miles and Points to Get to India And Hong Kong
- Part 2 – Etihad Lounge in Washington, DC
- Part 3 – Using Miles for Two $8,000 First Class Seats to Mumbai, India
- Part 4 – By Air and Sea – Cathay First Class to Hong Kong, Ferry to Macau
- Part 5 – A Free Stay in a ~$360 Per Night Suite at the Grand Hyatt Macau
- Part 6 – A Surprise Trip to the Panda Pavilion, Street Entertainment, and a Historic Walking Tour
- Part 7 – Historic Sites, Street Food & a Show in Macau
- Part 8 – Egg Tarts & Other Delicacies in Macau
- Part 9 – Our Free Stay at the Conrad Hong Kong
- Part 10 – Spectacular View of Hong Kong From Victoria Peak & the Amazing Symphony of Lights
- Part 11 – Hong Kong Walking Tour of Shops, Flowers, and More
- Part 12 – The Best Gnocchi Emily’s Had in Her Entire Life and Other Meals in Hong Kong
- Part 13 – From Fine Dining to Food Stalls, Eating in Hong Kong
- Part 14 – Sipping Champagne in the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge, Hong Kong
- Part 15 – Cathay Pacific First Class from Hong Kong to the US
- Part 16 – Conclusion and Blog Giveaway
How You Can Do It Too!
We redeemed 90,000 American Airlines miles & $30 in taxes, fees, and telephone bookings fees for a 1-way flight in First Class (plus fees). Coach costs ~$950, Business Class costs ~$6,000, and First Class costs a whopping ~$8,000. So you are getting a lot of value for your points!
How Many Miles You Need:
- Coach Class: 45,000 American Airlines miles
- Business Class: 67,500 American Airline miles
- First Class: 90,000 American Airlines miles
But you can’t find Etihad award seats on the American Airlines website. You have to check for award seats on Etihad’s website and then call American Airlines to book your ticket.
How to Get the Miles:
1. Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard®
You get 100,000 miles when you spend $10,000 within 3 months using the Citi American Airlines Executive card. So this is the easiest way to get the points to fly First Class on Etihad.
Here are 40+ Ways to Complete Minimum Spending Requirements!
2. Citi American Airlines Cards
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® and CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard® each get you 50,000 miles when you spend $3,000 within 3 months.
The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum and CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.3. American Express Starwood Hotel Cards
The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
and the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express each get you 25,000 Starwood points when you spend $5,000 within 6 months. Starwood points transfer to American Airlines at a 1:1 ratio. You’ll also get a 5,000 point bonus each time you transfer 20,000 points to American Airlines.
If you earn the bonus on both cards you will have 60,000 Starwood points (50,000 bonus points + 10,000 points from completing the minimum spending). You can transfer Starwood hotel points to American Airlines. 60,000 Starwood hotel points transfers to 75,000 American Airlines miles (60,000 miles + 15,000 transfer bonus).
That gets you most of the way to a Business Class ticket on Etihad.
Etihad Flight From Washington, DC to Abu Dhabi
1. Etihad First Class Suite
Emily Jablon: The cabin was gorgeous. It looked very new.
And I loved the smart, stylish design.
The seats were very roomy.
The cabins are in warm brown, tan, and cream colors, and are accented with wood panels.
There were TVs that had music, movies, games, and tv shows.
There were storage compartments that held water (still and sparkling) and mixed nuts.
I appreciated that water was within reach at all times.
There’s also a magazine storage compartment by your seat…
There’s also an easy to use touch screen, which controlled the lights and seats. There was even a massage function!
Each cabin has doors that close for added privacy.
Daraius really enjoyed it! It is his favorite First Class cabin.
Daraius and I chose the middle seats, which I think is best for couples because it felt very spacious inside our suite.
There was a screen in the middle that you could put up in case you wanted privacy.
The seats are very comfortable and convert into beds, which are bigger than the usual First Class seat beds.
We received men’s pajamas for Daraius…
In addition, we received gender specific amenity kits. Daraius received a black amenity kit.
Inside were the usual amenities, including socks, an eye mask, a razor, shaving cream, and more.
The women’s kits had Swarovski crystal detailing.
The women’s amenity kit included many of the same items found in the men’s kit.
The pajamas were very comfortable.
2. Etihad In-Flight Dining
We received 3 menus for the flight: 1 for tea, 1 for alcoholic drinks, and 1 for food.
Here’s the 1st page of the food menu:
And here is the 2nd page of the food menu:
Here is the drink menu:
Finally, here is the tea menu:
The Chef came out to introduce himself. We could tell that he was a “real” chef and not a flight attendant in chef’s clothing by the questions he asked and when he shared his background (he was a culinary school graduate).
Daraius ordered the Taste of Arabia, which included Arabic appetizers, lentil soup, lamb etc.
Afterwards, we received our 1st courses. I ordered the pea and mint soup with sour cream and chives.
Then we received raspberry sorbet as a palette cleanser.
Daraius received his 1st course of Arabic Mezze, a selection of Middle Eastern hot and cold appetizers.
Then he had lamb ghouzi.
For my main course, I had beef with mashed potatoes and green beans. The beef was very well cooked and it didn’t taste like rubber like it does on many other flights!
I watched an episode of Mad Men and enjoyed the large high resolution TV. Then, Daraius and I both went to sleep.
The beds seemed larger than most in-flight beds. I could bend my knees freely without having to worry about knocking them on hard wood or plastic!
The staff will make your bed for you with a fitted sheet and a duvet.
Daraius was anxious to sleep.
After a few hours, we got up. I ordered the breakfast sampler, which came with 2 pastries, muesli (granola), yogurt, and fresh fruit. To drink, I had a mix of half carrot juice and half orange juice.
3. Etihad First and Business Class Lounge
When we arrived at the Abu Dhabi Airport we made our way to the lounge.
There was another lounge for folks who don’t have access to the First & Business Class lounges, which you could access with the Lounge Club membership with your Chase Ink Bold or Ink Plus card.
There was a long line to clear security, but a shorter line for business class and First Class passengers.
The lounge was easy to find.
Once we were inside, we decided to get something to eat.
The lounge looked very new and modern.
The lounge was empty, but we didn’t have time to schedule a free massage.
After a snack, we boarded our next flight to Mumbai. We got lucky and our plane had a First Class cabin which was exactly like what we flew from Washington, DC to Abu Dhabi. So we won’t write more about it here.
Etihad also has a service for complimentary executive car rides to your home destination. So Daraius booked the car service online at the Etihad website. The driver was at the Mumbai airport holding up a sign with Daraius’ name.
Daraius and I thoroughly enjoyed our flight on Etihad airways! The service and quality are excellent!
But our favorites are still Lufthansa First class flight (the separate bed with a real mattress is hard to beat) and Jet Airways First Class (for their exceptional ground handling in Mumbai, India). But Etihad is certainly included in our top 3 or 4 First Class experiences.
How You Can Do It Too!
We redeemed 90,000 American Airlines miles for a 1-way flight in First Class (plus fees). Coach costs ~$950, Business Class costs ~$6,000, and First Class costs a whopping ~$8,000. So you are getting a lot of value for your points!
How Many Miles You Need:
- Coach Class: 45,000 American Airlines miles
- Business Class: 67,500 American Airline miles
- First Class: 90,000 American Airlines miles
But you can’t find Etihad award seats on the American Airlines website. You have to check for award seats on Etihad’s website and then call American Airlines to book your ticket.
How to Get the Miles:
1. Citi American Airlines Executive Card
You get 100,000 miles when you spend $10,000 within 3 months using the Citi American Airlines Executive card. So this is the easiest way to get the points to fly First Class on Etihad.
Here are 40+ Ways to Complete the Minimum Spending.
2. Citi American Airlines Cards
The Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard and CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard each get you 50,000 miles when you spend $3,000 within 3 months.
3. American Express Starwood Cards
The American Express Starwood Personal card and the American Express Starwood Business card each get you 25,000 Starwood points when you spend $5,000 within 6 months. Starwood points transfer to American Airlines at a 1:1 ratio. You’ll also get a 5,000 point bonus each time you transfer 20,000 points to American Airlines.
If you earn the bonus on both cards you will have 60,000 Starwood points (50,000 bonus points + 10,000 points from completing the minimum spending). You can transfer Starwood hotel points to American Airlines. 60,000 Starwood hotel points transfers to 75,000 American Airlines miles (60,000 miles + 15,000 transfer bonus)
That gets you most of the way to a Business Class ticket on Etihad.
Bottom LineWe really enjoyed flying in the First Class Suites on Etihad. The suites were very spacious and private. And the seats were comfortable.
These seats usually cost ~$8,000, so this is an experience we never would have without miles and points!
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