There is excellent award space availability from London-LHR to Abu Dhabi-AUH on Etihad’s A380 First Apartment in 2016. The award space shows hundreds of seats available from April – October 2016, with many flights showing space for 3, 4, 5 or even 6 award tickets in the First Class cabin. These seats are bookable using 40,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles each way.

As a quick recap, here is a list of the routes that Etihad currently operates using their A380 to/from Abu Dhabi:

• London-LHR – 3,432 miles
• New York-JFK – 6,867 miles
• Melbourne-MEL (beginning June 1, 2016) – 7,235 miles
• Sydney-SYD – 7,492 miles

Best Values

The number of miles required for each will vary– along with the flying times:

40,000 miles (goes up to 62,500 miles on Mach 22, 2016)

London-LHR → Abu Dhabi-AUH – EY 12 & EY 20 – 7hr 15min
Abu Dhabi-AUH → London-LHR – EY 11 & EY 19 – 8hr 10min

60,000 miles (goes up to 100,000 miles on Mach 22, 2016)

Sydney-SYD → Abu Dhabi-AUH – EY 455 – 14hr 50min
Abu Dhabi-AUH → Sydney-SYD – EY 454 – 13hr 55min

Melbourne-MEL → Abu Dhabi-AUH – EY 461 – 14hr 05min
Abu Dhabi-AUH → Melbourne-MEL – EY 460 – 13hr 35min

90,000 miles (goes up to 115,000 miles on Mach 22, 2016)

New York-JFK → Abu Dhabi-AUH – EY 102 – 12hr 45min
Abu Dhabi-AUH → New York-JFK – EY 103 – 14hr 50min

As you’ll see, the Australia routes will give you the best bang for your buck if trying to maximize your time in the premium Etihad cabin. The lower the number, the better:

Abu Dhabi-AUH → New York-JFK = ~6.1k miles/hr
Abu Dhabi-AUH → London-LHR = ~4.9k miles/hr
Melbourne-MEL → Abu Dhabi-AUH = ~4.3k miles/hr
Sydney-SYD → Abu Dhabi-AUH = ~4k miles/hr

While the Australia routes provide the best value, the routes to/from Europe are also a good deal at just 40,000 miles one-way for 7-8+ hours in this fantastic cabin:

Award Availability

Dates with 3+ seats:

• July 24: 4 seats
• July 26: 5 seats
• August 3: 5 seats
• August 4: 3 seats
• August 5: 3 seats
• August 6: 5 seats
• August 7: 5 seats
• August 8: 6 seats
• August 11: 4 seats
• August 16: 4 seats
• August 18: 4 seats
• August 21: 4 seats
• October 23: 4 seats
• October 24: 6 seats
• October 26: 5 seats
• October 27: 2x flights with 3 seats

Here’s the Etihad A380 First Apartment award space that is available for at least two passengers between April and October 2016. This is a snapshot of what was available around 8 pm EST 12/21; the award space is guaranteed to change. Availability from London-LHR to Abu Dhabi-AUH:

BOTTOM LINE: Hurry up and book a seat on one of the most luxurious experiences miles and points can buy: The Etihad A380 First Class Apartment. It’s pretty phenomenal that certain routes are giving up 6 of the 9 first class seats to award bookers. If you book using American Airlines AAdvantage miles before March 22, 2016, you can still realize some significant values.