Weekend Blitz

This post is continued from Etihad A380 First Apartment – Flight EY 460 Abu Dhabi-AUH to Melbourne-MEL – Part 1. Check it out to see the first half of the review.

Proving size was really the theme of the experience, even the bathroom was huge:

I took a quick glimpse of the stairs, just to confirm that we were, in fact, on the 2nd floor:

Before turning in for the night, we walked around the cabin to explore the on-board bar.

The bar is situated on the top deck of the A380 aircraft, in-between First and Business class:

It was completely empty when we made our way [...]

After spending a very enjoyable and luxurious 3+ hours in the Etihad Airways Flagship First Class Lounge – Abu Dhabi-AUH, it was time for the main event: The Etihad First Apartment!

We booked this bucket list flight using American Airlines AAdvantage miles for a total of 60,000 miles; this was before a major AAdvantage devaluation and now the flight would cost you 100,000 miles for the one-way route from the “Middle East” region to the “South Pacific” region. Furthermore, since we both have the Barclay AA credit card, we got a 10% rebate, driving the total price down to 54,000 miles + ~$79 in taxes each for the ~$6,300+ flight. We got even more [...]

A trip to the Etihad Airways First Class Lounge in Abu Dhabi was the warm-up to the main event: flying the Etihad First Apartment from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne. It was essentially the only reason we had chosen to route from the US to Australia via the Middle East. And a visit to the brand new lounge was nearly as exciting as flying the A380 since our trip was just about 3 weeks after the May 30th grand opening–talk about timing!

As a result, we were purposely very, VERY early arriving at the airport for as much lounge-time as possible before heading to our gate. We checked in quickly and were welcomed into the lounge which is located immediately after going through [...]

After landing in Abu Dhabi-AUH from our flight from Washington, D.C., we popped into the Etihad Arrivals Lounge after going through passport control/customs. We had our chauffeur already scheduled, so we really only had the time to head to the lounge for some water. We couldn’t stop ourselves from trying a quick snack, too — pita and hummus and a few bite-sized sandwiches.

At around, the lounge was mostly empty. Interestingly, it looked very similar to the Etihad lounge at IAD, with the same decor: dark wood with bright white and light blue leather upholstery.

In the lounge, there’s also a shower area and Jeffrey almost [...]

As part of our quest to fly on Etihad’s A380 in their “First Apartment” from Abu Dhabi-AUH to Melbourne-MEL, we had to find a way to position to AUH for the flight over. We decided it would be fun to spend some time in the UAE (we quickly regretted this decision as soon as we stepped into the desert in 117°F heat) and found award availability from Washington-IAD direct to Abu Dhabi-AUH. Best of all, it was operated by one of their new 787s and featured their “Business Studio” class of service.

Here’s a map of our route for the 13 hr 10 min flight that covers a distance of 7,088 miles (11,407 km):

CHECK-IN

We landed on [...]

After getting to Dulles way too early for our flight out to Dubai, we were extra-eager to finally arrive at the Etihad First and Business Class Lounge. This was one of our (many) highlights of our upcoming trip, and it didn’t disappoint. The Etihad lounge is located at A16, right next to their gate. Because they have just one gate at Dulles, Business & First passengers can board directly from the lounge which is super, super awesome (and a first for us!).

Headed to Gate A16

Entrance to the Etihad Business/First Lounge

As soon as the sliding doors [...]

The first award redemption of our Around the World trip to Dubai/Australia was booked using American Airlines miles.

We used 60,750 American Airlines AAdvantage miles each (a total of 67,5o0 – 10% rebate since we both have the AAdvantage Aviator Red MasterCard) and booked the following routes in Business Class. We booked before the March 2016 American AAdvantage devaluation, but this award only increased 2,500 points to 70,000 total (link to new award map here).

While we would never have paid the cash rates, it’s always nice knowing that your miles are getting a lot of value as the airfare for this route hovers at around $9,700 per [...]

We’ve getting pump about our upcoming trip to the UAE and Australia! Here’s a quick overview of where we’re headed and how we’re getting there…

In total, we’ll cover 32,661 miles over about 14 days and will be touching down in 4 countries (2 brand new ones for me and 3 for McCown)!

Part 1 – Charleston to Abu Dhabi

The first leg of our trip has us flying from Charleston to Abu Dhabi using an American Airlines award reservation.

We’ll fly American Airlines from Charleston-CHS to Washington Reagan-DCA and then make a connection to Washington Dulles-IAD for the long haul flight to Abu [...]