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Etihad Airways has released quite a bit of saver business class availability between North America and Abu Dhabi, with connections available across the Middle East, Asia and Africa (including the Maldives and India). I was able to find multiple seats from Chicago, Dulles, New York and Toronto, with the best availability being to/from ORD, Dulles and JFK.
Air Canada Aeroplan appears to have far better availability than American Airlines or even Etihad itself, which can sometimes be the case with Etihad. On Aeroplan, any itinerary that stays under 8,000 miles one-way will be 85,000 miles, longer itineraries will go up to 100,000 miles. As Nick notes in his rundown of why he’s been loving Aeroplan, you can also add a stopover for only 5,000 miles, and Abu Dhabi is a perfect destination for a short stay.
The Deal
- Fly Etihad Airways Business Class from Chicago, JFK, Dulles or Toronto to/from Abu Dhabi and beyond. Best availability is using Air Canada Aeroplan with award prices starting at 85,000 Aeroplan Miles one-way. Availability is between September 2022 and May 2023, with gaps during the holidays.
- Aeroplan is a transfer partner of American Express, Chase, Bilt and Capital One. Transfers are instant.
- Complex awards or awards with stopovers have to be booked over the phone at 800-361-5373
Aeroplan’s site can be a somewhat cumbersome place to search dates quickly, as it’s only possible to look at five days at a time (although you can then toggle through additional five day periods). In order to see the best availability and to be able to use the functions below, log-in to the Aeroplan site first. After entering your flight search, select “business class” in the upper left corner so that you can see the cheapest business class pricing over that five day period:
In order to hone in on Etihad business space on flights with a connection, use the dropdown menu to select a connection in Abu Dhabi and exclude mixed-cabin itineraries. See this example from Chicago to Dehli:
There is pretty broad availability all across Etihad’s route map, including many hard-to-find destinations, like Chicago – Delhi:
Or Chicago to the Maldives:
Quick Thoughts
Etihad has an excellent business product, operating both A-350’s and 787’s out of North America. Business Class availability tends to come in waves (like today) and then be sparse until another wave is released. This is a great opportunity if you have your sights set on the the Middle East, Africa or Southern Asia in the next few months. Take a look sooner then later as it probably won’t last long.
(h/t: Stefan at Rapid Travel Chai)
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abu dhabi – the perfect stopover? nice post, but let’s not sugarcoat things…
Thanks for the information I was able to find Etihad business ticket from JFK to abu Dahbi in March for 85k , I always wanted to visit this region so I decided to visit abu dahbi , Dubi and Doha, i was lucky again to find a business ticket on Qatar back to Houston using 20% capital one discount to Avios . So I transferred only 59k points and $144 in fees
Thanks again
Great!!!
Whenever I search this route it always routes through London with insane taxes making it not worthwhile redemption
Which route? Which days? Via Aeroplan? I’m still seeing quite a bit of availability out there on the dates that I’m searching.
Thanks Tim! My Etihad Guest miles don’t stretch far for their own metal.
Should it be possible to redeem 104k ANA miles for Etihad Business from US to AUH Round Trip with a free stopover, given they are partners?
I remember a time when “Wide Open” meant 4+ seats…
If u have 4+ seats u may have to call in twice. All I can figure insha Allah that they release these in batches of 3 or 4 at a time.
AA doesn’t show Etihad space online but should have same availability as Aeroplan. Need to call AA foreign call center to peice together itinerary if booking through AA
When I called, the rep couldn’t find any of the connecting results shown above (a situation I’ve encountered in the past). If you find otherwise, let us know!
Interesting. I know domestic call center can’t piece it together for whatever reason. In the past I’ve had better luck with HK/SIN/Australia call centers. It can be random which one is able to see it
Is this an issue only for travel originating from North America? In a few attempts for booking travel originating in Europe, AA was able to see Etihad award space I saw on Air Canada.
Might be. I’ve never tried to use AA call centers for Europe origination.