I had it all lined up and ready to go. The plan was to finish my epic Tahiti trip with a flight aboard Etihad Apartments. On paper, it looked like the world’s greatest redemption: Emirates Shower Class to Dubai and Shanghai , followed by Air New Zealand Dreamliner round trip to Tahiti for 60k United miles with free nights in the IHG Bora Bora and Hilton Moorea, then Shanghai to Abu Dhabi in Etihad business, culminating with the icing on the cake, Etihad Apartments from Abu Dhabi to JFK.
The cost of the two Etihad flights was $30 + 120,000 AAdvantage miles. I rationalized that receiving a 10,000 mile rebate from having the Citi AA card would make the 110k redemption worthwhile. During the booking process, the agent in the AA Singapore office (since the AA American office still can’t find availability) asked me if I thought it was worth spending 120k to fly from Asia to the US in first when a first class flight would only be 67,500 on Cathay Pacific. Consumed by apartments and not by sound logic, I said of course.
All night I tossed and turned as the agent’s words replayed in my head. Was it really worth spending double miles simply for apartments? Then the back and forth ensued:
Back: AA is devaluing, if you want to fly Cathay after March you’ll end up paying 120k. This way you get business class and apartments for the same price. Don’t forget you’ll receive a 9k rebate!
Forth: Idiot, you know you’ll find a way to book apartments before then. Don’t waste your points.
Back & Forth: Why don’t you just book the apartments from AUH-JFK. That will cost you 90k points and then you can find a way to get to Abu Dhabi without burning 30k points.
Back: You might as well pay the 30k then because it’s a 10 hour flight from Shanghai to Abu Dhabi in Etihad business.
Back Or Forth: Why is it so hard to find Singapore Suite class availability?
TPOL: I’m cancelling the hold and going to sleep.
What would you do next?
Only you know your circumstances. I’d probably do it, particularly if you have the miles and they’re not earmarked for any specific use. It’s not going to be any cheaper to fly Etihad in the future, so if your goal is Apartments, “Get er done” as the duck dynasticists or whoever say. If you want to fly Cathay, use Alaska miles.
The trip has to work out naturally so I’ll wait and see. I only use Alaska for Emirates. Cathay is good but not worth the special points.
I thought AUH-LAX is flown by 77L which does not have the apartment?
My fault, I meant JFK. You are correct. I just flew AUH-LAX first on Etihad. Need to fix that.