Just Booked Maldives Flights for Monday! Emirates First Class Awards for $30

by Adam

Talk about waiting until the last minute…but I always say you find the best seats when you are extremely flexible and can hold out as long as possible. I have reservations at the Conrad Hilton in the Maldives starting next week that were booked just prior to the HHonors devaluation at the amazing rate of 37.5K per night instead of the new rate of 95K per night. However, until today I still did not have any flights booked. I was hoping for Emirates First Class to open up from New York, but as of this evening only business class was available for two seats on the JFK-DXB leg. However, the LAX-DXB flight had First open up last night and so I went ahead and pulled the trigger today, booking with my Alaska Airlines miles (180,000 and $30 total). Unfortunately, there were no available domestic connections from NYC – LAX on Alaskan metal using miles at the standard award rate, so I’ll have to book the connections separately. I am pretty psyched for my first Emirates First experience though, especially since it will be on the A380 with the in-flight shower spa! Until now, I’ve only flown them in business – Emirates A380 Business – JFK-Dubai Trip Report. There were easier connections available via Houston, Dallas, Toronto, Boston and Washington, but none of those locations would have given us the Emirates First A380 experience.

UPDATE – Check out the completed trip report here – Trip Report – Emirates A380 First Class LAX – Dubai (DXB) w/ Shower Spa Part 1

Emirates Booking

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34 comments

Wandering Aramean December 6, 2013 - 3:35 pm

Ahh…the old teaser title which leaves out critical details in order to generate more traffic.

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JustSaying December 6, 2013 - 3:53 pm

Is she who you are traveling with? BAMF!

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adam December 7, 2013 - 5:01 pm

@JustSaying – 😉

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Keaton December 6, 2013 - 4:44 pm

Really curious how you managed to get 180,000 Alaska Air miles. I’d love to do this and I have plenty of Chase UR points. What are your suggestions? I would love to fly on Emirates.

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adam December 7, 2013 - 5:02 pm

@Keaton – The Bank of America suite of Alaska Airlines cards are your friends!They sign-up bonuses aren’t huge but they are churnable!

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scibuff December 6, 2013 - 5:16 pm

nice one, but saying that you got it for $30 is quite misleading as all those miles & points you’ve used are not for nothing …

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Julian December 6, 2013 - 5:17 pm

I’m looking to book that same correction as well for next year. Have a great trip and be sure to report on your shower experience!

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adam December 7, 2013 - 5:08 pm

@Julian – Thanks Julian, will definitely be reporting on the experience!!

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Craig December 6, 2013 - 6:42 pm

Looks Great! but how are you getting back?

Also, how will you handle the long seven-hour layover in DXB?

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adam December 7, 2013 - 5:10 pm

@Craig – Haven’t figured either of those out yet…par for the course hah. right now we are thinking a quick dinner in town for the layover. In terms of the flights home, there are a few choices. Emirates again, Turkish via United/Ultimate Rewards, or Cathay via HKG.

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Summer December 6, 2013 - 7:00 pm

Your title is so misleading. It’s not $30. It’s 180K AS points + $30. 180K points can be worth up to $3000!

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Shannon December 6, 2013 - 7:23 pm

$30 plus 180,000 miles….how to accumulate so many Alaska miles? 6 Bank Of America credit cards?

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ClearedCustoms December 6, 2013 - 8:22 pm

That looks awesome.

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Karim W December 6, 2013 - 8:36 pm

That is awesome. I’m going to Dubai and the Seychelles at the end of this month and I’m hoping that something will open up on Emirates First Class.

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Iowan December 6, 2013 - 8:44 pm

How many nights are you staying at the Conrad Maldives? I am arriving there on December 19th.

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Joey December 7, 2013 - 1:12 am

I flew EK First this past January jfk-dxb-sin and loved the experience! Have fun!

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adam December 7, 2013 - 5:11 pm

@Joey – Nice! I’m very much looking forward to the first experience!

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Matteo December 7, 2013 - 2:07 am

Aside from Alaskan Airlines. What other program award miles can I use for emirates? Or AMEX transfer etc. Cheers.

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Alan December 7, 2013 - 2:40 am

I give u 130, can u book one for me?

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adam December 7, 2013 - 5:13 pm

@Alan – Sure!

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Yana December 7, 2013 - 3:21 am

Enjoy the flight and Conrad. I am jealous. We just came back from our honeymoon at Conrad (also booked on points before devaluation) and enjoyed the hotel and Maldives tremendously. Unfortunately, had to slog in coach on Etihad. 🙁

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adam December 7, 2013 - 5:14 pm

@Yana – Thanks! I’m sure coach on Etihad was still pretty sweet…

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DaninSTL December 7, 2013 - 5:20 am

Maybe you can recreate your own version of the photo for your trip report 🙂
Also I like the use of Alaska miles for this even if you couldn’t get the metal all the way there.

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adam December 7, 2013 - 5:16 pm

@DaninSTL – Definitely! Just booked our JFK-LAX flights on UA for 12.5 miles a person in Economy Comfort.

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timmer1001 December 7, 2013 - 6:13 am

Why deceive people?
All you bloggers have is your credibility and yours is rapidly decreasing when you mislead people like that

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Brooke December 7, 2013 - 3:51 pm

Timmer & Summer – how did he deceive anyone? You are reading a blog about points and he used points and spent $30. Summer 180K can be up to 30,000K

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adam December 7, 2013 - 5:17 pm

@Timmer / Summer / Joe S – Sorry, was just super excited that a flight that is pricing for over $23,000 was had so easily and with only $30 out of pocket. Yes, clearly I used miles as well. Sorry about that, didn’t mean to be deceptive at all.

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Joe S December 7, 2013 - 4:14 pm

Horribly misleading. You should be ashamed of posting this.

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My First Shower in the Sky – A380 Experience LAX-DXB - Point Me To The Plane December 10, 2013 - 12:25 pm

[…] Just Booked Maldives Flights for Monday! Emirates First Class Awards for $30 Currently Flying JFK-LAX to Connect to Emirates First A380 LAX-DXB! […]

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Return Flights Finally Booked from the Maldives…while here - Point Me To The Plane December 15, 2013 - 9:51 am

[…] Just Booked Maldives Flights for Monday! Emirates First Class Awards for $30 […]

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Delta SkyMiles Award Booking Assistance - Point Me to the Plane December 16, 2014 - 4:34 pm

[…] It’s sad when this warrants a post but I am in shock! I got the most convenient flights amongst all carriers to the destinations I wanted, in business, on my requested dates (no flexibility this time), and at the low level…AND IT’S WITH DELTA SKYMILES! You may remember a few weeks ago when I posted about securing a room at the SPG Santa Marina Luxury Collection property in Mykonos for this coming summer – SPG 100,000 Euro Hotel Room Booked with Points! Greek Islands 2015…. Booking the room was extremely difficult and the dates are not at all flexible. As normal, I figured I’d book the flights a few weeks out when there tends to be the best availability (I’m comfortable waiting until the last possible minute, see – Just Booked Maldives Flights for Monday! Emirates First Class Awards for $30). […]

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abby December 18, 2014 - 1:20 am

congrats on making my blog ignore list. idiotic click bate headline. 180m miles PLUS roundtrip for 2 to LA. yeah, you’re a master at this game. lol.

pathetic.

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Adam December 18, 2014 - 1:40 pm

@abby – You seem a bit confused, that’s 90K a person for 2 First Class tickets on Emirates to the Maldives from the US. That’s a fantastic redemption. I don’t understand your comment at all and you seem to be unaware of the value of miles.

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