Etihad Swaps to 777 on JFK-AUH, Redeeming AA Miles & My First Award to the Maldives

by Adam

Etihad has announced that they plan to increase capacity on their JFK-AUH flight by replacing the current A340-500 aircraft on the route with a B777-300ER. The B777-300ER will have a total of 328 seats with eight in Diamond First, 40 in Pearl Business, and 280 in Coral Economy class. The current A340-500 has 240 seats, 12 in first, 28 in business, and 200 in economy.

New York was our first point of entry into America and we have seen it continue to grow year-on-year, strengthened by our relationship with American Airlines. Beyond our direct daily services to New York, Chicago and recently-launched Washington, D.C., our partnership with American Airlines allows us to codeshare and connect our guests to more than 65 cities across the U.S.

The swap will bring wifi service to the route with a cost of $11.95 per hour or $21.95 for 24 hours, though wifi is complimentary in Diamond First.

Etihad has very generous first and business class award space as well as outstanding service. I recently was able to secure two tickets in first for a trip to the Maldives in December (part of the plan to burn my HHonors points before the devaluation) using my AA miles. Here’s a refresher on the current AA & ANA redemption options for Etihad:

American – Awards to the UAE fall under American’s Indian Subcontinent / Middle East category and cost 90k for economy, 135k for business, and 180k for first roundtrip.  For those of you who also booked one of the Hilton Maldives properties prior to the Hilton devaluation, the Maldives falls under the same category and won’t cost you any additional points. However, remember that due to AA’s rules, Etihad must sell a published fare between the city pairs that you intend to travel between. What this means is that a JFK-MLE award will work as Etihad sells fares between these two cities. However, a BOS-MLE award will price as two separate awards, as Etihad does not publish a fare between Boston and the Maldives.

ANA – ANA utilizes a distance based award chart which works to your advantage when simply flying from New York or Toronto to Abu Dhabi, but will cost you a few additional miles if you intend to connect to the Maldives or fly on Etihad’s other North American flights from Chicago, DC, or Toronto.

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With the New York (JFK) and Toronto (YYZ) flights, you’ll just squeeze in at under 14,000 miles and will be able to book the roundtrip award at 60k for economy, 90k for business, and 140k for first. However, adding in a Maldives leg or flying in from Chicago or DC (just misses it at 7088 each way) will bring you to the next award level and will cost 65k for economy, 105k for business, and 160k for first. You can check distances using the Great Circle Mapper here.
Remember, you can earn ANA points via transfers from American Express Membership Rewards (around a 3 day delay) or via SPG transfers. Unfortunately, ANA now imposes fuel surcharges on all partners besides US Airways and they are extremely high for Etihad First and Business. AA is surely the better option.

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Planning a stopover in the UAE? See this recent story from the AP – Bikini ban: Emirate sets fines for skimpy swimwear – Fines imposed for bikinis and skimpy swimwear at some UAE beaches

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9 comments

Benji May 14, 2013 - 3:56 pm

Now if they would just release inventory past march 29 2014!

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Stefan May 14, 2013 - 3:56 pm

Mainly an improvement for J availability, not so much for F.

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Lawrence May 14, 2013 - 3:57 pm

How would you search for availability? I looked on AA’s website at flights from either IAD or JFK. Availability was slim to MLE and it only showed 90k in economy saver for redemptions. Furthermore, the flights looked to be on BA, flying into LHR and then some were continuing from LGW.
Is there another site to look at for availability or do you just have to call AA?

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Murtuza May 14, 2013 - 3:57 pm

@Lawrence. Use below link to search for space. You do not need to be member of Etihad. Any availability in “Guest” column should be booked by AA.
http://www.etihad.com/en-us/plan-and-book/book-flights-with-miles/

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Lawrence May 14, 2013 - 3:57 pm

@murtuza – thanks so much! appreciate it!!

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PhatMiles May 14, 2013 - 10:06 pm

How much does ANA charge in taxes for a JFK-AUH J Class Round Trip?

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adam May 14, 2013 - 10:27 pm

@PhatMiles – JFK-AUH is 90K in business AND a ridiculous $1000 in fuel surcharges, taxes, and fees. Do note though that business on the route will normally cost $10,000 – $16,000 depending on dates so you are still saving quite a bit.

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PhatMiles May 15, 2013 - 7:40 am

@Adam: 1K$ is an outrageous number. But that is the easiest way for an EY J Class Product I guess. Thanks again. Last week I tried doing a mock booking for IAD-AUH-HYD-AUH-IAD using ANA miles and the Agent found availability for all segments in J Class and mentioned that the approximate taxes would be in the 400$ range and the actual number can be found only if I had miles transferred to ANA. Thanks for the heads up Adam.

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Joey May 15, 2013 - 12:53 am

That’s awesome wifi is complimentary in First class (in Emirates it’s not complimentary in First.)
Also, other than the wifi service, is there any other major differences between Etihad’s A340-500 and B777-300ER?

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