How to book Etihad Award space using American AAdvantage miles
The Etihad Apartment is currently the indisputable king of first
class products. Each “apartment” will consist of a separate seat / bed
combination, and all first class passengers receive a complimentary in flight
shower.
With at least 50% more space than its nearest competitor, it’s
indisputable that Etihad truly reimagined how flying should be.
The retail cost of flying in the apartment can easily reach over
$10,000, and is frequently flown by the ultra-rich and major celebrities.
Fortunately, you don’t need to be Nicole Kidman to fly in
the Etihad Suites. It turns out Etihad is an airline partner with American
Airlines, which means you can redeem your American Airlines miles for travel on
the Etihad Apartment!
How many miles will the Etihad Apartment cost me?
Although American Airlines recently devalued its award chart,
the amount of miles needed is still quite reasonable for the amazing first
class experience you are getting in return.
To fly on the Etihad Apartment you will need to fly on
Etihad’s A380. Unlike Emirates, Etihad flies the A380 only on a few select
routes.
Here is the current list of flights that currently use the
A380:
Miles needed are for
one way flights
New York – Abu Dhabi (115,000 miles)
Sydney – Abu Dhabi (100,000 miles)
London – Abu Dhabi (62,500 miles)
Mumbai – Abu Dhabi (40,000 miles)
Credit Cards that
earn AA miles
Starwood Rewards currently has two credit cards, the Starwood Preferred American Express Card and the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card, both of which offer 35,000 miles upon meeting minimum spend, which can be converted to American miles. Due to Starwood offering a bonus 5000 miles whenever you transfer 25,000 miles, you’re effectively earning 40,000 American miles. The current bonus is the highest sign up bonus ever offered by Starwood!
AMEX – Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card from American Express
 |
35,000bonus miles |
$ 5,000minimum spend |
$ 01st year fee |
Apply now |
Current Offer:
Earn 25,000 AMEX Starwood Miles after you spend $ 3,000 in purchases within 5 months of account opening.
Annual Fee:
$ 95, waived the first year.
Foreign transaction fees: none
Card bonuses:
AMEX – Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express
|
35,000bonus miles |
$ 3,000minimum spend |
$ 01st year fee |
Apply now |
Current Offer:
Earn 25,000 AMEX Starwood Miles after you spend $ 3,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening.
Annual Fee:
$ 95, waived the first year.
Foreign transaction fees: none
Card bonuses:
Citibank, the main bank partner of American Airlines, currently has three personal cards and one business card that earn AAdvantage miles.
Currently, Citibank is running a limited time increase sign up bonus of 50,000 miles for both the personal and business versions of Citi AA Platinum Select Card, over 60% higher than the previous offer of 30,000 miles.
By applying and meeting the minimum spend for both the business and personal version of the AA Platinum card, you will earn 100,000 miles.
Citibank – Citi AA Platinum Select Card
 |
30,000bonus miles |
$ 3,000minimum spend |
$ 01st year fee |
Apply now |
Current Offer:
Earn 50,000 American Miles after you spend $ 3,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening.
Annual Fee:
$ 95, waived the first year.
Foreign transaction fees: none
Card bonuses:
Citibank – Citi AA Business Card
 |
30,000bonus miles |
$ 3,000minimum spend |
$ 01st year fee |
Apply now |
Current Offer:
Earn 50,000 American Miles after you spend $ 3,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening.
Annual Fee:
$ 95, waived for the first year.
Foreign transaction fees: none
Card bonuses:
One of the major benefits of the AA Citi Platinum Card is whenever you book any AA award, you automatically get a 10% rebate, up to 10,000 miles a year.
This cuts down your true cost of a one way first class flight on North American flights with Cathay Pacific from 67,500 to 60,750 miles.
By applying for both cards and meeting your minimum spend, you will have enough miles to fly one way on Cathay Pacific first and economy on the other leg!
Keep in mind that while you do need to have a business to apply for a business card, you may qualify if you have any sort of income stream that doesn’t fit the traditional “mold” of a business. Click here to learn more about how you can qualify for a business card.
If you don’t have your own business, you’ll have to apply for either the AA Gold card or the AA executive platinum card, which provides complimentary access to all AA lounges.
Citibank – Citi AA Executive Platinum Card
 |
50,000bonus miles |
$ 5,000minimum spend |
$ 01st year fee |
Apply now |
Current Offer:
Earn 75,000 American Miles after you spend $ 5,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening.
Annual Fee:
$ 450, waived the first year.
Foreign transaction fees: none
Card bonuses:
Citibank – Citi AA Gold Mastercard
 |
25,000bonus miles |
$ 750minimum spend |
$ 01st year fee |
Apply now |
Current Offer:
Earn 25,000 American Miles after you spend $ 750 in purchases within 3 months of account opening.
Annual Fee:
$ 50, waived the first year.
Foreign transaction fees: none
Card bonuses:
Keep in mind Citibank does have a rule in which you cannot apply for more than one card at once. Instead you will need to wait eight days until you can apply for another card. After which, you cannot apply for any more cards for another 60 days.
FOR EXAMPLE:
You want to apply for both the personal version of the Citi AA platinum card and the AA Executive Platinum Card. You apply for the AA platinum card on December 15th. You cannot apply for Citi Executive Card until December 23rd.
When to Apply
Since you have three months to complete your minimum spend, I would highly recommend applying for your credit cards now, to give yourself the maximum amount of time to meet your minimum spend.
The latest date I would apply for any credit card that earns AA miles would be on February 1st, after which you will have one month to complete your minimum spend, receive your bonus miles, and redeem your miles for an award ticket.
Keep in mind you can book an award on miles over up to 330 days before departure, so this means you can book an award on Cathay Pacific First class for flights up to February 2017.
Once you have enough miles, you will need search for award space and book your award.
How to book Award Space on Cathay Pacific
Step 1
Login to your Executive account on British Airways. If you don’t have an account yet, click here to sign up.
Step 2
Click Executive Club then click Spending Avios.
Step 3
On the Spending Avios page, under Choose your Reward, click Book a reward flight.
Step 4
On the Book Flights with Avios page, click One Way Only and enter all the necessary information for your trip: departure and arrival airports, desired departure date, preferred cabin class, and the number of adults flying.
Step 5
Click Get flights. If you get a prompt that says Changes to reward flight fare prices, check the box to agree to the terms and conditions, and click Continue.
If a pop-up appears asking if you want to add a stopover for your flight, click No, I want to continue without stopovers and Continue.
Step 6
Write down any available award space. Keep searching for award space on different dates. If you would like to change the date, you can click on the dates within the week or select the change button.
To maximize your chances of finding award space, search for multiple dates and destinations.
Step 7
Write down the available flights that fit your schedule. You will need to reference them later.
| Departure Airport | Departure City | Arrival Airport | Arrival City |
|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | Boston | HKG | Hong Kong |
| JFK | New York | HKG | Hong Kong |
| LAX | Los Angeles | HKG | Hong Kong |
| ORD | Chicago | HKG | Hong Kong |
| SFO | San Francisco | HKG | Hong Kong |
| YVR | Vancouver | HKG | Hong Kong |
To book your flight, you simply have to call American Airlines’ AAdvantage help line to book it. Here is a sample script:
- You:
- Hi there. I would like to book an award ticket.
-
The agent will probably ask for details such as your name, departure and arrival cities, and the dates that you want to travel.
Once the agent confirms your details, you can continue with the script.
- You:
- First, I would like to fly from [START CITY] to [CONNECTING CITY] on [DATE OF 1st Flight] at [TIME OF 1st Flight]. Flight number [FLIGHT NUMBER] in [CABIN CLASS].
- You:
- I would then want to continue by adding the flight [CONNECTING CITY] to [CONNECTING CITY] on [DATE OF 2nd Flight] at [TIME OF 2nd Flight]. Flight number [FLIGHT NUMBER 2] in [CABIN CLASS].
- You:
- Finally, I would like to end with a flight from [CONNECTING CITY] to [FINAL CITY] on [Date OF Last Flight] at [TIME OF Last Flight] in [CABIN CLASS].
If you have more cities, extend the script as needed.
The agent will then proceed to calculate the number of miles you need for your whole trip. He may put you on hold for a bit. When the agent returns, he will give you the amount of miles needed for your trip. Make sure the total amount of miles is correct.
If the number of miles is correct, you may give the agent your payment details for any small taxes & fees due.
Congratulations! Start packing your bags, for your trip from ___ to ___ is officially booked!