Introduction: The Long Way To Abu Dhabi

Introduction: The Long Way To Abu Dhabi

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The Long Way to Abu Dhabi
More from this series:

Welcome to my next trip report series, which will cover my recent wild review trip, where I flew 26,000+ miles in six days, with only two nights in a hotel.

You can expect flight reviews of EVA Air’s 777 business class, EVA Air’s 787 business class, Cathay Pacific’s A350 business class, Singapore Airlines’ 777 first class, Garuda Indonesia’s 777 business class, Etihad’s A321 business class, Etihad’s A380 first class, and British Airways’ A380 first class.

Perhaps even more interesting, you can expect reviews of several lounges, including the Cathay Pacific Pier First Class Lounge, Singapore Airlines Private Room, Etihad First Class Lounge, and more.

In this post I’ll outline all the basics of the trip, and then I’ll publish the entire trip report series in the coming days and weeks.

Why I took this trip

This was a pure review trip, plain and simple. That’s to say that I took this trip exclusively to be able to review certain premium airline products and hotels. I had several airlines, lounges, and even airport terminals that I wanted to review, so I set out to visit them all as efficiently as possible.

In total, I was traveling for just six days, as I wanted to minimize my time away from home as much as possible. And while I didn’t actually see much outside of airports, I’d say I did pretty well in terms of the number of experiences that I managed to check off my list.

As I get older, these kinds of trips certainly take more of a toll on me, and I don’t quite have the endurance that I used to with being able to fly nonstop.

The itinerary for my review trip

The airlines I flew on this trip

Let me outline how I booked this trip, based on the order in which I traveled. As you’ll see as I publish this series, there’s a specific reason I planned the itinerary this way, and it’s largely based on both the flights and airport lounges that I wanted to review.

To kick off the trip, I flew EVA Air’s 777-300ER business class and EVA Air’s 787-9 business class. I booked the following for 80,000 EVA Air Infinity MileageLands miles plus $175.50 in taxes and fees:

11/29 BR51 Houston to Taipei departing 11:30PM arriving 6:20AM (+2 days)
12/01 BR867 Taipei to Hong Kong departing 10:10AM arriving 12:10PM

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands has access to a lot more EVA Air award space than partner programs do, so it’s a useful program. EVA Air partners with Capital One and Citi ThankYou, so the miles are easy to earn (though Capital One transfers aren’t at a 1:1 ratio).

EVA Air Boeing 777-300ER business class
EVA Air Boeing 787-9 business class

Next up, I flew Cathay Pacific’s A350-1000 business class. I booked the following for 28,000 Cathay miles plus $75.39 in taxes and fees:

12/02 CX657 Hong Kong to Singapore departing 4:00PM arriving 8:10PM

Nowadays Cathay Pacific’s own frequent flyer program offers a lot more award space than partner programs, which is why I booked directly through Cathay Pacific, rather than through a program like American AAdvantage. Cathay Pacific partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-1000 business class

To continue the journey, I flew Singapore Airlines’ 777-300ER first class. I booked the following for 30,500 Singapore KrisFlyer miles plus $46.71 in taxes and fees:

12/03 SQ950 Singapore to Jakarta departing 6:50AM arriving 7:35AM

Singapore Airlines first class awards are generally restricted to members of the KrisFlyer program. Fortunately Singapore Airlines partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou, so the miles are easy to come by.

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER first class

After that, I flew Garuda Indonesia’s 777-300ER business class. I booked the following for 68,000 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles plus $109.33 in taxes and fees:

12/03 GA980 Jakarta to Jeddah departing 11:30AM arriving 5:30PM

Air France-KLM Flying Blue is one of the most useful frequent flyer programs, especially for SkyTeam redemptions. Air France-KLM partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou, so the miles are easy to come by.

Garuda Indonesia Boeing 777-300ER business class

Last but not least, I flew Etihad’s A321 business class, Etihad’s A380 first class, and British Airways’ A380 first class. I booked the following for 115,000 American AAdvantage miles plus $323.73 in taxes and fees:

12/04 EY330 Jeddah to Abu Dhabi departing 2:35AM arriving 6:20AM
12/04 EY17 Abu Dhabi to London departing 2:05PM arriving 6:10PM
12/05 BA295 London to Chicago departing 11:00AM arriving 1:55PM

That’s a pretty great use of American AAdvantage miles, though admittedly the miles are harder to come across than most of the above currencies.

Etihad Airbus A321 business class
Etihad Airbus A380 first class
British Airways Airbus A380 first class

In addition to flight reviews, this series has way more lounge reviews than normal, as checking out (and revisiting) lounges was one of my top priorities. You can expect reviews of the following airport lounges:

Singapore Airlines Private Room Singapore

The hotels I stayed at on this trip

This trip definitely had more of a flight focus than a hotel focus. In the six days I was gone, I spent very little time at hotels.

At the beginning of my trip, I spent a night at the Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong, which is the most convenient hotel to Hong Kong Airport, given that it can be accessed by foot.

Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong

While it wasn’t a full overnight, I had a roughly nine hour layover in Jeddah and knew I’d want some rest, so I booked the Aerotel Jeddah Airport, which is the airside transit hotel. This ended up being… interesting.

Aerotel Jeddah Airport

Last but not least, I had an overnight in London at the end, where I stayed at the Hilton Heathrow Terminal 4. I was so tired at this point in the trip that I just slept the entire time I was there, so I won’t be reviewing the hotel.

Bottom line

I recently wrapped up a super fun review trip, where I had the chance to check out so many airline products, lounges, and terminals, that I’ve been meaning to visit for quite some time. While the trip was exhausting, I do always enjoy these kinds of experiences. Some flights and lounges exceeded my expectations, while others left me a bit disappointed.

Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!

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  1. iamhere Guest

    I think we will see more airlines have more rewards for their own loyalty programs. It is just starting to be a trend. This will create a problem for those who "play the game" of having racked up points in the most useful rewards program in the group, but if you hold credit card points could make it more useful.

  2. Tim Dunn Diamond

    The logistics not just of scheduling this all but crossing your fingers long enough to keep it all working are no small task.

  3. Shutterbug1952 Guest

    I missed the airport lounge in Jeddah in your list of upcoming reviews but you probably headed right for the Aerotel after your transfer experience. I spent 6 hours in the Saudia lounge recently during a layover and it wasn't a pleasant experience. Decent food and seating possibilities but bright lights everywhere and the temperature was freezing cold. Pack winter clothes if you have to spend time there!
    On our return flight we'll have...

    I missed the airport lounge in Jeddah in your list of upcoming reviews but you probably headed right for the Aerotel after your transfer experience. I spent 6 hours in the Saudia lounge recently during a layover and it wasn't a pleasant experience. Decent food and seating possibilities but bright lights everywhere and the temperature was freezing cold. Pack winter clothes if you have to spend time there!
    On our return flight we'll have a 10 hour layover so we will book the Aerotel. I am looking forward to your review with trepidation.

  4. nunzio riva Guest

    Great trip and nice lounge hopping, sure EVA Air will no disappoint you, great soft product with wonderful soft product and professional crew. Right now lying in bed with Jason Wu pijamas remind back great flights.
    Just for your info suppose a typo mistake on top review stating Garuda First class from Cgk to Jed while should be business class according miles and pics in review.

  5. cairns Guest

    You certainly are getting around! I couldn't do it but greatly appreciate that you do and tell us all about it. Thank you!!!

  6. D3kingg Guest

    I’m going to take notes so I can visualize this journey. I don’t think I could do it even business class. I’d have to have proper sleep at hotels and workout. Def couldn’t do alcohol.

  7. Brodie Gold

    This is going to be great! Doing a similar trip to Asia next year, albeit with much more time at each destination. I'm game for moving around where my fiance would much rather hit one place, max two. So I'm keeping the actually itinerary under wraps until take off.

  8. VT-CIE Diamond

    You’re the reason why I myself have started booking such crazy review trips — but no miles and points yet; I’ve only just started the game, it’s all cash. Over Christmas and the New Year I’ll be flying SIN–BOM–BLR–HKG–HAN–SGN–HAN–SIN on the SQ A380, the Vistara A320neo, the CX A350 and A321neo, the VietJetAir A330 and the Vietnam Airlines A350. Drawing plenty of eyeballs and frawns from my disbelieving family. ;)

    Which wild whirlwind airlines are...

    You’re the reason why I myself have started booking such crazy review trips — but no miles and points yet; I’ve only just started the game, it’s all cash. Over Christmas and the New Year I’ll be flying SIN–BOM–BLR–HKG–HAN–SGN–HAN–SIN on the SQ A380, the Vistara A320neo, the CX A350 and A321neo, the VietJetAir A330 and the Vietnam Airlines A350. Drawing plenty of eyeballs and frawns from my disbelieving family. ;)

    Which wild whirlwind airlines are on your next review trip? Azul? LATAM? TAP? Or, on the other end of the world, Oman Air, Saudia (after its big rebrand), Middle East Airlines or Vistara — yes, I know I’m pushing it too hard (I want you to fly it before it goes away!).

  9. DocDave Guest

    THIS type of content is why I follow this blog. So glad to see one of your old time-type reports instead of the incessant credit card hustling.

  10. François Guest

    Excited to read more in-depth about your whirlwind trip, Lucky! Happy holidays to you and your family and may the new year bring you plenty of blue skies and tail winds!

  11. AA70 Diamond

    I'm not discounting how massive of a trip this was, but a China Airlines long haul review is in order, given that you have recently flown Starlux and EVA, just to provide a comparison

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

DocDave Guest

THIS type of content is why I follow this blog. So glad to see one of your old time-type reports instead of the incessant credit card hustling.

4
VT-CIE Diamond

You’re the reason why I myself have started booking such crazy review trips — but no miles and points yet; I’ve only just started the game, it’s all cash. Over Christmas and the New Year I’ll be flying SIN–BOM–BLR–HKG–HAN–SGN–HAN–SIN on the SQ A380, the Vistara A320neo, the CX A350 and A321neo, the VietJetAir A330 and the Vietnam Airlines A350. Drawing plenty of eyeballs and frawns from my disbelieving family. ;) Which wild whirlwind airlines are on your next review trip? Azul? LATAM? TAP? Or, on the other end of the world, Oman Air, Saudia (after its big rebrand), Middle East Airlines or Vistara — yes, I know I’m pushing it too hard (I want you to fly it before it goes away!).

1
AA70 Diamond

I'm not discounting how massive of a trip this was, but a China Airlines long haul review is in order, given that you have recently flown Starlux and EVA, just to provide a comparison

1
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