Tag Archives for etihad.
You can earn 20,000 Etihad Guest miles per 3+ day Avis rental. This is in addition to the usual base miles earned renting cars. I’m not sure I’ve seen a richer rental car offer since 2008.
Etihad Airways has finally become profitable, disclosing $690 million in adjusted earnings and $296 million in operating profit during the first half of 2022 on operating revenue of $2.29 billion. The state-owned carrier did not disclose net profit.
Despite only limited information, it’s still clearly a huge swing for an airline that lost $2 billion in 2016, and $1.5 billion in 2017 pursuing a strategy of buying stakes in nearly every dumpster fire airline they could get their hands on (but still refusing to take a stake in South African Airways, which even for Etihad at the time was a step too far).
George Clooney defined having more than enough money as being able to say ‘no’ when offered $35 million for a day’s work filming a commercial for an airline.
He doesn’t say the airline or when this happened – but it was clearly about six years ago, and either Emirates or Etihad.
Gone or on the way out are Boeing 777-300ERs, 777-200LRs, and Airbus A330s. Gone as well the Airbus A380s featuring one of the world’s best first class products. Their long haul fleet instead will consist of Boeing 787s, 777-9s (when those are eventually ready), and Airbus A350s. Only a subset of Boeing 787s will even offer a first class cabin.
Etihad has finally revealed their Airbus A350 with new business class – or at least photos have been shared, rather than the airline officially releasing them.
Alexander Svanevik, the founder of blockchain analytics company Nansen, flew from Abu Dhabi to Singapore on an Etihad Airways Boeing 787-9. And in a world mostly closed to long haul travel, especially to Asia, he found himself the only customer on board the widebody aircraft configured for 336 passengers.
Etihad doesn’t have a first class cabin on its Boeing 787-10 aircraft, though it still has these suites on some 787-9s. According to Etihad’s CEO this isn’t the end of first class on the airline but it’s being limited and de-emphasized. They’ll still operate planes with a first class cabin on routes where there’s historic paid demand for the cabin, though we’re already seeing last minute aircraft swaps where it’s scheduled for planes that do not offer the product.
Brittany Hockley, who made it to the finale of The Bachelor Australia in 2018 and returned for 2020’s Bachelor in Paradise, lashed out at Etihad Airways when they refused to sell her an upgrade to business or first class – but wanted $1000 to check her luggage.
First she complained she couldn’t book her extra checked bag online. Then she discovered at the airport that Etihad wanted $1000 to carry it.
With the pandemic increasingly under control in the United States, more people vaccinated, and some offices gradually re-opening there’s a brief window where you can really travel and work at the same time. While work from home is likely to be more common than in the Before Times, we may not have the same flexibility in the future that we do right now. Become location independent, if only briefly. Go take a trip and work from somewhere else. Combining work and vacation is actually the best way to vacation anyway.
James Hogan, founding CEO of Etihad, was bounced from that carrier in 2017 after buying stakes in troubled airlines around the world and mounting losses that reached as high as $2 billion a year. These investments included stakes in air berlin, Alitalia, Jet Airways and Virgin Australia.
The dual Australian and U.K. citizen is accused of using his two passports, and flying to the U.K. via a third country, in a scheme to avoid mandatory quarantine – and now it’s believed he may have done it before, too.
I’ve flown Etihad’s First Apartment almost as much as Cathay Pacific first class over the years. It’s been my favorite use of American AAdvantage miles, and of course Etihad is both an American Express and Citibank transfer partner.
It’s been my go-to for trips to the Maldives (5 of my last 6 were on Etihad). I’ve visited the Mideast many times, alternating between Etihad and Emirates. And I’ve even chosen Middle East stops enroute to Australia because First Apartment redemptions for both long haul segments made the journey so easy. So the end of this spectacular product really hits home.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
