Emirates v Etihad
This has probably been done before but I can't seem to find anything on it.
I''ve just become Gold on Emirates after starting a lot of business class travel with work. I've got some personal holidays coming up so have been comparing the prices between Emirates and Etihad in economy as would ideally like to increase my Skywards miles. I've only flown Etihad once before to BKK and was impressed so I just wanted to query why Emirates prices seem to be so much higher than Etihad?
The 3 examples of trips planned I have are;
DXB/AUH - DME Emirates 2710 AED vs Etihad 1510 AED
DXB/AUH - BEY EMirates 1720 AED vs Etihad 1420 AED
DXB/AUH - China - multi destination - 3870 AED vs Etihad 2510 AED
So I see the benefit of lounge access etc at DXB being Gold with Emirates however my wife isn't so wouldn't be able to use it anyway.
Is there really anything worthwhile flying Emirates over Etihad for the signficant cost difference? I also note the Etihad flight timings are more favourable for us also. Do Emirates just assume people will use them for the miles etc? I just don't understand why it's quite a bit more expensive!