Originally Posted by
1Aturnleft
I'd book AUH. For personal reasons I prefer AUH over DXB as a holiday destination. Less bling without any loss on quality of product and a fraction of the price. From a BA flight viewpoint, you're guaranteed the Boeing 787-9 so you have the most up to date W/J product and IFE. You cannot guarantee this to/from Dubai especially if you opt for a 777 operated flight. Yes AUH is a sleeper service in J on the return so this will maximise the sleep time on that late departure. If you decide to upgrade using Avios you can also breakfast in the arrivals lounge at T5 as opposed to on board.
I did like the trip on the 787 it was a really nice flight we did last year in W but the sleeper aspect really puts me off, I haven't heard great things about the pre-flight dining for AUH so from someone who can sleep in Y that is the only thing putting me off but the price does keep it appealing it's half the cost of J but an extra 17k avios for the pair of us so not terrible. Optimum would be if they put the 787 back on DXB lol.
Originally Posted by
Frequent flyer 101
I'm really not a fan of AUH airport. The lounges are terrible. The same as priority pass and at 1am every lounge was completely full, standing room only. No fasttrack security/immigration, no real fasttrack boarding (usually becomes a scrum). I'd go DXB just to avoid that.
I think the optimum is to buy a W flight to DXB and UuA the outbound J. Although, as you said, £1k is a steal for F. Maybe do that.
FWIW, taxi costs around 350 AED (£70) from DXB to AUH and presumably vice versa. Little bit more from downtown Abu Dhabi. Figure an hour and a half, give or take.
We would hire a car anyway so the journey between the two locations is less of an issue to be honest. The £1k F is a very attractive price and would be nice for the TP's if the avios fairy is kind lol. The lounges do put me off as a leisure traveller it's part of the experience at least in DXB in F I can use the Concorde Bar FWIW.
Originally Posted by
tomparskate
£1k is a good price but for the 747? Im not sure..
It would still be very careful, I know you are probably loyal to BA but Turkish Airlines has had some great deals from LHR to Dubai via Ist in Business?
I am confused by the 747 comment is this not regarded the better F out of the 777 | 747 or am I wrong I was under the impression that all the F cabins were new F?
Not loyal but this trip will be a contribution to the renewal for Gold for my wife and I.
Originally Posted by
sunshinebob
Or Muscat? Never been but Oman is supposed to be really lush with a very relaxed non bling vibe.
No idea how the prices stack up but there is plenty of (787) award availability and some particularly nice hotels from my little insight.
Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
Yes Muscat is something of an antidote to Dubai and having been there many times I would certainly recommend it. There is a good range of hotels there, which cater for different markets quite well, so it's particularly important there to choose your hotel carefully. .
We did look at Muscat but it doesn't appear to be in the sale so prices are a little on the steep side for us but we did really fancy it for something different.