Etihad, American Express, New Passenger :-)
Hello All,
Very very long time since I posted here. Life happens funnily enough. Fast forward about 9 years and I am still on FT but with a different agenda.
I have flown British Airways extensively and now because I am based in South Africa BA has served me well. (British airways credit card, 2 for 1 vouchers etc.)
This year however Mrs Zimstyles and I are going to Maldives and we will be flying Etihad for the first time.
We have Amex Platinum charge cards and one of the benefits in South Africa of having this charge card is upgrades to first - see below from the Amex Website
"UPGRADE OFFER: All American Express Platinum CardŽ members receive a complimentary upgrade to our award-winning First Class when booking in Business Class. As our guest, you will enjoy the highest levels of comfort and service in the sky, from our Inflight Chef preparing an exclusive dining experience for you to a comfortable fully-flat bed dressed in all-natural bed linen. For availability and bookings, please contact American Express Travel and Lifestyle Services."
Now booking this trip we seem to find new terms and conditions and we want to understand if anyone has managed this and what their experience is
1. There is no First from JNB to AUH -> obviously no upgrade
2. AUH-MLE -> Flies a 3 cabin service meaning we can get the upgrade. Apparently if we have the upgrade code put in we can not stop in AUH for more than 72 hours? The upgrade is only processed at the check in counter subject to availability. How do we check the load in F on Etihad.
3. Where can we credit Etihad flights - A best case scenario would see us flying to AUH once a year at most.
If we fly into AUH in Business the Chauffeur service will take us to our hotel and presumably return us to the airport for our on wards flight to MALE.
On the way back I assume we still have access to the chauffeur service correct?
Has anyone used the free night in the hotel stop over successfully?
Finally what should a first time Etihad flier from JNB do to maximize value on the trip and experience.