Introduction: The Long Way To Abu Dhabi

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.

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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 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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

• The EVA Air Infinity Lounge Taipei (TPE)
• The Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge Hong Kong (HKG)
• The Cathay Pacific The Pier Business Class Lounge Hong Kong (HKG)
• The Cathay Pacific The Wing First Class Lounge Hong Kong (HKG)
• The Qantas Lounge Hong Kong (HKG)
• The Chase Sapphire Lounge Hong Kong (HKG)
• The Singapore Airlines Private Room Singapore (SIN)
• The Singapore Airlines First Class Lounge Singapore (SIN)
• The Garuda Indonesia Lounge Jakarta (CGK)
• The Plaza Premium Lounge Jakarta (CGK)
• The Etihad First Class Lounge Abu Dhabi (AUH)
• The Etihad Business Class Lounge Abu Dhabi (AUH)
• The Pearl Lounge Abu Dhabi (AUH)
• The British Airways Concorde Room London (LHR)
• The British Airways Galleries First Lounge London (LHR)

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.

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.

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!