I Just Used 65,000 Starwood Points for the Etihad First Class Apartments!

A while ago, Travelling the World and Canadian Kilometers wrote fantastic articles about redeeming Asiana Club miles for Etihad First Class.

You can redeem 40,000 Asiana Club miles for a one-way ticket on Etihad First Class between the Middle East and Europe, or 80,000 for a one-way ticket between the Middle East and North America.

Etihad operates their premium “Apartments” product on A380 aircraft. Routes operated by the A380 include:

• New York City
• London
• Paris

I’ve never flown Etihad First Class, so I wanted to splurge for a long-haul flight to New York City. Further, while award availability from New York City to Abu Dhabi in First Class is poor, it’s plentiful the other way, with most days having two or more award seats in Etihad First Class. Some days even have five available award seats in First Class! You can search for award space on the Etihad Guest website or by using the paid service ExpertFlyer.

First Class award seats are also plentiful between Abu Dhabi and London or Paris.

To book, I first made an account with Asiana Club. Signing-up was easy online. From there, I transferred 130,000 Starwood points so I could book two passengers between Amman and New York City via Abu Dhabi.

Transfers from Starwood to Asiana Club take between 7 – 14 days, although I’ve heard reports of up to three weeks! So plan your booking accordingly.

I called Asiana Club to hold my reservation, which includes a Business Class flight from Amman to Abu Dhabi, an overnight, and then First Class in the Apartments to New York City. This costs 80,000 Asiana Club points per person.

Taxes and fees are negligible, and the process of calling and arranging my flights with Asiana Club was seamless!

For each 20,000 Starwood points you transfer to Asiana Club, you’ll get an additional 5,000 point bonus! This means that 20,000 Starwood points turns into 25,000 Asiana Club points. Therefore, 65,000 Starwood points would convert into 80,000 Asiana Club points.

If you want to redeem for a one-way ticket between Abu Dhabi and Europe, it would cost 40,000 Asiana Club points, or 35,000 Starwood points.

You can earn 40,000 Starwood points by getting the Starwood Preferred Guest Personal credit card and the Starwood Preferred Guest Business credit card, both by American Express, after meeting minimum spend requirements.

Considering a First Class ticket in the Apartments costs ~$11,000, I’m getting a great use of my Starwood points. I’m thrilled to be flying the Apartments soon!

Have you ever used Asiana Club miles?