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I need to book a one-way flight home for a family 4 from UAE to LHR in 2026. I am thinking that either Emirates or Etihad are the best direct options? BA is not available on my dates unless they announce an extension flying to AUH.
For either carrier I would need to transfer around 120k points from Amex first. I know Emirates will be 25% more. I currently only have enough points for economy. Business with Emirates is 350k points and Etihad 1.3m points.
My question is which airline would you book with and why? Which airline is more likely to have a reasonable upgrade route to business in the future? Or should I try harder to get points for Emirates business now?
Before further analysis, have you checked what the availability is typically?
Not sure if other airlines as generous as BA in terms of making many seats available.Flown Emirates Economy on the A380 a couple of times and Etihad Economy on the 777 and 787-9. Emirates probably a bit better, but depending on your itinerary the Etihad stopover deal was pretty good.
Thanks.
Both have reward seats available in economy and business for my date. But neither show any upgrade from economy availability currently. It’s a shame Emirates does not put their PE seats into the reward inventory as that’ll be the perfect answer.
Look harder for the EY availability. They have “saver” type fares, which are 70k in business each.
Look harder for the EY availability. They have “saver” type fares, which are 70k in business each.
Apologies if that sounded terse but I noticed at the weekend that EY is 70k o/w AUH-LHR on some flights.
Also consider a cash fare in Y+. Your 120k MRs are worth at least £1.2k, plus the taxes. Or BA have Y+ in June for just over £500 per person.
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