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Background
When I was planning my winter-break trip back to the U.S. from China, Iran had not yet accidentally shot down the airliner, and the COVID-19 outbreak was not yet this severe. So my original plan was to stop somewhere for two days and do some sightseeing, ideally taking advantage of a free stopover on an award ticket. Since I did not want to deal with getting a visa, the most realistic options were South Korea, Singapore, and the Middle East. In the end I chose the Middle East, since both the UAE and Qatar were visa-free, and I also wanted to try some of the region’s luxury airlines, mainly Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar.
This trip would start in Harbin and end in New York. If I could add a segment like Harbin-Beijing onto an award ticket, even better. On top of that, I was planning another trip back to China six months later, so I kept that in mind when booking this ticket as well.
Itinerary Planning and Miles Options
The goal of this booking was to try several of the Middle East’s luxury carriers while also considering whether I could add a ticket to Harbin, ideally using as few miles as possible. The main airports in the Middle East for this purpose are:
- DXB: Dubai International Airport, in Dubai, one of the seven emirates of the UAE, and the home base of Emirates
- AUH: Abu Dhabi Airport, in Abu Dhabi, one of the seven emirates of the UAE, and the home base of Etihad Airways
- DOH: Hamad International Airport in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and the home base of Qatar Airways
These are all airports worth considering for a connection. Overall, I felt the UAE had a lot more to offer for sightseeing than Qatar.
Option 1: Redeem AS for Emirates, PEK-DXB-JFK
My initial idea was to use AS miles for Emirates on PEK-DXB-JFK. It would cost 105,000 miles in business class or 180,000 in first class, with a stopover included. But the timing was not ideal, and the mileage requirement was indeed a bit high. I would also need to transfer points from Marriott, which takes some time, so I decided to consider other options as well.
Option 2: Book the Trip in Separate Segments
First Segment (China-Middle East)
Then I thought of using AA miles to book Etihad on PEK-AUH: 40,000 in business class or 50,000 in first class. AA can also add a domestic China Southern segment from Harbin to Beijing, which would be perfect. However, Etihad does not offer first class on its China routes, so if I wanted to try first class, I could consider ICN-AUH instead. When I searched, award space on PEK-AUH was very good, available almost every day, even around Chinese New Year. So I tentatively chose this route for the first segment.
Another option, Qatar Airways on PEK-DOH, was much harder to book. Also, Doha was less appealing to me than the UAE. In the end I booked through LD using 40,000 AA miles, because my AA account was probably locked. I first tried ticketing from my own account, but it stayed pending for several days without issuing. When I called, they told me there was a problem with the account, so I canceled the booking directly. So far, though, my account still has not been shut down like KUKU’s was.
Second Segment Option a (Middle East-U.S.)
Since you can travel between DXB and AUH by car, and I was planning to leave the airport and explore anyway, I considered flying to the U.S. out of DXB. Since the whole point was to experience these luxury airlines, I first looked at Emirates award space using AS and QF. With AS, the mileage cost was not much different from flying all the way from PEK, so the value was not great. With QF, it was 94,900 in business class or 142,300 in first class. QF points are also easier to earn from more sources than AS, and there had previously been a transfer bonus, so it still looked somewhat reasonable.
If I kept using AA to redeem Etihad instead, award space was still very good: 70,000 in business class or 115,000 in first class, which is similar to flying from China to the U.S. The bigger issue was that LD did not have enough AA miles left for this segment.
Second Segment Option b (Middle East-U.S.)
The last, and most complicated, option was to find a way to get to Doha, Qatar, and then fly back to the U.S. on Qatar Airways. In Doha, I could try Qatar’s Qsuite business class and its flagship premium lounge, and award space was decent as well. Using AA miles, the cost was the same as booking Etihad. But unlike Etihad, Qatar Airways is a oneworld member, so there are other ways to book it. The problem is that Doha in Qatar is not directly reachable by car from Abu Dhabi or Dubai in the UAE, and because the two countries had cut diplomatic ties, there were no nonstop flights either. That made things especially troublesome.
Since I was planning another trip back to China six months later, I ultimately used CX’s “boomerang” booking (an ultra-long one-way) to redeem Qatar business class on DOH-JFK, then added CX first class on JFK-HKG six months later. The total was 114,500 miles, which felt like excellent value. Unfortunately, I transferred points a little too early and missed the extra 10% bonus in January, which effectively cost me 10,000 miles.
Put simply, a boomerang is an ultra-long one-way. DOH-JFK-HKG prices as a one-way, just with a stopover in JFK, and in my case a very long one: six months. According to the award chart, it all falls into the 7501+miles Ultra-long band.
The remaining question was how to get from the UAE to Qatar. As mentioned above, because the two countries had cut ties, there were no nonstop flights. I remembered seeing on Points Expert that Etihad Guest miles, which can be transferred from MR, could be used to book Oman Air (link here). That turned out to be a very good option. According to the chart shown below, DXB-MCT-DOH costs 12,000 miles total. You also get access to the Ahlan First Class Lounge in DXB and Oman Air’s home-base lounge in MCT, making this a terrific value. Oman Air is actually another under-the-radar luxury airline. Sam Chui has called it the world's most underrated first and business class product (World's Most Underrated First and Business Class - Oman Air). Along the way I met someone from Muscat who said the natural scenery around Muscat is quite nice, with opportunities to go out on the water to catch fish and lobsters. I did not have time to stop there on this trip, but it seems like a place worth planning a future visit.
Oman Air award space can be searched on its official website, and availability is actually quite good. Once you find space, call Etihad to book it; see here for the details. By the way, MR transfers to Etihad instantly, and Etihad lets you redeem from your account for anyone.
Summary
The final itinerary was:
- 40,000 AA miles: CZ8784 HRB-PEK, EY889 PEK-AUH. Cash price: $3,453
- 12,000 MR: WY604 DXB-MCT, WY663 MCT-DOH. Cash price: $689
- A little under half of 115,000 CX: QR703 DOH-JFK. Equivalent cash price: $4,438
I won’t bother calculating the redemption value, but I was very happy with it overall. In the next few posts, I’ll share the experiences on these luxury carriers.
Hotel Redemptions
Since this was a solo trip and I wasn’t going to spend much time at the hotel, I picked the most budget-friendly option: Hyatt Cat 1, Hyatt Place Dubai Al Rigga. It came with breakfast, which had a surprisingly wide selection and solid quality, and it was also close to the airport. It only cost 5,000 points, and if you book through the WeChat mini program, it seems you may even get some points back, so the value was quite good. On the second night, though, housekeeping woke me up twice at 3 a.m., saying my fire alarm indicator was flashing or something along those lines. In the end, they compensated me with 5,000 points, so the two-night stay effectively cost just 4,000 points.
Dubai is actually a great place to burn FNs and hotel points. Under Hilton, there are two Waldorfs, one Conrad, plus quite a few resort properties where you can use the AMEX Hilton Aspire resort credit. Under Hyatt, there is one Park Hyatt and one Andaz, both Cat 5, plus one Grand Hyatt that is Cat 4 and can be booked with an FN. Under Marriott, there are 2 Ritz and 1 W in the city. Also worth mentioning is Al Maha, a resort about a little over an hour east of Dubai, which is Cat 8. Standard redemptions are 85,000 points, or 100,000 in peak season, and the rate includes three meals plus two activities. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend trying it. In addition, in Ras Al Khaimah, the emirate north of Dubai, there are also two distinctive Ritz properties.
Of course, if money is no object, you can stay at the hotel below. Redeeming UR points at a fixed value works too.
Sightseeing Plan
The rough itinerary was: arrive in the morning on day 1 and spend the day in Abu Dhabi, head to Dubai in the evening, spend day 2 in Dubai, then depart for Doha on day 3. During the layover, I joined the Discover Qatar Doha city tour, which lasted about 3 hours. I joined the evening group; we spent most of the time at Souq Waqif, while the other stops were basically just 10-minute photo stops.
Attractions in Abu Dhabi:
- Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the third-largest mosque in the world and also the most luxurious mosque. A must-visit.
- Ferrari World, the only Ferrari-themed park in the world and also the world’s largest indoor theme park. A must for car enthusiasts, with several very thrilling roller coasters.
- Louvre Abu Dhabi, which paid €400 million for the rights to use the “Louvre” name and pays €150 million annually to borrow exhibits from the Louvre and several other famous French museums.
- Heritage Village, which was especially boring and very much not recommended.
Attractions in Dubai:
- Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world at 828 meters. Going up before sunset is more expensive, but you get both the sunset and the night view. The musical fountain on the lake below starts every evening at 18:00. Next door is Dubai Mall, the largest shopping mall in the world, roughly the size of 50 soccer fields and home to more than 1,200 shops.
- Jumeirah Beach, a great spot for the classic Burj Al Arab photo, and you can also visit Souk Madinat Jumeirah.
- Palm Jumeirah, one of the largest land reclamation projects in the world, often called the “eighth wonder of the world.” The island has many beautiful luxury hotels and resorts, including Waldorf Astoria, W Dubai, and Atlantis.
- The old town, where you can visit the Dubai Museum and stroll through the Gold Souk and Spice Souk.