Brussels Airlines Business Class Booked with Etihad Guest Miles

Brussels Airlines Business Class is a great way to get to Europe, especially if you can book Brussels Airlines Business Class with Etihad miles. That's because it's just 36,620 miles + ~$100 per person roundtrip. Compare that to some of the other business class awards to Europe:

Brussels Airlines Business Class JFK to Europe with United miles: 70,000 United MileagePlus miles each way / 140,000 miles roundtrip
Singapore Business Class JFK to Frankfurt: 48,875 KrisFlyer miles each way / 97,750 miles roundtrip for a Saver Award + ~$200 in taxes/fees each way
American Airlines Business Class from the U.S. to Europe with Alaska miles: 50,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles each way / 100,000 miles roundtrip
OpenSkies Business Class between NYC and Paris with American miles: 57,500 AAdvantage miles each way / 115,000 miles roundtrip
Delta Business Class: Varies, but the cheapest business class award seats are ~70,000 SkyMiles each way / 140,000 miles roundtrip

Unfortunately award availability is scarcer using Etihad miles than with other Star Alliance partners such as United, so you do need quite a bit of date flexibility. That said, even if you can only book one way in Brussels Business Class using Etihad miles, you still come out ahead since 37K miles per person for business class one way NYC to Europe is excellent value.

I'd searched Brussels Airlines Business Class using Etihad miles on other occasions for clients of my Award Booking Service, who ultimately ended up booking alternative awards, due to the lack of award space for their date ranges. But recently I was able to reserve a couple tickets for my family for 2017, and can report a fairly smooth booking process:

1. Called Etihad to Check Award Availability

Since all of our Etihad flights have been award flights, I didn't have any Etihad miles in my Etihad Guest account. Given the scarcer Brussels Airlines award availability using Etihad Guest miles, I wanted to be sure there was space for our preferred dates before transferring AMEX Membership Rewards points.

2. Transferred AMEX Membership Rewards Points to My Etihad Guest Account

While on the phone with the Etihad agent, I transferred 74,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points to my Etihad Guest account. The transfer took about a minute to reflect in my account, and the miles were visible after logging out and logging back into my Etihad Guest account.

3. A Few Minutes On Hold, Then Booked

The Etihad agent requested a few minutes to confirm the space with Brussels Airlines, putting me on hold, then returned to the call and gave me both the Brussels Airlines and Etihad record locators for the award.

4. Called Brussels Airlines to Select Seats

Since it's not possible to select Brussels Airlines business class seats online, when it's a partner award booking, I called Brussels Airlines to select our seats. On the A330-200, I prefer seats 3A and 3K because they both are window sets, with direct aisle access and are not right against the aisle the way the paired seats are.