.
Fly Etihad First Apartment on the A380 for 200K Etihad miles to Abu Dhabi, AUH from New York JFK. Note that this award space isn't available with partner miles; you'll need Etihad miles, which you can get by transferring AMEX Membership Reward points (or Citi ThankYou points or Capital One points) 1:1 to Etihad.
JFK-AUH: best availability July-December 2025, with a few dates in January 2026
AUH-JFK: best availability October-December 2025
.
If possible, we recommend extending your trip from Abu Dhabi to fly to the Maldives (a ~4 hour flight), particularly for late December-January travel. Our favorite luxury resorts there include Cheval Blanc Randheli and Four Seasons at Landaa Giraavaru, but we've also enjoyed Velaa private island and the Nautilus. Here's our Velaa video review:
.
Note that it's important to be sure of your dates, because while Etihad allows date changes for $27 per ticket if you change your dates >7 days before departure (if there's award availability, of course), if you choose to cancel, Etihad keeps 25% of your miles (so 50,000 miles) if you cancel >21 days before departure; 50% of your miles if you cancel 1-3 weeks prior; and 75% of your miles if you cancel 1 week-24 hours before departure. You forfeit all of your miles if you cancel within 24 hours prior to departure.
Recommended Posts
Chase Sapphire Lounge JFK Now Open
Bulgari Ranfushi Maldives to Open 2026
Top 10 Maldives Luxury Resort Offers 2025
If you enjoyed this, join 200,000+ readers: follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.
Subscribe to TravelSort on YouTube for travel inspiration.
Become a TravelSort Client and Book 5-Star Hotels with Virtuoso or Four Seasons Preferred Partner Benefits
HT: Thrifty Traveler