[Mistake Fare] Wide-Open Business Class Availability to Abu Dhabi for 20K Miles

Updated: September 26, 2024, 12:06pm CDT

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Award Deal — Details
Final Thoughts

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It’s very rare to find mistake fares these days, and it is even less common to find them when booking award tickets.

Right now, you can book flights between Washington, D.C. (IAD) and Abu Dhabi (AUH) for just 20,000 miles in business class. While there is a layover, that works out to about 1,000 miles per hour for a lie-flat seat.

This is an exceptional deal you won’t come across elsewhere, and this mistake fare is unlikely to be available for long. If you’re interested, you’ll want to book quickly! And, like with any mistake fares, there’s a potential the airline won’t honor them, so proceed with caution.

Award Deal — Details

We discovered this deal through Etihad Guest, though the long-haul flight from Washington D.C. to Jeddah will be on Saudia Airlines business class. Etihad Guest publishes a distance-based award chart for each partner airline, so normally, this one-way flight should be priced at 140,000 miles in business class.

There is wide-open availability for flights between Washington, D.C. (IAD) and Abu Dhabi (AUH) for just 20,000 Etihad Guest miles — which is 85% off of the normal rate that Etihad should be charging. You’ll need to book directly through Etihad — here are the details:

Class: Economy and business
Route: Washington, D.C. (IAD) to Abu Dhabi (AUH) via Jeddah (JED) and back
Cost: 5,000 to 10,000 Etihad Guest miles and $330 in taxes and fees for economy; 20,000 Etihad Guest miles and $764 in taxes and fees for business class
Travel Dates: October 2024 to September 2025
Award Seats: Up to 3 seats per route in economy; 1 seat per route in business

Saudia Airlines business class — The cabin is decorated with muted colors. Image Credit: Carissa Rawson

Unfortunately, we were only able to dig up 1 seat per person in business class. The flight from Washington-Dulles to Jeddah is operated by Saudia Airlines on a Boeing 777-300. Note that Saudia is a dry airline and does not provide alcohol onboard, but this is easily one of the best ways to get to the Middle East with points and miles.

Saudia Etihad Business — Run, don’t walk to book this award if you’re planning to visit the Middle East. Image Credit: Etihad

The second flight from Jeddah to Abu Dhabi is operated by Etihad. From Abu Dhabi, you can reach almost any part of the world, so even if your final destination isn’t the U.A.E., you’re in luck with this award deal.

Finally, there seems to be greater availability in economy, which is a screaming deal for as little as 5,000 Etihad Guest miles in economy. There are plenty of award seats, too, for up to 3 passengers per route.

Saudia Etihad Economy — 5,000 miles for economy. Image Credit: Etihad

Hot Tip:

You can transfer Amex Membership Rewards points, Capital One miles, and Citi ThankYou Points to Etihad Guest at a 1:1 ratio. Amex and Capital One transfer to Etihad Guest almost instantly, so we recommend going that route.

Final Thoughts

Fair warning: Etihad may choose not to honor these award tickets, but it’s one of the lowest business class rates we’ve seen (aside from the Air France mistake fare earlier this year!). Unfortunately, we couldn’t find other U.S. cities with this mistake fare pricing, but you can try other city pairs.

If you’re interested in booking this mistake fare, you should get to it right away and cross your fingers that it will be honored by Etihad.