Etihad’s Scandinavian first class offer is back again! In what seems like never-ending deals from certain European departure points, you can bag an Etihad business Bangkok trip for £1,094. They’re also doing Singapore from £1,272 return and £2,262 in first class (we’ll explain later why we wouldn’t recommend this one).
Both Bangkok and Singapore are excellent jumping-off points for other destinations in Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam, Phuket, Krabi, Langkawi, and Bali.
Destinations
Return prices in business class are listed below.
- Oslo to Bangkok – £1,175
- Oslo to Singapore – £1,272
- Stockholm to Seoul in First – £2,314 (2 flights in A380 First Apartment)*
- Stockholm to Singapore – £1,116
- Stockholm to Hong Kong – £1,283
- Stockholm to Jakarta – £1,503
- Stockholm to Sydney – £1,870
- Oslo to Sydney in First – £3,826 (2 flights in A380 First Apartment)*
(if you’re trying to get to Sydney in comfort, try our Best of the January Sales post)
Etihad is a 4-star Skytrax awarded airline, which operates out of its hub at Abu Dhabi Airport in the UAE, just a few miles along the coast from Dubai. It has a solid lie-flat business “suite” product, and its first class product is up there with the best.
The Catch
These journeys originate from Oslo or Stockholm, there are 3 flight sectors each way.
The first hop is to another European city. Dependent on the itinerary you choose, it could be Brussels or London. This short-haul leg will be operated by one of Etihad’s European partners (Brussels Airlines or SAS) and will likely be a short-haul business class product.
Once you’ve done your first hop within Europe, it’s a long-haul flight to Abu Dhabi in Etihad business class. After a layover (or optional stopover) and a visit to the lounge in Abu Dhabi, it’s onwards in business class to your final destination.
All the Etihad-operated routes will be on 787 or 777 aircraft, with the exception of London, New York, Sydney, Paris and Seoul – Etihad operates A380 on these.
Where we asterisk (*) the first class flights above, it’s worth stressing that only 1 of the 3 outbound sectors is in First. The other 2 sectors on the outbound, and again on the return, are in business class. This might seem worth it if you’re keen to try first, but it does come at quite a premium.
You have to book by 20 January 2020, although you can book as little as 3 days before your departure date.
Travel Dates
Outbound travel must be before 25 June 2020.
Small Print
- Departure point: Oslo, Norway or Stockholm, Sweden
- Book by: 20 January 2020
- Travel until: 25 June 2020
- Minimum stay: 3 days
- Maximum stay: One month from departure
- Weekend departures: Permitted
- Booking class: W (business) / R (first)
- Frequent flyer points accrual: 130% miles flown in business / 250% in First
- Tier points: 35,000 Etihad Guest tier miles (for the return journey Oslo-Singapore)
- Cancellations: 110.00€
- Refundable: Yes
- Changes after booking: 80.00€ plus fare difference
- Stopovers: Permitted. One in each direction for free. Additional stopovers chargeable at 150€
How to Book
You can look for the best deals using Google Flights (read more about how that works here). We find Google Flights very useful because it shows a matrix of prices on a calendar, allowing us to target the cheapest travel dates.
Not all routings will show up on Google flights. If you specifically want to route through Heathrow for the A380, which has First Apartments, try the ITA Matrix tool. We were able to use this to find an itinerary that allowed time for a free stopover In Abu Dhabi.
If you can find the flight numbers you want to travel on, we’ve found most travel agents are able to put the itinerary together and price it competitively. If you’re American Express customer, we’d recommend Amex Travel.
BG1 Verdict
The extra £1,000 to fly 1/3 of the flights in first class doesn’t seem like great value to us. We recently bagged a similar deal with Etihad for slightly less money AND 4 of the 6 flights are on A380. We’ll be sure report back on our trip with lots of pictures!
The business class deals are very attractive – particularly Etihad business to Bangkok – although there’s some very stiff competition from Finnair, Swiss, and Qatar Airways. They’re offering great biz-class fares on many of these routes, and may also require fewer connections. This will ultimately depend on where you live.
BG1 Tip
With so may sectors, use the free Abu Dhabi stop overs to your advantage and break the journey up. You’re visiting some great cities along the way, so why not make them part of the trip?
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