A recent trip to the Maldives had a 19-hour stopover in Abu Dhabi. I had been to Dubai before but not Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately, this change in our flight schedule meant we missed half a day in the Maldives. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons, I got excited to spend one day in Abu Dhabi on points and miles.

First up was lodging. I wanted to spend part of the day resting. We were arriving at 6:30 in the morning and leaving at 00:55 the next day. That would have been a long day without having a home base and a place to sleep!

 

 

That is where points and miles come in. I used a free IHG certificate to book the InterContinental Hotel Abu Dhabi. Because we were arriving early, I contacted them and asked them if we could get an early check-in.

Flight

We flew from London to Abu Dhabi on Etihad, which was amazing! This trip cost 60K Etihad miles and about $450 in taxes and fees. That was quite a bit in taxes and fees, but when you consider it is business class, I am fine with that. This was probably because we were flying out of London, where you can always plan on spending more on taxes and fees. I transferred these points from The Platinum Card® from American Express welcome offer.

I really liked flying Etihad. The seats are large and comfortable, with a wide footrest that is directly in front of you. The crew was extremely friendly and attentive, and the food was delicious. I started with a shrimp salad appetizer and then had chicken and gnocchi with vegetables. Both were delicious!

 

 

 

 

Before flying out, we went to the Etihad airport lounge (of course) and ordered some food off their ala carte menu (the sticky toffee pudding was terrific).

 

 

Intercontinental Hotel Abu Dhabi

We took a taxi to the Intercontinental Abu Dhabi from the airport, paying about 100 dirhams (about $25). When we arrived, we were thrilled to hear that our room was ready. We immediately went to sleep for about 3 hours. Our flight to Abu Dhabi from London was only 6 hours long, so we hadn’t slept much.

 

Tour

I booked a tour of Abu Dhabi on Viator so that we could make the most of our one day in Abu Dhabi on points/miles. We were picked up from our hotel and joined a group that traveled from Dubai for the tour. It included a visit to the Qasr Al Watan Palace, Etihad Towers, and the gorgeous Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center, which is truly breathtaking and worth going to Abu Dhabi to see.  There really are no pictures that can do it justice.

 

 

 

We did wish we had booked a shorter tour as they stopped for lunch (a genuinely horrible buffet). We would have preferred to have slept more at the hotel before our Maldives flight. However, we were happy we got out and saw a bit of Abu Dhabi.

They say they have only 1% of crime and that CVC cameras patrol everything. Even the Presidential Palace is not attended by guards. The locals are very proud of their country’s architecture and achievements.

Once we finished our tour, we returned to the hotel, slept two more hours, and headed to the airport for our Maldives flight. The check-in for the flight to the Maldives was unbelievably easy as we went through the Etihad Business Access Area to do it. We were shocked that we didn’t have to take out toiletries or electronics! Once past security, we headed to the Etihad Business Lounge for a few hours.

 

 

Bottom Line

I must admit, when I got to Abu Dhabi after only about 3 hours of sleep on the plane, I thought, “What are we doing?” I just wanted to sleep more. However, after having rested, I am so, so happy we pushed ourselves to go out and experience one day in Abu Dhabi on points and miles. It is similar to Dubai in many respects, but the visit to the Grand Mosque is worth a day in Abu Dhabi.

 

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