TPG Awards 2024: Etihad wins 'dream airline redemption,' but rivals are coming

09.12.2024 - 12:15 / thepointsguy.com / John F.Kennedy / Dom Pérignon

Every year, the TPG Awards honor excellence in credit cards, loyalty programs and travel. Please click here to read more about our winner selection process and methodology for the 2024 TPG Awards.

The Etihad Apartment — spacious, self-contained first-class suites found only aboard the airline's Airbus A380s — won this year's TPG Award for Dream Airline Award Redemption.

It's hard to beat nearly 40 square feet of personal space, cushy Poltrona Frau leather armchairs, separate pullout beds, private minibars, Armani pajamas, Espa amenities and two types of free-flowing Champagne.

But what set the Etihad Apartment apart from the pack and clinched the award this year was the fact that you can often redeem miles from Etihad's own Guest program or American Airlines AAdvantage for award tickets in the Apartment. You can even do this on the airline's long-haul flights between its hub at Zayed International Airport (AUH) in Abu Dhabi and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York.

However, the Apartment is just about a decade old at this point, and a slew of recently unveiled and soon-to-debut first-class products are coming for its throne.

Of course, there are old standbys like Emirates' "game changer" suites found aboard a handful of its Boeing 777-300ERs. Passengers can count on unlimited caviar, a few different vintages of Dom Perignon and even digital windows in the center suites that project what's going on outside.

Singapore Airlines' first-class suites continue to shine thanks to huge (for an airplane) beds, some of which can be combined into doubles, plus fabulous food and drinks (including three kinds of Champagne), bespoke Lalique amenity kits and the carrier's nonpareil service.

Japan Airlines introduced new eye-popping first-class suites aboard its Airbus A350-1000s earlier this year. There are just six of these nearly enclosed compartments (their doors are meant to resemble traditional shoji screens) on board each of the jets; they have a double-wide seating space, part of which converts into a lie-flat bed.

The tech bells and whistles get most of the attention, though. There are innovative features like built-in headrest speakers so you don't have to wear headphones, as well as 43-inch 4K entertainment screens and wireless charging pads. Unfortunately, we haven't seen too many awards open up since their premiere back in January, but a handful have cropped up for just 80,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles each way. Make sure to set deal alerts.

We AvGeeks have a lot to look forward to as well.

Lufthansa touted new business- and first-class seats called "Allegris" for several years. The business-class seats went into service in May. However, the first plane with the new