Congrats Danger that is awesome! I too managed to book
Etihad F for a special trip next year. I could not manage to get them to do the 15% discount in F though despite a lot of pestering! Enjoy the Alps!!
Congrats Danger, well done!
I don't think he had 15% discount on the redemption itself, but had 15% bonus while transferring bank reward points to VA.
Yes, that's another added bonus I failed to mention, that VA does this 10-15% transfer bonus twice a year.
I recently flew on SQ suite, it was really awesome. I would certainly love to fly it again. But judging by the look, It is probably about the same as EY's F suites on their main fleet, and maybe not as good as the apartment. (Some can even argue EY's suite might be better as it comes with a mini bar and the seat can recline as much as you like until it goes flat, vs SQ's recline to 125 deg then need to flip over to make a flat bed.) Apart from A380, SQ's standard F looks a bit inferior to EY. (I said "looks". I haven't experienced it myself yet so happy to be corrected)
Also EY service F to BNE and PER as well vs SQ only service to SYD/MEL. So for us "secondary" citizens living in rural towns of BNE and PER, we don't need to transit in SYD to get F service. Another added bonus of VA.
The service with SQ might be better but if you are my type who would like to have a bit of peace and quiet, then service probably doesn't matter that much. After all, how bad can EY F service be?
Did I mention the free chauffeur service you get with EY on both ends?
Note: My EY trip is coming in Oct, I haven't experienced it first hand yet so my opinion may change. But simply by reading the reviews and watching trip reports on YouTube, EY doesn't look too bad at all. If anyone had first hand experience on both, please share!