Maldives 2021 Day 1 - Early Birds Catch the Drinks
It’s been 795 days since Jenn and I last left the country on a vacation together. When we arrived back from Singapore in the summer of 2019 there was no way that we could have ever imagined such a long gap; thanks COVID. But after a lot of trial and tribulation two weeks ago we booked a 10-day trip from New York to the Maldives. It was the shortest planning time for a non-work-related trip that we’ve ever taken but we wanted to make sure we’d be able to travel before going. We got our COVID PCR tests the day before our flights and the results came the morning we were set to leave.
Jenn wrapping up packing, while Frasier is less than enthused.
An hour after Frasier was picked up to go to Far Fetch Acres in upstate New York we grabbed a great Uber to take us to JFK nearly six hours before our flight. We wanted to make sure after the flight debacle to San Diego in June that we gave ourselves ample time to get to the airport. Plus Jenn was adamant that we spend as much time at the American Express Centurion lounge as possible. So we arrived at the airport a little after 4 PM for a 9 PM flight. Unfortunately, we had to kill an hour before we were able to drop off our bags at the Etihad counter. After playing the spelling bee on the New York Times app we watched Etihad set up their counters and dropped off our bags for our flight to Male, Maldives. On our way through security, we were asked if we had an American Express Platinum card and were given a Clear security pass for free with our card. Another time-saving activity that hopefully will pay dividends in future travel, like TSA PreCheck and Global Entry.
From there we made a bee-line for the American Express Centurion Lounge. Before traveling I am pretty sure that Jenn had mapped out every inch of the lounge including a very hidden speakeasy called 1850 that is behind two double doors at the back of the lounge. We got two seats near the bar and I had their signature espresso martini and Jenn had not one, but two French 75’s. We snacked on chips and mixed nuts while we felt like we were at a Manhattan bar waiting for our flight. After two hours of what might have been Jenn’s favorite part of the trip we left the Centurion Lounge and did a quick pit stop at the Swiss lounge before going to our flight to Abu Dhabi and then off to Male.
The only negative I have for booking last minute is that Jenn and I weren’t able to get seats next to each other on our flight from JFK to Abu Dhabi. We booked business class round trip tickets on Etihad and on this first flight we had individual seats on the side of the plane facing each other. Throughout the 12+ hour flight, we would pop up and check on each other on occasion but for the most part, the very long flight was a great opportunity for us to work off some of the drinks from the Centurion Lounge and enjoy one of the nicest business class offerings we’ve ever had. These seats on Etihad’s business class were the most luxurious we’ve ever had the opportunity of flying. For dinner, Jenn had the beef tenderloin and I had the lamb biryani both of which we loved. Shortly after dinner we put our seats to lay flat and were both asleep within minutes. It’s funny at different parts of the flight we both woke up and snapped photos of each other without the other person knowing we were that relaxed. After twelve hours we both had breakfast, an omelet for Jenn and a steak sandwich for me. These weren’t nearly as good as dinner but hit the spot before landing in Abu Dhabi.
Although today was purely a transit day we still haven’t gotten over how nice it is to fly business class. I always tell Jenn that I have to pinch myself any time that we are fortunate enough to fly this way. It’s something that I’ll never allow myself to take for granted.
