Review: Etihad First Class 787 Washington To Abu Dhabi

Do they still have their "old" 777 First Class or was it replaced with this newer product?

Lucky

great post, lots of picts

Etihad first class blanket are expensive on ebay

I’ve flown 1st class on this route a few times, most recently in January this year as part of RTW18. I’ve always had a great flight. This one’s Chef was completely different, very friendly (I could have taken him home :-)). I had the best steak ever! Hope to snag an award seat for next May’s RTW19 2.0 (IAD AUH SYD SIN NRT IAD)

Wait, when you say “local”, (a) why do you put it in “” and (b) is that your way of saying “not white”? Yeesh. I can work with your random “” placement in your reviews (I’m surprised you didn’t “” “divider” between the seats when you usually “” “shield”), but to contrast “local” with American...

@ Kai -- I put local in quotes because they weren't local to the Etihad 787 or to Washington, but rather to the UAE. It's very common in the UAE to refer to Emiratis as "locals" and everyone else as a foreigner. That's the extent of what I meant.

Why not just say three Emirati passengers?

Lucky, I was waiting for this review and was not dissapointed.
As I've said before, your reviews are consistently higher quality than those of other blogs, and are a pleasure to read.

Thanks for taking the time to do them.

Myeh. Looks equivalent to a nice business class.

Great review Lucky, thank you.

The a la carte menu looks quite basic. Seems more business than first class to me.

As an aside, I travelled in business class on the Oman Air 787-9 today. Made me think of your recent review! Sadly no access to the first class lounge for me!

The cost cutting looks evident to me. I would have had more respect if the Champagne were the Charles Heidsieck Blancs des Millenaires, which I had on Lufthansa back in May. There is nothing special about the menu either.

That's an old-fashioned, almost fuddy - menu meat/fish + potato + veg. I would have been very disappointed with that limited choice. At the least there should be a non-vegetarian pasta, something with rice and something spicy. Truly dull menu.

Fuddy-duddy

Hi.. I always read your review but honestly, I came from Abu Dhabi to Washington in Busines class 2 days ago on 787, the seat was good, the toilets were below average and the service was awful. The steward and the hostess never came back to ask if I needed anything unless I called them. The seat in front of me was completely filled with curtains and when I asked why he said it was reserved for the crew to rest. Frankly, I did not feel it was different or unique from the economy class except for the seat. Food presentation was below average. I asked for a drink and they never asked me if I wanted more. Furthermore, the staff disappeared and were slow to respond when I requested assistance. All in all, for a AED20,000+ ticket, you expect a little bit of hospitality.

I always read your review but honestly, I came from Abu Dhabi to Washington in Busines class 2 days ago on 787, the seat was good, the toilets were below average and the service was awful. The steward and the hostess never came back to ask if I needed anything unless I called them. The seat in front of me was completely filled with curtains and when I asked why he said it was reserved for the crew to rest. Frankly, I did not feel it was different or unique from the economy class except for the seat. Food presentation was below average. I asked for a drink and they never asked me if I wanted more. Furthermore, the staff disappeared and were slow to respond when I requested assistance. All in all, for a AED20,000+ ticket, you expect a little bit of hospitality.

Where can you connect to in Europe from there? Reasonable points?

another terrific review benjamin!

So I have not read the full review yet, but in regards to the lounge, you first state that nothing major has changed, but then you state that they have significantly scaled back. That seems like a major change!

@Kai you are such a moron

Nonetheless, great review, Lucky!

HI, How did you make the booking points or cash? Any good point redemptions options you recommend? Thanks for the great review.

Another great read thanks Ben. Made me think though. ( some ) pay thousands of $$$$ for this first class experience . Find your own seat, broken equipment, ( mostly ) pay for your own wifi, average service from average crew and one of the highlights is the IFE which you can get sat at the back. Not what I would be looking for for the price. Come on Etihad, raise your game.

"...……………..After flying Etihad 787 first class from Washington to Abu Dhabi, I had access to Etihad’s first class lounge before my connecting flight. My connection was about four hours. I’ve reviewed Etihad’s first class lounge before, so this time I wanted to try something a bit new."

Since Ben won't reply, does anyone know if ticketed First and connecting to Business, will Etihad allow access to the First Class lounge at ABU?

Always a mystery.

@ lucky Why have you edited the Mercedes S transfer not being available? Along with the discussion that was here previously. Editing an article and discussion which is pertinent is a big no no my friend ...

@ Burg -- I haven't, that's in the next installment:
https://onemileatatime.com/etihad-vip-room-review/

@ Mark #3 -- Yes if connecting same day from first to business on Etihad you do get access.

Lucky,

I’m flying EK F in a few weeks and I’m really excited. I have never had caviar before and I’m worried about making a fool out of myself! Can you explain what all the accompaniments are as well as proper etiquette.

Thanks

It's nice that you have edited your original review to remove some of the heavily racist overtones. Feel free to delete this comment as well.

@ John -- The post hasn't been edited...

I see boingo on the wifi list, is the boingo offered with amex cards eligible here? Are you not holding any of those cards?

Really nice that you did this review as we are considering the first class on the 787. Thanks for your hard work here. Steve