Often when airlines introduce a new inflight experience, they start promoting it months (or in the case of Lufthansa, years) before it actually launches. Etihad Airways has taken a different approach with its new Airbus A350, which is entering regularly scheduled passenger service as of today.
Continue reading: Revealed: New Etihad A350 Business Class Seats With Doors
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Hi - I noticed now there are pop up ads that block a good portion of the screen when clicking on each article on the website. Both in the middle of the screen and at the bottom. It really is quite annoying and appreciated how OMAAT was once a website that was easier to read without out all of the annoying pop up ads like so many other sites. Can you please revert back and stop them?
Come on Ben, "on Twitter you’ll find pictures of the new product, from people touring the plane"
I trust you as an industry expert know who this "people" are... Sheikh Ahmed (yes, the one) and the EY CEO. Who knows what is coming up next between these two....
@ Peter -- Hah, I am aware of that, my point was that anyone at the Dubai Airshow can tour the plane, and there are plenty of pictures on Twitter of the seats from others as well, beyond the Sheikh and Douglas.
You want to continue reading the hotel “porn” reviews that so many of us come here for? That’s how they are financed.
No hat-tip to paddleyourowncanoe, from where this is copied? That would be uncool…
Can we please get rid of that crazy annoying pop-up? Like I’d almost read TPG instead
I'm fine with static ads on this site but that pop up one of the bottom right is doing you more harm than good Ben. When you actively have to remove something Everytime you visit this site you are hardly enticed to click through and purchase whatever the ad is trying to sell you
Lucky, ever since the rebranding, the website is losing its appetite a lot with all new kinds of adverstisements. The new banner with the videos at the bottom of the screen is a new low. Please think about your readers first, I know ads make you money but if nobody reads the website anymore you won't make any money at all...
I very much agree. About to switch given how annoying it is to read with all of the additional ads that need to be clicked out of.
The autoplay videos are the worst, Ben i have been onboard with all the changes of late but an autoplay pop up video telling me to click on a story i read 2 days ago is ridiculous. Really hurting your everyday readers in an attempt to generate more clicks from people who never visit the site. I get the balance and understand that new readers provide more revenue than everyday people but their are other ways of getting those clicks than popups and autoplay videos.
These days they are often sponsored by the hotels one way or the other. Think about the recent reviews/advertisements of the Four Seasons hotels.
@Daniel: I'm glad to see that readers of this site are finally expressing their unfavorable reaction to the new and annoying types of advertising appearing on the site. Hopefully Ben will pay attention and respond accordingly.
I recently downloaded AdGuard to my apple devices and it’s been a game changer across all the forums and websites I visit, has blocked 99% of ads and pop ups. I did a clear history and cache reset before installing and made sure that when I signed into Google etc I unticked the advertisement preferences.
Well, all good things must come to an end 😉
If the world can hold out through next July, I’ll get my Cathay Pacific fix over with 4 flights in 1st ticketed (although it doesn’t look good for a Wing Lounge Cabana visit).
And I’ll get a last visit in to the Louvre Abu Dhabi + a stay at the Park Hyatt. Then enjoy EY B787-9 1st class home to Dulles. And this is after my first Qatar Qsuite flight and 1st class lounge at DOH.
After this I’ll stick with European (LH & BA) and Japanese (JAL & ANA) with maybe a Qantas First if I can find it, or do a Round the World, Southern Hemisphere trip.
Then I’ll find a new hobby 😉
Despite the improvements. The mask pictures completely turn me off the product.
I will not return to long haul in any significant way, until the draconian mass testing and masking regimes end.
Sort of underwhelmed by Etihad's choice here. The super diamond platform is very good, however I was hoping for more of a step forward from Etihad as this is a product that has been out for a number of years now.
Agree completely -- it's incredibly spammy and really annoying.
If the goal is to make visiting the blog a negative experience, this has succeeded.
Great, one less selfish, idiot cult-member on the plane, less chance of the pandemic continuing, and less personal risk for all the rational people who are willing to follow the rules. Nobody will miss you.
Their old products were much more unique. Old business seats could be converted into a Qsuite equivalent with doors. The new color scheme is too dark. The doors seem too low.
Their old products were much more unique. Old business seats could be converted into a Qsuite equivalent with doors. The new color scheme is too dark. The doors seem too low. Super Dimond is an ordinary product used by too many airlines.TK and EK did the right thing by not choosing Super dimond.
Did you hear him say that the 2nd batch have a wider body so they'll be able to put an extra seat in (economy)?
Ben, PLEASE get rid of the video pop-ups! It is ruining and downgrading what was the best site of its type on the internet. It is doing your page great harm amongst loyal readers.
Sheep.
This would be a much better world if people learned to think for themselves.
jumping on bandwagons is a sign of intellectuall disability.
Seeing everyone else chime in on the pop-ups. I genuinely thought it was a virus.
Sweden has one of the worst records among its neighbors in dealing with COVID...
Very disappointing. They didn’t even go with the full mood lighting and overhead bin accent lighting package offered on the A350
(Like Qatar and Lufthansa). This kind of product will not be able to compete with Qatar or Emirates. I would have expected a business class that comes closer to a first class product. The 787 business product looks better.
These pop ups are extremely annoying and the main reason i moved over to TPG for aviation news. I like your content more, but this is a big problem sine the new website. I dont like it
Hey @Lucky! I was at the limited viewing of this product last week. I have already written about for my employer. My conclusion: I have never felt more confined or claustrophobic on an aircraft before. The choice of the color scheme, the confined space and the layout make for an uncomfortably tight space, at least for me.
Really? I did not noticed. Is it because i have ad and pop up blocker? I am wondering always why you bother to Ben when he is probably not even reading the comments or VERY rarely answer them. Waste of time and energy.
Agree with most comments here. The website rebrand has been executed terribly.
I’m surprised that Etihad doesn’t put first class on the A350-1000, unless they are planning to put them on the 777-9s they have on order. It would help if they have a plane larger than the 787 that can fly some “flagship long-haul routes, such as to London, Paris, New York, or Sydney. Those places seem to fit first class travel well. They flew the A380s there. The problem is they only have six 777-9s on order, which is hardly enough to cover those destinations.
I personally believe you can do better than the recent rebrand/overhaul of the site experience and the addition of pop-up videos. I’ve always liked your blog and felt like it was a cut above TPG and even your friend Matthew Klint’s L&LF (no offense to him). Please don’t ruin it.
I traveled in ethiad from Abu Dhabi to Sydney. It was a great flight. Ethiad is my favorite airlines. Their planes are so beautiful ❤️ .
I have to agree with all the previous comments, please fix those pop up ads. It's great that your blog sticks mostly to travel related posts while avoiding the kind of posts that attract comments from those "angry teenagers and trolls" that ruin comment section in the other travel blogs. Please keep it up and please deal with the ads
Please stop the player madness. My adblocker is now rendering your site and its videos. unusable.
I have to agree about the intrusive advertising.
I always spend the first few minutes batting these away and closing pop ups. This isn't a teen influencer selling makeup, but it's getting to feel like one.
will etihad airways use airbus a350-1,000 from iad airport in washington d.c., u.s. of a. direct non-stop to auh airport in abu dhabi, united arab emirates?
"...but none of us really ever fell in love with Ethiad for it's buisness class product, right?"
Very true.
Yes I agree with the other comments, the advertising has become annoying and making the adverrticle difficult to read..
And I am quite disappointing to see a photo of the 787 business class for an article on the new A350 business with doors. Better show nothing if you don't have pics, or show an A350
Got to agree with the others. The pop up videos have become a bit too much. Enjoy reading this blog but now maybe I'll do a 1-month boycott of the site as a silent protest.
Would have been nice if you had been invited to the Inaugural flight as well like The Points Guy to experience it first hand. They already had their post on yesterday Looking forward to their YouTube video about the flight which should be on soon.
I'm using Firefox with AdBlock Plus and genuinely have no idea what everyone is complaining about. What popup video?
The thickness of the business class seat on the A350 and 787 are striking. The 787 seat seemingly has no padding!
Its not just OMAAT, all BoardingArea blogs are infected with the hateful 'trending now' pop-up. Its especially bad on mobile as it takes up too much screen and sometimes when trying to close it you end up opening it by mistake. I guess that counts as more clicks for the BA bloggers, which is the road to becoming the PointsGuy
Same. I actually use Chrome and have an ad blocker and not a single issue. I apply through the affiliate links for CCs - when in the market for one - so I'm like to think I'm helping to keep the blog alive.
Lucky, do you have any metrics on what percentage of people actually let the video play through? I'm willing to bet that it is extremely low, as I suspect most people immediately X it out. And if that's the case, why continue to have it?
Thanks Bill on behalf of the oneMile community. We were eagerly waiting to know what you plan on doing in your life, where you will be travelling and when.
Unless you’re inviting someone to join, what was that all about? You do realise people don’t really care, it adds no value and obviously not related to the article
On the surface it looks very nice although the footwells look tight -,guess I will have to try it out and then comment - maybe June when I go to Europe
"This spring the plane will first fly to Delhi, Istanbul, Jeddah, and Mumbai, and as of July the plane is expected to fly to Chicago and New York." : No, EY A350 also flying the route of CAI-AUH in Ramadan, I just booked this aircraft on Eid vacation.