After my brief visit to the Turkish Lounge, I headed over towards the Etihad Lounge at around 6:30PM, right as it opened. The Etihad Lounge is located at the far end of the A Concourse, right by gate A14.
Continue reading: Review: Etihad Lounge Washington Dulles Airport
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Looks like the perfect setting for a Mad Men episode. The wine selection looks suspiciously similar to what AA used to serve before the revamp.
That is NOT a mediocre buffet; it's way above average. Not up to Emirates level perhaps but I infinitely prefer this kind of dining to the way over-rated menu based choices in a Qantas lounge, for example.
The food looks pretty decent! Especially the Indian food looks solid. Kind of hard to comment on the quality without having tried any of it, though, right? But I get that it's disappointed when compared to Etihad's other lounges. If I hadn't known about the other lounges and was in this one, I imagine I'd be pretty satisfied with this spread.
Can a passenger flying in business guest in another passenger flying in economy?
It's so interesting that they have this lounge for only 2 flights a day. It will be very interesting to see how the vast network of flights to/from the US that Etihad and Emirates have created will shake out as the electronics ban settles in and they continue to look for ways to cut costs. You have to figure some of their flights to smaller cities will be cut.
I thought the food looked delicious.
Sure they don't have an a la carte menu, but what are they supposed to be serving? Shrimp brocettes? Lamb chops? Huge bowls of caviar?
The food was obviously fresh--since they just opened, but it's carefully laid out, garnished and bountiful. To say it's mediocre without even tasting it seems elitist and unfair.
Given that everyone arriving from Abu Dhabi will have pre-cleared US immigration, I really wish Etihad would allow arriving passengers to use this as an arrivals lounge, at least for those in first class. Seems like the timing would work reasonably well (the flight from Abu Dhabi gets to Dulles at 5pm, which would mean most arriving passengers would be out of there before the rush ahead of their 10pm flight). Heck, most passengers probably wouldn't even use the lounge on arrival, but it would be nice to have the option if connecting, or to freshen up before heading to a dinner or event.
Two lounge reviews in one day!
What is this world coming to? At this rate, he'll be posting that residence review thing in four days. The one with Johan the South African, that uneaten macaron tray and the signed photo of SHAWN MENDES!
OMG! So fetch!
@DiscountEconomyFlyer - I saw you posting snarky comments here yesterday as well. You must have a lot of spare time on your hands to visit a site you hate so often. Remember that when it comes to ad revenue, your clicks count the same as anyone else's - so it's you who is keeping Lucky in this job!
The food actually looks delicious! But I haven't tried it obviously.
Why on earth are Emirates and Etihad cost cutting when their country supports them $$$ financially & their ticket prices are through the roof, considering they get a lot of revenue? Makes absolutely no sense
Why didn't you have the boarding pass with you yet Ben?
I tried to find the answer in "Review: Turkish Airlines Lounge Washington Dulles Airport" but failed....
@Donald for those who fly up front, nothing but the best would do. I do live vicariously through Luckys writings, and I do enjoy them but yes, he can be elitist.
@747always
It's not elitist as much as a charade. The guy flew halfway across the world to a semi-hellhole for a much cheaper fare on this product. For all his bluster and uneaten macaroons, he can't escape what he is. It shows up in nearly every post.
The other guy that reviewed this paid four times as much to get on the inaugural flight from JFK and covered it all in one post. He earned the right to be elitist but surprisingly comes off as more grounded in his writings.
Truthfully, the buffet as a whole looked pretty good. I think the presentation does make a difference, the buffet set-up in the Turkish lounge looks much nicer than the one here does, so maybe that is one reason why Lucky felt the buffet here was average looking at best.
@Lucky
for the residnce flight, where did you credit the miles and how much did you earn?
That lounge used to be the crew break room for Independence Air pilots and flight attendants. I think the Chief Pilot's office is now the bathroom (or maybe the kids room) and the admin's desk is now the bar.
Are there any differences between first and business class passengers for this lounge? Just trying to decide if it's worth the extra AA miles to book F out of IAD - both are available for the day I want to travel. Thanks Ben!