Boarding was done through door 2L, where I was greeted by the cabin manager and one of the business class cabin crew.
Continue reading: Review: Etihad Airways Business Class A330 Dusseldorf To Abu Dhabi
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Officer (with a creepy smirk): “If your real name is Ben, why does everyone refer to you as 'Lucky'? Is that a code name? What are you trying to hide? Your German is very good for an American citizen - what intelligence agency do you work for?”
Great report!
Just flew Etihad Business Class from Tokyo to Munich with a stop in Abu Dhabi. I definitely agree with you on their food and hard product. I also experienced really great service which is definitely on top of the American carriers.
Have you had the chance to check out their lounge? I felt like the service couldn't just keep up with the real in flight one and found some people there to actually either having a really bad day or just generally not liking their job?!
Oh and about their remote stands.. happened to me twice, AUH-NRT and return as well..
But as far as the real flight experience goes, great product!
@ Chrissi531 -- I've only used their first class lounge in Abu Dhabi, and even that isn't all that impressive. Don't find the service to be especially good there either.
This does look excellent. I know you've said AA is having trouble booking Etihad right now. What about USAir? Thanks for another excellent report!
@ elteetrav -- US Airways doesn't partner with Etihad Airways, so till they merge the programs you won't be able to book Etihad with US Airways miles.
FYI the second picture which you have labelled the arrivals hall is actually the departures area with checkin desks at the back! Odly the etihad car desk is also there!
Lucky, does the divider separating the honeymoon seats lower? If not, that could be a pain for people traveling together (you can adjust the divider on EK).
"Only in the UAE!"
No, that's standard for pretty much all the GCC airports. FYI, Emiratis do have a reputation for being the nicest Gulfies...
The food does look good. Too bad their wasn't a steak sandwich offered on this flight. But, pretty embarrassing for them to run out of food...and even moreso on the next flight too!
Now you need to fly EK's staggered business as well as QR's business, so you can compare all 3 as well.
Great review/pictures! Too bad you didn't know the upcoming marathon flight to LA would run out of food or you could have taken something "to go". 😉
Ben, did you put up the wrong airshow picture? It has an airberlin logo on it, and while my German ain't great, I'm quite sure it says destination: DUS?
And the food does look amazing - are you one of those people who would go out just for dessert? 😉 Too bad they ran out of your preferred meals.
Aren't you wishing you booked 1st class, then you could have had another private cabin experience!
The new food and beverage director for Etihad just left the Hyatt Capital Gate. Maybe he had a hand in the excellent food.
Jeez Ben! The after lunch cappuccino (what?) paired with a glass of Champagne....your Sicilian friends would kill you! 😉 signed...an Italian 😉
Great review (as ever!), although I bet you were gutted you hadn't booked First to have the cabin to yourself!
Agree it was a poor show having to have second choice on both courses but the presentation and taste seems better than F in many airlines - especially LH
PS disappointing that the pie and chips was really pie and *crisps* - they should serve proper chips with them! (and I don't mean 'French fries' but proper thick-cut British chip-shop chips!
I have not had the opportunity to fly Etihad (always try to upgrade but they say its full even when its not) but I have flown economy on Etihad and their service in that class leads a lot to be desired. The customer service whether it be on the ground (in the various airline offices in Abu Dhabi) or in the air is not very nice nor respectful to the customer, and many of them do not know of the products or services their airline offers. In the air, the service is not good, the food is bad quality, and the IFE is limited. Out of the big 3, I would actually rank them last (Emirates is number 1). I believe that Etihad has a lot of work it needs to do to truly be a world-class airline.
Lucky were you bothered by noise in 6K with it being so close to the galley? Or do the benefits of the mini-cabin outweigh this? Have a flight coming up in a few weeks from Geneva
Do you happen to know if immigration at Abu Dhabi deny people to enter if they've been to Israel (i.e. have a stamp on the passport)?
Great report - Boy, some people are picky, aren't they - proper thick cut British chip shop chips indeed - lol.
We are booked to fly busines BNE - AUH - LHR in a few weeks. 787 between BNE and AUH and A380 between AHU and LHR. Never been on either aircraft type, so looking forward.
Will try to put in my own report - might even throw in some bogus photos to challenge the toughest of critics!
Great review Ben!
Have a quick question about the Kitchen anytime menu.
Do you get to order from it in addition to have feasted from the A la Carte menu ? And, how mnay times can you order from it ?