There are a lot of amazing first class products in the world, though arguably nothing in commercial aviation is quite to the level of The Residence, which is Etihad’s private three-room suite, exclusively on the Airbus A380. In this post I wanted to take a closer look at this. What exactly is The Residence like, how much does it cost, and what’s included with it?
In this post:
What is The Residence on Etihad’s Airbus A380s?
The Airbus A380 is a joy to fly in general, though Etihad has especially nice premium cabins on these jets. First class is located at the front of the upper deck, and consists of nine seats, in a 1-1 configuration. That’s right, there’s just a single aisle, even though this is a wide body.
Etihad refers to its A380 first class as First Class Apartments, and these suites are incredibly spacious. Each suite features a separate chair and bed, so you have lots of flexibility with getting comfortable in this cabin.
What’s even more exclusive than First Class Apartments is The Residence, which is located at the front left of the first class cabin. The Residence is a private three-room suite that occupies 125 square feet. It includes a living room, a bedroom, and a private bathroom with a shower. There’s simply nothing else like this in commercial aviation, and it can only otherwise really be compared to what you’d find in private aviation.
The Residence can be occupied by up to two guests, though truth be told, the bed might be a bit tight if both people want to sleep at once. Meanwhile if you’re traveling alone, this is basically a palace.
For what it’s worth, I reviewed The Residence several years back on a flight from Abu Dhabi to Sydney. It was the most amazing flight of my life.
Which Etihad routes feature The Residence?
You’ll exclusively find The Residence on Etihad’s Airbus A380s. For context, Etihad grounded its Airbus A380 fleet at the start of the pandemic, and everything was pointing toward those planes just being retired prematurely. Fortunately the airline had a change of heart, and Etihad brought back its super jumbos as of the summer of 2023.
The bad news is that at least so far, only four of the 10 A380s have been brought back into service. The planes currently fly from Abu Dhabi (AUH) to both London (LHR) and New York (JFK), and as of later this year, will also return to Paris (CDG).
How do you book The Residence on Etihad?
Over the years, Etihad has changed how it monetizes The Residence. Pre-pandemic, The Residence was a completely separate product from first class, and was typically priced at $25K+ one-way. The Residence included all kinds of special services, and there was no way to upgrade to The Residence.
The economics of The Residence were always pretty questionable, since it was empty a vast majority of the time. It almost seemed like Etihad had The Residence for the halo effect, as it got a ton of attention globally.
Since the A380 was brought back in 2023, Etihad has taken a different approach to The Residence. Nowadays the airline sells The Residence as an upgrade option for select first class passengers, and you can no longer book it directly. The pricing is much more reasonable than in the past, but the soft product also isn’t quite as differentiated.
How expensive is an upgrade to The Residence on Etihad?
Upgrades to The Residence are available to those confirmed in first class on the Etihad A380. You can either upgrade at the time of booking, or after the fact, through Etihad’s booking management function.
One major restriction to be aware of is that you need to be booking directly through Etihad in order to upgrade. It’s fine if you paid cash for your ticket or redeemed Etihad Guest miles, though a partner award ticket (booked through a program like American AAdvantage) wouldn’t qualify.
Etihad doesn’t publish the costs for upgrades to The Residence, but based on doing a quick search just now:
- Between Abu Dhabi and London, an upgrade from first class to The Residence costs AED 7,310, or ~$1,990
- Between Abu Dhabi and New York, an upgrade from first class to The Residence costs AED 14,660, or ~$3,900
It’s possible that the upgrade cost will differ based on the type of ticket that you book, though I find the above to be the standard prices for the upgrade, based on when I’ve searched.
Note that you can also upgrade tickets from first class to The Residence using Etihad Guest miles, though it’s not a very good deal. On the Abu Dhabi to London route, expect to pay at least 285,000 miles, while on the Abu Dhabi to New York route, expect to pay at least 570,000 miles.
There have been some reports of passengers being called up by Etihad, and being offered discounted upgrades to The Residence if they agree to upgrade on the spot. There doesn’t seem to be any consistency to that, though.
Also note that the upgrade cost is the same whether you’re upgrading one or two passengers. You’d think the cost would be less if upgrading two passengers, since you’re making two first class seats available, rather than one. In terms of spaciousness, you might almost be better off just upgrading one person and keeping a second first class seat.
However, note that only people confirmed in The Residence can use it, so if you’re traveling as a couple and only upgrade one person, don’t expect that you’ll both be able to use The Residence. However, I imagine the crew has some discretion there.
What’s included with a ticket in The Residence on Etihad?
While The Residence is amazing physically, back in the day the soft product was differentiated equally, and could really be customized however you wanted, from the food, to the amenities. You even had a private butler.
Nowadays the soft product isn’t as special as it used to be. So, what perks do passengers in The Residence receive, which those in first class don’t receive?
- You receive an escort through the airport
- You receive a private room in the Etihad First Class Lounge
- You receive enhanced tableware and glassware onboard
- You receive premium bedding and a private shower
So you no longer receive a much more extensive food and drink menu, a private butler, or the ability to customize the experience to the same level. Still, expect the entire experience to be lovely.
Bottom line
The Etihad Airbus A380 has made a comeback, with four the jets back in service. They’re flying from Abu Dhabi to London and New York, and soon also to Paris.
While the Etihad A380 offers a great passenger experience across the board, the highlight is The Residence, which is the three-room suite at the front of the first class cabin. There’s nothing else like this in commercial aviation.
Nowadays The Residence can be booked as an upgrade option for those who are traveling on a revenue ticket in first class. Upgrades cost $2,500-4,500 one-way, depending on the route, and the cost is the same whether one or two people are upgrading.
What do you make of The Residence on Etihad’s A380?
This guy mistakenly upgraded only himself to The Residence, even though his wife is also travelling in First. They did not allow his wife to use The Residence, even though he also highlighted that the cost to upgrade 1 pr 2 passengers is the same.
https://youtu.be/DSvE-xi1oz0
Hey Ben - thanks for always keeping us updated. Any idea or updates on those flying out of the Residence from JFK? Have a flight booked in August and curious if they kept the separate rooms for future Residence use. Thanks!
Less than the price of one night at the Waldorf Costa Rica!
Hey the booking option of the residence does vary often by who you talk to at etihad I just booked the residence for a flight in May and it was tricky - it is not as straight forward as it may seem
This is incorrect, award tickets are now eligible to be upgraded to the Residence.
We are begging you Ben to start proofreading and fact-checking. This is so misleading given that SEO will redirect many people interested in the Residence to your article and it will be completely wrong.
@ yoloswag420 -- I really appreciate when people provide feedback and corrections, because you're right, I don't always get details right.
However, any chance you'd consider changing your tone a bit, though, with your incessant complaining about my errors? I understand that you're not in my shoes, so let me explain. I publish an average of around 10 stories a day, seven days a week.
I do my best to strike a balance between...
@ yoloswag420 -- I really appreciate when people provide feedback and corrections, because you're right, I don't always get details right.
However, any chance you'd consider changing your tone a bit, though, with your incessant complaining about my errors? I understand that you're not in my shoes, so let me explain. I publish an average of around 10 stories a day, seven days a week.
I do my best to strike a balance between having high quality content and being accurate, but I don't always get things right. I'm not a traditional media writer who is assigned one or two stories a week. As a result, the amount of time that goes into each story reflects that.
I promise I'm doing my best, and maybe that's just not good enough for you, which I respect. I'm not trying to be the WSJ. So I'd really appreciate if you could point out any factual errors without the theatrics... :-)
Don't bother arguing with someone called "yoloswag420", Ben.
I will defend, with respect, yoloswag420 here.
First, agreed, people do not expect your content to be perfectly accurate, nor that of WSJ. Nevertheless WSJ will redact or correct errors and do updates as such. Highlighting exactly the mistake they made.
Second, If too much content is too much to handle (as you insinuate), and you can't provide proper vetted information, why not lower your output of articles to focus on quality? That in...
I will defend, with respect, yoloswag420 here.
First, agreed, people do not expect your content to be perfectly accurate, nor that of WSJ. Nevertheless WSJ will redact or correct errors and do updates as such. Highlighting exactly the mistake they made.
Second, If too much content is too much to handle (as you insinuate), and you can't provide proper vetted information, why not lower your output of articles to focus on quality? That in itself being the fault of every blog, even those I respect. You push so much out to grab clicks and dollars that in the end you fail eventually with quality. This is natural, I guess? It's not a criticism of you as a person, just a simple equation.
Third, why not hire? At least an intern who admires you and wants to learn. Do so with the task that they serve as a fact checker to your articles? You might find you can keep up with the same amount of posts yet also provide more accuracy to your base. Frankly, ten posts a day is absurd. I appreciate hard work but you ask for forgiveness on facts because you alone post 10 times a day?
Bottom line...as you like to say....is that as much as you want forgiveness for being "a one man blogger" the reality is that you get returns on Google and others for this information that is often at the top of every return. You have gained these algorithms of any search with hard work, sure. With that though you take the money that comes with this success. Fine. Own that success, be your success, but give back some of that investment that the public has given you by being humble, accurate, willing to correct, and investing in them so as to provide content that is accurate, vetted, and fair.
This seems to be the way of the future, if the allegedly leaked drawings of Cathay Pacific's new first class are to be believed. Similar concept. Lounging area, bedroom, closet, huge bathroom. Larger "super-suite" on one side of the the aircraft, smaller super-suite (to make room for the massive bathroom) on the other.
If Cathay really goes down that route, then it's only a matter of time before Singapore and likely Emirates, Qatar and others follow suit.
Your pricing is out of date. Just booked residence which now has to be called in. $4000 from a full F ticket or $9800 from discount A. JFK-AUH route.
@ Omar -- Thanks for the heads up on that. I updated the post to reflect that, having just pulled up the new pricing for some sample itineraries.