Australia to UK - Etihad / Virgin experiences?

[AsterisK]

I'm quite possibly going on a business trip from Brisbane to London, with an obvious preference to fly via Virgin Atlantic/VAustralia or Etihad.

Has anyone had any experience flying this route or similar with Virgin or Etihad in Business class?

Also, having to book through Carlson Wagonlit, I'm finding it hard to find flights flying via either of these airlines - does anyone have any tips into tricking CWT to show me flights with Virgin codeshares?

 

[MYT105]

I flew Syd to LHR with Etihad earlier this year, in Business class. It was what I would expect business to be, but also my first J flight, so not much to go on. The lounge in AUH was good, but preferred the LHR lounge on the way back. The seats were lie flat and the food was good in flight with plenty of choices.

I would fly them again, but would prefer a OW airline as I do most of my flying with QF rather then VA, but the price difference was quite big when only booking a few days out, so went with Etihad, which will give me VA gold once the return trip posts, now over a month over due, so not happy.

 

[GeeZed]

Also, having to book through Carlson Wagonlit, I'm finding it hard to find flights flying via either of these airlines - does anyone have any tips into tricking CWT to show me flights with Virgin codeshares?

These flights are all available in GDS, and local selling fares exist so it would most likely be to your advantage to book via an Australian TA

 

[Major]

I flew BNE- LHR in J on EY last year and BNE-CAI also in J. I like the EY product, the food is very good and they also have a good choice of wines. The beds are comfortable and I have no problem catching a couple of hours sleep
I particularly like the routing via SIN which breaks up the journey

I'm also a fan of their boarding music.
Etihad Boarding Music by Etihad Airways on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

 

[quark]

I flew J on Etihad from LHR to SYD a couple of months ago. I've flown plenty of QF J internationally. QF is better overall, but Etihad is still very good. Great seats/beds, nice staff, good food and decent lounges.

My only real gripe was that the food choices ran out very early for dinner, and it was almost impossible to get service at breakfast where they again ran out of eggs before half the cabin was served. Not happy. I'm flying again next month and hope there is plenty of food this time.

 

[AsterisK]

These flights are all available in GDS, and local selling fares exist so it would most likely be to your advantage to book via an Australian TA

Unfortunately it's company policy to book via CWT, so just have to try my best to trick it and see what comes up!

 

[jujay]

There is a trip report on this in the trip report section, it's a good read and will help answer any questions you have about Etihad J.

Last month I flew SYD-AUH-LHR-AUH-SYD with them, 3 of the sectors in F (amazing), and 1 in J. Would happily do J again with them, despite being absolutely spoilt in F. Just be sure to include your Velocity membership into the booking and you shouldn't have too many issues with the points/SC crediting to your account in a timely manner. I got mine within a week of the completing the flight.

 

[medhead]

[-]When you say a business trip, does that mean you're flying in business class?[/-] I'm not sure why you want VA codeshares.

My only tip for "tricking" CWT would be to tell them you want the VA codeshare. I've never really had to use them but in my few interactions they have been very responsive to my requests, just like other TAs.


Sent from the Throne

 

[jujay]

When you say a business trip, does that mean you're flying in business class?

They did ask for experiences on business class (2nd line), so presumably yes they are going on business class.
If you are having a hard time finding flights on the codeshare, try searching against the EY flight numbers. There's generally more availability if I'm not mistaken (seeing as it is Etihad metal).

 

[medhead]

They did ask for experiences on business class (2nd line), so presumably yes they are going on business class.
If you are having a hard time finding flights on the codeshare, try searching against the EY flight numbers. There's generally more availability if I'm not mistaken (seeing as it is Etihad metal).

That'll learn me to read properly.


Sent from the Throne

 

[AsterisK]

my one and only paid business class trip ever I think I'm more looking forward to the points than the flight

 

[AsterisK]

For those interested, I just booked my flights with Etihad via Carlson Wagonlit. No Etihad flights were showing up at all until I selected a much more expensive flight option, and was offered a cheaper end to end Etihad option.

Flight route confirmed is BNE>MEL>AUH>LHR>AUH>SYD>BNE in J