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Just back in chilly Tas from a SYD/LHR/MEL trip with Etihad in F - 3 legs in the A380 apartments and the last return flt 777. There has been any amount of critical comment about this airline - so after one of the very best flights ever (in 40+ years of intl flights..) I thought it time for some better news..
We chose to fly out of Syd rather than Mel, mostly for the A380 and for the convenient mid arvo departure. Never been a fan of late night departures - in F or any class - unless the schedule makes it necessary.These days, flying on my own dollar or points, and on holiday, I prefer comfort..
Great lunch on the way up to AUH, a cracking good Barbera and a very accomodating crew. Still had the old PJ's on both legs, but the dreaded security check on arrival AUH was much better organised than on previous trips. F/J priority line was policed and plenty of lanes manned and open. One can only hope there are alarms on those scanners, as the operator wasn't showing the greatest attention to the screen..
Anyway, the F lounge is only a few steps after security, was its usual calm and relaxing self with Filipino bartenders ready and waiting.
The other good news about AUH was seeing lights on in the new mid-airport terminal. The building appears complete externally incl airbridges, and its going to be amazing (and enormous) when its finished. Our crew thought 2019, but formal opening will be in the apparently more auspicious year of 2020..
LHR was its usual scrum on arrival (roll on Brexit..) made worse by the late appearance of car & driver. We booked thru Etihad's (paid) chauffeur service, but they just contract with a booking company which in turn farms out the work.. No doubt experienced readers can suggest better, more direct car services.
It was the return flight from LHR that really impressed us. A slow M25 drive (at 0615..) was followed by a slow check-in. I don't know what the problem was for the couple ahead of us in F, but the bloke in the adjacent J queue was trying to bluff himself a bump up to F, and it took the arrival of a perfumed senior Etihad lady to tell him his fare class did not allow it.. Its too much for contract check-in staff to know the intricacies of an airline's upgrade policy mate, so you just held people up..
EY's lounge in T4 has gone downhill - too many chairs, not enough elbow room, sticky tabletop (next to a window, so possibly the varnish had succumbed to sunlight) but at least the WIFI password remains the same. We didn't do breakfast in expectation of brunch over Paris (or the Rhine or somewhere), but even getting a cuppa was self-service.
Most of the usual LHR blues were forgotten onboard - a very personable and efficient crew had us sorted with new PJ's (slinky, cooler and much more stylish) and a glass of '06 (ok, think it was LP, not Billecart) in no time. But it still took 40 mins from our scheduled departure time to get to the front of takeoff queue.
Time for brunch - sitting together in 3K, caviar with all the trimmings, smoked salmon The Better Half pronounced as Best Ever, then a mid East lamb & rice dish matched with a superb Bordeaux. I cannot remember a better presented or more flavoursome meal ever in the air. And all done with great style by our crew. Well done, it really was first class.
In 3 flights on the A380 loadings in F were never more that 6 out of 9, with the Residence never occupied, so the crews always seem to have time for a chat, to ask about top-ups, help with the controls etc. It seems clear the best and brightest crew get the A380, and the best amongst them the plum legs like LHR.
Back to the AUH lounge like we hadn't been away - same Filipino bar staff, same peace & quiet. We didn't eat in the lounge - not after the great meal, and not before the long night leg home.
After 3 flights this EY trip had varied from very good to great, but the last leg to MEL was on the 777. Fortunately we had a gate rather than a bus/stand-off bay, so boarding was no chore. But after all the space and light of the Apartments its a step down to F. Yes, yes, what a whinger, but it was a full flight, leaving at 10 (delayed by ATC until after 11pm) and there just wasn't the time for the crew to engage.
Dinner on the last leg wasn't a patch - TBH's chicken wasnt edible (same complaint from our new friend across the aisle) and my beef tenderloin was a bit under-done. The chef was apologetic, perhaps it was the oven, but all was forgotten as we watched, live, the second half of England/Colombia World Cup. Here - finally - was a justification for instant sat comms !
And so we arrived in MEL. Our bags, in common with nearly all the other F pax, were dead last to come up (even the crew had come & gone).
There's no reason to expect SYD would treat our bags any better, but at least it gets 2 x 380 flights a day. MEL, from Oct, wont even have the 777 and thus no F (2 x 787s with J and Y only). So I know which airport I'll be using next time EY gets my money..
We chose to fly out of Syd rather than Mel, mostly for the A380 and for the convenient mid arvo departure. Never been a fan of late night departures - in F or any class - unless the schedule makes it necessary.These days, flying on my own dollar or points, and on holiday, I prefer comfort..
Great lunch on the way up to AUH, a cracking good Barbera and a very accomodating crew. Still had the old PJ's on both legs, but the dreaded security check on arrival AUH was much better organised than on previous trips. F/J priority line was policed and plenty of lanes manned and open. One can only hope there are alarms on those scanners, as the operator wasn't showing the greatest attention to the screen..
Anyway, the F lounge is only a few steps after security, was its usual calm and relaxing self with Filipino bartenders ready and waiting.
The other good news about AUH was seeing lights on in the new mid-airport terminal. The building appears complete externally incl airbridges, and its going to be amazing (and enormous) when its finished. Our crew thought 2019, but formal opening will be in the apparently more auspicious year of 2020..
LHR was its usual scrum on arrival (roll on Brexit..) made worse by the late appearance of car & driver. We booked thru Etihad's (paid) chauffeur service, but they just contract with a booking company which in turn farms out the work.. No doubt experienced readers can suggest better, more direct car services.
It was the return flight from LHR that really impressed us. A slow M25 drive (at 0615..) was followed by a slow check-in. I don't know what the problem was for the couple ahead of us in F, but the bloke in the adjacent J queue was trying to bluff himself a bump up to F, and it took the arrival of a perfumed senior Etihad lady to tell him his fare class did not allow it.. Its too much for contract check-in staff to know the intricacies of an airline's upgrade policy mate, so you just held people up..
EY's lounge in T4 has gone downhill - too many chairs, not enough elbow room, sticky tabletop (next to a window, so possibly the varnish had succumbed to sunlight) but at least the WIFI password remains the same. We didn't do breakfast in expectation of brunch over Paris (or the Rhine or somewhere), but even getting a cuppa was self-service.
Most of the usual LHR blues were forgotten onboard - a very personable and efficient crew had us sorted with new PJ's (slinky, cooler and much more stylish) and a glass of '06 (ok, think it was LP, not Billecart) in no time. But it still took 40 mins from our scheduled departure time to get to the front of takeoff queue.
Time for brunch - sitting together in 3K, caviar with all the trimmings, smoked salmon The Better Half pronounced as Best Ever, then a mid East lamb & rice dish matched with a superb Bordeaux. I cannot remember a better presented or more flavoursome meal ever in the air. And all done with great style by our crew. Well done, it really was first class.
In 3 flights on the A380 loadings in F were never more that 6 out of 9, with the Residence never occupied, so the crews always seem to have time for a chat, to ask about top-ups, help with the controls etc. It seems clear the best and brightest crew get the A380, and the best amongst them the plum legs like LHR.
Back to the AUH lounge like we hadn't been away - same Filipino bar staff, same peace & quiet. We didn't eat in the lounge - not after the great meal, and not before the long night leg home.
After 3 flights this EY trip had varied from very good to great, but the last leg to MEL was on the 777. Fortunately we had a gate rather than a bus/stand-off bay, so boarding was no chore. But after all the space and light of the Apartments its a step down to F. Yes, yes, what a whinger, but it was a full flight, leaving at 10 (delayed by ATC until after 11pm) and there just wasn't the time for the crew to engage.
Dinner on the last leg wasn't a patch - TBH's chicken wasnt edible (same complaint from our new friend across the aisle) and my beef tenderloin was a bit under-done. The chef was apologetic, perhaps it was the oven, but all was forgotten as we watched, live, the second half of England/Colombia World Cup. Here - finally - was a justification for instant sat comms !
And so we arrived in MEL. Our bags, in common with nearly all the other F pax, were dead last to come up (even the crew had come & gone).
There's no reason to expect SYD would treat our bags any better, but at least it gets 2 x 380 flights a day. MEL, from Oct, wont even have the 777 and thus no F (2 x 787s with J and Y only). So I know which airport I'll be using next time EY gets my money..
