Etihad Upgrades from first apartments to the Residence ?

[Dyslexic traveler]

Hi all

Just about to book a trip on Etihads A380 out of SYD to LHR First apartment for Sue and I. Has anyone ever expirenced etihad upgrading to the Residence the total cost for the flights is about 26k and The Residence is over 110k, and there is no way I would pay that much for any flight.

I imaging they do not upgrade but who knows, maybe one of you has had some expireance, we have flown first on there 777-200 in first about 5 years ago and it was good.


The Dylexic Traveler

 

[bam71]

I remember reading a speech or something from James Hogan, Etihad's CEO. He was adamant that there would be no upgrades ( points or otherwise) from F to the Residence. Everyone had to PAY

 

[samh004]

I remember reading a speech or something from James Hogan, Etihad's CEO. He was adamant that there would be no upgrades ( points or otherwise) from F to the Residence. Everyone had to PAY

Further to that, I'm sure I've read that they don't even let you have a look in it if it's empty. It's off limits unless you're paying for it!

 

[esseeeayeenn]

The Residence is definitely full paid fare only.
Off limits for upgrades and staff travel.
Official policy is no peeking but it depends on the crew.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

The Residence is definitely full paid fare only.
Off limits for upgrades and staff travel.
Official policy is no peeking but it depends on the crew.

I believe you can anyseat award the residence... price may be a bit high

 

[vantage03]

I know someone who got an upgrade from F to The Residence. I challenged him on it as I didn't believe him, but I left convinced.
He is a high profile CEO though..

 

[kermatu]

I have zero specific knowledge on this - but it seems crazy to not allow people to see it if empty. Sure keeping it hidden may add to the allure. But I'd have thought you'd want to show it off to entice other F customers? The occasional upgrade too for those who pay full fare F a few times would also have seemed sensible. The worst-case scenario is they keep flying full fare F!

 

[juddles]

I disagree. It is that much more expensive that it should maintain a certain mystery. IMHO the people who have the cash to buy it, wont be travelling in a mere "F" to start with.....

 

[kermatu]

Not much of a mystery given all the pics / videos / reviews out there. But then that's a reason to not need to offer any tours. Guess they'll change the approach if demand flags.

 

[boomy]

If you ask nicely they may give you a tour inside the residence but no chance to get an op-up.

To give an example how strict they are about it, I had a chat with the CSM on my flight yesterday, apparently they had a problem once with faulty bed in one of the apartments. The F cabin was full but the management didn't allow the CSM to move that pax from their apartment to the empty residence. Instead they were downgraded to sleep in one of the vacant J seats!

The reason (as I was told) EY don't like to show the residence is mainly because in the past pax used to take photos or "selfies" and post them on social media giving the impression they received an op-up and it caused problems for EY dealing with other F pax who began to expect op-ups as well.