Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij
I got EY Chauffeur Drive from the Fairmont to the airport, a nice way to start the journey.
No drama check-in. I'm in Business on a B777 to MEL this time. I tried and tried to get F on the A380 or even J (again AA Miles are my currency), but this was the sole choice at the time of booking within a 3 day window, and nothing else turned up when I checked regularly up until flight day.
Directed to the 'Premium Lounge' at AUH; the terminal as a whole is very crowded. I think this is the F lounge, but the other one is closed?? Its large and pretty well appointed, but a bit crowded at 9 in the morning. There's a concierge where you can store bags.
Boarding 1 hr before departure - or rather its through gate carry-on bag check for the flight to Australia. Passport looked at 3 times. In the 'premium' seating area, where there are no seats available but lots of families (they share the premium seating area).
On board, its 10D. I left seat selection a bit late so this was the best I could do - mid cabin in a middle pair. No privacy whatsoever and a lot of the bench space is hard to use - around a bit of a corner. 9, 11 rows middle are for people travelling together and are probably better seats as far as having stuff around you and for privacy, in the middle. Seats like 7A, 9A, 11A and same on the other side are the pick of the seats - direct access to the aisle but away from it, a bit cocooned.
No PJs, which is what I expected so I donned my F set
. My seat 10D at left.
The aisle columns - rows like 8, 10 and 12 are like my seat - right on the aisle with no privacy. 9, 11 and 13 have a little access walkway and seats against the window, good and private.
To be honest, this would be one of my least liked J seats (thinking of QF, AC, SQ, CX, LH, EK, TG); I found it uncomfortable in bed mode (ridges in bad spot) and I jiggered my back in squirming to get comfortable. Mind you, LH sloping beds are probably worse. Pre take off bevvie was Lallier Champagne.
Menu was OK. They gave the choice of when you'd like to dine. Service was pretty good; IFE was a bit limited, I thought.