I last flew
Etihad in 2019, pre-Covid-19 pandemic, and flew Melbourne - Dublin on Saturday in Economy.
It was packed Melbourne - Abu Dhabi, but slightly less so Abu Dhabi - Dublin.
In-flight service is better. I lost count of the number of meals distributed - a big change from my last experience when I seemed to be constantly hungry. Alcohol was a bit hard to access, but a full flight makes for a busy crew, so I forgive them.
Terminal A in Abu Dhabi is palatial. We accessed the Pearl Lounge, which is connected to Priority Pass. Not entirely sure how much is cost to get in. It wasn't very busy, and there were several showers each for men and women, and a 15-minute or so wait to get to use them, with one of those pagers so we could go and scull a beer.
Despite being brand new, the showers are a bit cough. The fittings seemed to be falling apart already. Water temperature was whatever it felt like (and varied, but never too hot, thankfully - cold is fine to counteract the ambient temperature in Abu Dhabi!), soap dispense attached to the wall was empty, and the bottle set out to replace it fell apart when I tried to use it... Weirdly the shower attendant didn't want to let us have a shower, and sent us to talk to the reception, from where a very grumpy man went and told him off. And then he held our boarding passes while we waited for the showers... I don't like letting those out of my sight.
The bar was very swish, and a cold lager really was appreciated. We didn't eat anything, as we'd been so well stuffed on
Etihad.
I've just checked my Priority Pass account and it cost $70 to access for two (less than Pearl will charge you if you're not a member of PP). I believe that's the standard PP fee. I only joined for this trip, so I've no prior experience of using it. We will probably access Pearl Lounge on the way home too, though the connection is shorter.