Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs - Etihad First Class

Hi, Can anyone tell me if Etihad offer sleeper suits and amenities kits on their A340-600 longhaul Melbourne to Abu Dhabi in first class.

cheers

Republic

http://www.etihadairways.com/sites/Etihad/us/en/experienceetihad/ourguestzones/pages/newDiamond.aspx

http://www.etihadairways.com/sites/Etihad/us/en/experienceetihad/ourguestzones/pages/newDiamond.aspx

That is just the new F, which is going to be rolled out, I believe the answer to the question the OP posted is yes though.

Thanks traveltot.....I knew the New Diamond Class advertising mentions them but I'm not hopeful etihad will introduce those suites on the Australia-Europe service anytime soon. Have heard it will be on the US-Abu Dhabi routes initially.

Rolov...the travel blogs seem to indicate that they do......or they dont or they do but they run out or they dont but they will soon. The airline itself put me on hold and never came back. Might try them again when i have a spare hour to wait on hold.

Thanks for helping

Republic

Have a look at this trip report - one of the best I have seen. It was done half in business and half in First class. There is a picture of a sleeper suit and amenities.

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/133938/


Can you put some feedback on after your trip? We are travelling first in November with Etihad and would be interested in your experiences (flying SYD to LHR) :) (Of course you might be flying after we do!)

Hi flying mermaid.......excellent trip report.....pity the airline website isnt clear. I did manage to get through to Etihad this morning. I felt a bit sheepish asking such an odd question but they said they certainly DO provide sleeper suits (italian designed)as well as an amazing Salvatore Ferragamo satchel amenities kit for first class on the A340-600 flights ex Melbourne. Managed to find an obscure link to the kit if anyone is interested complete with a few pics.

I'm flying in a few weeks and will post a report as i go

I don't think it is an odd question at all. I love changing into the pjs - saves the clothes from looking all travel worn by the end of the trip. I also love taking the amenities kit to pieces to see what we get. I guess I don't fly enough for it to get boring. :D

Mr FM and Ms FM were very dubious about Etihad, but they look fine to me and the price was impossible to ignore.

Have a great trip and looking forward to the report. :)

New to the forum as I am also looking for more info on EY's first class product. Same as you, flying mermaid, couldn't ignore the price and will fly SYD-AUH-FRA return in September.

Am really curious if there is any chance to fly in their new upgraded first class. Called EY the other day but the customer service rep on the phone did not have a clue.

My Etihad call centre chap thought the new first class A340-600 was being placed on the Abu Dhabi-Chicago route with other refitted A340s to be placed on the New York and Toronto flights first off. Mind you he wasnt sure and said I might be lucky on the Melbourne-London route. Just hedging his bets I think.:p

Welcome to the forum pswissoz :)

All the gossip seems to be pointing towards towards North American routes initially for the suites, which seems fair enough as they are long flights. We don't come back until the end of November, so I am hoping we might get lucky with something on the Sydney leg - it is quite long as well :) I guess it will depend on where they are getting the most revenue.

One of these days when we get rid of all the parasites (otherwise known as darling children) and it is just Mr FM and myself, we might pay to experience first suites (or maybe EY will remain attractive? Maybe not the really cheap current prices, but something less than the $20,000 per person for the other airlines?).

Hi Flying Mermaid

I'm hoping my first experience with Etihad is a good one. Flew BA First a few months back and it was nothing short of embarassing. Clapped out 747 was dirty, service was non existant on the leg over and only slightly better on the way back. Food order mixed up or unavailable on all legs. Ran out of sleeper suits, IFE didnt work, overhead reading light blew 30 minutes in to flight and bags came out last at Heathrow. Only saving grace was the Qantas First lounge at Sydney Airport.

If Etihad is a positive experience then I'll be switching to them for my UK flights even if they charge more. Will let you know once I arrive in the UK in a few weeks.

:)

That does sound bad!! I've been reading similar stories on the BA forum. Last time we flew BA first was on the home leg from Singapore in July 2007. The cabin was very tired, but the service was excellent. Club world is where we have had some pretty poor service over the years.

I agree the Qantas First lounge in Sydney is spectacular - my daughter and I booked in for treatments and floated on the plane feeling very relaxed. The new terminal 3 First lounge sounds OK though.

We aren't terribly demanding passengers - as long as I have a totally flat bed (not that horrible thing in Qantas J) and a couple of glasses of nice bubbly, I am happy. However we pay for this ourselves as it is leisure (we do have a business, but totally local, so no way to do a combined business leisure trip and pay for some of it via the business) so if I can get flat beds and nice service for half the price, I am happy.

Like you if it is a good experience I will be looking to swap - looking forward to hearing your experiences.

Do Pearl class pax get some type of pajamas/amenity kit/gift? Or is that just reserved for Diamond?

Hi SkyTeam777

Aigner amenities kits for J class but no sleeper suits. Flying Mermaids link above shows a pic of the Pearl Class kit.

Hi Flying Mermaid,

Have picked up a new digital camera to document the flight from start to finish. I have a Qantas domestic J and a few British Airways J Europe as well so it will be an interesting trip report. Your link to airliners.net has inspired me.

Being a very tall person (201 cms) would you recommend calling EY to make sure they have a XXL/XXXL sleeper suit available when we fly first SYD-AUH-FRA return in September ? Or is it like flying an Asian airline where they just have "one size fits all" slippers that hardly fit my hand ?

Hi Flying Mermaid,

Have picked up a new digital camera to document the flight from start to finish. I have a Qantas domestic J and a few British Airways J Europe as well so it will be an interesting trip report. Your link to airliners.net has inspired me.

That sounds wonderful - look forward to seeing it. :)

I might try and get some similar enthusiasm going - I feel I should contribute something after years of lurking on these boards. :D

We have an interesting combination as well - Qantas Y to Sydney - Etihad F to London, Club Europe on BA to Istanbul and Turkish Airlines J to Antalya. I am looking forward to comparing all the Lounges as well!

Being a very tall person (201 cms) would you recommend calling EY to make sure they have a XXL/XXXL sleeper suit available when we fly first SYD-AUH-FRA return in September ? Or is it like flying an Asian airline where they just have "one size fits all" slippers that hardly fit my hand ?

Wouldn't do any harm to ask although from what I have heard Etihad's ground staff are not that helpful.....

Wouldn't do any harm to ask although from what I have heard Etihad's ground staff are not that helpful.....

You are spot on. Gave them a ring and instead of giving me a clear answer they said I should take along my own comfortable wear in case they don't have my size on board. No harm done, will just take my own trackies along for the trip.

We have an interesting combination as well - Qantas Y to Sydney - Etihad F to London, Club Europe on BA to Istanbul and Turkish Airlines J to Antalya. I am looking forward to comparing all the Lounges as well!

Certainly a lot of flying to get to Turkey. Didn't I read somewhere that EY and TK just signed a code share agreement ? Would have thought that EY could have flown you in to Istanbul.

We are flying QF in to SYD and EY SYD-AUH-FRA return and have 3 nights in Abu Dhabi. It is our first trip without the little kids who are staying home with grandma. My wife keeps on talking about this being our second honeymoon

Certainly a lot of flying to get to Turkey. Didn't I read somewhere that EY and TK just signed a code share agreement ? Would have thought that EY could have flown you in to Istanbul.

Oh dear - now I have to confess to doing too much wheeling and dealing and ending up with a weird itinerary. :cool:

Went something like this - was going to go J on EK to Dubai and then Istanbul. Didn't like the reports on the strange J configuration EK has, where every second row seems to have shorter seats. So thought would pay extra and go J on BA to London and then connect to Istanbul. Because of the long wait in transit in Dubai, actual travel time was almost the same. BA were having a special where Sydney to London was really cheap, but if you booked to Istanbul it went back to fullprice J. Then I noticed if I booked J LHR to IST separately on BA's site it was cheap as well. So I booked that, meant to book the Syd LHR separately on Zuji, but got busy and distracted and by the time I got back to it I had missed the special :o

So there I was with a London Istanbul leg and nothing that I wanted to fly to connect to it at a reasonable rate. That was when I started searching the highways and byways and after a short flirtation with MAS came across the Etihad 1st class specials and so booked them. Because we are concerned about connections in and out of London, we are actually spending a night in London either side which I am quite happy to do as I always love visiting London and hitting the book shops (while Mr FM and Ms FM look for clothes). I am trying to fit in afternoon tea at the Ritz, although currently Mr FM is refusing point blank to take a tie and jacket with him.


We are flying QF in to SYD and EY SYD-AUH-FRA return and have 3 nights in Abu Dhabi. It is our first trip without the little kids who are staying home with grandma. My wife keeps on talking about this being our second honeymoon

Sounds great - we always flew with ours and much as I love them it was difficult. I just couldn't stand the thought of being away from them though. A second honeymoon sounds wonderful and your wife will probably really enjoy the break from kids. My 3 are 18+ and life is much easier these day. :rolleyes:

My 3 are 18+ and life is much easier these day. :rolleyes:

Our little devils are nearly 3 and 8 months old twins. We actually took them to Germany in May flying JL in economy and had a miserable trip. Our, at time 2 1/2 years old, son couldn't understand why he was locked-up in a tin can for 20 hours plus so he decided to run up and down the plane for the entire trip and explore the air craft. Tried all sorts of recommended tricks (DVD, toys, Medicine) but nothing worked so we are really looking forward to this trip in first without kids even though we will miss them but they are in good care with grandma and our au pair girl.

Oh you poor thing - I couldn't even contemplate what it would be like trying to travel with twins of that age! We did one trip with a 10 month old, but it was two of us to one baby, so we could take turns to eat etc. Very hard on the toddler as well. After the first trip with the 10 month old we decided not to travel economy again overseas. We are comfortable rather than wealthy, so spending the extra on airfares has meant making choices, but we love travelling and travelling in J or F with children is so much easier. More space so you can entertain them more easily, meals come quicker, so you can settle them down to sleep. Also in BA in First they have a video library and individual players in the seats and the kids used to corner the few children's videos and play them non stop. There are a lot of negative comments on these boards about kids travelling in F and J, but we always used to make sure that we sat with them and ensured they didn't disturb anyone. The hosties used to love them and quite often they would leave the plane with bags of chocolates they had been given!

Well you definitely deserve your trip on your own in first to rest and recuperate. ;)

Oooo I'm so glad I found this thread. Taking off in 2 days on Etihad F and this has just made my day. Me wants a sleeper suit :-)

I'll be sure to post some reports of my F experience although after sitting in Y many times, I'll be grateful for anything over and over that. haha

Happy travels from Diva

Hi Diva

I found your blog about a month ago when I was trying to find out info about Etihad. You look like you have an awesome itinerary - hope you enjoy every minute of it and yes we will look forward to your reports. :)

You will really enjoy first vs economy!

I'll be sure to post some reports of my F experience although after sitting in Y many times, I'll be grateful for anything over and over that. haha
Happy travels from Diva

Hi Diva,

hope you are enjoying your trip and can't wait to hear about your F experience. Am getting a bit concerned as I have been reading more and more mixed reviews about EY C and F product. Anywhere from very good to unpolished service, unfriendly and poor service from the flight attendants, etc.

Just hope my wife and I won't be disappointed as this is our first trip without the kids and we call this trip our second honeymoon.

The service from FAs is great although it varies some are very hospitable while others go through the motions. My concern is that the food portions are quite small...yes, you can order whatever you want, but the portions are small so you have to order a lot on longer flights if you're hungry. The seats are fantastic though!

Hi Diva,

hope you are enjoying your trip and can't wait to hear about your F experience. Am getting a bit concerned as I have been reading more and more mixed reviews about EY C and F product. Anywhere from very good to unpolished service, unfriendly and poor service from the flight attendants, etc.

Just hope my wife and I won't be disappointed as this is our first trip without the kids and we call this trip our second honeymoon.

Diva has put a short report on her blog and she seems to have had an excellent experience with Etihad.

Most of the negative comment I have seen on the net has been from economy passengers and also about the seats malfunctioning (which kinda worries me as I am really focused on flat beds....). Also ground staff seem to be pretty bad, so if something does go wrong on the ground, that could sour things.

However I also think that attitude is a lot. People who are really frequent flyers get so used to J and F that they become quite picky about small things. In your case just being able to get away from the kids is going to be great, so everything else will be a bonus and seen through rosy spectacles. I would suggest a few glasses of bubbly to set the scene and then enjoy every minute. :)

The service from FAs is great although it varies some are very hospitable while others go through the motions. My concern is that the food portions are quite small...yes, you can order whatever you want, but the portions are small so you have to order a lot on longer flights if you're hungry. The seats are fantastic though!Sounds good to me! I like to try lots of things, but can't really eat that much. Sounds like this might be like a degustation menu. :D Talking of which in 2007 we flew frm Sydney to Singapore with Qantas in F and they had a brand new degustation menu. Mr FM, who is quite slight, although can eat a lot, decided to try it. (He also hates wasting food). The FA obviously had no idea what to do with it, so instead of bringing "tastes" for each course, she served a full meal. By the time he had worked though about 5 full meals, he had to admit defeat and give up on the rest of the degustaion menu. :)