Thunderroad

Thanks very much for the information, folks!

cme2c

You can book your award to include the bus service. Just ask the agent for a ticket to Dubai. It books as booking code XNB I believe. Just booked one a few days ago.

EFATO

Haven't taken the bus for a while, but when I last did probably about a year ago or so, it was simply sufficient to produce your boarding pass / ticket, i.e. there was no separate sector reservation necessary. Maybe someone can confirm if this is still the case?

westers

Can anyone confirm this? I am trying to book to Dubai Marina Mall but the website won't go through with this. I can book to Chelsea tower but the marina is more convenient.

Will just book to AUH if I can just hop on the bus. Want to complete online as I can go through a cashback site.

Thanks

aikman

I can confirm that as of April this year you don't need a separate booking for the bus from Chelsea Tower to AUH. I just showed up and got on it.

On a side note, EY's fares ex Dubai (XNB) are slightly cheaper than ex AUH. If I was to book my ticket ex Dubai, do you think they'll turn me away if I was to simply show up and check in at AUH ie. not use the bus service from Dubai?

csdf

I would be surprised if they cared, but you probably would want to check with EY.

EFATO

Oh, not at all. Unless they have gone seriously, seriously, seriously upmarket in their tech there, the chances of which are as remote as them launching a flight to Tranquility Base next year, they have no idea in real-time who is or isn't on that bus.

Keep in mind that Chauffeur is most definitely an outsourced operation, and I'd be 99.99% sure that bus is as well. They have no interest in running and managing a street-level bus, and there is absolutely no need for a technical integration at that level to see who is on the thing.

"Tickets" as far as I have ever seen have consisted of the bus driver / ticket checker looking for evidence of an Etihad logo somewhere on your person, be it boarding pass, ticket print out, or even a Guest card which I used once ("I'm buying my ticket at the airport"). I've actually also travelled the leg a day or two out of sync with my flights, when I had business to attend to in either AUH or DXB that involved an overnight stay. The guys barely speak English sometimes, and they most certainly aren't hooked in to the check-in system.

Speaking of cheaper routings, btw - ex-MCT is often significantly cheaper than ex-AUH. I actually did a bit of a run the other day, out to MCT on the 8:55a on a 1-way ticket, then turning straight back around to come back on the same aircraft and do MCT-AUH-LHR return. I actually needed the 500 extra miles to hit Elite, and the MCT-AUH-LHR r/t was significantly cheaper than the AUH-LHR r/t . If you want to do this, be aware however that they will not print your boarding card in AUH when you depart, it needs to be done at transfer in MCT. I had a 5 min delay as they figured out how to do credit card verification on my next leg ticket which was originating from there. I'd recommend getting your CC verified in advance and then proceeding to check in online. Will save you the stress of worrying about missing the return flight due to someone else's incompetence. Other than that, MCT transfer is a breeze.

csdf

I've done an ex-MCT too: to SYD and back from MEL. The cost of a business class fare ex-MCT was only 40% more than the cost of economy ex-AUH, which was a steal. Plus you get two nice breaks in MCT if you want.