EY171 AUH-LAX some general comments
Feb 23, 2015, 1:46 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Happily living in Frenaros Cyprus having escaped the near-death experience called Sofia Bulgaria
Programs: Etihad Guest Gold, DL FO and 1MM, and a bunch of others at a low level
Posts: 2,052
EY171 AUH-LAX some general comments
Just flew EY171 AUH-LAX and offer info on my experience so that it may help others.
Was staying in Dubai. Flight scheduled to depart AUH at 8:50, paid business class. Chauffeur picked me up at 4:50, which I later realized was probably 30 minutes too early, but I didn't set the pickup time. Got to AUH and was checked in by 6:00. Immigration and security was speedy and after a quick perusal of a few shops, I went to the lounge by gate 35. Very nice lounge and not crowded at all. Previous lounge experience at that time of day has been awful with overcrowding and much noise. Not so in this lounge. Had plenty of time for breakfast and check e-mails. Was told to go to the security/US immigration area at 7:20. Again, way too early but this was the first time I went through this process in AUH so I did what I was told. Was through it all in 10 minutes - I am a US citizen so it may take longer for non-citizens. There is very limited seating after US immigration and the gate was not open yet. I did find a seat and the gate opened around 8:00. There is plenty of seating after you check in at the gate. Boarding started around 8:15. The flight left about an hour late (but arrived only 25 min late) due to waiting on some passengers to clear security/US immigration (plane doors closed about 30 min late) and air traffic control.
The baggage claim was a bit of a trek through the airport. You have to go through the ticketing area, then outside, downstairs, and back inside. There were men removing the business and first class baggage off the conveyor. There is a chauffeur desk near the conveyor, but there were drivers with luggage trolleys near the desk with passenger names on the trolleys so I didn't have to wait in line at the desk.
So basically chauffeur could have picked me up 30 minutes later and i did not need to go to the US clearance process 90 minutes before departure, 60 minutes will do.
An exciting surprise for me was that I was given an upgrade to First at the gate. The plane was 777 Jet Airways plane configured for Etihad. The service was impeccable and it's hard to believe the flight was 16 hours.
Was staying in Dubai. Flight scheduled to depart AUH at 8:50, paid business class. Chauffeur picked me up at 4:50, which I later realized was probably 30 minutes too early, but I didn't set the pickup time. Got to AUH and was checked in by 6:00. Immigration and security was speedy and after a quick perusal of a few shops, I went to the lounge by gate 35. Very nice lounge and not crowded at all. Previous lounge experience at that time of day has been awful with overcrowding and much noise. Not so in this lounge. Had plenty of time for breakfast and check e-mails. Was told to go to the security/US immigration area at 7:20. Again, way too early but this was the first time I went through this process in AUH so I did what I was told. Was through it all in 10 minutes - I am a US citizen so it may take longer for non-citizens. There is very limited seating after US immigration and the gate was not open yet. I did find a seat and the gate opened around 8:00. There is plenty of seating after you check in at the gate. Boarding started around 8:15. The flight left about an hour late (but arrived only 25 min late) due to waiting on some passengers to clear security/US immigration (plane doors closed about 30 min late) and air traffic control.
The baggage claim was a bit of a trek through the airport. You have to go through the ticketing area, then outside, downstairs, and back inside. There were men removing the business and first class baggage off the conveyor. There is a chauffeur desk near the conveyor, but there were drivers with luggage trolleys near the desk with passenger names on the trolleys so I didn't have to wait in line at the desk.
So basically chauffeur could have picked me up 30 minutes later and i did not need to go to the US clearance process 90 minutes before departure, 60 minutes will do.
An exciting surprise for me was that I was given an upgrade to First at the gate. The plane was 777 Jet Airways plane configured for Etihad. The service was impeccable and it's hard to believe the flight was 16 hours.
Last edited by STBCypriot; Feb 24, 2015 at 7:00 pm Reason: added baggage claim info
Feb 23, 2015, 4:20 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: N. California
Programs: UA, AA, US, AS, DL kettle
Posts: 33
Surprised to hear they put one of the Jet aircraft on the LAX route, thought those were isolated to JFK and SFO (for their US routes anyways). Was it a last minute swap? Anyone else ever experience this unexpectedly?
Feb 24, 2015, 7:05 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Happily living in Frenaros Cyprus having escaped the near-death experience called Sofia Bulgaria
Programs: Etihad Guest Gold, DL FO and 1MM, and a bunch of others at a low level
Posts: 2,052
Maybe I am wrong. I thought the LAX aircraft was a Jet aircraft. When looking at the flight info, I couldn't find any info on the plane on seat guru for the LAX flight, so I assumed it was a Jet aircraft. Also read some other reviews saying it was a Jet aircraft
Feb 24, 2015, 11:50 pm
#4
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA 1K/AS 100K …Bonvoy Titanium..Hertz Presidents Club
Posts: 1,115
There was a aircraft swap on the SFO route a week or so ago. It was a EY aircraft 77L that flew into SFO one day. so maybe they put the 77W 9W on the LAX route that day.
SFO-AUH is always 9W. My preference is for 9W because of the menu is definitely tilted towards Indian, and (in F) is absolutely delicious IMO.
Feb 26, 2015, 12:32 pm
#7
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: IAH
Programs: SPG Platinum, Hyatt Diamond, IHG Gold Ambassador, Marriott Gold
Posts: 519
Normally 777-200LR is used for LAX and DFW flights. There are no seat maps for these planes on Etihad's site or SeatGuru. These planes were purchased from Air India and redone by Etihad so it's not a wet lease situation like with 9W planes.
Mar 2, 2015, 9:55 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Happily living in Frenaros Cyprus having escaped the near-death experience called Sofia Bulgaria
Programs: Etihad Guest Gold, DL FO and 1MM, and a bunch of others at a low level
Posts: 2,052
Apr 9, 2017, 4:22 pm
#10
Join Date: Oct 2007
Programs: AA, WN, UA, Bonvoy, Hertz
Posts: 2,491
Looks just within the last week, LAX arrivals have used both the tiny belt at TBIT and a carousel at T4.
I have no idea what is going on. I asked one of the famous pathway sign holders on the situation, and he had no idea. He said he might be telling people to go to the special TBIT belt one day and T4 another.
It was definitely weird watching all of the cabin crew waiting for bags. T4 is a bad choice for TBIT flight arrival bags as it takes much longer. I am thinking there is additional systematic screening between plane and belt that is easier to do via T4.
Rasheed
I have no idea what is going on. I asked one of the famous pathway sign holders on the situation, and he had no idea. He said he might be telling people to go to the special TBIT belt one day and T4 another.
It was definitely weird watching all of the cabin crew waiting for bags. T4 is a bad choice for TBIT flight arrival bags as it takes much longer. I am thinking there is additional systematic screening between plane and belt that is easier to do via T4.
Rasheed
Aug 17, 2017, 2:06 pm
#11
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: PDX
Programs: AA,DL,BA,UA,SPG, and any other free trip!
Posts: 1,803
Looks just within the last week, LAX arrivals have used both the tiny belt at TBIT and a carousel at T4.
I have no idea what is going on. I asked one of the famous pathway sign holders on the situation, and he had no idea. He said he might be telling people to go to the special TBIT belt one day and T4 another.
It was definitely weird watching all of the cabin crew waiting for bags. T4 is a bad choice for TBIT flight arrival bags as it takes much longer. I am thinking there is additional systematic screening between plane and belt that is easier to do via T4.
Rasheed
I have no idea what is going on. I asked one of the famous pathway sign holders on the situation, and he had no idea. He said he might be telling people to go to the special TBIT belt one day and T4 another.
It was definitely weird watching all of the cabin crew waiting for bags. T4 is a bad choice for TBIT flight arrival bags as it takes much longer. I am thinking there is additional systematic screening between plane and belt that is easier to do via T4.
Rasheed
Im looking to book this flt using AA miles...how was the flight? Was it still a 777 or a 380?