tropikey

Hi everyone,

I've booked SYD-AUH-TXL flight in J using my miles. I'll arrive to AUH at 5.50 am on one of November Fridays and my next flight will be on Saturday, at 2.40 am. I intend to use these approx. 20 hours to visit Abu Dhabi and I'd like to ask you couple of questions regarding this visit:

1) after arrival to AUH, I plan to go to Arrival Lounge and take a shower there. Is the arrival lounge already open at approx. 6.00-6.30 am? How long does it take to go through passport control after arrival? Is there separate line for J and F passengers?

2) as far as I know the Grand Mosque is open on Fridays from 4.30 pm till 10 pm. At what time would you suggest to go there on Friday?

3) where would you suggest to go before visit to the Grand Mosque? I assume, that I'll be ready to leave the Arrival Lounge at approx. 7.30-8.00 am.

4) at what time should I come back to the airport in order to go through passport control (and avoid rush hour, if there's such at AUH) and to have enough time to use one of EY lounges (eat, take a shower, have a nap before the flight)? My flight to TXL is from T1. Does it make sense to go to the lounge in T3 (which according to reviews is newer, bigger, better equipped and more comfortable) instead of staying in T1 and using the older lounge there? How long does it take to move between these two terminals?

I'm sorry for so many questions, but it'll be my first visit to AUH and I'm complete newbie to this airport and city :-)

Thank you in advance...

sharp5flat9

That's an ideal time of the year to visit; the weather will be pleasantly warm.

Friday is the first day of the weekend so traffic shouldn't be too bad. I'd visit the mosque a little before sunset so you get to see it in the daylight and lit up at night. You might want to take one of the guided tours: http://www.szgmc.ae/en/mosque-opening-hours

The airport is around 35km from the city and mosque is around half-way. Yas Island (marina, waterpark, Ferrari theme park, F1 circuit) is very close to the airport. What kind of things to you like to do ?

Taxis are pretty cheap by western standards and all are govt controlled and metered. Uber is also available (but not at the airport).

I don't use T3 so can't help with lounges there. I've never waited long (>15 mins) at immigration. The terminals are a 5-10 min walk apart (indoors) with a quick security check. Good video here: http://www.abudhabiairport.ae/englis...t-information/. There is baggage storage available if you need it.

tropikey

Thank you very much for helpful information :-)

What is your personal opinion about EY lounge in T1?
Is there any place to lay down for some time and have a short (at least) sleep?
Are there enough showers for guests?

gkl

The T1 lounge is smaller than the T3 lounge but is the same standard in terms of interior, however you might find less choice of food or drinks. On the plus side: I found it not so crowded (I was there at around midnight) and taking a shower was no problem.
There are some lounge chairs where you might be able to take a nap, however I´m not aware whether they have quiet rooms.

tropikey

Hello again,

there is one more question that came to my mind. Does EY offer any free tours for J pax during long layover in AUH? I haven't found any information about such tours, but it's better to ask frequent EY flyers :-)

sushimaru

No.

I had a similar transit connection arriving 4:30am at AUH and departing 22:00 the same day. To answer your questions:

1) It's open 24hrs (or at least at any Etihad arrival time)

2) I believe there is a free group tour at 5pm, if you want to listen to guide explaining about the mosque. No reservation necessary. Will take around an hour. Spend more after the tour to see the light-up which is supposed to be gorgeous.

3) You can book a free Etihad shuttle bus either to Dubai or Al Ain. If you want glitzy go to Dubai, or a traditional desert oasis town with few castles then Al Ain. Both take around 1~1.5hr from Abu Dhabi Airport. You have to pre-book the bus from Etihad website. I went to Al Ain and liked the quietness and impressive dues scenery on the way. Al Ain Oasis in the center of town is also my favorite.

In Abu Dhabi, I'd suggest:

A) Go to Etihad Jumeirah Tower top on 74th Floor (Observation Deck at 300). Great ambience of the lounge and view over Abu Dhabi - my most favorite place in Abu Dhabi.

B) Join the Yellow Boats tour, if you are fine with speed boat and motion sickness is not a problem. We saw dolphins too. http://www.theyellowboats.com/Locations/AbuDhabi

C) Yellow Boats tour start/finish at Emirates Palace Hotel, so have either 24-carat gold flake cappucino or camel-milk cappucino in a cafe.

I did all of the above, catching 7:30 bus to Al Ain, and returned back to airport by around 20:00. In your case your flight is after mid-night, so I'd suggest you visit Yas Island (not far from airport) for a dinner, and return to airport by 00:00. If you are going to Dubai expect to stay longer there as there are more attractions.

4) If you consider spending sometime in the lounge, arriving 2~2.5hr before departure should be fine. There is a special entrance for Etihad Business Class passengers at T3 so no worry about crowded security or immigration. Movement between T1 and T3 would take around 15mins walking. I've visited both T1 and T3 lounges and T3 was much better, however, I visited T1 lounge before the renovation so not sure what's it like after.

tropikey

Great! Thank you very much for so many ideas. You've created great itinerary and I'll follow it :-)

sushimaru

Enjoy your stay :-)

PacificWave

Also keep in mind that the Etihad Tower with the observation deck also houses a hotel, which has extremely good food, and would be a great place to have a huge buffet breakfast as well as escape the airport.

Visiting the mosque is also a fulfilling excursion, as OP have mentioned. Craftsmen from something like 60 countries worked on it.

The new first class lounge is reasonably nice. It's somewhat of a warren of smallish rooms, definitely not wide open spaces, and a little odd given the endless delays. It's sort of the reverse of the Qatar F lounge in DOH, which is enormous.