El_Duderito

I tried to find information before I traveled but could hardly find anything. I am traveling home from (among other legs) AUH-PER-AUH. Both legs were on the new Business Studio (no First) 787-9 or 789.

The C cabin is a single large cabin with the usual layout - no mini cabin.
I've been in window seats on rows 10 and 8 respectively.

First of all the cabin looks great and is in perfect shape given that the planes have been in service for about a month.

One thing I noticed (and the purser confirmed the issue) is that the lavatories in front are right behind the curtain dividing the cabin from the galley. It's a narrow area and the lav doors open in a way that you a) bump it into the galley area and b) when open just face the curtain separating the cabin. It's weird and apparently people complained before me.

Each aisle is only worked on by one flight attendant during the dinner service. This meant that seated in row 10 it took three hours for my dinner service to complete even though I already ordered on the ground (thanks to a one hour delay after boarding at AUH).

With only one flight attendant covering each aisle they were busy running around and did not have time to refill my water during dinner or remove plates in time. I don't blame this on the FA but on EY saving on staff. Given the bottleneck with the narrow lavatory/galley they purser told me that even if they wanted they won't be able to have two FA working a single aisle.

The AUH-PER flight shows a block time of 11h20min but in EY's book this is not long enough to warrant lounge wear or slippers. Had I known I would have brought my own.
On the other hand the flight was long enough for the fruit salad to go stale (and not being served). They also ran out of food even when ordering right after takeoff.

The staff was very friendly and I got a feedback 'flyer' to send back to them. Let's see what happens.

kronos319

EY business class does not provide lounge wear or slippers, regardless of the flight duration. I understand you're disappointment as I had the same experience when I flew. Of course they are provided in First Class and are very comfortable.
However, the increase in quality from Business to First (on B787) is not great enough to justify the expense. The food is the same quality, as is the champagne and the seat is only roughly 10-20% wider and the same length.

amnicoll

I was under the impression PJs were given on "long" flights.

2 attendants is concerning if it was not just an aberation

I can tell you what "feedback" will say!

El_Duderito

Sorry, but this is wrong.

http://www.etihad.com/en-fr/experien...usiness-class/ states:
The mattress we got but no slippers nor lounge wear. Apparently EY considers flights >12h block time to be ultra long-haul (ULH).
So far I've only traveled on different F routes and the ~16h AUH-GRU where lounge wear was also offered in C. Thus I assumed it would be the norm.

To make things even more interesting the mobile site has different wording and the German mobile site doesn't even mention ULH.
I did survive the journey (and enjoyed it) but it did not feel to be on the same level I remembered it to be on.

El_Duderito

The purser confirmed that it's one flight attendant per aisle. They apparently tried with more but the galley/lav area with the curtain prevented that.

I received some contact details and will send some detailed feedback.

amnicoll

I think you will find in that case that Etihad have changed the definition of long flight

chinatraderjmr

But still.......any flight to Australia, USA & S America is really considered ULH in everyone's book except I guess Etihads

I don't fly Qatar often but my last flight w them (KUL-DOH) didn't offer first so I flew in J & they offered lounge wear. EK is a 180 degree difference as they don't offer loungewear in J on ANY FLIGHT??? I find that very strange as they have more aircraft with an actual "lounge" on board then anyone else. What's the point of having so many lounges on board but no LOUNGEwear

The only 2 flights I took w Etihad were SE ASIA-AUH (7 hours) & AUH-JFK (12hrs+). They offered lounge wear on BOTH flights (in F at least but I assume the way Etihad works they either offer it or don't, if F gets them then J does too (but I can be very wrong about that).

I'm gonna fly Etihad in a couple weeks JFK-AUH one way. Am interested to see if the cost cutting in very obvious. Many people on this forum fly ETIHAD often so may not notice it that much but as I've only taken those 2 flights 6 months ago I'll probably notice it easily (if in fact it's true). I hear from everyone how EK is cutting costs but I don't see that at all - probably because I take 4-10 EK flights a month so it's normal to not see something when it creeps up on you

But hay, I'm Etihad Gold just from 2 flights??? I didn't understand that at all & didn't even know till the card came in the mail. I figured it had to be a mistake but called Etihad & they told me no, it is correct. Apparently when I flew BKK-AUH & a few weeks later AUH-JFK, they were offering TRIPLE tier points in F. It's actually very smart on Eihads part. It takes a while and a number of flights to earn Gold normally but in this day & age there are fewer & fewer passengers willing to pay full F fares. Etihad wants to grab as many as they can so giving gold to a first time customer paying full F is very smart. Chances are that passenger flys F on other flights as well but is not married to any airline. Having Gold could make the difference say if the pax is flying from the US-INDIA & doesn't care if he flys Etihad or Emirates.......the gold card COULD make the difference

Dogmatick

Except there is nothing Gold about EY Gold that's worth mentioning....

amnicoll

I was told when it was introduced that it was for flights of over 8 hours

my understanding is that now they are only available on flights to the moon and further with Etihad

I was given PJs in business with Qatar Doha to Bangkok and back earlier this year on both flights

chinatraderjmr

Well for sure Etihad offers it on the 380 to/from JFK. I never took LHR but the website specifically says they offer it on that route to (at least on the 380 & in F)

Agent69

I'm on the 787 to Perth in October, so appreciate your feedback.

Sad to note the demise of the jimjams, but I won't be losing any sleep over it.

vishalgupta22

Etihad offers PJs in all flights in F irrespective of length (even short flights like DEL).

In J I have always been offered them in flights to from SYD/MEL but I have no experience in shorter J flights on EY.

anthonyd

Seems like its hit or miss with pyjamas on EY. Does anyone know if YYZ AUH with a block time of 13 hours, would qualify for pyjamas in J? No biggie but I'd rather not bring another set with me if i don't need to.

amnicoll

If you have a couple of weeks before your flight you could try Etihad feedback

omaralt

Anyway to know which routes are now flown by the non-F 787s? I'm booked IAD-AUH on 8/13 in business but have been checking to upgrade to first. As of a few weeks ago you can't even book first class on that flight, so I'm assuming it's now being operated by the new type?