Since there haven't been any trip reports from Etihad Apartments since their return I figured I would post one.
I began my trip in Munich. This saved me approximately 400 Canadian dollars in UK APD, and was still in the 65000 Aeroplan point distance band. I was fortunate enough to book this flight when, simply by chance, I was searching flights back in March and came across availability for basically every unsold F seat. The blogs picked it up later on in the day, so I had my pick of when I wanted to go.
I popped into the Senator lounge near G24 for a pretzel and a cappuccino.
And another cappuccino handmade, this time (I was too impatient to wait for the staff for the first coffee).
Here's the bar.
We sat onboard with about a 30 minute departure delay on a dreary morning in Munich, waiting ramp crew availability to load the bags.
After a very short flight, we're approaching Frankfurt which is experiencing very pleasant weather.
I take the opportunity for a photo of my very special cabin baggage with its namesake aircraft behind.
In the tunnel transfer between A/Z and B concourse.
After a quick and painless exit passport control, I hit the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge for something different.
It has a nice view of the apron, but it was absolutely sweltering in there.
We have a more or less on time departure onwards to London Heathrow on a beautiful morning in this part of Europe.
I decide to take the light meal on offer - a chicken caesar salad with edamame. Very nice to have lots of protein since usually these light meals are all carbs.
Approaching London we bounce around a bit in the Heathrow stack as southern England is experiencing the effects of Storm Antoni. It's not nearly as nice as in Frankfurt.
I'm only one of two passengers transferring from T2 to T4 so we basically have a private bus across the airfield. As much as I hate the idea of the bus transfer, as always, I love the possibility for apron views. Such as this Qatar 777 on the apron.
And the Air Mauritius A350 at a gate.
And a Qatar A380 also at a gate (I'll be on one of these the following day).
After going through a deserted transfer security, I head to the Etihad lounge in T4.
It's very busy in here.
I inquired about the possibility of an upgrade to The Residence at the entrance, and while the agent was on the phone trying to get a hold of a supervisor, I sat right between the entrance and the bar. The upgrade was a no go, as these are only possible on Etihad ticket stock.
I had only one glass of bubbles as I knew that the onboard offering would be much better. I left after this as it didn't feel relaxing at all in the lounge and I wanted to get some pics of an empty cabin, so I headed over to the gate to make my best gate lice impression.
EY20 LHR-AUH
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800
Seat: 3A
Flight time: 6:25
I'm the third person aboard as some pushy business class passengers shoved their way past me on the jetbridge, but I was still able to get some nice photos of an empty cabin.
A vintage champagne as PDB - yes, please !
The Residence is of course unoccupied. I was offered a tour of the suite later during the flight. They set up the suite exactly how it would have been prepared for a passenger, so especially the bedroom was gorgeous, and very quiet. Pics for paying passengers only though ! I feel like this would be too short of a flight to really enjoy it, but I probably still would have paid what I assume was the asking price for an upgrade, were it available, just so that I could say I've done it.
Mmmmm.... food...
After perusing the extensive menu I'm offered an Arabic coffee and dates as is customary on Middle East airlines.
And then a gift bag with pyjamas and slippers was delivered to my seat.
We depart Heathrow towards the west as the winds have shifted back to their usual direction. It's trying to clear up now.
Unsuccesfully though, as this is the view from the tail cam a few minutes later.
After takeoff, I'm served more champagne and some nuts, wasabi peas, and olives.
And then the table is set for the main event. I'll let the food pics speak for themselves.
It was really nice to have a palate cleansing grapefruit sorbet before the main course!!
After all this, I'm totally stuffed. The service was very efficient for this extensive service. It was 2 hours exactly from the post take off tray of nuts etc to my cappuccino.
I go and change into the jammies while one of the cabin attendants prepares my bed. I only take a short nap but it was helpful after all that food.
On boarding I booked the last shower of the flight, which I really think is a great ending to a flight. Especially after eating so much lol. The shower suite is very small, about 1/3 the size of Emirates shower suite, but it is still a shower at 41,000 feet so who's gonna complain about that !
After the shower I head back to the lounge area, which is much smaller than both the Emirates and Qatar A388 lounges, but is still nice all the same. I chatted with a couple from London heading to Manila and a fellow returning home to Jakarta.
Back at my seat waiting for me is a water bottle refresh and some chocolates to finish the flight.
And here we are pulling into the gate in AUH. What a great flight ! Crew was absolutely top notch, food and champagne were great, and I would love to do it again !
After going quickly through automated border control (a godsend), I'm off to my hotel ! Cheers!
