Etihad 777 F or A380 J
 

Hi,

Probably a bit of a funny question but still would like some input from the good folks of FT.

Going from Europe to Australia next year (possibly returning via US - making it a RTW) and am looking at redeeming AA miles for a flight from AUH to Australia.

E.g. for AUH-SYD I see there is some First class availability from time to time on the 777 flight but there's 0 availability on the A380 flight. Business class on the A380 however seems quite easy to get.

It would be 45.000 miles for J on A380 or 60.000 miles for F on 777 (x2 for 2 pax).

I'm a big fan of the A380 and it kind of seems that F on the 777 in comparable to J on A380 (1-2-1 configuration, ...) or even better is some regards (bar, ...).

What do you think?

PS: any chance of the 777 flight switching to the A380 next year? or even a A380 to MEL? :)

F is F. F on 77W is much better than J on A380.

F in A380 is amazing and speaks of luxury. F in 777 is over rated. Seats cushions Are flattened basically it speaks of wear (depends which 777 u get) overall you will have better experience than 777 J in a newer J in a380.

How did you score 45k seats. For us using etihad miles on etihad auh to syd is 97k in J.

I'm sure that BIZ on A380 will be better than on 777 but my question was if BIZ on A380 might be better than FIRST on 777.

Didn't use Etihad miles... used AA miles.

More I hear stories of AA redemption. More I feel the itch to switch over to AA.

Regarding your question. NO F is F. BUT that being said. I can only pin "space" as the biggest advantage on 777 F compared to A380 J. You do have many other advantages but those aren't too big for me to mention here.

So Yes, if space isn't a big deal I don't think you will miss too much and A380 J should suffix.

Jezz. I donno man. It's a tough call. LOL. cuz F is still F. :D

77W F hands down.
Everyone is raving over Apartments but 77W is probably still a top 10 product.

The OP has asked whether Etihad's Diamond First Class on it's 77W is worth the additional 15,000 AAdvantage miles (60K miles) over the Business Studio on the A380 (45K miles), and whether Eithad's current 77W services to Oz might later be upgraded to the A380.

In regards to the likelihood of Ethad's Melbourne services getting upgraded from the existing 77W, as I understand it the intention is to switch to the Dreamliner late this year/early next year but that the A380 will only be servicing SYD.

As to whether Etihad's 77W Diamond First Suite is a third better than it's A380 Business Studio, I'm inclined to say yes - mostly - for the following reasons:
* Due to the smaller Diamond First cabin, and higher cabin crew to passenger ratio (you tend to get lost in the crowd in Business on the A380), service is more responsive and personal;
* Toliet access in the Business Cabin on the A380 frequently requires good timing or waiting, whereas it's typically straight in on the 77W First cabin (apart from the peak time of just before approach for landing); and
* Slightly better food and beverage, nicer presentation.

That said, I found seat comfort a little better on the A380 Business Studio (the 77W Diamond First seats are a bit hard).

Ultimately though, whether you think a third more points are worth it to go from the A380 Business Studio to the 77W Diamond First Suite really depends on you and what you value most. Either way, hope you enjoy.

As others have said, First is First, both in terms of service, amenities & food/beverage & no matter how good the Business Studio is....its not First :eek: I’d say if you have the points for First - book it!

BTW I believe EY stopped using the “Diamond” tag for First, & its now First Suite, First Apartment or First Residence.

Thanks for the answers everyone :)

Have gone with the majority opinion here and booked AUH-MEL in F :)

Entire itinerary on 1 AA award is: AUH-MEL in EY F, followed by SYD-NRT/HND-LHR-VIE in JL F. Super excited! :D

Edit: of course priced as 2 awards (AUH-MEL and SYD-VIE) but on 1 reservation

I've a similar query.

I've never flown First before but I'm trying to work out if to go:

02.55 AUH to LHR on A380 seat 3K. (currently booked with a miles redemption - I grabbed one before the devaluation)

or change it to

13.50 AUH to LHR on 77W (first).

The advantage of the 13.50 77W flight in this case is it is a day and half earlier flight home, and the departure time is nicer.

I'm not in any huge rush to return to London on this particular trip. In fact, this flight is primarily to enjoy the whole First experience.

Will anything be open in the airport at AUH for a 02.55 flight to make use of? (lounge, spa) Is it best to forgoe this stuff for the Apartment experience on the A380?

I doubt I'll be making another First trip soon so I'm torn between what to do.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

The Apartment is by far the best "seat" I've ever seen on a plane and is absolutely worth the experience. The entire event just seems so over the top, yet continues to get better. Your only disadvantage is that as it's your first time flying First, you'll have already reached the peak and everything else is downhill. I flew in the First Apartment a few days ago and will fly again to Singapore and back in December (A380 to AUH then Dreamliner to SIN). The experience has spoilt me so much that I was trying to cancel our BA F flights to Japan next week so we could fly with ANA, as going from Etihad First Apartment to BA F is like winning an Olympic medal, then your next race is at the local village fair and you get booed.

Everything in the AUH lounge will be open.

Having not yet tried the A380 F, I would want that even given that the departure is in the wee hours. If you are in no hurry, it is the new and signature product.

The 77W F is still very good if you decide to go that way.

Well done on the F redemption! I'll always go with F since the difference in miles is only 15k. Food and service is better and it's not easy to beat the enclosed suite on an extra long haul flight. Hopefully you'll enjoy the onboard chef recommendations too.

It's just The Residence, Etihad don't prefix First to it - as it's a cut above First. True, Etihad have recently removed the prefix Diamond to it's old First class, and now just uses the generic suite instead, but given the wide use of suite across many airlines and that this change is fairly recent (and thus many people still know this product as Diamond) I tend to refer to that specific Etihad moniker (it's rather unique to them). Just helps keep things distinct (given technically the Business Studio is a suite, as well as the First Apartment) - regret if that confused you.

Given the rise of some Business class seating/product, I don't think blanket rules really work so well anymore (that First is always greatly superior to Business) - take Qatar for example, where their First is more refinement than evolution over their Business product. I recommend approaching these questions on a case by case basis, taking into account what's important to you individually - especially since these decisions always involve an opportunity cost (yes First may only require a third more points than Business, but those point could have also been used towards another award booking - for example, The Residence might be a great product but I was not tempted to buy it given that I could multiple First flights instead).

@VH-RMD - if the AUH lounge is fully open on a 02.55 departure then that's a big help.

@MacMyDay - Interesting analogy! I may just have to take it on all the same knowing that it's all downhill! Especially as I got in there before the Etihad Guest devaluations.

I think I'll stick with my A380 "seat".

Thanks for the advice!