crimsona

Forgot to mention, not the same day inbound flight. Staying one night in Abu Dhabi, which is why I figured I won't have access any more

sabdhabi

I was in the F lounge yesterday afternoon and they have finally listened to passenger feedback. They were rearranging some of the furniture to have two small buffet stations for breakfast and dinner timings. The buffet was going to be around the main dining area, and not round the back where it once was. I left early afternoon, so can't comment on the buffet. Anyway, a welcome move.

flightcrew1

great news!

stargold

This might finally mean that the US-bound passengers in F might actually get some food in the F lounge rather than being told to go hungry, since it's "too close to the flight" for the a la carte.

My friend who flew out recently was a bystander to another such refusal. It just beggars belief, really.

omaralt

so i just booked a ticket from AMM to DFW on EY that gives me a 8.5hr overnight layover (from 12:40AM to 9 AM). i've been to the first class lounge before, but it was only for an hour or so.. i'm really debating what to do. is there someplace there i can sleep? should i get a hotel? i wish the layover was during the day, i would have gone and enjoyed the city..

PS: i remember from my last visit they had a gym. i talked to one of the employees there and there was a rumor that they were going to provide work out gear? any idea if that happened? i would love to get a workout in but the idea of carrying stinky sweaty clothes in an airplane for many hours doesn't sound very appealing..

h1ghfly3r

will be there Wednesday morning and I will report back

SFO777

We experienced nothing like this this past Monday although we arrived at 6:15am for our 8:45am LAX flight. Pleasant check-in agent downstairs reminded us about PreClearance and recommended leaving 90 minutes before departure unless we had Global Entry. When we confirmed Global Entry, she told us that we didn't have to leave that early and welcomed us to stay as long as we wanted and leave at our leisure.

This was our first visit since the 2 year renovation and my impression was "what was the point?" especially with the midfield terminal nearing completion.

Here are some pics from my trip report.

stargold

The "policy" appears to be that you must order 30 minutes before T-75 - that is to say, you must have at least 1h45 until the departure time of your flight in order to place a restaurant order. See here, for example. Since you arrived 2h30m before your flight, it's not surprising that they gave you no hassles at all.1. The current lounge would have been much more useful in terms of service life if they hadn't nearly finish the whole thing, then were rumoured to have been told to basically "start again" by top executives...

2. "Midfield nearing completion" - as with most things in the region, it's truly a case of "I'll believe it when I see it." It might look quite well progressed from the outside, but trust me when I saw that very, very few things are ever finished as scheduled.

Big_Foot

Do they offer the full menu selection or only "breakfast items" at 6AM?

TPJ

I was in AUH last week - talking to locals (not connected to AUH Airport in any way) they believe the Midfield Terminal official opening is supposed to be in 2019, but rumors are it will/might be delayed.

TPJ

I was in the F-lounge on Friday (flying to FRA at 9.05) and have not noticed any buffet area...

Waiting time for my Mediterranean breakfast was about 20-25 minutes. The waiter apologized and made sure my champagne glass was always full

NoY

Gives the impression it’s freshly cooked at least. Of course it might not be!

h1ghfly3r

Multiple Etihad staff told me the midfield terminal will open in 2019. And even then Etihad will only move some parts of the operations to the new terminal. They will probably keep the lounge in t3 open and drive the passenger to the aircraft. The new tunnel is almost finished and it should not take too long to get to the new terminal.

regarding breakfast; if I have time I do always order breakfast before I am off to my massage. This almost guarantees no waiting period for the food.

when I ordered my breakfast last week it took them only 10minutes or so.

omaralt

just to confirm. i'm flying DFW to AUH in first, but then from AUH to AMM it's in business (2 class plane). i'll still have access to the lounge for my 4 hr layover? thanks

sabdhabi

Further to my earlier post, I enquired today about the buffet. They are now telling me it will start 1 April. Unfortunately, nothing surprises me anymore.