First half of first Etihad trip
 

IAD to PER in J

for the most part exceeded my expectations in every way. Excellent service...ate off the all day menu and was served whenever I asked....food was good to very, very good.....business class lounge in AUH blew away any and every BA/UAL/American first lounge I've ever visited....food was excellent and no wait on shower......Brad on the AUH PER sector was amazing...crew never stopped working. Only (minor) complaint are the incredibly cheesy amenity kits. No toothbrush???? Soft plastic that almost melts in your hand???

May upgrade on return....still thinking about that.

The 22:05 departure time hits a sweet spot for the lounges at AUH so is a very good flight choice. Am glad that you found the service to be so good, as mentioned in a few places here the Dreamliner crews are generally a cut above the rest.

If you are thinking of the upgrade on the way back, make sure if a window to sit away from the sun (that window get VERY hot) or even better sit in the middle as the centre seats are wider and not angled

Happy flying !

Thank you! Agree I always try to sit on north side of plane....

Er... He suggested sitting away from the sun on the PER - AUH leg.

PER-AUH leaves about 5p and arrives about midnight. Any hot sun would be in the first part of the trip and it would be from the west (left), no? So the northeast side (right side) of the plane would be best. What am I missing? Does the sun set in the east in the southern hemisphere?

All aircraft have a port and a starboard side, which you may call left and right if you prefer, but no aircraft has a "north" side. Nor east, south or west, for that matter.


Johan

For most flights, there is a "north" and a "south" side though.
MEL-PER: starboard is north, port is south
PER-MEL: port is north, starboard is south

DOH to anywhere: variable :p (until they can fly over Saudi/UAE again).

Sure, but anybody who "always tries to sit on the north side of the plane" will struggle when flying, say, WDH-FRA (that will require kicking the captain or copilot out of his seat) or JFK-SCL (having to spend the entire flight on a toilet seat in the rearmost lavatory in coach).

Anyway, what side of the plane to sit on is truly a first-world problem!

Johan

FWIW there is no way to upgrade from business to first when flying from PER to AUH (there is no first class on this route). When I say sit on the north side of the plane I mean from AUH to IAD. I would therefore be sitting on the right/starboard/K seats and would therefore be on the north side of the plane. Thought this would be obvious sorry it wasn't....

When I fly IAD to LHR/FRA etc. I am on the port/left/A side. When I flew the reverse the opposite is true. This obviously doesn't work in the southern hemisphere if one wants to avoid the sun or on a north/south-south/north route.