BWIA

Hi,

My wife and myself will have a 5 hours layover at Abu Dhabi Airport, arriving at 7.20 pm our connecting flight to Male leaves at 1.00 am . Both flights are Etihad Airways flights in economy class.

We are well aware the airport will be really crowded during that period of time in the evening.

As we are wine lovers and foodies we would like to spend 4 hours in the etihad first class lounge and pay for the lounge access. The other lounges seem to be crowded, expensive and don’t offer high quality food and wine.

Any post pandemic experiences concerning paid access to the f lounge AUH for eco passengers on EY?

How much is the actual price for the lounge access to the etihad first class lounge when flying Ethiad in economy?

Will the lounge access be denied due to high demand in the evening between 8pm and 12 am?

Is the a la carte food offered in the first class lounge still high quality food?

Thank you very much for your advice!

mercurial1985

I’m afraid I cannot comment on the lounge.

However, consider getting a cab to Yas Marina. Lots of nice hotels and places with great food. Very cheap in a cab and only 15 minutes from the airport.

Vast majority of travellers use e-gates and it’s been years since I’ve seen an immigration delay when leaving.

Dogmatick

Food and service still top notch I believe the pricing was answered in the Etihad Lurker account at the top of the forum

strayersong

I was there in March - Spa is closed. No free cigar anymore. Food menu is very limited and unaspiring. They didn't have a drinks menu (maybe due to Ramadan).



In short - the worst first class lounge I've ever been to and definitely wouldn't pay for it.

Dogmatick

You must have been there during the day, every Muslim country loses its booze menu during Ramadan, just ask for it. I was there at the beginning of March and it was full service as normal

BWIA

Thank you all !
mercurial1985 This sounds really good to me. Only I am a little bit worried the airport will be very busy around 23.00h so customs and security checks would take a lot of time? As our flight leaves at 01.00h I think we will have to be back to the airport not later than 23.00h to be on the safe side ?

Dogmatick
The menu sounds good to me , do they still have the 2007 vintage champagne?

strayersong
No cigars no problem, we just want to enjoy a decent meal, champagne and a Glas of high quality red wine. That should work out well…

Dogmatick

Sorry I always take the rose champagne so no idea, yes 2300 is a very busy time there but is only the beginning of it, get there 10-11 and will be much quieter when entering the J/F entrances

I would say the lounge is only good for a couple of hours you might get pretty bored unless you ask for a Residence lounge and pay the extra $100 for it then you have a real experience and a massive TV in your own private lounge within a lounge and to your suite private service as well as your own private bathroom and shower, now that's really worth it

Mama

The airport hotel room, with its private bathroom and shower, for a whole day, costs less than $80.

Dogmatick

Yeah if you think that's the same then by all means do take it

Mama

And a private TV, and a real bed.
The big bonus with lounge is the unlimited free food and alcohol for those who don't need to watch their diet and alcohol intake. I am always amazed how people can gobble down one meal in the lounge and, less than one hour later, continue to consume another full meal plus alcohol on board.

ISTFlyer

Just wondering, does Etihad offer paid access to their arrivals lounge for Economy Class passengers?

mercurial1985

I generally have not seen significant queues but have always travelled business so haven’t really been paying attention. I do think you have enough time to get out and about, however. If you have a UK Passport your likely to just use e-gates at passport control so the only queue I would imagine would be security but they are super efficient in the Middle East.

If you head to the W Hotel you also get incredible views of the Yas Marina F1 track (if that interests you) from a couple of nice wine bars.

ziek

I have never had to spend more than 20-ish minutes at peak times through security coming back into the airport as I think that is what you are concerned with, the clog happens at check in but since you will be in transit, you will already have your boarding passes and no bags to deal with so you will just pop through to immigration avoiding the check in lines completely

ziek

dont believe so, and its pretty basic, couple of showers, cold sandwiches, coffee tea etc

I think the idea really was that it was a place to wait for the chauffer, but since there are so many of them available and just standing there, the times I did go through it, I have never had the need to wait for a car to become available

infrequently

Is a 5 hour layover long enough to make a quick trip to Yas Island? My 17 yo daughter and I will fly from CGK - AUH - JFK soon, and I was thinking of taking her to Yas for Instagram-able photo opportunities. If we want to do this, do we need to fill out a transit visa application in advance?