Sydney the looong way; EY 789 J/F, EY A380 F, 16 hours in QR F Al-Safwa Lounge
Nov 4, 2015, 6:27 am
#31
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,728
One of my reasons for booking business class (besides wanting to try out the Business Studio) was not wanting to expend the extra miles on First Class. Because this was an overnight flight, I wanted to sleep as much as possible so that I could stay awake during the entire First Apartment flight.
Entering the Business Class cabin, looking aft
Business Class cabin, looking forwards. You'll note the rear-facing seats, which I avoided, because I tend to get motion sickness (they're fine during flying however, with no sensation of flying "backwards").
Seat 9A. No shortage of storage areas and nooks.
I like the neutral colors of the Etihad cabin. Also, very classy looking. Plenty of foot space in the "cubby" area.
Now contrast EY's Business Studio seat with QR's Business Class seat and seating arrangement (from the QR 148 flight I snapped recently).
The QR seats also seemed to be placed higher, making it easier to look out of the windows. The EY seats on the other hand seemed to be "sunken", and lower to the ground.
Initial impressions of the Etihad Business Studio seat:I liked the colors and general design, but the cabin layout seemed less "open" and airy than the QR Business Class cabin. The EY design does afford more privacy, however.
Entering the Business Class cabin, looking aft
Business Class cabin, looking forwards. You'll note the rear-facing seats, which I avoided, because I tend to get motion sickness (they're fine during flying however, with no sensation of flying "backwards").
Seat 9A. No shortage of storage areas and nooks.
I like the neutral colors of the Etihad cabin. Also, very classy looking. Plenty of foot space in the "cubby" area.
Now contrast EY's Business Studio seat with QR's Business Class seat and seating arrangement (from the QR 148 flight I snapped recently).
The QR seats also seemed to be placed higher, making it easier to look out of the windows. The EY seats on the other hand seemed to be "sunken", and lower to the ground.
Initial impressions of the Etihad Business Studio seat:I liked the colors and general design, but the cabin layout seemed less "open" and airy than the QR Business Class cabin. The EY design does afford more privacy, however.
Last edited by iluvdoco; Nov 4, 2015 at 4:47 pm
Nov 4, 2015, 10:23 am
#32
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Location: Benicia, California, USA
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Thanks for that comparison! Personally, I prefer the EY privacy factor, but I see what you're saying about the QR advantages.
Nov 4, 2015, 11:41 am
#33
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: LAX
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, Alitalia Freccia Alata
Posts: 213
Very interested to hear more about your comparison between the EYJ/F products. I have an upcoming trip LHR-AUH-SYD booked, with a mixture of the new J/F products, and have been desperate for this sort of comparison! Really looking forward to your review of the new Business Studio, about which too little has yet been written.
Nov 4, 2015, 11:59 am
#34
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,728
Very interested to hear more about your comparison between the EYJ/F products. I have an upcoming trip LHR-AUH-SYD booked, with a mixture of the new J/F products, and have been desperate for this sort of comparison! Really looking forward to your review of the new Business Studio, about which too little has yet been written.
Nov 4, 2015, 12:50 pm
#35
Join Date: May 2014
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP (probably nothing w/ AA next year :)), Delta Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold
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Awesome posts so far. I've written a TR here about EY F on the IAD-AUH route on the 789 so I'm interested to hear your thoughts about that product.
So true about the lack of the EY Studio reviews...I was supposed to fly J on this route, they had an equip change, so I moved my flight to still fly on the 789, but ended up having to book F. Still intrigued by the J product
So true about the lack of the EY Studio reviews...I was supposed to fly J on this route, they had an equip change, so I moved my flight to still fly on the 789, but ended up having to book F. Still intrigued by the J product
Nov 4, 2015, 1:37 pm
#36
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,728
Awesome posts so far. I've written a TR here about EY F on the IAD-AUH route on the 789 so I'm interested to hear your thoughts about that product.
So true about the lack of the EY Studio reviews...I was supposed to fly J on this route, they had an equip change, so I moved my flight to still fly on the 789, but ended up having to book F. Still intrigued by the J product
So true about the lack of the EY Studio reviews...I was supposed to fly J on this route, they had an equip change, so I moved my flight to still fly on the 789, but ended up having to book F. Still intrigued by the J product
Almost forgot to mention that the FAs distributed the new business class amenity kits on my flight. I was impressed given that EY had just announced the new kits two days prior.
http://www.etihad.com/en-us/about-us...-amenity-kits/
I was not initially a fan of the new kits, but they look better and more stylish in person. The First Class Sougha amenity kits remain the same.
Nov 5, 2015, 9:52 am
#38
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,728
Dinner service
Why am I taking these dinner pictures near the galley you ask? Because the overhead light at my seat was not aligned with the tray table, oddly enough.
Tasty appetizer. Smoked duck breast; pumpkin, mango, cucumber and fig-mustard sauce.
Beef tenderloin with creamed spinach, roasted yukon potatoes, carrots, red onions and thyme jus.
Unfortunately the beef was overcooked.
Warm apricot pudding with fresh cream. Didn't taste very fresh, tasted like it just came out of the microwave (which it probably was).
For comparison, this was the meal I had aboard my QR 148 787 flight:
CONCLUSION: QR wins the catering round by a mile. While Etihad had fairly nice presentation and a tasty appetizer, the rest of the dinner service was very average. Disappointing overcooked beef (about par for the course for airlines though).
Why am I taking these dinner pictures near the galley you ask? Because the overhead light at my seat was not aligned with the tray table, oddly enough.
Tasty appetizer. Smoked duck breast; pumpkin, mango, cucumber and fig-mustard sauce.
Beef tenderloin with creamed spinach, roasted yukon potatoes, carrots, red onions and thyme jus.
Unfortunately the beef was overcooked.
Warm apricot pudding with fresh cream. Didn't taste very fresh, tasted like it just came out of the microwave (which it probably was).
For comparison, this was the meal I had aboard my QR 148 787 flight:
CONCLUSION: QR wins the catering round by a mile. While Etihad had fairly nice presentation and a tasty appetizer, the rest of the dinner service was very average. Disappointing overcooked beef (about par for the course for airlines though).
Nov 5, 2015, 1:26 pm
#39
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,728
Somewhere over the Persian Gulf
On approach to AUH
Does anyone know the name of the stadium(?) that is brightly lit and appears just over the engine?
Landed!
Concluding thoughts on the EY Business Studio Product: Overall, it's a very good business class product. The seats were very comfortable with a roomy foot well and plenty of storage space. There were some oddities with the seat, such as the mis-aligned overhead light and a clunky meal table mechanism, but generally very good. I slept 9 hours on this flight, so obviously the seat is pretty comfortable.
People often anecdotally comment that the EY IFE system is poor or has limited content; I didn't find it particularly restrictive, and I flew 4 segments in EY in the course of a week!
FAs were excellent on this flight. No issues with customer service. Digging their new uniforms.
Food quality was about average.
Thoughts on EY J vs. QR J:
QR flies a 77W on its IAD-DOH route. Obviously I would take EY J over this due to EY's all-aisle access seating and newer aircraft cabin. But what about other segments, say BOS-DOH, that are slated to receive the A350, which has a similar J cabin to the 787?
FAs: I've received excellent service from FAs on both QR and EY, so it's a tossup, although EY FAs have spiffier and more flattering uniforms.
Food: I'm a big foodie and absolutely loved the quality of QR's meal service. EY's food on the other hand was decidedly very average. I would take QR's food any day. Both carriers offer the ability to dine-on-demand.
IFE: Content on both carriers seemed similar, although EY's content was less censored. For instance, Trainwreck, the rated R comedy by Amy Schumer, was largely uncensored on EY, whereas Fast and Furious 7 and Spy, were heavily censored by QR. Screen sizes on the QR 787 are similar to those of the EY 787.
Seats: I prefer the more open seats of QR's 787/A350 cabin to EY's staggered forward facing/rear facing seats, although EY's seats add greater privacy.
WiFi: EY currently offers WiFi on its 787 and A380 aircraft, although access is complimentary for the time being for J/F passengers ONLY on the 787. I believe QR does not yet offer WiFi on its fleet. I received a free 24-hour complimentary WiFi pass on my 787 J flight, which was long enough to also cover my immediately subsequent flight on the A380 in F. Bandwidth and speeds were above average when the rest of the cabin was sleeping, but the system had a tendency to disconnect me every 30 minutes or so. Useful for uploading a few pictures or checking email and facebook.
I personally give the edge to QR J, but only when flying their 787 or A350.
On approach to AUH
Does anyone know the name of the stadium(?) that is brightly lit and appears just over the engine?
Landed!
Concluding thoughts on the EY Business Studio Product: Overall, it's a very good business class product. The seats were very comfortable with a roomy foot well and plenty of storage space. There were some oddities with the seat, such as the mis-aligned overhead light and a clunky meal table mechanism, but generally very good. I slept 9 hours on this flight, so obviously the seat is pretty comfortable.
People often anecdotally comment that the EY IFE system is poor or has limited content; I didn't find it particularly restrictive, and I flew 4 segments in EY in the course of a week!
FAs were excellent on this flight. No issues with customer service. Digging their new uniforms.
Food quality was about average.
Thoughts on EY J vs. QR J:
QR flies a 77W on its IAD-DOH route. Obviously I would take EY J over this due to EY's all-aisle access seating and newer aircraft cabin. But what about other segments, say BOS-DOH, that are slated to receive the A350, which has a similar J cabin to the 787?
FAs: I've received excellent service from FAs on both QR and EY, so it's a tossup, although EY FAs have spiffier and more flattering uniforms.
Food: I'm a big foodie and absolutely loved the quality of QR's meal service. EY's food on the other hand was decidedly very average. I would take QR's food any day. Both carriers offer the ability to dine-on-demand.
IFE: Content on both carriers seemed similar, although EY's content was less censored. For instance, Trainwreck, the rated R comedy by Amy Schumer, was largely uncensored on EY, whereas Fast and Furious 7 and Spy, were heavily censored by QR. Screen sizes on the QR 787 are similar to those of the EY 787.
Seats: I prefer the more open seats of QR's 787/A350 cabin to EY's staggered forward facing/rear facing seats, although EY's seats add greater privacy.
WiFi: EY currently offers WiFi on its 787 and A380 aircraft, although access is complimentary for the time being for J/F passengers ONLY on the 787. I believe QR does not yet offer WiFi on its fleet. I received a free 24-hour complimentary WiFi pass on my 787 J flight, which was long enough to also cover my immediately subsequent flight on the A380 in F. Bandwidth and speeds were above average when the rest of the cabin was sleeping, but the system had a tendency to disconnect me every 30 minutes or so. Useful for uploading a few pictures or checking email and facebook.
I personally give the edge to QR J, but only when flying their 787 or A350.
Last edited by iluvdoco; Nov 6, 2015 at 6:25 am
Nov 5, 2015, 4:28 pm
#40
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
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Love that comparison! Keep 'em coming.
One unexpected and interesting element was the IFE censorship. Not the most important thing in the world, but a bit of a drag to learn about that for FF7 (a ridiculous and fun movie, and one I recall being pretty innocuous...).
One unexpected and interesting element was the IFE censorship. Not the most important thing in the world, but a bit of a drag to learn about that for FF7 (a ridiculous and fun movie, and one I recall being pretty innocuous...).
Nov 5, 2015, 4:57 pm
#41
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,728
The other movie that I recall being censored (for language) on QR was the Melissa McCarthy movie "Spy". I remember re-watching it later, uncensored, on a CX flight.
Nov 5, 2015, 4:58 pm
#42
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: BA Silver (OWS)
Posts: 654
Nov 5, 2015, 5:34 pm
#43
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Sydney, Australia
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I think it is probably the Sheihk Zayed Cricket Stadium - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh...ricket_Stadium
Nov 5, 2015, 8:43 pm
#45
Join Date: May 2014
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP (probably nothing w/ AA next year :)), Delta Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold
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