helvetic

@SFO777 I enjoyed my 1-day trip to Guangzhou, but I'm a bit sad I didn't get to see the nighttime Canton Tower.

The W in Guangzhou is the only W I've ever been to that had a club lounge.

nequine

Fantastic photos as always.

What is it about Chinese cities, that they seem to so much come alive once it gets dark?!

miamiflyer8

Inspring as always SFO777!

Have a safe trip home!

milesaddict

Damn. What a TR !!!
I have a trip coming up in F with QR. Your well done steak is always cooked well done out of my +20 F Flights with QR :-(( . That's too bad. I love CAN (I'm biased since my wife is from there).

I look fwd to your EK trip even if I'm not sold on EK!

gaobest

Is there an alternate option to the well-done steak? Are you allowed to send it back if you request it medium rare and it's well? (No really - I've never flown ME3 F).

island82

Great TR SFO777

I too enjoyed the chicken congee, I was hesitant to order it at first, but went with it after some encouragement from the flight attendant.

SFO777

Time turn around and head home, starting with Guangzhou to Dubai...


The approaching typhoon brought more rain as we headed to the airport, hoping to get out before things got crazy.



We arrived at the terminal at 10pm, just over 2 hours prior to departure.











At the K counters is Emirates.







After check-in, a 5 minute walk to security and passport control. No Priority lanes but there weren't a lot of pax in line, so we were thru in short order.



If you are not flying China Southern or other Chinese airlines, your choices are the Premium Lounge... or nothing. After a walk thru this depressing place, we opted for nothing.





At this hour of the night, way too many people for this depressing place.

SFO777

From the Premium Lounge, we headed towards our Gate A106, at the very end of the concourse.











Already lined up for boarding an hour before departure.



We headed for a quiet seating area near the gate, with batmandds checking radar every few minutes as Typhoon Hato approaches. OK that does look ominous.



Guangzhou CAN to Dubai DXB
Emirates EK 363
A380-800
12:15am-3:30am
August 23, 2017
Suite 3K

Every now and then I do something really stupid and tonight was one of those nights. We lined up for boarding when I couldn't find my boarding pass. Not to worry so I thought. I'll just ahve the gate agent reprint my boarding pass. LOL. Quel idiot I am. No printer at the gate and I couldn't board without a security stamp and a passport stamp. What?? It's now 11:35pm or T-40. Armed with a written boarding pass, I ran and fast walked back the half mile to passport control where I saw an Emirates rep. Apparently I'm not the only dummy to have lost a boarding pass here. She took it and my passport and returned 5 minutes later with the requisite stamp. I hustled back to the gate just as "Final Boarding" was announced. Hallelujah!

The funniest part of the entire saga was that I found my original boarding pass as soon as I got to my suite, in a jacket side pocket that I never, ever use for boarding passes.











Our impressive Emirates amenity bag.









Tonight's menu...















And wine list...











We're getting out just in time.







Emirates has a great IFE system with an amazing selection of movies, music and entertainment.













First order of business for me after a long day and longer and stressful run back and forth to and from passport control was a shower.











Back in my suite now totally refreshed and with clean clothes, let the night begin.











batmandds showered next and we then headed to Suites 2EF for dinner. Showtime, Emirates style.









After my caviar, the Roasted Tomato Soup was superb.





With 6+ hours of flight time left, our lovely FA Lara ("as in Lara Croft") was happy to oblige tonight's wine tasting experience.













For my main, I chose the Cod in Black Bean Sauce, which was amazing.



For dessert, I had the... well actually I have no recollection of what I had or if I had any dessert. But the next thing I remember, we found ourselves in the lounge. And I have no idea how these women got there. LOL.



Oh yeah. Our other friend for the next hour or more.



Not sure how long we were there but neither of us slept. And then we were on approach to DXB...









At 4am, DXB was deserted and we were out in no time.



We headed for the Chauffeur Drive desk where the dispatcher issued our car assignment.







And to our complimentary limo that will take us to Abu Dhabi.



What a great Emirates flight.

SFO777

Thank you very much lamphs. Hope you enjoyed your flights as much as I did.

Thanks helvetic. Guangzhou at night was really cool.

Thank you nequine. I think that's true of a lot of cities, but Canton Tower is quite spectacular with it's every changing light show.

Thanks so much miamiflyer8. Home in one piece and 5 lbs. heavier. LOL. But I've lost that and more in the week since I've been home. Time to hit the road again!

Thank you milesaddict. That's strange about the QR will done steak thing. The on board chef on EY explained that they get cook all the steaks on board so he's able to control that part of it. And indeed he did...



I guess you could but per milesaddict, not sure the next one would be any different at least on QR.

Thanks very much island82. Indeed, the congee was excellent.

batmandds

It was indeed a great Emirates flight. Things did get a little hazy after our time with Paradis and the bartenders. I swear the bottle had a leak in the bottom of it . It seemed like one minute we were at the bar on the A380 and all of a sudden we were in the car headed to AUH. Good times.

nequine

The Emirates bar on the A380 is a very cool place to kill time on a flight!

m3red

The hangovers I've had at that bar..roll on Tuesday

SFO777

From DXB to AUH and the Etihad First Class Lounge


Our Emirates First wheels to AUH.







At 4am, there is not much traffic on the main highway to Abu Dhabi, and a little over an hour later we arrived at Abu Dhabi International Airport... the poor sister of the ME3 hub airports.









At the far end of Terminal 3 is Etihad's First Class entrance.





Which was pretty much deserted at 5:15am.





And no First Class check in staff.



So we headed over to Business Class to check-in. As we checked in, I decided to inquire about the possibility of buying up to The Residences since it was available on our flight today. This request was above the pay grade of the check-in agent, who excused herself and disappeared to consult with a manager. A few minutes later, a more senior agent returned to advise that yes, indeed a buy up was possible but I would not receive the full treatment like personalized menu and any special orders, since they wouldn't have enough time. If that was OK, she'd consult with another department and advise the price.

We waited in the comfy nearby seating area while someone at Etihad decided how much they might charge. We both agreed that $2,500 maybe $3,000 would be the most either of us would pay. Another 5 minutes and she returned to inform us that yes, indeed they could upgrade me to The Residence for 77,000 AED... or roughly US$21,000. LOL. She explained that it was so high because they would be charging the difference between the fare I paid and the basic Residence fare. Since I was on an AA award ticket, they considered that next to worthless. LOL.

No wonder Etihad is having financial problems. Hardly anyone buys The Residence. Monetize the thing with last minute buy-ups and make some money because you can't be getting much revenue on the product that way it's priced. It's basically a one person suite as the bed is really too small for two people. I thanked her for asking and we headed off to security.



We were only people at premium security and were thru in no time. Just after security is the Etihad First Class Lounge.



A few pics from earlier in the year...





























Just next to the main dining area and the kitchen is the Cigar Lounge.









Today's menu, which is a far cry from last year's much more elaborate offerings... as cost cutting continues to hack away at the product.



















I worked for a few hours while batmandds went to the gym and spa. Then time for breakfast before heading out to PreClearance and our flight.







batmandds' congee.



And my Eggs Benedict, which were good...



... but not as good as AA's in the new JFK Flagship First Dining room...

SFO777

LOL. It was great flight but all too short.

Absolutely and especially tonight since we had the place (and staff ) to ourselves as most of the other pax were sleeping.

Oh yeah, I can imagine. Hard not to when they keep pouring the Paradis.

SFO777

At around T-75, we left the First Class Lounge and headed out for the long perp walk to US PreClearance and Gate 61. Wth Global Entry, I'd rather stay in the nice First Class Lounge, board the plane and clear customs in the US in less than 5 minutes. But at AUH, we are forced to leave the First Class Lounge early and wait in a crap lounge or at the gate.







After security and PreClearance, we headed to the gate.



... which is actually nicer than the closet that Etihad tries to pass off as a Premium Lounge. Pics from my last visit...



Bright, spacious and much better people watching. And a great gate agent that kept the area free of gate lice.





Abu Dhabi AUH to New York JFK
Etihad EY 103
A380-800
10:15a-4:20p
August 24, 2017
Apartment 3A

Boarding was called at T-30 minutes.









And my first look at what I'd rank as the best premium hard product in the skies.







OK, this is pretty sweet. Your own private suite with a seat and sofa that converts to a bed.











All three of our wonderful cabin crew stopped by to welcome us including the F&B manager Johan and Chef Santosh. Johan with pre-departure bubbles.













Storage space under the sofa/bed.











The single Residence suite take the front left area of the upper deck including an area that most airlines use as a 2nd lavatory. EY still has two lavs but much smaller ones, including one with a shower in the space that typically has only 1 spacious lav. Meh, not a big fan of this or the color palate.





And the non-shower lav...





Today's menu.







'



And wine list...



... which is pretty weak and shows EY's recent cost cutting.





Time to head to New York.













In the air, my usual G&T.



Since we both hadn't slept in nearly 24 hours, we asked Johan to make our beds.



The bed was very comfy and I slept for nearly 6 hours.





About midway thru our flight, showtime!









My salad was delicious.







And my beef perfectly prepard by Chef Santosh.







The First and Business lounge is in between the First Class galley and Business Class. Kind of a dopey lounge and not even close to the atmosphere of the EK or QR lounges.













A peak into the Business Class cabin.



Back in my suite, I relaxed on the bed and swiveled the TV monitor to watch a movie.





Our approach to JFK from the live tail camera. Very cool.













What a great flight with wonderful service. I love the Etihad Apartment which is now my favorite premium cabin. And meanwhile back to reality and the third-world like A gates of JFK Terminal 4.




For more pics and an HD version of this report, please visit SFO777.com where I've posted additional installments.

• American's Flagship First Lounge and First Dining at JFK
• American Flagship First Class JFK-LAX

Will post to FT as soon as possible.