Review of Etihad Airways flight Abu Dhabi → New York in First

Airline Etihad Airways
Flight EY103
Class First
Seat 4A
Aircraft Airbus A380-800
Flight time 14:10
Take-off 25 Sep 16, 03:35
Arrival at 25 Sep 16, 09:45
EY   #6 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 282 reviews
cincpac1c
By 4003
Published on 29th April 2017
Here is a video of my flight




I arrived (via Ey chaufeur service) around 21:00, a good six hours before departure. I knew you had to leave the FC lounge early for U.S. pre clearance and I wanted to try the mini gym and enjoy a leisurely meal.

Check in could have gone smoother. The attendent wanted to know my U.S. address - I told her I have none and was connecting to Canada on a separate flight/ticket on the same day (apparently they need this to issue the boarding pass?) . Now she wanted to see my reservation for the connecting flight ? When I showed her the LGA-YUL itineriary she seemed confused and questioned why it was a different airport? I told her LGA is a NYC airport. Finally, I got my boarding pass and headed to passport and security which went quickly.

I did a tour of the lounge then headed to the mini gym (I did not opt for a spa treatment or shave/cut). For dinner I had the soup and lamb from the Emirates Palace menu. The soup was bland but the lamb was good. I went to a quiet corner of the lounge and chilled for a couple of hours. Around 02:15 I made the long trek to gate 61, passed through pre-clearance ( if you have a Canadian passport you can use the automated scanner which saved time) and waited in the small (packed) pre departure lounge until boarding.

Boarding was done by priority and I was shown to my seat. The features of my 'apartment' were demonstrated and I had a glass of champagne as my pre-depature drink. The cabin seemed to be pretty full ( I don't know if anyone was in the 'Residence', but the door was closed)and people were already having their beds made up before departure. I think there was only one other person who was dining (which was good for the chef, I guess). Departure was on time. I chose the mezze as an app. (good) and the Wagyu beef (excellent) as my main. For desert, the date 'texture' was very good. I slept for about 5 hours and had a steak sandwich as a snack when I woke up. I watched some CNN live TV (talking about Trump's taxes) and then took a shower before breakfast. For comparison, there is one shower for FC and it is smaller than EK's ( and doesn't have heated floors !!!).

Arrival was on time and the EY chaufeur service took me to LGA for my connecting flight (I certainly can't disagrree about Trump's description of this place ).

Here are some pictures.


photo MAH002761_zpsrjtvyf6a
Etihad chaufeur service
photo MAH002771_zps4rtrljsw
First class check in
photo MAH002791_zpsgpnzb5kr
photo MAH002841_zpsfk6ryipc
photo MAH002851_zpsm4rleaxq
mini gym
photo MAH002862_zps5fkyun79
photo MAH002861_zpszrbgcemn
photo MAH002891_zpsaqvgueim
photo MAH002921_zpsjikmo8mx
photo MAH002922_zps7eolpcql
photo GOPR0055-0002_zpsf0cp7sk1
photo MAH003071_zpsnsg2szdw
photo MAH003072_zpsaabmwwty
photo MAH003074_zpsy5idfgjc
photo MAH003075_zpszfuqnsyy
photo MAH003076_zps4g48puel
photo MAH003111_zpspecebzw5
photo GOPR0066%20meze%202-0001_zpsochoryl1
photo MAH003131_zpsv7jzh4ah
photo MAH003141_zpshi3itwkh
photo MAH003201_zpscgsywnbn
photo GOPROentree4-0001_zpsxk8qljai
photo GOPR0072%20bed%20set%20up-0001_zpsvdr66eii
photo MAH003271_zps1l0im0de
photo GOPR0074%20shower%201-0001_zpsfqh9yf6a
photo MAH003301_zpsw8opxelb
photo MAH003371_zpstse97hjd
See more

Verdict

Etihad Airways

8.4/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Meal/catering8.0

Abu Dhabi - AUH

5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0

New York - JFK

7.0/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0

Conclusion

Ratings and final thoughts

ground experience and lounge: 6/10 - the chauffeur service was good (arrived on time) I think it was an Audi A6 (or something like that). It was also good out of JFK. As FC lounges go, it was a bit under whelming - although I realize this is a tempory solution until the mid field terminal is completed. At that time, hopefully EY will offer a more seamless ground experience (i.e. EK boarding straight from the lounge) and a more spacious FC lounge with sleeping rooms.

hard product: 8/10 - I found the bed to be a bit hard (not as bad as sleeping on a park bench) , maybe a better duvet is required, like the tempur pedic ones JAL uses.

service: 9/10

food: 9/10

overall: 7.5/10

EY has a unique FC product on their A380 but overall I would not rate them at the very top - at this time. A better ground experience is needed, but once the new terminal (and I assume with a new FC lounge) is available, this rating could change.
If EY can offer a ground experience at least on par with EK, I would choose them over the blingy EK F - just my opinion.

Information on the route Abu Dhabi (AUH) → New York (JFK)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 4 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Abu Dhabi (AUH) → New York (JFK).

Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Etihad Airways avec 8.3/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 14 heures et 40 minutes.

  More information

3 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 395681 by
    fiftytwo GOLD 1442 Comments
    Hello

    welcome to flight-report

    Next time take a look at what others are doing and try to follow the same pattern , i mean more texts and comments about your experience , especially in first class

    Thanks for sharing
  • Comment 395690 by
    Chatokay 277 Comments
    Hello.
    Je video you posted isn't the one of your flight, but a commercial video, this is very bad form. Aside this, welcome.
  • Comment 395691 by
    Chatokay 277 Comments
    Two things are bothering me. One, the video isn't yours, but a commercial video. Two, this flight report was posted on at least two others website, but under a different username than yours.
    I strongly suggest that you didn't write it yourself and dimply ripped it off from somewhere else.
    http://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1345305
    https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1795743-ey-f-apartment-auh-jfk-pics-vid.html

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