Review: Etihad EY454 First Class Apartment A380 Abu Dhabi (AUH) to Sydney (SYD)

Abu Dhabi (AUH) - Sydney (SYD)

DEP 10:40PM ARR 7:35PM

Duration: 13h55m

Seat number: 4K

Aircraft: Airbus 380

Miles Redeemed: 105,000 AA AAdvantage miles + $138.40 tax

Table of Contents  [show/hide]

The Verdict

• PROS: Amazing spacious First Class Suite with a privacy door, leather seat and sofa that can turn into a lie-flat bed. Delicious seafood and excellent professional customer service. Onboard shower and lounge lobby. Complimentary Wi-Fi. Good ground service at Abu Dhabi airport for check-in and lounge. 
• CONS: The suite door was difficult to open and close. Dark lighting and small shower lavatory. 

Miles Booking 

I redeemed a total of 105,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles plus $138.40 in tax to book CDG-AUH-SYD itinerary on Eithad Airways, all in first class. The real total miles were actually 115,000 miles but I received 10,000 miles back as part of the AA credit card’s benefit. Unfortunately, that benefit has been discontinued. 

My itinerary was like this:

• Paris CDG to Abu Dhabi AUH (stopover less than 24 hours) - First Class Boeing 777-300ER
• American Airlines mileage program allows less than 24 hours stopover on one award ticket. See this post for more information. 
• Abu Dhabi AUH to Sydney SYD - First Class Apartment Airbus 380

Check-in and Lounge

Flying premium class with UAE airlines offers amazing ground services at the airport. Abu Dhabi has exclusive check-in terminal for both business and first class passengers. So it was fairly quick to go through security checks and onto Etihad First Class Lounge & Spa at Abu Dhabi International Airport. While the size of Etihad First Class Lounge is not as big as I imagined, the facility and amenities were incredible. The lounge's services were also amazing. There’s also a Six Senses Spa inside the lounge. First Class guests receive 15 minutes complimentary spa treatment. I paid to upgrade the complimentary foot massage service. It felt so good after all my full day walking and sightseeing Abu Dhabi during my less than 24 hours layover. I stayed in the lounge until it was time for boarding.  

Etihad First Class Lounge & Spa Dinning Room

Etihad A380 First Class Apartment Suite

The moment I stepped inside the aircraft and was escorted by a flight attendant to my 4K suite, I could not believe what I saw with my eyes. The suite is equipped with a nice long leather sofa and a comfortable leather seat. I was beyond stoked to think that I would be in that suite for almost 14 hours, even the flight attendants noticed my excitement 😃

The suite also has a door for privacy but I find it hard to open or close that door. There's also a compartment that looks like a closet that has a mirror, drawers, and more compartments with a mini fridge. While Etihad calls the First Class Suite an Apartment and their Business Class Suite a Studio, to me the First Class Suite is more of a Studio than an Apartment. With that being said, I heard about the First Class Residence Suite is also on that aircraft. Because the Residence wasn’t occupied, I asked the flight attendant for a quick tour. He had to prepare the Residence Suite and warned me not to take any photos of the Residence. My wish was granted after the flight took off. The Residence can accommodate up to 2 adults. It has a living room and a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom. It's pretty amazing! Unfortunately Etihad does not allow using points to book the Residence Suite. 😏

Best Etihad A380 First Class Apartment Seats

There are a total of 9 Etihad First Class Apartment Suites on the airbus 380 aircraft. Some seats face forward and others face backward. I could not bring myself to sit backward so 4K which is a forward-facing seat was perfect for me. 

• Seat 1A: Residence
• Seat 1H: Backward-facing aisle seat
• Seats 2C & 2H: Forward-facing aisle seats
• Seats 3A & 3K: Backward-facing window seats
• Seats 4A & 4K: Forward-facing window seats
• Seats 5C & 5H: Backward-facing aisle seats

Etihad A380 First Class Suite Bed

After the late night meal, I kindly asked the flight attendant to come prepare the bed for me. I have to compliment on the design of Etihad First Class Suite in terms of bed and seat. Typically, premium class seat can turn into a bed, but that’s not the case for Etihad A380. The seat is mainly used for sitting while the sofa is actually the one that can be turned into a fully lie-flat bed. You can also move the TV towards the direction where the sofa is, so that you can lay down on the comfortable bed while enjoying the in-flight TV entertainment. In fact, it was too comfortable that I did not go back to the seat until breakfast time before taking my shower and landing.

Etihad A380 Onboard Shower 

When the flight attendant took shower appointments, I picked the time after breakfast and prior to landing. The shower stall onboard the A380 is inside the lavatory. Comparing to Emirates shower, Etihad is far behind. Emirates shower lavatory is huge and simply beautiful. Etihad shower is small and the mood lighting was dark inside that First Class lavatory. Regardless, I appreciated that Etihad offers onboard shower for First Class passengers. Nothing beats feeling refreshed upon landing from a long haul International flight. 

Etihad A380 Lounge Lobby

This is another feature onboard Etihad A380. The lounge lobby is available for both business and first class passengers. However, I also find Etihad lounge is not as nice as Emirates lounge bar. I went to check it out and sat down for a cocktail drink. There's a dedicated flight attendant at the lounge that can serve you drinks and spice up the conversation with you. There were no other passengers there at the time, so I just sat there chit-chatting with the flight attendant and watching news on the TV at the lounge. 

Food & Drinks

There's a cook onboard and before taking off, the cook came out and greeted all First Class passengers to take each individual order. It was a red-eye flight so the late night dinner was actually very late. I managed to still ordered some seafood dishes to eat before snoozing away. Here's the food's menu:

I started with the Signature Caviar, then scallop for appetizer. For the main course, I did not want to eat too much heavy meat, so I picked Black Cod that came with some vegetables and I finished with just an ice cream dessert. I love seafood and I must admit I did enjoy the late night seafood that I had onboard Eithad A380 flight. For breakfast, the cook specially made Eggs Benedict for me. 

For the drinks, I could not have enough of Dom Pérignon. Here's the drinks menu:

Service

The service of the crew on my Etihad flight was amazing. I loved both of them. The female flight attendant was friendly and easy going. The male flight attendant was nice and very professional with the service he provided. I heard him he referred himself as the “butler.” There's also a cook onboard that was also a nice gentleman. Overall, I was pleased with the service I received onboard Etihad A380 flight. 

WiFi

There's "Wi-Fly" onboard and Fist Class passengers receive complimentary WiFi access with limited data allowance. If you want more data, you can purchase additional plans. I was able to use the free WiFi for quick chat messaging with friends and family. When not in use, I simply turned the WiFi off to preserve data usage. 

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