After reading numerous reviews about Etihad Apartment, I have decided to give it a try for my trip coming back from New York (JFK) to Jakarta (CGK).
Booking
Most people said it is quite challenging to find availability and if you are planning to use American Airlines Miles, calling AA Advantage Customer Service in the States may not always be the best option.
I did not even try the US customer service because I couldn’t reach them from my skype call in Indonesia. I ended up calling the AA customer service in Singapore to ask about the availability and surprisingly they have an open seat for the Apartment from JFK to Abu Dhabi for June 23 which was the date I wanted.
It cost me 115,000 American AAdvantage miles for this route.
Unfortunately, because of where Abu Dhabi is located, I needed to book my flight from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta separately.
The Apartment is not available for Abu Dhabi to Jakarta route so I had to go with either Business or Economy.
I was afraid that I cannot enjoy the lounge in Abu Dhabi if I booked economy so I went with Business Class instead. This business class seat costs me another 40,000 miles.
My entire trip cost me 155,000 and SGD $9.30 for booking fees.
At that time I did not have enough AAmiles in my account so I had to transfer some of my Starwood points to AA and purchase 29,000 miles to top up which was about USD $727. I think it is still worth the price considering the price of my trip could easily exceed USD 10,000 if you pay by cash.
Check-In, Lounge and Boarding
I was glad that it was empty since there was only 1 shower available. Lounge was not too big but it had the essentials.
Food wise, you can order from the menu or go to the self-serve pantry to grab some bites such as cheese and fruits. I think the food was okay. I ordered grilled salmon for dinner.
Close to the boarding time, the lounge receptionist approached the guests and informed us that we should start walking to the boarding gate. I walked to the gate and arrived timely for first class passenger boarding time.
Moving in to the Apartment
Etihad Residences and Apartment is located in top deck of the Airbus A380. When you entered the plane, you can see the cool ceiling design and because there was no overhead compartment, it made you feel that the plane is much bigger. I have read from The Points Guy Review that some of the apartments have chairs that are forward facing and rear facing. I made sure that I chose the one that is forward facing because I am not a big fan of rear facing. My seat was 4A and the chair is closer to window. The flight attendant showed me my seat and helped me to store my carry on.
Each apartment has a chair and a long seating area that will be converted into a bed. I found that the Apartment is much more spacious than Singapore Airlines suites. It also has a more luxurious feel. The Suites has some cool lighting control and has a small compartment that can be opened and had mirror inside (in case female passengers needs it to do make up). It also has a small minibar with some sodas and water.
After settling down, my flight attendant introduced herself and brought me champagne. She also gave me the pajamas and amenities kit. Pajamas had a very good material and very soft but a big big for me. I was kind of disappointed with the kit since there was nothing special inside.
Amenities Kit
When I flew SQ Suites, I received a full size perfume from Ferragamo so I was expecting something similar or more for flying the Apartment. The flight attendant also asked me what time I wanted to take shower as they need to schedule the timing for the passengers to take shower.
I booked the shower 2 hours before landing time. As Apartment passengers we also get free wifi for 60Mb but of course that was to small and would ran out very quickly. For wifi, I love how JAL don’t have any limit and its free for first class passenger.
Right before we took off, the onboard chef introduced himself to me and provide the menu for the meals. I was not very impressed with the selection because there were too many middle eastern options which are not really my favorite. Drinks selection was good as they provided 2 champagne options and few wines.
After we took off, I enjoyed dinner and watched few movies before deciding to go to sleep. I asked the flight attendant to make up my bed and I was glad to see the size of the fully flat bed. It was spacious and I got about 7 hours of good sleep (YAY). Another cool thing was the TV can be pulled out and turned to face your bed so you can watch while lying on the comfortable bed.
The Shower in the Sky
Putri woke me up since it was my time to take shower soon. I got my stuff ready and I went to the bathroom. The flight attendant told me that we have 30 minutes to use the bathroom and only 5 minutes running water time which is very luxurious in the sky. There was an indicator to let you know how much time/water you have left. I did not plan to wash my hair so I know I will be able to finish in 5 minutes. When I first got in, I did not know whether we can actually turn off the water and turn it back on. But later on I found out that you can actually do that. Amenities are provided inside so we don’t really have to bring anything. After shower, I ate breakfast, changed and got ready for landing.
AUH Etihad Lounge
When I arrived in Abu Dhabi, I was sad to leave my spacious Apartment but at the same time excited to see the Etihad lounge in Abu Dhabi that people claimed to be very luxurious. I had a 6-hour layover so I should have plenty of time to explore.
After getting the massage, I was ready for another meal so I went to the restaurant area. Since it was late, there was not that many people inside the lounge. I ordered few things from the menu and enjoyed my meal while catching up with my emails since I need to get back to work the next day.
After the meal, one of the staffs there showed me the relaxation room which had a big screen with some soothing images playing. The room also had many chairs that can fully reclined to a flatbed.
I told him that I will check it out after shower. On my way to shower I realized that there was a gym. The gym consisted of few equipments and it was pretty comfortable to get simple workout done. I used the elliptical machine for 30 minutes. Spending 5 hours in the lounge flew by really quickly.
For the next leg home, I flew Business Class from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta. Sorry to say that the business class was in a bad shape. It was outdated but I was glad that it still can fully come down flat but I was not impressed at all.
