Great Finale: Etihad A380 – “Apartment”: The Best First Class in the World

[CarbonMan]

Sweet! Thanks for bringing us along, Carfield!

[yflyer]

Great TR, Carfield!

The F Apartment seat, facilities (including shower) and catering are amazing. I had to keep reminding myself that this was a flight review, and not a hotel room review...

On the A380, your rib-eye steak looked very impressive...how was it done on the inside and how did it taste? Great sunny-side up eggs as well. F catering looks on Etihad looks like on-the-ground restaurant dining...

[mr_botak]

Wow thanks. The apartment certainly looks impressive. The A330 first seems fairly much comparable with the other ME3, but a bit ahead of the product QR is phasing out on the A330s. I've tended to avoid EY as I've found the service hit and miss in comparison with QR. I've come to the conclusion that there's no great transfer option in the middle east, but to me AUH is the worst of the big 3.

[Carfield]

Thanks for your kind comments,

The steak was cooked to a perfect medium! I like it a bit more well-cooked, so it came up great!

Carfield

[SQueeze]

I was very impressed with my experience on EY (in F) on the reverse route GVA-AUH last February. I thought it was spectacular. I especially like their individual aircon vents and the colder-than-usual cabin temperatures that made me sleep much better. On SQ, always too warm for my liking especially after the Krugs and dinner - always had to ask FAs to turn down.

Food wise I thought it was good but not exactly the best either. I like my steak medium but I got it slightly more. But it was not an issue.

The crew was all gorgeous and the chief purser, Anastasia, was to me the best of the FAs all these years and in line with the 2 or 3 very memorable ones from SQ.

Looking forward to the next Etihad flight end December, which will also be in First Apartment.

[SQflyergirl]

Excellent report Carfield !

I flew the exact same route as you a few months back and I think you have the salient points correctly down pat.

IMHO - In balance, this is the best First Class hardware set up anywhere. It is so good, that, I had a sit inside the Residence, bounced around on the bed there, and strangely, didn't feel particularly "2nd class" in my apartment.

IF (i always dream) - they had THAT apartment, THAT bar, EK's showers, SQ's crew and LH's FCT on both ends, TG buggies where applicable, all departing from and arriving in a Changi-quality airport, it would be unbeatable.

[eminere™]

Great report. Certainly looks like EY's F product on the A380 is the one to beat. Interesting though that they've decided to forego caviar service in F, in contrast to their ME and Asian competitors.

[SQGamespeed]

Fantastic report, Carfield!

The Apartment looks very comfortable.

EY positively looks to be better than EK now, but yes I've heard about inconsistency in service from others who've flown it.