Etihad A380 Apartments Class and B787 Business Class Review

Etihad Apartments Class A380 Sydney to Abu Dhabi

Written by: Passports and PeeptoesEtihad Apartments A380 Apartments Class A380 Sydney to Abu Dhabi

When we started planning our trip to Sydney Australia, I didn't intend to fly us around the world BUT, that's what happened.  In my searching I found that Etihad was flying their brand new A380 between Sydney and Abu Dhabi, and with my American Airline miles, Etihad Business Class (which was available for 2 tickets when the scheduled opened) was just 55k miles per ticket.  The real value however, was that Etihad First Class was just 67.5k miles per ticket. And that my friends is why we visited Abu Dhabi on this trip and I flew us way out of our way to get home.  Because this isn't just any First Class, no, this is Etihad Apartments Class.

Etihad A380 Seat 4A

Etihad A380 Apartments Class

And it is divine.  And it has a shower, and 2 bathrooms for 9 seats, and a bar, and a flying chef. 

In our Apartment (yes 1 per person) we each had a Vanity, a minibar, and 2 seating options - the bench seat folded out into a very awesome bed.  

Etihad A380 Seat 4A

In addition to Etihad's amazing flight experience, their ground service was outstanding. Our trip from Sydney started with getting picked up with Etihad's signature Chauffeur service at our Hotel and whisked off to Apartments Class check in at Sydney Airport.  Lounge Service here was also incredible.  The lounge was spacious, service was outstanding and there was a nice spread of small plates and snacks with full meal service available.  We choose to just have Champagne - Dom 2004 was served in the lounge as well as in the air, and a few snacks before we boarded.  

On board Champagne and Dates

Etihad Business Class 787 Abu Dhabi to Washington D.C.

Business class was great, but not nearly as fun as Etihad Apartments Class!  I did enjoy flying the 787 Dreamliner, it was very quiet, and was a comfortable flight.

Lounge service in Abu Dhabi was good, but the lounge was vey busy when we got there.  We didn't stay long because we had to go through U.S. Customs before boarding (the Etihad flight arrives into Washington pre-cleared) so we needed to leave enough time before take off in case there were lines. We ended up clearing quickly with our Global Entry and were waiting for the flight which was late taking off for a bit.  We boarded, got our champagne and settled in for our 14 hour flight to Washington!