If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you may have seen my poll on whether you would rather see an Etihad A380 Business Studio or First Class Apartment review. Thanks to all those who took the time to vote in the poll. Interestingly, the poll was completely polarised between the 2 socials medias. Facebook readers wanted to see the Business Class studio and Twitter wanted the First Class review. So I decided to take one for the team and fly one way in each! Look out for my review in a couple of months time.
If you fancy trying the Etihad seats, now may be a good time to book something. Etihad has announced a sale on economy and business class fares to a range of destinations from the UK. To qualify for the fares you must book by 4 September 2017 for travel until 30 June 2018. However, you have until 15 July 2018 to complete your travel.
The fares are nowhere near the prices we have seen in the ex EU Qatar sales but they are some reasonable value routes out of London. If you have some spare Amex Reward points you could consider using them to upgrade an economy booking. Although you can’t earn Avios and BA tier points on Etihad like you can on Qatar, Etihad has one of the best business class seats in the world. The onboard service is also great too, although the wines aren’t quite as good as BA in my opinion.
Unfortunately, Etihad has also started to cut back and are closing the London lounge spa, although this was only complimentary for First passengers anyway. They have also cut the chauffeur service for both business and first except in the UAE, which you can read about here.
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Etihad Guest
Etihad also have their own frequent flier scheme, Etihad Guest. It would be worth joining if you were flying business class with them, particularly if you are travelling with other family members. Etihad Guest have family accounts similar to the BA household account where you could pool your miles. They also do a range of other options such as part pay miles & cash, cash in points for money and shopping vouchers. There are easy ways to top up such as Amex Membership rewards points or buying miles which are not overly expensive. If you have 75% of the needed miles you can buy the extra miles very cheaply during the booking process with their miles and cash option.
There are easy ways to top up your miles such as Amex Membership rewards points or buying miles which are not overly expensive. If you have 75% of the needed miles you can buy the extra miles very cheaply during the booking process with their miles and cash option.
The new Business Class Studio
The new Business Studios are available only on the A380 and 787 Dreamliners currently. The London to Abu Dhabi route currently has the A380. The rest of Etihad’s fleet offer their older business class which still has fully flat beds with direct aisle access.
The Business Class Studio features a 22-inch wide seat that converts into a fully-flat bed of up to 6 feet and 8 inches. each seat has direct aisle access.
All business class seats provide:
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- mood lighting providing a relaxed ambience throughout the flight
- in-seat massage function and personal lighting, controlled at the touch of a button
- a turn-down service including a mattress, luxury loungewear and slippers on ultra long-haul flights
- noise-cancelling headsets.
- range of connection ports and mobile or Wi-Fi connectivity on board for selected flights.
- 18.5-inch touch-screen TV (Business Studio)
- 15.4-inch touch-screen TV (Business Flatbed)
If you are reading via email you can view the Business Class Studio video here
Etihad feature Food & Beverage Managers as well as “Dine Anytime” meaning you choose when you want to eat. The Food & Beverage Manager will guide you through the menu options and recommend the perfect accompaniment for your meal, whether it is a mocktail or a glass of Champagne from the wine list.
The A380 also features the impressive Lobby lounge which is shared between First and Business class and was inspired by boutique hotels. The Lobby seats up to six guests and is fitted with seatbelts, power supply and connectivity ports.
My pick of the best sale fares for business class
The fares from London are expensive on some routes but if you were prepared to fly from Edinburgh there are some really good value ex UK fares considering how good a product Etihad have.
- Abu Dhabi £2109 from London
- Bangkok £1801 from Edinburgh, £1814 from London
- Ho Chi Minh City £1896 from London
- Kuala Lumpur £1797 from Edinburgh
- Singapore £1753 from Edinburgh
- Sydney £2891 from London
- Melbourne £2912 from Edinburgh
- Perth £2624 from Edinburgh
- Kochi (Kerala) £1802 from London
You can find the Etihad sale page here.
