EY A380 to MEL from June 1

[Lucas Groeneveld]

Great news!

I had already booked F for next September (AA points), thankfully I'm on the flight that has been switched to the A380

Given their small A380 fleet size, Etihad are doing a great job in bringing them to Australia.

 

[mmchow]

Great news!

I had already booked F for next September (AA points), thankfully I'm on the flight that has been switched to the A380

Given their small A380 fleet size, Etihad are doing a great job in bringing them to Australia.

Booked MEL-AUH for 21/09/16 in F but want to change this now to AUH-MEL departing 30/09 instead. Availability thru 24/09 was very good with up to 5 seats available for numerous dates but all got pulled since 9am today. No F award availability since then. As per OMAAT and VFTW, Etihad is very unreliable in releasing award seats. Just have to keep checking back.

 

[mmchow]

Changed my flight to 25/10/16 on EY461. Tried selecting my seat via EY website - failed "online seat selection is not available". Checked Expert Flyer, same - "Equipment change in progress". This is only applicable for 24/10 and 25/10.

 

[Beta4Me]

Booked BNE-MEL-AUH-LHR 100K + $AU91.

Took less then 10 min to book over the phone (called AA SYD number). Flights in July, hope I'll be able to use them.

How did you manage that (the BNE-MEL bit on the front)?

 

[Beta4Me]

Just put MEL-auh-LHR-auh-MEL (EY F for 3 legs and EY J for LHR-auh) on hold to confirm by 31 Dec 23:59.
The LHR legs are A380 and the MEL legs 77W. Hoping that A380 space eventually opens up near the dates I'm after (mid-July outbound and late-July/early-August return).

Is there a ~3 day hold with EY or are they shorter?

 

[boomy]

How did you manage that (the BNE-MEL bit on the front)?

AA allows to add domestic connection on any of the partners with no extra miles, just taxes.

It has to be done before booking ticketed otherwise must pay change fee of $US150.

Btw, even if need to add later it's still not bad deal to get QF J Dom for ~$AU200

 

[Bwood9]

I've got BNE-MEL-AUH-LHR booked in J in August. The MEL-AUH leg currently is a 777, will this be on the A380 or is that a new flight?

 

[soorox]

What flight are you on? Afternoon departure or night departure? Only the night flight will get the A380 from June, so that should be reflected on your booking already. If it shows 77W still then you are probably on the afternoon flight.

 

[Bwood9]

Ah yes I'm on the afternoon flight

 

[smit0847]

Any update on the opening of the MEL lounge?

 

[soorox]

Will open in May, no specific date yet but next month has been confirmed.

 

[EtihadAirways]

Will open in May, no specific date yet but next month has been confirmed.

Dear soorox,

Kindly stay tuned to our social channels and we will keep you posted with the latest updates. Thank you. *Jiaqi

 

[smit0847]

Just got off the EY A380 Apartments in LHR. The hard product is just as incredible as it looks online but they've created a service procedure so incredibly detailed and complex that the crew struggle to deliver it and things were forgotten about or done incorrectly. I thought SQ F service was significantly better. Has anyone else who has done it experienced this?

 

[boomy]

Just got off the EY A380 Apartments in LHR. The hard product is just as incredible as it looks online but they've created a service procedure so incredibly detailed and complex that the crew struggle to deliver it and things were forgotten about or done incorrectly. I thought SQ F service was significantly better. Has anyone else who has done it experienced this?

Service on EY F can be hit and miss. In my view better than most but not as polished as some Asian airlines.

I'm not sure what you mean by detailed and complex. You can order anything from the menu whenever you want, you can ask them to make the bed anytime you want (even before takeoff on A380), you're basically in full control of the schedule.

 

[smit0847]

Service on EY F can be hit and miss. In my view better than most but not as polished as some Asian airlines.

I'm not sure what you mean by detailed and complex. You can order anything from the menu whenever you want, you can ask them to make the bed anytime you want (even before takeoff on A380), you're basically in full control of the schedule.

You can order whatever you want but the way each thing is delivered/presented is what is complicated. For example if you order a glass of wine they bring you just an empty glass. Then they go and get the bottle. Then they show you the bottle. Then they pour you a taste. Then they talk to you about it. Then they slowly pour a full glass. Then they ask you if you want anything else. Then they take the bottle back to the galley and move on to the next task. That's just for a single drink.

Get 2 people doing this level of detail for a 6 or 7 course lunch for 9 people at once and you get an idea of how many hundreds and hundreds of tiny tasks they have to complete on a flight less than 7 hours. There's plenty of room for error.

 

[boomy]

You can order whatever you want but the way each thing is delivered/presented is what is complicated. For example if you order a glass of wine they bring you just an empty glass. Then they go and get the bottle. Then they show you the bottle. Then they pour you a taste. Then they talk to you about it. Then they slowly pour a full glass. Then they ask you if you want anything else. Then they take the bottle back to the galley and move on to the next task. That's just for a single drink.

Get 2 people doing this level of detail for a 6 or 7 course lunch for 9 people at once and you get an idea of how many hundreds and hundreds of tiny tasks they have to complete on a flight less than 7 hours. There's plenty of room for error.

They try to do the service like it's done in fancy restaurants, I don't mind it but agree it's a bit slow.

Reminds me recent flight on TG A380, service very attentive, maybe too much tho. 12am departure they set table for dinner around 12:45am and bring 3 different type of wine glasses. Then one FA comes to offer champagne, another with whites and another with reds. All that before the meal service even started, just bread on the table and it's already 1am! Lol

 

[travelislife]

QR allows the a la carte order whenever you want and they seem to be able to deliver it very well in business class, so not sure why EY has issues with less than half the or people in the cabin!