RB
Established Member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2004
- Posts
- 4,271
In light of the reviews I read prior to and during our trip (May/June 2011), I thought I would post a review. So this was to be our third different J class long haul for this trip (I have posted brief reviews of VS & QF in my separate trip report). We had checked in online but still needed to go to the airport check in for an authorisation of the credit card used when we had booked online. There was a well organised separate J line & we were attended to straight away-boarding passes for both flights, bags tagged as priority & also for fast transfer-26kg for the 2. A flash of the J boarding pass was all that was required for fast lane security check (a 1 person wait) & then through to immigration where a disinterested worker stamped us out.
MXP lounge-a shared lounge (SEA) that was extremely ordinary. Overcrowded with people sitting on the floor, no hot food, burnt coffee from a machine & 4 toilets in total ( the 2 ladies loos apparently had broken taps, 1 of the 2 male loos was out of order & the other had a dodgy flush & a badly cracked hand basin). We soon made our way back downstairs to wait at gate B12-
EY88 MXP-AUH A330-200. 9E & 9F
Centre seats with no one occupying the seats behind us. No booze prior to takeoff-soft drinks only. Newspaper (English) provided, warm towel and an entry for a competition for 4 tickets in Y on any EY flight. The flight path was shown on the taxi out. The screen is big and the seat has a massage feature and the pillow & blanket are big. To me the seats such as 9A, 9K, 7A offer the best privacy option for a single traveller or pair happy to sit apart. The amenities are offered out of a basket- pen, ear plugs and eye mask and a separate small silver bag for moisturiser & lip balm. I had an excellent salmon dish followed by a scallop dish with good white wines (I am more of a beer drinker). The seat can be moved forward & aft to get close to the seat tray. Bottled water was left while I slept. The Stella beer was nice & cold, G H Mumm, the F1 champers was free flowing and all staff were extremely polite & smiling. Although it was shown on the flight path section of the entertainment device the captain did not mention the time change in his welcome. The flight was very quiet & arrived pretty well on time.
The staff ensured the J passengers were first off & a quick walk saw us with plenty of time in the J lounge (had to transfer through a security check first & there was a separate J line).
The lounge (certainly made up for the MXP experience) had a choice of 6 hot foods, cold dishes & sushi. There was no problem getting a shower or seat but the toilet facilities are small for the number of visitors. The wi-fi worked fine & there were lounge computers available.
There is another bag security check at the gate that just seems to create crowding.
EY454-AUH-SYD- A340-600 in 5E & 5F
Centre seats in 1[SUP]st[/SUP] row of J behind F. Huge blanket & pillow, divider available between seats (let down for us as a couple), airbag in seatbelt. This time champers available prior to takeoff and a bottle of water is already waiting. The centre seat has the foot area tilted in towards the centre, has vibration function & lies flat-it is pretty comfortable for me at 6’3”. The amenities are as per the previous flight & we are told pj’s are only provided in F.
The row 5 seats are excellent as there is no passing traffic and all the action of the loos & kitchen are behind you. If a single traveller, the side seats on the window on rows 6, 8 etc would be my choice. The entertainment content is ok although the music is lacking for my taste (guess that is what my ipod is for). The screen is slightly closer than in the A330 & this suited my eyesight. There is no touch function & controls seem a little clumsy compared to QF, VA & NZ. The headphones are comfortable but seem to lack any noise cancelling. Service levels are outstanding ( apparently staff on this flight can speak 9 languages) and the food is 1[SUP]st[/SUP] rate-dinner had a fast option for those who want to sleep and there is an eat anytime option and breakfast is available at a time to suit the traveller. Clean up was quick on all occasions.
Our flight was loaded & very close to push back time when the captain announced a 1hr 40 min delay due to traffic congestion around Muscat. Drinks were still served & then just prior to the nominated new departure time we were told of a further 2hr delay-a result of a passenger emergency that meant we missed our elusive new slot. Even ground crew who came on the plane stopped to talk to passengers re the delays. There did not seem to be any talk of staff running out of time-I later learnt Syd is their shortest downtime normally.
Our eventual takeoff was shown on flight path channel & an hour was made up en route. Although I normally struggle to sleep on flights I managed around 7hrs on this flight. The seat belt sign was on on many occasions. Arrival into Sydney (again orderly diembarkment) had us armed with a customs express pass although our chipped passport meant we were quickly through even after a very quick booze duty free purchase. The priority tagged bags were already on the carousel by the time we arrived. The limo driver (booked at time of buying the ticket) was waiting & led us to a near new Caprice. Our driver indicated he got work from Etihad when the contracted firm could not fulfil all requests. Over 40 yrs with a hire car meant our driver was a good conversationalist and less than an hour after landing we were dropped at our friends place at Caringbah- a very rapid transfer.
For my priorities I would rate Etihad J at least the equal of QF J on 747 (haven’t been lucky enough to do J on a 380). Considering we had purchased a well priced 1 way flight online from the Etihad site, I thought it was excellent value.
MXP lounge-a shared lounge (SEA) that was extremely ordinary. Overcrowded with people sitting on the floor, no hot food, burnt coffee from a machine & 4 toilets in total ( the 2 ladies loos apparently had broken taps, 1 of the 2 male loos was out of order & the other had a dodgy flush & a badly cracked hand basin). We soon made our way back downstairs to wait at gate B12-
EY88 MXP-AUH A330-200. 9E & 9F
Centre seats with no one occupying the seats behind us. No booze prior to takeoff-soft drinks only. Newspaper (English) provided, warm towel and an entry for a competition for 4 tickets in Y on any EY flight. The flight path was shown on the taxi out. The screen is big and the seat has a massage feature and the pillow & blanket are big. To me the seats such as 9A, 9K, 7A offer the best privacy option for a single traveller or pair happy to sit apart. The amenities are offered out of a basket- pen, ear plugs and eye mask and a separate small silver bag for moisturiser & lip balm. I had an excellent salmon dish followed by a scallop dish with good white wines (I am more of a beer drinker). The seat can be moved forward & aft to get close to the seat tray. Bottled water was left while I slept. The Stella beer was nice & cold, G H Mumm, the F1 champers was free flowing and all staff were extremely polite & smiling. Although it was shown on the flight path section of the entertainment device the captain did not mention the time change in his welcome. The flight was very quiet & arrived pretty well on time.
The staff ensured the J passengers were first off & a quick walk saw us with plenty of time in the J lounge (had to transfer through a security check first & there was a separate J line).
The lounge (certainly made up for the MXP experience) had a choice of 6 hot foods, cold dishes & sushi. There was no problem getting a shower or seat but the toilet facilities are small for the number of visitors. The wi-fi worked fine & there were lounge computers available.
There is another bag security check at the gate that just seems to create crowding.
EY454-AUH-SYD- A340-600 in 5E & 5F
Centre seats in 1[SUP]st[/SUP] row of J behind F. Huge blanket & pillow, divider available between seats (let down for us as a couple), airbag in seatbelt. This time champers available prior to takeoff and a bottle of water is already waiting. The centre seat has the foot area tilted in towards the centre, has vibration function & lies flat-it is pretty comfortable for me at 6’3”. The amenities are as per the previous flight & we are told pj’s are only provided in F.
The row 5 seats are excellent as there is no passing traffic and all the action of the loos & kitchen are behind you. If a single traveller, the side seats on the window on rows 6, 8 etc would be my choice. The entertainment content is ok although the music is lacking for my taste (guess that is what my ipod is for). The screen is slightly closer than in the A330 & this suited my eyesight. There is no touch function & controls seem a little clumsy compared to QF, VA & NZ. The headphones are comfortable but seem to lack any noise cancelling. Service levels are outstanding ( apparently staff on this flight can speak 9 languages) and the food is 1[SUP]st[/SUP] rate-dinner had a fast option for those who want to sleep and there is an eat anytime option and breakfast is available at a time to suit the traveller. Clean up was quick on all occasions.
Our flight was loaded & very close to push back time when the captain announced a 1hr 40 min delay due to traffic congestion around Muscat. Drinks were still served & then just prior to the nominated new departure time we were told of a further 2hr delay-a result of a passenger emergency that meant we missed our elusive new slot. Even ground crew who came on the plane stopped to talk to passengers re the delays. There did not seem to be any talk of staff running out of time-I later learnt Syd is their shortest downtime normally.
Our eventual takeoff was shown on flight path channel & an hour was made up en route. Although I normally struggle to sleep on flights I managed around 7hrs on this flight. The seat belt sign was on on many occasions. Arrival into Sydney (again orderly diembarkment) had us armed with a customs express pass although our chipped passport meant we were quickly through even after a very quick booze duty free purchase. The priority tagged bags were already on the carousel by the time we arrived. The limo driver (booked at time of buying the ticket) was waiting & led us to a near new Caprice. Our driver indicated he got work from Etihad when the contracted firm could not fulfil all requests. Over 40 yrs with a hire car meant our driver was a good conversationalist and less than an hour after landing we were dropped at our friends place at Caringbah- a very rapid transfer.
For my priorities I would rate Etihad J at least the equal of QF J on 747 (haven’t been lucky enough to do J on a 380). Considering we had purchased a well priced 1 way flight online from the Etihad site, I thought it was excellent value.
