Sections
This post is continued from Etihad A380 First Apartment – Flight EY 460 Abu Dhabi-AUH to Melbourne-MEL – Part 1. Check it out to see the first half of the review.
BATHROOMProving size was really the theme of the experience, even the bathroom was huge:
I took a quick glimpse of the stairs, just to confirm that we were, in fact, on the 2nd floor:
ON-BOARD BARBefore turning in for the night, we walked around the cabin to explore the on-board bar.
The bar is situated on the top deck of the A380 aircraft, in-between First and Business class:
It was completely empty when we made our way [...]
After spending a very enjoyable and luxurious 3+ hours in the Etihad Airways Flagship First Class Lounge – Abu Dhabi-AUH, it was time for the main event: The Etihad First Apartment!
BOOKINGWe booked this bucket list flight using American Airlines AAdvantage miles for a total of 60,000 miles; this was before a major AAdvantage devaluation and now the flight would cost you 100,000 miles for the one-way route from the “Middle East” region to the “South Pacific” region. Furthermore, since we both have the Barclay AA credit card, we got a 10% rebate, driving the total price down to 54,000 miles + ~$79 in taxes each for the ~$6,300+ flight. We got even more [...]
Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight # AR 1413 Mendoza-MDZ to Buenos Aires-AEP Dept 11:25 am Arrv 1:01 pm
Mendoza is quite a small, mostly domestic, airport. They have a few international flights, but mainly just to Santiago, Chile-SCL, just on the other side of the mountains. Our hotel advised us that arriving appx 1 hour before departure is more than enough time to check-in with bags when traveling to Buenos Aires.
BOOKINGWe booked this segment as part of a larger Delta SkyMiles award ticket. Finding and adding Aerolíneas Argentinas award space to a Delta award reservation can be a bit tricky, so check out our guides here: Booking an Awesome Argentina Itinerary with [...]
After touching down a bit late from our inbound flight from Charlotte, we scurried from Terminal H to L by taking a short train. We were assigned gate L13 and, fortunately, the Lufthansa Lounge was directly across the hall. This allowed us about 45 mins to get showers and freshen up for the next 7-8 hour flight.
BOOKINGWe booked this flight using United MileagePlus Miles. We spent a total of 90,000 miles each for the Business Class award, including:
Lufthansa Business Class Charlotte-CLT to Munich-MUC Lufthansa Business Class Munich-MUC to Delhi-DEL Air India Business Class Delhi-DEL to Colombo-CMB United Economy Class Charleston-CHS to Newark-EWRWe [...]
Vietnam Airlines Flight # VN 602 Bangkok-BKK to Ho Chi Minh-SGN Dept: 7:35 pm Arr: 9:05 pm Duration: 1 hr 30 min 445 miles (716 km) Airbus A321 Economy Class: Seats 36E and 36G
Here’s a map of our route:
Taxi and takeoff from runway 19R at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport
BOOKINGWe booked our flight as part of a multi-city itinerary that included the following flights:
ANA Flight NH1011 – Chicago-ORD to Tokyo-NRT – B777-300ER ANA Flight NH 913 – Tokyo-NRT to Yangon-RGN – B767-300It was a bit bizarre that we were flying Vietnam Airlines to begin with as we booked our ticket via [...]
Singapore Airlines Flight # SQ 953 Jakarta-CGK to Singapore-SIN Dept: 8:25 am Arr: 11:00 am Duration: 1 hr 35 min 546 miles (879 km) Boeing 777-200 First Class: Seats 1E and 1F
Our trip continued with an early morning departure from the Keraton at The Plaza Hotel in Jakarta to the Soekarno–Hatta International Airport. The departure time was 8:25 am so we found ourselves up and out of the door at a dreadfully early hour. The good news is that we were in the car on the way out by 5:15 am and made it to the airport in record time since there was no traffic!
Our driver was waiting for us by 5 am!
As part of our quest to fly on Etihad’s A380 in their “First Apartment” from Abu Dhabi-AUH to Melbourne-MEL, we had to find a way to position to AUH for the flight over. We decided it would be fun to spend some time in the UAE (we quickly regretted this decision as soon as we stepped into the desert in 117°F heat) and found award availability from Washington-IAD direct to Abu Dhabi-AUH. Best of all, it was operated by one of their new 787s and featured their “Business Studio” class of service.
Here’s a map of our route for the 13 hr 10 min flight that covers a distance of 7,088 miles (11,407 km):
CHECK-IN
We landed on [...]
Air Asia QZ 7529 Dept: Bali (DPS) 3:35 pm Arrv: Jakarta (CGK) 4:15 pm
We knew we needed to fly fro Bali to Jakarta for weeks (if not months), but for whatever reason never booked a flight. We were partly putting it off having heard not-so-great things about Jakarta and I guess we were a little nervous to go. In fact, up until the day before our flight, we were still deciding whether we should extend our stay in Bali/Ubud or fly to Singapore early or bite the bullet and go to Jakarta. We finally ended up booking our Air Asia flight the day before departure for $156.67 USD total (for the two of us).
Of $156 total, $99 [...]
Bangkok Airways Flight # PG 710 Mandalay-MDL to Bangkok-BKK Dept: 2:15 pm Arr: 4:40 pm Duration: 1 hr 55 min Airbus A320
Having just landed from our connecting flight from Heho-HEH into Mandalay-MDL, we made our way to baggage claim which had a ton of carousels but was deserted for us.
After grabbing our bags (from a domestic flight), we had to send everything through another security check… Mandalay airport is a bit bizarre in that you’ll have to send your bags through no less than 4 security checks when connecting domestically: one in Heho to pass through security, one when we landed in Mandalay (this is the most unnecessary seeming), one to get [...]
After a relatively early (to our ordinary days in Myanmar) wake up call, we checked out of Inle Resort and began the trek to the airport. We asked the concierge to help us arrange transportation ahead of time but the resort car was unavailable, so they booked us a taxi that actually came out to be a bit cheaper ($30) than the hotel provided ride ($35).
The best part of rising early in Myanmar is that the weather is just about always perfect, even feeling crisp and refreshing at times.
The ride took us back through Nyanungshwe, winding around a few of the small mountains to Heho Airport. The journey lasted about an hour, putting us to Heho by around 8:05 a.m [...]
