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 [...]
Having covered the Top 10: World’s Longest Flights, Top 7: Longest domestic US flights, the Top 10: Longest Domestic Flights in the World, the Top 12: Longest Non-Stop Delta Flights in the World, the Top 15: Longest Fifth Freedom Flights in the World, the Top 16 Longest Emirates Fifth Freedom Routes: Coming to a City Near You and the Top 14: Longest United Airlines Flights In the World, now’s the time for a look at the Top 20 longest Airbus A380 routes in the world.
According to official data from Airbus, the A380 has a range of 9,444 miles (15,200 km) with its 84,500 US gal fuel capacity. Let’s see how far they’re actually flying this [...]
There is excellent award space availability from London-LHR to Abu Dhabi-AUH on Etihad’s A380 First Apartment in 2016. The award space shows hundreds of seats available from April – October 2016, with many flights showing space for 3, 4, 5 or even 6 award tickets in the First Class cabin. These seats are bookable using 40,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles each way.
As a quick recap, here is a list of the routes that Etihad currently operates using their A380 to/from Abu Dhabi:
London-LHR – 3,432 miles New York-JFK – 6,867 miles Melbourne-MEL (beginning June 1, 2016) – 7,235 miles Sydney-SYD – 7,492 miles Best ValuesThe [...]
With the American Airlines devaluation occurring on March 22, 2016, I’ve been itching to burn my AAdvantage miles. I’ve had my eye on the be-all and end-all First Class award with American Airlines miles: The Etihad First Apartment.
Etihad currently operates the following routes using their A380 to/from Abu Dhabi:
London-LHR – 3,432 miles New York-JFK – 6,867 miles Melbourne-MEL (beginning June 1, 2016) – 7,235 miles Sydney-SYD – 7,492 miles Best ValuesThe number of miles required for each will vary, along with the flying times:
40,000 miles (goes up to 62,500 miles on Mach 22, 2016)
London-LHR → Abu [...]
The Airbus A380 is a behemoth, more like a flying ship than an airplane. Here’s a graphic comparing the A380’s size to that of the Boeing 787:
Unlike the Boeing 747, Airbus’ A380 upper deck covers the entire span of the plane’s body and thus gives it significantly more room–exactly 40% more square-footage than the B747, to be exact. This extra space allows the monstrous plane to hold up to 525 people in a typical three-class configuration or up to 853 people in an all-economy class configuration.
The record-setting capacity, along with the fact that airports must be modified to even accept the jet, have added to the allure and [...]
Fresh out of the Lufthansa First Class lounge at Frankfurt’s Terminal B, we headed around the corner to board the flight we’d been looking forward to the most: Thai Airways Royal First on their new Airbus A380-800.
CHECK-IN
We took the train in from Frankfurt after having spent the night in the city for a ~24 hour layover (read: Bratwursts Galore! Sightseeing around Frankfurt, Germany and Westin Grand Frankfurt Hotel Review – Frankfurt, Germany). The good news is that Frankurt’s airport is a short and very easy 15-20 minute subway ride from the center of town.
Thai Airways actually has 2x daily non-stops to Bangkok: a 9pm/10pm departure on [...]
