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Review: Etihad Business Studio A380 Abu Dhabi to London
If you’re just tuning in…welcome! You’re amidst the journey of a lifetime, one that is taking my family around the world on a surprise trip for my mom’s 75th birthday. We had a great time in Abu Dhabi and we were very fortunate to all end up on the same flight to London. Up until a couple of days before we left we were spread out over two flights. If you’re interested in learning more about how I put us all on one flight read this. Both of my parents ended up in Apartments and I snagged a seat right next to the bar/lounge in a business studio.
My mom was very surprised that we were headed to London, but mainly because we’ve been many times, and in fact, we were just there last fall for a colts game – so I think she was kind of wondering what we’d be doing. What she didn’t know was that we weren’t actually headed to London, but instead, we were going to the South of France and just routing ourselves through London! BYAH!
First Impression:
The entire upstairs is dedicated to premium cabins: Business Studio, Apartments, Residence. I’d flown the business studio on the 787 a couple of years ago and was really impressed with the product so I was excited to try it again on Etihad’s A380. There are two Business Studio Cabins with bathrooms in between each cabin. I do think that the Etihad has a gorgeous cabin and if you take a “true window” seat you have an incredible amount of privacy.
The Deets:
- When: April: 2017
- Where: Abu Dhabi to London
- Loyalty: American Airlines Aadvantage
- Cost: 40k + $90
- Class: Business Studio
- Seat: 9D
The Bar:
For most of the flight there were two people in it, and that means it’s at capacity unless you want to be really awkward and bump knees, elbows, and toes. In other words…it’s small. While it’s “cool” to have a bar/lounge in flight…it’s not really very practical, but hey…I’m not complaining. It was cool to kick it there for a while.
The Seat: 9D
You can see in this in photo that in the middle section of the 9th row, the seat faces backwards and RIGHT behind it you can see the bar peeking through. There is a screen that pulls shut, but I’ve read where many people don’t like the proximity to the bar and the galley because it can get noisy. I didn’t mind it much, but any time I made a move to go into the bar area when it wasn’t occupied it was almost as if I was irritating the crew who were still doing the meal service.
The seat is pimped and I’d say one of the most handsome business class seats out there. The odd thing is the lack of quality headphones. AA provides Bose and they’re great…sort of odd that Etihad reps a great product, but then a mediocre headphone.
The Service:
As soon as I was seated champagne was poured.
I was tended to by the Food and Beverage manager and he was excellent. I had great service when I flew the Business Studio to Abu Dhabi in 2015 from IAD, and I thought he was even better. Took pride in his job, and it was a kind of a surprise when the flight attendant from the Apartment came to get me when my mom requested for me to have a drink with her in the Apartment. She seemed irritated. She was also the one that I would happen to encounter when I went to the bar later in the flight to hang out and take some pics. A stark contrast to the service I’d had in 2015 and to the F&B manager serving the Business Studio cabin, and a disappointment after I spoke to my parents after the flight as they found her stuck-up and snooty.
I honestly think the attitude she presented is why people may feel nervous towards flying in a premium cabin if they aren’t rich, dressed up, or look like they shop at Prada. It’s ridiculous, and the difference between her and every other flight we took around the world was night and day.
The Food:
I tried quite a few things on the flight. They have a standard food service plus an on demand menu. In all…I thought the food was just ok. Comparing this offering to EVA, AA, or Swiss, I’d put them last. The presentation makes up for the taste.
The menu:
Wifi:
I didn’t purchase any, but it is available.
Overall:
The business studio is a great business class product, and my service was very good as well. It’s unfortunate my parents had a bit of snootiness up in first, but I would still recommend this to anyone who has the it as an option for travel. I do think that the reverse herringbone seat found on airlines like EVA, AA, China Airlines, Cathay, etc would be more desirable, but this is a great product.
You don’t have to stop here. Check out how we paid $5k and took a $125k Surprise trip Around The World to celebrate my Mom’s 75th
Flights:
- Boston to Beijing
- Beijing to Singapore
- Singapore to Bali Roundtrip
- Singapore to Dubai
- Abu Dhabi to Cannes, France
- Etihad Airways First Class Apartment A380 Abu Dhabi to London ($8k)
- Etihad Airways Business Studio A380 Abu Dhabi to London ( $3500-5k)
- British Airways Club Europe A321 London to Nice
- Cannes, France to Dallas
- Lufthansa Business Class A321 Nice to Frankfurt ($10k)
- Lufthansa First Class A330 Frankfurt to Dallas
Hotels:
- Boston
- Beijing
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
- Club King ($250)
- Singapore
- Bali
- Singapore
- Dubai
- Abu Dhabi
- Cannes, France
- Intercontinental Carlton Cannes, France ($300)
- Dallas
- Grand Hyatt DFW ($150
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
Lounges
- Boston
- Hong Kong
- Beijing
- Singapore
- Bali
- Singapore
- Abu Dhabi
- Etihad First Class Lounge
- Etihad Business Class Lounge
- Etihad Shave Experience
- London
- British Airways First Class Lounge LHR Terminal 5
- Nice
- Living Room Azur
- Frankfurt
- Lufthansa First Class Lounge Frankfurt Terminal A
Afternoon Tea
TIPS:
- When to look for Cathay award space
- How we booked 3 Singapore Suites
- Etihad Last minute award space
- 5 things we loved doing in Singapore that avoided the heat
- Never trust the concierge
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based.
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash , Ink Business Unlimited you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
- 3x on dining
- including eligible delivery services for takeout
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards – Chase Travel Portal
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Ultimate Rewards/Chase Travel
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Primary rental car coverage is my favorite
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
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