I just flew Etihad First Class Apartment. It sounds completely insane and that’s exactly what it was in the best way possible. To give you an idea what kind of lavish experience you can expect on a flight costing up to a years rent, I made following ridiculous log book.
Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more adventures 🙂
Google Flights shows up to $17.000 or 62.000 AED for Etihad First Class Apartment
I end up spending $380 or 1.399 AED #WIN 😀
Let me know in the comments below and share the post if you want to know exactly how I did it 😉
Update: This is how I booked The Etihad First Class Apartment
– 1 month later, the day of my epic flight, everything is FREE from now on –
Fancy ride from Dubai to Abu Dhabi
I am so excited and a bit nervous for this big day. It all starts with the complimentary chauffeur service from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
Having some quick bites in the First Class Lounge
After First Class check in and security which took less than 4 minutes in total, I enter the First Class Lounge and try the appetizers.
Catching up with Cuba in the in Cigar lounge
Inside the lounge I discover another lounge to enjoy a large selection of single malt whiskies, Cognac and cigars. All free although there is a price tag for the super exclusive cigars.
Pausing breakfast coz I am running late for the massage
Unfortunately I shaved because there is a complimentary 15-minute treatment in Style & Shave by Etihad. No worries I took the the 15 minute complimentary massage instead 🙂 Completely relaxed I have a juice at the bar and some more breakfast snacks. I skipped the a la carte menu in the lounge because I have 8 hours of onboard dining ahead.
Sir, let me walk you to your Apartment 4A
This is it! It’s time to board the a380 (that plane with 2 levels) where I am greeted by a super friendly crew. They know my name and walk me to my Apartment. I still can’t get over it, a freaking apartment!!! 😀
Plop, the first glass of bubbles
Somebody is knocking at the door
Privacy is key in the apartment, whenever my door is not completely open the crew always knocks before they enter.
Plop, the second glass of bubbles
Looking around in the apartment
I reserve a slot to take a shower on board
Yes, it’s completely over the top but the few lucky First Class peeps can take a shower on board. The crew just asks when you want to make it rain so they can organize a spotless bathroom. Read on to see what the shower looks like 😉
I am wearing my golden seatbelt
The in flight Chef says hi
Another crazy thing: there is a real chef on board who makes sure your steak will be medium rare or whatever cuisson you like. Adjusting a dish to your liking is no issue. You can even tell him what kind of dishes you like and he will come up with unique combination.
Having a look at the apartment aisle
Remember the look of the people when you walk through the economy aisle to bathroom? Lol this First class aisle is something different, you just see apartment doors 😀
Order salmon brioche from a la carte dine on demand menu
There are no rules here 😀 I got a menu just after boarding and I can order anything at any time. There are no meal times here, it’s dine on demand. So if you want some carrot cake before a Waguy steak followed by breakfast … anything goes here 😛
Plop, yet another glass of …- any similar events have been removed for the ease of reading
Being a couch potato
Lazy Sunday, redefining being a couch potato. I am chuckling in my royal seat with my feet on the sofa. They told me all the leather is the same as in Ferrari :-O
Trying all the buttons
Controlling the window shades of the 3 windows, the position of the seat, couch and there is even a button to call the chef.
Eating Wagyu beef with truffle fries
Mingle with the Business class passengers in the onboard Lounge
If you feel a little lonely in the apartment you can always have another drink in the onboard lounge which is accessible for Business class passengers as well.
Doubting what I should try next
Taking a look at the amenity kit
Back in the Apartment I keep discovering new functionalities. If you press a magic button a Lighted Vanity Mirror pops out. And there is a Christian Lacrois amenity kit.
Discovering a minibar in my apartment
While touching the other wall of the apartment I found out that there is a minibar. Perfect for the almost nonexistent times when the crew is not there within 1 second after pressing a button.
Wine tasting and food pairing session
The in flight chef and sommelier ask me if I would be interested in a desert and wine pairing session. Perfect I will even learn a few things in the air.
It’s okay to eat another dessert
Usually I am not a dessert person but I am enjoying the wines and ask if they can surprise me with another desert.
taking a shower at 40.000 feet somewhere above France
I am super excited to check this item off my bucket list 😀
I get 30 minutes in the bathroom and 5 minutes of water which I can start and stop whenever I want. There is even a circular progress bar to indicate how much more water I have got left.
5 minutes in the bathroom left and 1 minute of water remaining, shampoo everywhere
The shower stops every minute to make sure you don’t end up full of soap but no more water 😛
Successfully completing the shower without shampoo traces, checking!
It feels so good to shower on the plane, the first time I feel refreshed before landing.
Someone made my Ferrari leather bed, I want that pillow
The crew asked me if they should make my bed. So after my shower I come back and see this:
Watching another movie in bed
Touchdown and reality check
I have been smiling from start to end, this was one of the most epic flight experience I ever had. Etihad First Class Apartment is incredible! Not sure if I would pay $17.000 at peak times but $380 was a bargain!
Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more adventures 🙂
Any questions about flying first class? Leave a comment, I will be happy to answer!
If you enjoyed the article please make sure to share it with your friends 😉
Boom..boom..boom! drums rolling…Here comes the King of Etihad First Class Apartment!!! OMG..that was a super experience you had, sir…so envious here!
How was it getting the mostest from Etihad flights? please share…thank you.. i totally dropped my jaw..Fantastic!!
tessa from philippines
How did you do it ?
Hi there,
Your experience is great!
I only got to experience A380 from Qatar Airlines (BANGKOK-Doha) but would definitelly love to know how you got to pay this less.
Thanks,
Claudia
Wow this is totally awesome! I’d love to know how you did it!
Hallo nieuwsgierig!!!!
Wat is het verschil tussen ‘gewoon’ first class en het ‘apartment’ bij etihad?
En hoe doe het toch?
Maar wens je nog veel plezierige vlieguren
Christl
@Claudia A380 is such a wonderful plane, isn’t it? I wrote an article about my Caviar experience on Qatar Airways First Class on the A380. You will also find some tips to book them cheap there. Soon a new post with tips on how to book the Apartment, stay tuned 🙂
@Cassie Etihad First Class on the A380 is called Apartment because you have your own space that can be closed off with doors. I think they just want to indicate the difference with their First Class on other types of airplanes 🙂
Next week I will do a post about how I booked this one.
How did you do it?
Etihad.. All nice until when there’s a problem, and you will quickly find out the customer service is non-existent. They build a wall that you can never get in contact with the customer service by phone or in person, and after extremely long time of follow up by email and calls, and finally… Still no update. So ya, good luck flying Etihad, the worse airline I had experienced in terms of customer service.
Hi @Class what happened on your flight? My experience is that you need to be lucky with the crew with any airline. For example: I have had terrible and awesome Business class experiences on another big airline (not Etihad), same route, same plane type, the only difference was the crew. I have not had problems with Etihad so I did not have to get in touch with customer service yet so can’t judge that part. One thing I noticed with all airlines customer support, the higher the class you flight, the easier it is to get something fixed.
Although now I am thinking about it, I sent an e-mail to Etihad customer support 10 days ago to give each of the crew members a review, they did a really nice job so they deserved a nice feedback, I have not heard anything back from Etihad which is weird. This was positive feedback but If I had a complaint then 10 days would not be acceptable. And I hope for the crew they actually got the feedback 🙂
How did you do it?
@Class I got an e-mail back today from Etihad telling me they received my good feedback and will inform the performance managers of the crew.
Great Site. Very much enjoyed reading.