Quick take: Etihad’s Apartment is still one of the best first-class products out there, even a decade after its introduction.
Pros
A huge amount of personal space and closing doors for privacy
Excellent service, gourmet meals and high-end amenities
A rare opportunity to shower in the sky
Cons
Expensive and hard-to-come-by award tickets
A lounge that can get crowded at times
Less connectivity to other destinations than Emirates and Qatar Airways
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Thirty-nine square feet of space per passenger. Poltrona Frau leather armchairs and separate beds. Personal minibars and lighted vanities stocked with Espa products. High-definition, 24-inch touchscreens. Lavatories with inflight showers.
Etihad stunned the aviation world a decade ago when it unveiled the designs for its new first-class Residence and Apartment. At the time, the suite-style seats felt completely unprecedented, with huge footprints, closing privacy doors and, in the case of The Residence, an innovative three-room design with a separate bedroom, a seating area and a dedicated lavatory complete with a shower.
Only installed on the airline’s Airbus A380 double-decker jets, of which there are just four currently in service, these two products still rank among the most exclusive first-class suites in the skies.
There are just nine Apartments and a single Residence aboard each A380, and the planes only operate two routes at the moment — from Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) to both Heathrow Airport (LHR) in London and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York. Starting in November, the planes will also fly to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG).
Luckily for U.S. travelers, Etihad resumed A380 service to New York in April and now operates one of its two daily flights in each direction between the cities using the jumbo jet.
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That’s how I was able to book an award ticket from New York to Abu Dhabi and experience a long-haul flight in Etihad’s first-class Apartment for myself just a few days after the A380 came back onto this route.
The last time I flew Etihad Apartments was nearly eight years ago on the same route in the same direction. I was curious to see how the experience compared, especially after the airline had sent its A380s into long-term storage during the coronavirus pandemic before slowly starting to bring them back online starting in 2023.
My flight this time around was every bit as good as my last journey in the Etihad Apartment. In fact, it was all the more enjoyable since it was far from certain during the depths of the pandemic whether this truly luxurious product would ever fly again.
Here’s what it was like flying the Etihad first-class Apartment and how to book it if you would like to experience it for yourself.
How much does it cost to book the Etihad first-class Apartment?
The cost of booking the Etihad Apartment will depend on the route you fly and whether you pay cash or redeem miles.
Redeeming Etihad Guest miles is the best bet for scoring awards on the airline’s own flights since the program seems to offer more availability than when booking with partner miles. Even if you don’t fly Etihad and its partners regularly, you can easily top up your Etihad Guest account since the program is a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One miles and Citi ThankYou Rewards.
American Airlines partners with Etihad, so you can also redeem AAdvantage miles for award tickets on Etihad flights. Doing so requires fewer miles than going through Etihad Guest, and the taxes and fees are cheaper, too.
Here is a snapshot of paid and award ticket prices on round-trip flights from New York to Abu Dhabi over the coming months.
Class
Etihad Apartments
Airfare
$12,671 to $15,505
American AAdvantage miles
230,000 miles plus $64
Etihad Guest miles
Starting prices range from 400,000 to 440,000 miles plus $1,200
For my ticket, I transferred American Express Membership Rewards to my Etihad Guest account and redeemed 220,000 of them plus $543 in taxes and fees for a one-way ticket that would have cost around $9,000 otherwise.
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Etihad operates two daily flights in each direction between New York and Abu Dhabi, one aboard an A380 and the other using a Boeing 787. So, be sure to book the A380 flight if you want to experience the Apartment. Currently, the A380 is operating the following flights, though these are subject to change:
Etihad Flight EY 2, departing JFK at 2:30 p.m. and arriving at AUH at 11:30 a.m. the following day
Etihad Flight EY 1, departing AUH at 2:40 a.m. and arriving at JFK at 9:05 a.m.
Etihad first-class passengers can select seats for free, though if you book an award through a partner program like American AAdvantage, you might have to call Etihad directly to select or change seats.
The airline provides a handy baggage allowance calculator on its website, but first-class passengers on the airline’s long-haul flights between the U.S. and the Middle East can bring a personal item weighing up to 5 kilograms (11 pounds), a carry-on bag that weighs up to 12 kilograms (26 pounds) and two checked bags weighing up to 32 kilograms (70 pounds). While passengers on a paid ticket in Etihad first class can take advantage of the airline’s chauffeur service in Abu Dhabi, those on award tickets (like myself) do not receive this service.
Checking into and boarding Etihad first class
Etihad first-class passengers can take advantage of the following priority services at the airport.
Priority check-in
Yes
Lounge access
Yes, Etihad and partner lounges
Does the airline participate in TSA PreCheck?
Yes
Priority boarding
Yes, in Group 1 after preboarding
I arrived at JFK about three hours before my flight and made my way to the dedicated first-class check-in counter in Terminal 4.
After verifying my travel documents and printing out my boarding pass, an airline representative escorted me to the front of the TSA PreCheck security line and met me post-security to take me directly to the Chase Sapphire Lounge.
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This was formerly the Etihad Lounge, and the airline’s business- and first-class passengers still have access. In fact, these passengers have priority access to the lounge.
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That means that even if there is a waitlist for folks who are eligible to enter the lounge thanks to a Priority Pass membership — which you can enroll in with a number of credit cards — you should be able to skip the line if you’re flying in a premium class on Etihad.
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The lounge is around 7,600 square feet and is looking more colorful these days than when it was an Etihad-branded space. Just inside the entrance, there is a living room-style seating area with slim-profile chairs and sofas, as well as some leafy plants for greenery.
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The main area of the lounge is anchored by a long bar backlit by a wall of windows.
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This space also contains a plethora of seating options, including vignettes of swivel chairs, a low-slung couch with small tables and dining-style seating with larger tables, chairs and banquettes. Travelers will find plenty of power and USB ports to charge their devices as well.
Delving further into the lounge, there is a beverage station with coffee and tea and a buffet serving both hot and cold items like chicken tagine, curried cauliflower and burrata with apricot pesto.
At the far end of the lounge, there are a couple of workstations and some more living room-style seating arrangements surrounding a lighting-effect fireplace. The lounge also has three shower suites (one for men, one for women and a third all-gender facility), though I did not request to use any of them during my brief visit.
Guests can order food off an a la carte menu using a QR code and have it delivered to their table. Dishes include shirataki noodles with smoked tofu and shiitake mushrooms and the signature Sapphire burger with mustard aioli, confit tomatoes and arugula served with french fries. I wanted to try the burger, which was delivered within five minutes of my order, and it was juicy and hearty; the fries were crispy and piping hot. During breakfast, the a la carte options include items like a breakfast bao sandwich and a smoked salmon Benedict.
The lounge also serves signature cocktails like the Concrete Jungle with Brooklyn gin, Lillet blanc, creme de cacao and lemon juice, as well as a variety of beers, wines and Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee 1785 Champagne, all of which are complimentary.
Overall, the service in the lounge was cheerful and efficient, with attendants passing through at regular intervals to check on visitors, remove used dishes and glasses, top up refills and wipe down surfaces between guests.
About 45 minutes before departure, the same check-in agent who brought me to the lounge reappeared to ask if I might like to upgrade to The Residence since it was available for my flight. I inquired what that would cost and was told it usually ran $5,000 extra, so I politely declined.
She then took me directly to the gate, which was down one level from the lounge and around the corner, so that I could be among the first to board. Thanks to dual jet bridges, I was able to enter the plane directly on the upper deck.
ERIC ROSEN/THE POINTS GUYHow comfortable was Etihad first class?
The first-class cabin aboard the Etihad A380 is located at the front of the plane’s top deck with a staircase leading down to the lower deck at the forward side and a large galley and lounge area separating it from the enormous business-class cabin to the aft.
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The Residence takes up a chunk of real estate at the forward left side of the cabin and includes a wide seating area, a separate bedroom and its own lavatory. Unfortunately, since I did not upgrade to it, I was asked not to take photos or videos of it during my flight.
The rest of the cabin is composed of nine Apartments spread across four rows in a 1-1 pattern, with seat 1H situated on its own across from The Residence.
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Here’s a snapshot of the cabin layout and Apartment dimensions.
Number of seats
Nine
Cabin layout
1-1
Chair width
30 inches
Bed size
26 inches wide, 80.5 inches long
Screen size
24 inches
Apartments alternately face forward and backward with their armchairs either closer to the aisle or the window and are upholstered in one of three tones of leather: chocolate, caramel, or tan.
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Seats in odd rows face aft while those in even rows face front. The Apartments with seats closer to the window for even more privacy include 3A, 3K, 4A and 4K.
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Seats with B and H in their designation have their armchairs closer to the aisle, though they’re still separated from it by closing screenlike doors that are 62 inches high, providing a substantial privacy shield.
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The partitions between Apartments are about 54 inches high, so while your neighbor might be able to see into your suite while standing up, the reality is that you likely won’t see your fellow travelers during your flight.
If you’re traveling with a companion, the flight attendants can lower the partitions between seats 3A and 4A, and 3K and 4K to create a sort of double suite.
Best seats for solo travelers
Any
Best seats for couples
3A and 4A; 3K and 4K
I selected seat 4K for what I consider to be the optimal layout: a forward-facing seat with the chair closer to the window.
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Entering the Apartment, there was a long, narrow leather bench to one side and a lighted, mirrored vanity containing various Espa skincare products, an eye mask and earplugs to the other.
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Just below the vanity was a universal power plug and a set of drawers, one of which could be used for stowage. The other was a chilled minibar containing sodas and water.
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Beneath the bench was a storage space that could hold a small carry-on or large personal item. The crew took larger carry-on bags from passengers to store them near the galley.
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Toward the window, the armchair was upholstered in Poltrona Frau leather and could be maneuvered into various lounging positions using a set of seatside buttons, which also operated the electronic window shades. The seat did not recline to lie-flat mode, though, since the Apartment’s bench can be converted into a bed.
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On the wall above the buttons, I found two USB-A ports and an HDMI port along with the hand-held, touchscreen remote for the entertainment system. Hidden inside the armrest was another touchscreen panel with which I could control the seat, as well as its lighting, the flight attendant call button and a do-not-disturb indicator.