Airlines

Etihad Promoting Upgrades To The Residence On The A380

With Etihad Airways bringing again its Airbus A380s this summer season, we lastly know what’s going to occur to The Residence…

The fundamentals of Etihad’s Airbus A380s

First for some background, Etihad grounded its Airbus A380 fleet in the beginning of the pandemic, and every little thing was pointing towards these planes simply being retired prematurely. Happily the airline had a change of coronary heart, and Etihad will carry again its tremendous jumbos as of the summer season of 2023.

Particularly, at the very least 4 of those jets will likely be returned to service, and for now the plan is for them to fly completely between Abu Dhabi (AUH) and London (LHR).

The Airbus A380 is a pleasure to fly usually, although Etihad has particularly good premium cabins on these jets. The return of the A380 means we’ll see the reintroduction of the Etihad First Class Flats, as there are 9 of these on the aircraft. This is without doubt one of the most spectacular top quality laborious merchandise on the market, as there’s only a single aisle within the middle of the cabin, and one suite on all sides.

Etihad A380 First Class Condominium cabin
Etihad A380 First Class Condominium
Etihad A380 First Class Condominium

Probably the most well-known factor on Etihad’s A380s, although, is The Residence, which is a non-public three room suite positioned on the entrance of the primary class cabin. Earlier than the aircraft was grounded, this was probably the most unique product out there in industrial aviation. Not solely did it provide a particular laborious product, but it surely additionally supplied a totally custom-made tender product, with butler service, and the flexibility to request your personal meals and facilities.

Etihad A380 The Residence bed room
Etihad A380 The Residence lounge

Etihad is concentrated much more on profitability than prior to now, and The Residence didn’t finally appear to be all that worthwhile, because it was empty a overwhelming majority of the time. We knew the airline was planning some adjustments to The Residence when the A380 is reintroduced, and we now have these particulars.

Etihad will promote upgrades to The Residence

That is what most of us had speculated, and it’s now official, as first flagged by YYCCL3 on FlyerTalk. With the A380s returning within the coming weeks, The Residence is as soon as once more bookable… nevertheless, not in the identical method as earlier than. Slightly than being bookable outright, The Residence is now bookable as an improve for top quality passengers.

You’ll be able to both reserve The Residence on the time of reserving (if reserving by means of Etihad), or after the actual fact, by means of Etihad’s reserving administration perform. All confirmed top quality passengers appear to have the ability to improve to The Residence, even in case you booked with accomplice miles.

So, what’s the associated fee?

  • An Abu Dhabi to London improve to The Residence prices 9,190 AED (~2,503 USD)
  • A London to Abu Dhabi improve to The Residence prices 1,987.90 GBP (~2,513 USD)
Etihad The Residence improve price to London
Etihad The Residence improve price to Abu Dhabi

Be aware that Etihad is simply bringing again The Residence laborious product, and never the tender product. So don’t count on that you just’ll get personal butler service, higher meals and drinks, and so on. What I’m unsure of but is a few of the minor particulars of the service — will the premium bedding for The Residence be out there, will your personal bathe be usable, and so on.?

The Residence can accommodate as much as two passengers. One factor I discover unusual is that the improve price is similar for one or two passengers. You’d suppose that there could be a reduction in case you’re upgrading two passengers slightly than one, because you’re opening up an extra top quality seat that may be resold.

When you’re touring as a pair and need to improve, it nearly looks as if you’d be higher off simply upgrading one particular person, so that you’ve got an additional top quality suite as properly. That assumes the airline doesn’t prohibit one other passenger from becoming a member of you in The Residence. It appears that evidently shouldn’t be a difficulty, if the airline is just promoting a differentiated laborious product.

The Residence has a non-public lavatory & bathe

Is upgrading to The Residence an excellent deal?

$2,500 is clearly fairly a bit to spend to simply improve a seat, particularly when you have already got an incredible top quality seat. So, is there any worth in upgrading? A couple of ideas:

  • When you’ve ever wished to expertise The Residence and are keen to splurge, I feel this can be a fairly good alternative, particularly when you think about that flights in The Residence used to price $25K+ one-way
  • For these truly paying money out of pocket for top quality, $2,500 is probably a reasonably small upcharge, as this offers you much more house
  • I feel Etihad’s largest challenge will likely be making the typical top quality traveler conscious of this chance; us avgeeks in fact learn about this, however most top quality traveler simply reserving a flight based mostly on one of the best schedule won’t concentrate on this

I think about we’ll see fairly a couple of folks splurge on this. Simply handle your expectations relating to the tender product, since I don’t consider will probably be differentiated.

If you wish to see what The Residence was like again within the day, learn the evaluate of my flight in The Residence from Abu Dhabi to Sydney.

Etihad A380 The Residence lounge

Backside line

Etihad is bringing again the Airbus A380 as of the summer season of 2023. The aircraft might be greatest identified for The Residence, which is the personal three room suite on the entrance of top quality. Etihad gained’t be bringing again the total tender product for The Residence, however the airline will nonetheless be seating folks there.

Now we all know precisely how that can work. Etihad is promoting upgrades to The Residence for ~$2,500 one-way between Abu Dhabi and London, for anybody confirmed in top quality.

What do you make of Etihad’s strategy to promoting The Residence?

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