After landing in Abu Dhabi aboard Etihad Airways A321 and spending a couple of hours in the lounge getting a quick shower and eating, it was time to continue our trip to Rome aboard the Etihad Airways 777-300.
TLDR: It was an enjoyable experience. The seats were quite nice for this overnight flight from Abu Dhabi to Rome. We landed in Rome able to enjoy the entire day walking around. They aren’t the nicest business class seats going around the Middle East (I think it’s probably Qatar Airways Q-Suites), but I would absolutely fly this again!
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How I booked my Etihad Airways Business Class ticket
I booked this flight almost as soon as the booking window opened. For this flight, I used 42,500 American Airlines Aadvantage miles per person. Taxes & fees equaled $130.90 per person.
More specifically, I booked:
2/12 EY 279 Male, Maldives (MLE) to Abu Dhabi, UAE (AUH) departing 7:10PM, arriving 11:25PM
2/13 EY 85, Abu Dhabi, AUE (AUH) to Rome, Italy (FCO), departing 2:25AM (+1), arriving 5:45AM (+1)
Etihad Airways lounge & boarding
Given that Abu Dhabi is the world hub of Etihad Airways, they obviously have an incredibly large lounge. It spans 3 floors, but really doesn’t have a great flow. As I mentioned in a previous post, it was difficult to even find the showers, but we did. The food is really good and was more than satisfactory if you want to eat before the flight and maximize time resting on the flight itself.
Boarding took place about an hour before the flight left. Abu Dhabi airport is set up so that your ticket is scanned when entering the gate area. The gentleman in front of us appeared to have visa issues, so we had to wait for a while to get through this ticket check. There were not different lines to differentiate between premium cabins and economy for this ticket check.
After getting our tickets checked, we sat in the boarding area pen for maybe 10 minutes before our flight started boarding. Premium cabin passengers were invited to board first.
Upon boarding, my wife discovered that her in-flight entertainment system wasn’t working. She moved to a different seat that she actually liked even more since it was closer to the window, not the aisle.
Flight attendants came around to welcome us and take a pre-departure beverage order. I ordered a mocktail (the Butterfly Effect), which had butterfly pea, lemonade, and mint. It was delicious.
I really like the new-ish (about a year old, I believe?) dishes from Armani / Casa.
Additionally, as I’ll explain below, flight attendants inquired about whether we would want to be woken for breakfast. I told them I would.
Etihad Airways 777-300 business class cabin & seats
The business class on this particular Etihad Airways 777-300 has 28 seats across 7 rows. On each row was 4 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration.
In the middle section, seats alternate between being closer to the aisle and closer to your seatmate (although everyone has direct aisle access).
For this particular flight, we sat in the back part of the cabin on the left side. I was seated in seat 9A, while my wife was originally in 10C. However, due to a broken IFE, she ended up moving to seat 7A.
The seat has cloth in Etihad’s colors (brown and yellow).
Directly across from the seat was the foot rest, which had a storage unit underneath it. A door could be raised to close that up. I have big feet (size 13 US), so I was happy that my shoes fit.
Directly to the right of my TV screen was the tray table. It folded down and moved towards you.
Directly to my right of the seat were the seat controls. They were buttons. The buttons were finicky. The way you sat in it determined whether or not it would go into bed mode. It took me a minute to figure out the weight distribution to get it to go into bed mode.
To the right was also the controller for the inflight entertainment. It is dated.
There was two literature pockets in the opening to get to the aisle. One held the safety card, and one held the Etihad magazine.
Directly above the seat was the individual reading light. This was my favorite part of the seat, as it looked like a spaceship ice cream cone.
Above were more reading lights, but not individual air nozzles.
All-in-all, a decent seat. The seat closest to the window is great for sleeping, as it feels like a coccoon.
Etihad Airways 777-300 lavatories
For this flight, there was only one bathroom at the front of the cabin. The lavatory wasn’t anything special, but I could stand up without hitting my head. This means that 99% of individuals should have enough space to move around the lavatory.
Etihad Airways business class amenities
Sitting at our seat when we boarded were two pillows, a blanket, an amenity kit, a menu, and some headphones. There was one throw-style pillow and one larger pillow. As a side sleeper, I enjoy it when I have two pillows! The blanket was from Armani/Casa and kept me perfectly warm/cool. It also had a bit of weight to it, which I liked.
Kits were branded Acqua di Parma and were made of all leather. This was easily the best business class amenity kit we received on our trip. We liked it so much that we grabbed one from an empty seat to give to my mother-in-law as a thank you for watching our dog.
In the kit were a dental kit, hand cream, hand sanitizer, cleansing wipes (think Clorox wipes), cologne, a facemask, and a pair of socks. All products were good. I still use my facemask everyday!
Headphones were Etihad-branded. I have no idea who made them, but they worked for this particular flight.
Etihad Airways business class entertainment & Wi-Fi
I watched some TV while eating breakfast. The picture quality needs improvement. However, it worked for this flight. I basically just used the flight map for the majority of the flight while not sleeping. The picture wasn’t great, and the whole system needs a refresh.
The funniest part to me is that the IFE controller still takes swipe credit cards! I have no idea what you can purchase.
Wi-fi was available. You could pay $4.99 for a chat package or $24.99 for a full flight package. Cheaper than an American Airlines domestic flight from DC to Philly, but somewhat pricey. I didn’t use it.
Etihad Airways Boeing 777-300 departure from Abu Dhabi
Boarding was quick, and we quickly taxied to the runway. We had a quick takeoff and made our way up into the sky. As soon as we got up into the air, I quickly made my bed and went to sleep. I was exhausted. I wanted to maximize my time on the plane.
Etihad Airways business class dinner service
You’ll find the entire menu for all meals on the flight below.
As you can see, there was no dinner service on the flight. This probably occurred because we left well past midnight on the flight, you could eat in the lounge, and most people were wanting to sleep. This definitely worked for me on this particular flight. However, if it had an even 9PM take-off, I would have expected a full dinner service.
You’ll also see a breakfast order card if you only wanted something light to eat so that you could sleep a bit longer. I’ll explain later, but, as a breakfast aficionado, I wanted a full breakfast.
I fell asleep soon after take-off, so I didn’t order any food in the middle of the flight, so I can’t speak to the quality of the mid-flight snacks.
Etihad Airways Boeing 777-300 business class bed
I quickly made my bed as soon as we got up to altitude. Don’t remember if they would have offered to make the bed for me. I honestly just wanted it done quickly. I think that Etihad Airways does this.
If you’re going to choose your seat on this plane, I recommend the seat that I picked, which was a window seat, but closer to the side of plane, not closer to the aisle. It feels like you are in a cocoon, which made sleeping that much more elegant.
Etihad Airways business class breakfast service
For dinner, I started off by ordering an orange juice and an iced cappuccino. For my meal, I ordered the brioche french toast with berries, orange creme fraiche, and syrup. This came with fresh fruit and two pastries (a lot of bread!).
The french toast was delicious. They picked great bread, it was thickly sliced, and it reheated well. The acai bowl seemed like it would have been well. I didn’t have it or see it, but I could see the shakshuka being fantastic or rubbery.
Etihad Airways arrival in Rome
We landed on time and had a quick taxi to our gate. We were the first group of passengers invited off the plane and headed directly to immigration. Immigration was so quick that we had to wait for our bags.
We then loaded up into a taxi and were off to drop off our stuff at our hotel and walk around the city for the day!
Etihad Airways Service
Flight attendants were very kind here. My wife had an aisle seat that was closer to the aisle and a non-working entertainment system, so the flight attendant proactively moved her to an open seat that was closer to the window. Furthermore, when I hit the call button, they were there in less than 15 seconds. They did a good job!
Conclusion
Etihad Airways 777-300 business class is perfectly comfortable for the flight between the Middle East and Europe. I wouldn’t use it to fly to the US if Qatar Airways Q-Suites were available. However, I absolutely enjoyed my trip!
What do you think of Eithad Airways 777-300 business class? Would you fly this product?