I have been super blessed to be able to fly business class my 3rd time now (thanks to my hubby). I had the chance to fly Air Canada, British Airways and my most recent flight on Etihad. This review is based only on business class Etihad – going over details on the on-board welcome, the food, the entertainment, the seat features, landing service and price.
On Board Welcome
The on-board welcome is my favorite part of the flight (probably because its when I’m feeling the freshest too). I always like to take advantage of the priority boarding so that I can spend as much time I can to settle in and get ready for my long flight ahead. The cabin crew greets you instantly with big smiles and there are specially assigned cabin crew members to assist you during the whole flight. They greet you by name (most of the times) and will remember what you like to drink.
For my on-board welcome i settled in with a lemonade-mint cocktail, an Elle magazine, and a hot towel. They provide a printed out menu of the meals available (3 -4 course) , listing of snacks, and listing of all the beverages available ranging from beers, to liquors to wines. The flight attendant came around and got my order for my meal and my preferences. I perused through the amenity bag they provided for all business class passengers. It included lotions for face and hand, ear plugs, eye mask, toothbrush, toothpaste and few extras. I love collecting these little amenity bags, but wished they made them in male/female needs.
Meals
After take off, drinks were served again to business class passengers right away. What i also enjoy about business class is the fact that all meals/drinks and utensils are non-plastic which makes it almost feel like im in a restaurant. For the few seconds I am served I forget I am on an airplane having my meal. There were 2-3 choices for meals. First came appetizers which I opted for a mezze. What I also enjoyed was that they cater their food to the destination we are flying to, so we are able to try out some local foods. For my main i got a salmon pasta, it tasted freshly cooked and tasted amazing. For dessert I ordered a dessert wine with cheese and enjoyed it while watching a movie.
The food all comes in a large tray with salt/pepper/ oils etc. As for service – it is top notch – whenever my meal comes the fabric napkin is spread over my lap by the attendant. Same goes when I have to leave my seat they come and service me right away.
The only aspect I felt a bit dissapointed was the lack of snacks available. There were only a few items like nuts or chips available. Even for chips they only had plain lays chips which I was looking for something a bit more savoury… had a huge craving for cup noodles haha! They also did not have any chocolates, candy or gum which are a few of my favourite things!
On the other hand, their beverage bar is always stocked!! Only if I was younger, I would have been ordering everything on their bar menu. But as most know, flights dehydrate you up to 80%, it is important to HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE. Ethiad always provides you with full water bottle at all times.
Entertainment
Their entertainment system was good not great. They had some new movies out which I ended watching 3 on the flight. They have all the popular shows but the downside is they only have 1-2 episodes of each of them. 🙁 I love to binge watch a whole season! 😛
Seat
One of the best reasons people opt for business class is the physical seats itself. There is SO much more room. My legs are extended out the whole entire time. I can take off my socks and have privacy to sleep as well since they have half-walls up. The seat extends so that you can lie completely flat. Ethiad also has massage functions on their seats. I definitely massaged my back until I fell fast asleep.
Landing
Landing is one of the worst times for me during flights. It is the time I wake up groggy and feel like I have a pit in my stomach. I was awoken by the sound of the pilot welcoming us into Abu Dhabi and reporting a landing time of 40 minutes. I quickly went to the washroom to freshen up and brush my teeth – great amenity feature! The washroom itself is the same as economy class but Etihad adds in a few nice features like lotions and nice face sprays.
I felt the crew was scrambling alot during the landing time. They were not able to attend to myself for coffee/snack even tho my service light was on for the full 40 minutes. Luckily my hubby was able to get some coffee and pastry from his seat which I had some before landing.
Price
For a long haul flight, it was such a treat to be able to enjoy business class. Perks such as the flat-lay seats, service, and food are what makes it worth it to some. However, they do come with a hefty price being sometimes 3-4 times the economy price. This journey from Toronto – Chicago – Abu Dhabi was $4200 in comparison to economy you would be able to get for $1100-1400.
DOT
