A380 First Class Marathon

Our Emirates First chariot to AUH.

At 4am, there is not much traffic on the main highway to Abu Dhabi, and a little over an hour later we arrived at Abu Dhabi International Airport...  the poor sister of the ME3 hub airports.

At the far end of Terminal 3 is Etihad's First Class entrance.

Which was pretty much deserted at 5:15am.

And no First Class check in staff.

So we headed over the Business Class to check-in.   As we checked in, I decided to inquire about the possibility of buying up to The Residences since it was available on our flight today.  This request was above the pay grade of the check-in agent, who excused herself and disappeared to consult with a manager.  A few minutes later, a more senior agent returned to advise that yes, indeed a buy up was possible but I would not receive the full treatment like personalized menu and any special orders, since they wouldn't have enough time.  If that was OK, she'd consult with another department and advise the price.  We waited in the comfy nearby seating area while someone at Etihad decided how much they might charge.   We both agreed that $2,500 maybe $3,000 would be the most either of us would pay.  Another 5 minutes and she returned to inform us that yes, indeed they could upgrade me to The Residence for 77,000 AED... or roughly US$21,000.  LOL. She explained that it was so high because they would be charging the difference between the fare I paid and the basic Residence fare.   Since I was on an AA award ticket, they considered that next to worthless.  LOL.  No wonder Etihad is having financial problems.  Hardly anyone buys The Residence.  Monetize the thing with at last minute buy-ups and make some money because you can't be getting much revenue on the product that way it's priced.  It's basically a one person suite as the bed is really too small for two people.  I thanked her for asking and we headed off to security.

We were only people at premium security and were thru in no time.  Just after security is the Etihad First Class Lounge.

A few pics from earlier in the year...

Just next to the main dining area and the kitchen is the Cigar Lounge.

Today's menu, which is a far cry from last year's much more elaborate offerings... as cost cutting continues to hack away at the product.

I worked for a few hours while batmandds went to the gym and spa.  Then time for breakfast before we heading out to PreClearance and our flight.

batmandds' congee.

And my Eggs Benedict, which we good...

... but not as good as AA's in the new JFK Flagship First Dining room.

From Terminal 4, it was easy to get to the inter-terminal Sky Train. 

And a few minutes later, I was at Terminal 8.

At the far right of the Terminal is Flagship First check-in, where the check-in dragon has a list of all eligible First Class passengers that day.    Body language says she was not going to make in past him.

Some pics from an earlier visit.  A little spartan compared to some other airlines, but certainly a pleasant oasis especially again I was the only passenger.   I was fortunate to have a great agent that input my KTN data and reprinted my Etihad-issued boarding pass so I now had the magic TSA PRECHECK on it.

The grey door at the far end leads directly into the PreCheck queue which was a nice design and set up feature.

PreCheck security took about 5 minutes and I headed for the Flagship Lounge.

And the usual afternoon mob scene...

Still a mob scene after my shower as I headed to Flagship First Dining, a lovely oasis of calm.   Some pics from an earlier visit.

And back to today, I requested a booth to try a different vantage point.

Like last time, I started with the delicious Gin Basil Lemonade.

OK, I'm guessing that the tape is temporary.

For today's starter, I had the Arancini, with smoked mozzarella and roasted tomato sauce. 

OMG, this was sensational.

For my main, I had the salmon which I really enjoyed last time.  It took forever to come out depsite few other patrons this afternoon.  And despite the "chef recommends medium rare", it came out pretty well done.  Still good, but not great like before.

Fortunately, my flight was delayed today.  The always amusing AA lies about departure time.  The inbound arrives at 6:50p and we're going to depart at 7:20p.  LOL.  Not a prayer.

So I moved over to visit with Karen at the bar and started with her fabulous Spiced Tequila.

And dessert.  To die for.

At this point it was 7pm and time to head over to the midfield concourse for the last leg.