Friday newsletters always feature luxury travel contests, tips, or news.
Today: How to book The Residence, Etihad’s A380 three-room suite?
A few weeks ago, I posted my content (YouTube video and blog review) about my Abu Dhabu to London flight in The Residence, the world’s most exclusive First Class cabin. Exclusively available on Etihad Airways’ A380 aircraft on routes between Abu Dhabi, London, New York and soon Paris, The Residence is the only three-room suite on a passenger aircraft, featuring a private bedroom, ensuite bathroom (with shower), and a living room. The uber-luxurious space is located on the A380’s upper deck and can accommodate a maximum of two passengers.
The Residence was first introduced by Etihad in 2014, with one-way tickets between London and Abu Dhabi starting at $20,000 USD. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020, Etihad stored its A380 aircraft and the future of The Residence seemed uncertain. However, with the resurgent travel demand, Etihad brought back a small number of its A380 aircraft in 2023, The Residence along with them, albeit with a different soft product (more on that below).
With the return of the A380, Etihad has made The Residence more accessible to the general traveling public. Pre-pandemic, Etihad sold The Residence as a separate, exorbitantly expensive travel class besides Economy, Business Class, and First Class. But since its post-pandemic re-introduction, The Residence can no longer be booked directly and is only offered as an upgrade option to a First Class ticket, to be paid with miles or cash.
In this blog article:
The Residence hard & soft product
Guests of The Residence can enjoy a terrific hard product, the only three-room suite on a passenger aircraft, featuring a private bedroom, ensuite bathroom (with shower), and a living room. But as already mentioned, Etihad changed the soft product of The Residence since its post-pandemic re-introduction. The amenities and culinary offering are now the same as in First Class and you no longer get the pre-pandemic special perks such as butler service and customized menus. That said, passengers of The Residence still get a few extra perks over First Class passenger:
- An escort through Abu Dhabi Airport
- Access to a private room in the Etihad First Class Lounge at Abu Dhabi Airport
- One additional item on the onboard menu (afternoon tea)
- Enhanced tableware and glassware onboard
Book The Residence with cash
Passengers with a First Class ticket on Etihad’s A380 can make the upgrade to The Residence via Etihad’s call center or online, either at the time of booking or through Etihad’s “manage my booking” section. When making the upgrade online, The Residence will pop up as a choice during the seat selection process. Etihad doesn’t publish the cost for an upgrade from First Class to The Residence, but it’s much more reasonable than it used to be. For example, a quick search shows that First Class passengers on the Abu Dhabi to London route may to upgrade to The Residence for around $2000 USD (7,310 AED) while the cost for an upgrade to The Residence on the Abu Dhabi to New York route is around $4000 USD (14,660 AED).
Book The Residence with miles
Passengers with a First Class ticket on one of Etihad’s A380 routes can also upgrade to The Residence with miles via Etihad’s frequent flyer program Etihad Guest. Etihad has not officially published a chart with the number of miles need for an upgrade, but a quick search shows that an upgrade from First Class to The Residence will cost you around 300,000 Etihad Guest miles on the Abu Dhabi to London route and around 600,000 Etihad Guest miles on the Abu Dhabi to Paris route. That’s a staggering amount of miles of course, but it can make for a once-in-a-lifetime experience of course.
Major restriction for booking The Residence
A major restriction that you need to beware of is that the upgrade from First Class to The Residence is only offered to passengers that booked their First Class ticket either in cash or miles directly via Etihad. First Class award tickets that are booked via the frequent flyer program of a partner airline (such as AAdvantage by American Airlines) cannot be upgraded to The Residence.
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