Thanksgiving 2023 EuroTrip: Part 5-1 (Etihad First Class Part 1: the ground)

After the short, uneventful flight from Frankfurt to London, Scott and I took a connection bus from Terminal 2 to Terminal 4. There was a bus already waiting when we arrived at the bus stop, which was awesome. The ride was not short over to T4 (which is on the other side of Heathrow from T2), but this was as short of a connection as we could’ve hoped for. As is standard, we had to re-clear security at T4 but didn’t need to go through passport control.

We proceeded directly to the lounge, which was shared between First Class and Business Class. We were welcomed promptly into the lounge, but there was no separate section for First Class passengers, which was unfortunate.

While I understand that this lounge is for both First and Business Class customers, I find labeling it the “First & Business Lounge” mildly misleading.

Etihad status holders were also welcome in the lounge, so it was busy upon our arrival and really only got busier as our flight approached.

We had a few hours of a layover and both of us were tired at this point, so we found a little corner to relax in.

There was a small coffee and dessert bar set up near our seats.

The lounge consisted of a main room, with a few different sections and a dining room.

In the dining room was a buffet, which consisted of Middle Eastern and Indian fare. There was a hot section:

And a cold section:

As well as desserts and bread:

The dining area had proper tables and chairs with QR codes that suggested à la carte dining was available.

So we took a seat. But no one came by to see if we needed anything, and the QR code just provided the menu and not ordering options like I had in the BA lounge at SFO.

Finally after a few minutes of being confused, I flagged down one of the attendants and asked how one orders. She tried to discourage us from ordering because the kitchen was busy and it’d be “at least 15 minutes”. I assured her that our flight (which was the next Etihad flight) was not scheduled to depart for nearly two hours. Finally we were able to order some more Indian food.

In the meantime, I got a small plate from the buffet. I had some biryani, hummus, and fruit.

About 10 minutes later, a different attendant came by to assure us that our food was still on the way but (again) that it was backed up so it would be at least another 10 minutes. I wish I had timed it, but literally our food arrived less than 60 seconds after her saying that. Like she had barely moved 10 feet from us when the food arrived.
I had some curry, which was served with chutney, rice, and naan.

After the ordeal in the dining room, Scott and I returned to the main room. You can tell I was beginning to run out of steam by my hair being flatter now:

In general, Scott will wait in the lounge until the last second before boarding. Since we were directly across from the gate, it’s not like we had far to walk. However, the lounge was bad, and our seats on the planes were expected to be far more exciting, so we wanted to board ASAP. However, we kept repeatedly being told to stay in the lounge by the lounge attendant despite getting texts to our phones that it was time to board. Which was, in fact, annoying.

When we were finally let out of the holding pen and back to the concourse, we were greeted with immense chaos. There were throngs of people and employees holding signs for zones:

As is standard for A380 gates, gate 10 was split into 10a and 10b. 10b was for economy class:

And 10a was for First and Business class. My understanding is that is the difference between the upper deck and lower deck.

Finally, we got on-board and could enjoy our First Class Apartments.

That brings us to the end of the ground experience in London for Etihad’s First Class apartments. It was just bad; I would’ve preferred to be on British Airways so far. Hopefully the flight will live up to the hype.