We have grown so accustomed to news of cuts at Etihad that it came as a pleasant surprise to receive an email announcing a new Etihad Guest benefit.
Effective immediately, Etihad is extending access to the Arrivals Lounge at Abu Dhabi to Platinum tier members. Eligible members will also be able to invite one guest to join them. Previously, only passengers in First or Business were able to access the Arrivals Lounge and no guesting was allowed.
I suspect this new benefit is only going to be useful to a small number of travellers. Abu Dhabi based Platinums are in most cases going to want to head straight home from the airport. In four years of flying into Abu Dhabi, I have only ever spent a significant amount of time in the Arrivals Lounge once.
What’s on offer in the Etihad Arrivals lounge?
The lounge is fairly compact but has everything arriving passengers would expect to see or need after landing. There’s a small selection of snacks and canapés, a business centre with computers and printers as well as shower rooms. If you are heading straight to work or a meeting there is a steam pressing service available.
I will be flying into Abu Dhabi on an overnight flight later this month. I am in the back-of-the-bus on that trip so will check-out and post a full review of the Arrivals Lounge.
Can passengers pay to access the lounge?
Yes. It seems that in addition to welcoming Platinum members Etihad is also adding the Arrivals Lounge to the list of lounges passengers can pay to access. The updated Arrivals Lounge page now says:
We welcome Economy Class guests for a fee of AED 110/$30.
The price for children is AED 55/$15. Etihad Guest members also have the option to pay with miles. It is 4000 Guest Miles for adults and 2000 for children.
This offer definitely has the potential to make the lounge much busier during peak tourist season. I can see this appealing to leisure travellers arriving early morning but not able to check-in to their hotels until the afternoon.
Hopefully, this is the first of more improvements to the Etihad Guest programme to come.