Etihad Airways

✅ Trip Verified | Bangkok to Abu Dhabi. Good: Check-in open at least 4 hours prior to the flight. Not busy, efficiently processed and retired to the generic airport lounge used by Etihad for shower and change of clothes though somewhat lacking in facilities otherwise; very limited choice of food particularly for vegetarians and vegans. Flight not that busy, empty seat alongside which makes a big difference. Staff friendly and swiftly dealt with a conflict over seating without making a drama; a largish family group determined to take matters into their own hands to ensure they all sat together irrespective of the allocated seats. Drinks immediately served on departure followed by the meal - a vegetarian option for myself. Arrival in Abu Dhabi a few minutes ahead of schedule. Not so good: The aircraft was one of, if not the oldest 777 in the Etihad fleet and did it show. The brown interior decor favoured by Etihad never looked great but is now hopelessly dated and compares poorly to other airlines. There was no live TV available; generally Etihad's IFE is markedly substandard in comparison to other airlines, including low-cost carriers. Very disappointing on what should be a flagship long-haul service. Whether this was a function of the aircraft's age or a change of policy is not known, Likewise poor show for the failure of the crew to recognize that I'm a Gold Card holder. Finally, there is the near obligatory delight of being crammed into a bus for the grand tour of the wilds of Abu Dhabi airport on arrival - at least the buses turned up this time, unlike a previous occasion. So doing simply undermines the positive impression of the service offered at the departure airport.

Not Verified | Never flying with this airline again. Not only have I been ripped off incredibly by paying over $2000 AUD for a return flight (paid in October 2017), for seat check in, I needed to pay for the seat reservation. Are you kidding me? This was never something I needed to do with this airline. Also, on my way to Jordan (back in June 2018), I was not told about the recent luggage allowance change from 30 to only 23, which came into effect Jan this year. I was only 1.5kgs over by accident and the rude lady at the counter charged me 2kg excess. Why not charge only for 1.5kg? Why round it up? Couldn’t she have just given me a break and either round down to 1lg excess or none at all? Absolutely fuming at this airline carrier. Not recommending or flying with them ever again.

✅ Trip Verified | Bangkok to London via Abu Dhabi (return leg) on 28 November 2018. Economy class. The flight from Bangkok to Abu Dhabi (Boeing 777-300) was in my estimation no more than 75% full and took off within a few minutes of the scheduled departure time; arrived on time. Excellent service from the ground staff and from the flight crew on the plane. Liquid refreshments (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) served regularly during the flight. Food was "satisfactory" although not as good as it was when I last flew Etihad six years previously (it was then outstanding). Entertainment availability was fine although more restricted than on some of the other Middle East airlines. Airport facilities at Abu Dhabi (both seating accommodation and available shopping facilities) much improved according to my recollection. From Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow (Airbus A380 - world's best aircraft for passenger experience, in my opinion) the flight appeared to be very close to fully booked and departure was delayed for around 30 minutes to allow boarding by passengers from a connecting flight that had been delayed - this a positive rather than a negative feature to my mind. Arrival at London was nevertheless on time to within a few minutes. My return to Etihad was largely as a result of the extremely competitive price offered for the (return) flight ticket. If the pricing and standard of service can be maintained I foresee that Etihad will become and remain my airline of choice for the time being.

Not Verified | This was my first flight with Etihad Airways from Brisbane to Rome via Abu Dhabi. November isn’t high season in Europe and one can only hope that long haul international flights aren’t full. Each of my Etihad flights were fantastic due mainly to the planes being half empty. All economy passengers had either a row to themselves or at least a spare seat in between each other. My husband and sons each flew different Etihad flights from Brisbane to Rome in November and experienced the same. Also, the interconnecting flights were less than two hours. The meals are small but tasty enough served with complimentary alcoholic beverages. Super impressed and highly recommend Etihad in low season.

✅ Trip Verified | Islamabad to Melbourne via Abu Dhabi. Not very good experience for long flight economy class passenger. Very small aircraft for long flight of more than 13 hours, over packed flight. Abu Dhabi airport very disappointing in terms of longer transit, pathetic duty free. Food on flight was below average. However flight crew was active and kind. Have travelled from Islamabad to Melbourne then back from Sydney to Islamabad. Although from Sydney it was A380,but again overbooked flight! Economy class not very comfortable. Will never fly with Etihad again, very small aircraft, poor food, no free internet on flight and unimpressive duty free!

✅ Trip Verified | Toronto to Bangalore via Abu Dhabi. Most horrid experience. The food was lousy, salad on both sectors was frozen pieces of vegetables. Cucumber on the onward journey and corn on the return journey. Kept asking the staff for hot water and they kept saying they will come back and they never showed up. This happened not once or twice but 3 times so much so that I gave up asking for it. Counter staff in BLR made a fuss about 1 kilo of excess weight on the hand baggage. I never want to fly with them ever. Better to use the European airlines as the experience is much better.

✅ Trip Verified | The price is amazing. We have a return flight from Moscow To Narita Tokyo via UAE. The price for business class ticket for 6 person was incredible. The flight on A320 was nice, the entertainment was not the best, I mean the screens, it was little bit slow, so the entertainment was not as good as on A321 on the return flight. The female Arabian staff was not as welcoming as male or international. Food is perfect, some Russian dishes as a desert, stay in Abu Dhabi was ok, good lounge, the best part was the Boeing 787-9 business class seat, the privacy is amazing, best food, incredible entertainment, really nice mood-light, massage function, nice lavatories.

✅ Trip Verified | Appalling food, absent staff and stinking toilets in business class - never again. We flew Business Class from Sydney to Casablanca via Abu Dhabi. We were looking forward to experiencing a flight on Etihad. As frequent travellers we like to try different airlines. The reality was horrible. Really bad food - on the really long journey I was served an egg white omelet on the first flight and some appalling canned pumpkin soup on the 2nd leg. No other food was offered. The staff seemed to spent most of the flight gossiping in the galley oblivious to passengers. By the time I was dumped into the awful waiting room at Casablanca airport I was hungry. The wines were not up to business class standard. The seat was uncomfortable - ditto with the 'bed' and the amenities pack sub-standard. The worst aspect of both flights were the stinking toilets. They really smelt bad. Please can someone get into the toilets with hot soapy water and disinfectant and clean them? Is this too much to expect in a business class cabin? I have written to Etihad to complain as we are dreading the return trip. I got a response full of business jargon - a response which completely ignored my customer experience. Once Etihad has the customer's money, they just don't care. Their business class service is appalling and not worth the money.

✅ Trip Verified | Los Angeles to Cairo Abu Dhabi. My worst experience ever. Will never fly again on Etihad and will never recommend to anybody. Service is very bad. Food spicy and does note taste good. Aircraft smells bad and bathroom flooded. Missed flight and spoke to customer service who promised to book me on next day flight with out fees. But as usual, They do not keep promises.

✅ Trip Verified | Johannesburg to Frankfurt via Abu Dhabi. Overall flight was good. Schedule was respected and interior quite new. Plane was silencious. Light atmosphere was in line with the good practices of the other companies. Even if I am tall (1.95m), the existing seat space was correct for the flight duration (8h + 6h). Good inflight entertainment. Meals were ok in terms of quantity/quality. Tickets price was the lowest I have ever seen for long haul flights! Some points to be noted: IFE was shut down 1h before landing and earphones collected directly (is that the purpose?). It is not the case on the other airlines. Every time a passenger or a kid call the steward via the button it rings very loud on speaker or headphones. Staff was professional but not specially friendly. Too much plastics used for glasses for the different services (water, dinner, break etc).