Etihad Airways

✅ Trip Verified | Madrid to Abu Dhabi. The cabin crew service was good and that is about the only positive for this 7 hour flight. Extremely uncomfortable seats in this aging aircraft. If you recline you cant get get out as there is no space and these seats are not worth the ticket price. We had flown to Madrid on the Boeing 787 which definitely had better seats. The food selection looked good but the quality was lacking. The Chicken Biryani was over-spiced ginger chicken pieces on boiled yellow rice - nothing even close to what a biryani should be. My partner had the Pumpkin Pasta which turned out to be under cooked. The Passion Fruit meringue was on a stone hard base. A very disappointing experience. The toilets on the rear side of the cabin had this foul smell. In the B777 the Business Class experience is not worth the price you pay.

✅ Trip Verified | Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam and I can say that Etihad was a big let down, an utter failure when it comes to customer service. I have already checked in and chose my seat (window seat) online but when I showed up at the airport to drop my bags and get my boarding pass the check in lady changed my seat into an aisle seat (she didn't even bother to notify me) and to my surprise I didn't know until I reached the airplane and staff directed me to my new seat - that was the first thing that made me frustrated. In addition to that the cabin crew were really impolite and they kept hitting my shoulder as they were walking down the aisle and they didn't even bother to say sorry until I told one of them 'Hey watch it, this is the 3rd time you hit my shoulder' then he looked at me and continued walking? It was a morning flight so breakfast was served and I'm happy as hell that I ate from McDonald's Abu Dhabi airport before I board the plane - the breakfast Etihad served was so atrocious. The in-flight entertainment was mostly old movies and the alcohol served was mainly cheap brands - bconsidering how expensive Etihad flights are in general (around 1000 dollars for an economy seat yet they provide the cheapest alcohol ever). Etihad is a horrible deal with its expensive prices & cheap service onboard and impolite staff - an airline to avoid. I recommend Etihad becomes a low cost carrier with it's extremely bad services both on ground & on air.

✅ Trip Verified | Kuala Lumpur to Abu Dhabi. Have had a gold card now for 8 years with Etihad and they used to be excellent but over the last couple of years have gone to the bottom of the pile. But the final nail in the coffin was when, on a half empty plane, I was told i was not allowed to move to a empty row of bulkhead seats, wrote to Etihad and had a blunt reply insinuating that if i want to move there I have to pay a ridiculously high fee. Asked to see cabin supervisor to explain but she didn't have the courtesy or guts to talk to me. I have a couple more flights booked but after that I'm changing airlines

✅ Trip Verified | Islamabad to London via Abu Dhabi. At check in I was refused because the flight was overbooked as told by the check in staff. What surprised me is she ask me to pay around 300USD or wait till the check in close which is an hour before the flight time. More surprising when she said my aircraft was A380 but because we have less passengers we going to send Boeing 777, but I didn't understood why she ask to pay again to guarantee me the seat when I all ready paid for my ticket. Anyway one hour before my flight they issued me a boarding card and I checked in. Will never fly with Etihad again, in flight the food, seat or entertainment nothing is good.

✅ Trip Verified | Brisbane to London via Abu Dhabi. Check in staff were OK but there were no proper instructions at the tome of boarding. On board, it seem, the flight crew do not have fine training. There is no menu card and staff did not know what food there were serving. When serving, he asked me if I wanted Chicken or Lamb, so I asked what is the dish and he said in broken English that "it is like Chicken Pasta & Spicy Lamb" So my wife & I ordered one each. What we got was tasted like Thai Green Chicken curry with Rice Noodles & Lamb Biriyani. After a 14 Hour flight, 2 hours before landing in Brisbane at 6pm, they started to serve a snack! When asked what it was, he said "Vegetarian" & I got a Chocolate Danish Pastry with Custard! The tray was left on our tables until 30 mins before we landed - the whole service was a mess. If I had a choice, I would prefer not to travel with Etihad but if the price is very cheap, I may be forced to put up with the rubbish or take my own food.

Not Verified | Bangkok to Abu Dhabi. Business, flight was very full - Check In/ Immigration a breeze . New lounge provided by third party is an improvement but food not great, quite basic and ok drinks. Right across from the gate , boarded early and flight on time. This was a 6 hour flight and the crew were average, seemed rushed and not very engaging - did the basics, slow service and lacked previous crews interaction and personal touch. Meal service was ok, a crab starter and a small main course .. wines ok.. though the service started about 2 hours into the flight and took too long a time with courses delayed and empty delph and cutlery left to long to be cleared. Arrived 30 minutes early as mentioned and into a bridge which was a plus. Overall not up to their usual standard and the service appeared unpolished and hassled.

✅ Trip Verified | I flew Etihad last 16 September from Frankfurt to Manila via Abu Dhabi. From Abu Dhabi to Manila, that is about more than eight hours (8 hrs) flight. After about forty five minutes of flying, a full meal was served which I am assuming to be breakfast. I chose a chicken with noodles meal. To my surprise, the thin rice noodles contain two small pieces of chicken, and it was extra spicy (which was not mentioned by the stewardess). To top it all, the appetizer was a mixture of some vegetables with the same type of noodles with a sour-sweet-spicy vinaigrette! I did not eat the bread as it is too much for me. I ate a small amount of dessert. Then, more than halfway of the journey, I was getting hungry already (we are above Bangkok). I asked the stewardess if they are serving food again and I was told 'Yes!'. So, the food came and it was a choice between sandwich or noodle in a cup! I told the stewardess I want both as I am too hungry! I was told 'only one, and if there will be extra, I will come back and give you.' The sandwich is a pan with mostly tomatoes (Mexican-type flavor),I ate all of it as I am very hungry. Later, the stewardess came with the same sandwich, and I politely declined. This is more than an eight hour flight, and for passengers two smaller meals will be healthier than one full meal. If you had a breakfast at 9am, after five hours, you will feel hungry, and want your lunch. I just felt Etihad is not sensitive to these passengers. Please be a little generous and give healthy food.

✅ Trip Verified | Johannesburg to New York via Abu Dhabi. The most pathetic example of customer service I have ever experienced. The cabin crew unfriendly at every interaction giving a general sense of disdain for the passengers on board. Generally confrontational reactions to any request, including hour long waits for additional snacks (we only asked once), refusal to provide additional blankets to children and the elderly passengers. Unable to handle detour, exceptionally poor communication and confrontational staff. The flight could not land due to bad weather. Delays totalling 12 hours were experienced between landing in Toronto and departing Toronto the next day. A total wait in Toronto of 32 hours. On landing in Toronto, a 5 hour delay during which no food or beverages were given and people were refused blankets because they were “reserved for the next flight”. On entering the airport all passengers were left to fend for themselves. No communication on where to go, who to see or what the detailed plan was. All we knew was that we would be put up in a hotel for the night. On the flight to New York, waiting for 4 hours for a 1 hour flight supposed to depart at 7pm but departed at 11pm. The highlights during this time being a rude “customer service” employee of Etihad making veiled threats to Muslim passengers who were understandably irate (as was everybody else). A pilot who called the police citing unrest on the plane due to many passengers questioning the air hosts about our departure time. We were then fed constant empty promises of departure in 15 minutes from 9pm to 11pm. The food was terrible. I will never fly Etihad again. The customer service rot at Etihad runs right through the organisation, from the airline staff to the airport customer service staff, the call centre staff and pilots.

✅ Trip Verified | Sydney to Athens via Abu Dhabi. After paying close to full price on a couple of business class flights I am left significantly underwhelmed. Today after finishing off a phone call with an Etihad contact centre rep I feel disappointed. Ground staff at Abu Dhabi have been given next to no training in customer service and come across as disinterested at best. Staff barely made eye contact and blunt in their communication and generally obvious that they were unwilling. 2. Contact Centre: downright rude and unhelpful. I didn’t even get to finish a sentence and was ordered to contact my travel agent and then once I somehow managed to correct them (ie that the issue was not travel agent related) was ordered to visit the website to make changes. Website / apps are hopeless. Good luck trying to book a chauffeur service through this portal. Business class seats, now starting to show its age, not as comfortable on long haul as say a Qantas seat even though it looks more flashy. Food is hit and miss, some dishes were ok, some were way overcooked, overall average. In summary I am left considerably underwhelmed. Will be flying Qatar in my next trip who are much better in all the above.

✅ Trip Verified | Karachi to Toronto via Abu Dhabi / Brussels. A very poor service by a well-reputed airline. I had heard that it would be a bad experience before my travel, but didn’t expect it. Unfortunately, we got a 2 way ticket and have to return back home via the same airline. However, wouldn’t recommend or travel again with this airline. It was a sad, unexpected experience. Pros: - nothing (all airlines give the basic, infact the service by other airlines even in economy class is commendable) Cons: - a very inconsiderate & mismanaged crew staff (trust me, it matters) - we had opted for a baby bassinet, but after our 2nd layover we had to pay 120euros to get the baby bassinet (no courtesy in their ground staff either) - it would sound funny, but no toy for a baby. It was a first for me. Why choose this airline when there are other better options.