Etihad Airways

✅ Verified Review | London to Phuket via Abu Dhabi. As I approached the check in area the check in staff were having a conversation. I waited for them to finish there said conversation before I handed my passport. After a few security questions I was checked in and directed to the fast check security , I did so and was greeted by the most welcoming man with a warm smile (a Heathrow staff member) who checked my boarding pass and wished me a safe flight. After browsing the duty free shops I made my way to gate 10 where the Etihad Airways lounge is located. On entertaining the lounge I met two lovely welcome hosts who asked if my luggage and suit bag would like to be stored. She then offered me the WIFI slip. The first impression of the lounge was dark and small. I passed about 6 staff who were standing there like zombies no more then a smile. I had a walk around before I sat in the ala carte section where I thought I would have a nice lunch. There were pre set menus on the table so I had a look and went for the salmon salad of which I ordered after attracting the attention of one of the staff. I asked for a glass of Chardonnay and some sparkling water and was told I had to help my self from the buffet area. I found that very strange considering I was sat in the restaurant area expecting restaurant service? The salad arrived in super quick time (with no salad only x2 baby potatoes cut into 4 pieces, green beans, 2 cherry tomatoes also cut into 4 pieces and a splash of balsamic dressing) - the salmon was very moist clearly being sat in a steamer until an order came in. After my salad-less salad I fancied a coffee so decided I leave the lounge and head to Costa Coffee as the Etihad coffee machine had seen better days. Boarding was called and like you'd expect everyone marched up to the gate in one go only to be turned away as there zones were not yet called. A warm welcome from the crew as I boarded and found my seat 16A. Business seats are incredible and should be rolled out on all Etihads long haul business class. The flight was fantastic, service standards won back from that I had in the lounge. Only downside they have taken the wash bags away and only offer these on night flights! Explained by the crew member with a nervous smile. Items like toothbrush, socks were available but you had to ask. Cutting back things in the premium cabins never goes down well with crew or the paying passengers who expect it. My connection in Abu Dhabi was very long so enjoyed a bit of quiet time and sleep in the lounge. when I finally boarded my flight to Phuket I slept most of the way. Overall opinion on my experience was a fantastic airline but need touching up on the outstations service style to be more consistent.

✅ Verified Review | Sydney to London via Abu Dhabi. Flew out of Sydney in business class on a Boeing 777, my first time on Etihad Airways since 2014, and what a major disappointment. The airline is clearly suffering big time after all the losses I read about, but what is worse are the cutbacks they have made. No proper amenities, pyjamas etc available, and food was really no different to economy class standards on Thai Airways that I flew via Bangkok in April this year (except on Thai it was served hot, and cooled down to almost cold on Etihad). I spoke (complained I guess!) with two very nice staff about the cuts and they expected much more to come and seemed very downbeat about their jobs. After suffering the appalling zoo of Abu Dhabi airport my connecting flight to London was an A380. While the plane was nicer, it was a repeat showing of a sub-standard business class. I nearly booked business with Qatar Airways but chose Etihad as they were AUS$200 cheaper - a bad decision!

✅ Verified Review | Los Angeles to Tehran via Abu Dhabi. My daughter and myself had a return flight (Economy class) from LAX to IKA. The flight was scheduled for 4:55pm. We arrived at the airport around 2:15pm and waited in the line for the checking-in process. After around 50 minutes, it was our turn. When the lady with light brown and skirt weighed our 4 luggage pieces, each had between 2-3Kg overweight which was a bit higher than what we had found in home weighing them. In fact, by seeing the overweight of the first one, she did not want to weigh the rest of them which we insisted to see if the total was lower than the maximum allowed weight when she finally agreed. When she saw the overweight, she asked us either to pay the overweight fee or reduce the weight somewhere else and then go to the end of the line and said that it was the policy. This was unfair to us which had waited in the line for about 50 minutes which was long and also the check-in line had not been shorten by then anyways. Also, nobody had told us about the policy and asked us to check the weights before it becomes our turn for check-in. We reduce the weight to below 46 Kg for each of us. Then, I complained to the lady who said that she was the supervisor and finally, as an exception of the policy, she directed us to a different line than the normal one which took us the same time as that of the original line. The check-in finished around 4:00pm (close to two hours for the check-in process) and we had to go to the passport control and security check with the 55 minutes left for us. This took longer than usual. Finally, we got to the gate five minutes to departure gate when luckily there was about 30 minutes delay of departure time which we did not know. Now, that you very strict on the maximum allowed weight, you should let your passengers know ahead of time about this and ask/direct them to weight their luggage pieces in the airport with scales that are in the counter before staying in the queue. I guess that that is the minimum that I could expect. The airline might consider us as just two passengers not caring about this insulting experience but this was my first and probably the last flight with Etihad Airways and I will not recommend this airline.

✅ Verified Review | Dhaka to Milan via Abu Dhabi (returning from Rome) in business class. Ground Staff are terrible. Either they can't communicate or don't know how to behave with customers. From Abu Dhabi, they didn't pick my luggage to my connecting flight to Milan. Staff of Security (where you need to check all belongings) are terrible. I approached for priority check for business class. But without asking me the staff roughly indicated to get in the mass. Power point for charge didn't work! The cabin crew told that it will work after flying and he flew away from me. The entertainment and movie collection is so limited. Can't complain about the food. Now waiting to catch the last connecting flight. Wish me luck.

✅ Verified Review | Flew with my wife and two kids, including an infant, from London to Kochi via Abu Dhabi. I was initially told when I booked my tickets that bassinets were given on a first-come-first-served basis and I couldn't book them in advance. This was wrong. When I phoned a few days before the flight the customer agent said I should have requested the bassinets with my booking and that my child would have no bassinet on the Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight. Rather shocked to hear this I asked her to confirm the bassinet arrangements for my infant. She was rude and petulant - unbecoming of a good customer service agent. The service on board was nothing to write home about. We had an A380 on the London to Abu Dhabi sector and an A320 for Abu Dhabi to Kochi. The stewardesses hardly cared or bothered how we were coping with our little baby. It seemed just giving us a bassinet was the most they could do. One Arabic boy who cried a lot got a lot of attention. I felt there was preferential treatment toward people based on their appearance and ethnicity. Most of the cabin crew seemed to be Eastern Europeans or Arabic. The meals were disappointing: portions were small and not very tasty. The only good points were the aircraft, which were in good condition, and the inflight entertainment systems. I thought overall the airline was lacking in basic customer service skills and I would avoid it in future.

✅ Verified Review | First time to fly with this Airline, and I swear it will also my last. My inbound flight to LAX from AUH had no issue. But my outbound flight from LAX to RUH via AUH, I think Etihad management should be aware that their LAX ground crew behaves like they are having picnic in the park (noisy chatting and laughing while checking in passengers) and the in-flight meals from LAX-AUH (in our seats/rows) we were served vegetarian meals not only once but twice, the stewardess reasoned out no other options as they ran out of meat or fish but hey, it happened 2x during the 16.5 hours flight? And the worst of all - the check in process from Abu Dhabi to Riyadh, it's highly disorganized, first time I've seen such check-in chaos in my more than 20 years of air travels. What happened with Etihad's ground staff? I should thank though, it was a safe travels, but customer service is horrific!

✅ Verified Review | Mumbai to New York via Abu Dhabi. Ground service in Mumbai disorganised, but worse followed in the zoo called Abu Dhabi airport. The staff there are rude, dismissive to most foreigners and particularly to Indians. Service on the shorter flight was alright, but to New York on the A380 was one of my worst flights ever. The food standards are terrible and such small portions. (My seat neighbour that flies them more often said the airline is cutting costs everywhere due to their problems.) Staff came to serve meals but were quick to hide in kitchens after that. The overhead bells were ringing fairly constantly and staff do not attend to most of them. I've got the return to face in 2 weeks and not looking forward to it. Last time I flew Qatar Airways who are so much better, but unfortunately I cannot change my return booking on Etihad.

✅ Verified Review | London to Abu Dhabi in business class, EY20. Seats on A380 are okay although rather narrow when you try to sleep and feel very restricted. That's about it, as the service was awful. Staff seemed reluctant to offer any service, food had to almost be demanded and once served they leave you alone to the point of forgetting you. What they did serve seems to confirm everything I had read that Etihad is in trouble! Small meal portions, poorly heated and well below biz class standards. Part of my trip out to Singapore GP this was a cheap late ticket, and I am so relieved we are booked with a group to fly back on Qatar Airways, who seem to be one of few airlines to maintain their quality standards. Abu Dhabi as a transit point is sheer hell and to be avoided if you can help it.

✅ Verified Review | New York to Lahore via Abu Dhabi. Seats very uncomfortable. Very hard seat cushion and very less legroom for such along flight. Abu Dhabi Airport is the worst in in its class. Line to the bathrooms was stretched out all the way to the middle of the lobby, at least an hour wait and the bathrooms were smelly and flooded. Personally I think it was one of the most traveller unfriendly airport. This airport has broken escalators and have hardly any flight displays to find out your flight info. Will never travel Etihad Airways again.

✅ Verified Review | Dublin to Abu Dhabi. I have flown this airline a number of times in the past, but I will do everything in my power to avoid doing do in future. This airline has been cutting corners for a while now, despite the contention that it is a five star airline. This is a long distance budget airline. It cuts costs by, for example, in Dublin, sharing the budget terminal with Ryanair. Recently, like other budget airlines, it has been enforcing carry on baggage rules - 7kg for a carry on bag, 5kg for a second bag. They will force you to juggle weight around your various hold/ carry-on luggage until you meet the required standards. They quote "safety restrictions' despite the fact that even other 'budget' airlines allow a carry-on limit of 10kg. They won't listen to reason if you point out that the plane will carry all the combined weight of one's luggage in any case. They will insist that you go to the end of the queue to carry out this farce. And finally, if you have anything fragile, they won't, of course, allow you to carry it in the cabin, but will force you to put it in the hold. They broke my guitar in this way. They even forced me to sign a waiver, stating that I was not entitled to any compensation if it should get damaged on route. When I refused to sign the waiver, they said they wouldn't take it. The result, of course, was a cracked and unplayable guitar. Thanks Etihad, thanks for breaking my guitar! If this isn't enough, the old terminal in Abu Dhabi is an outdated, confused mess, with constant queues for malodorous, inadequate toilets, and smoking rooms that resemble old telephone boxes. I will do everything in my power to use their competitors for that route, Qatar Airways, Emirates or Turkish Airlines and urge others to do the same.