Etihad Airways

✅ Verified Review | Kolkata to San Francisco via Abu Dhabi with Etihad. Did not make the connection in Abu Dhabi because of a minor 30-minute delay departing from Kolkata, and the pre-clearance was already closed for the second leg from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco. The pre-clearance in Abu Dhabi is Etihad's main selling point however, it's actually a huge pain and causes lots of passengers to miss their connecting flights. Etihad automatically rebooked me on a later flight to LAX, then LAX to SFO with American Airlines, adding 10 hours to my original trip. All they did was take my boarding pass to SFO and give me the new boarding passes to SFO via LAX without any explanation. No lounge access or hotel was offered to me. No one was able to tell me if my luggage would follow me, which was really frustrating. Got a middle seat for the Abu Dhabi-Los Angeles which lasted 17 hours. Also, cherry on the cake, the LAX-SFO was cancelled due to "air traffic" and no one told me, so I ended up flying United back home, arriving 13 hours later than originally planned. Finally, my luggage did follow me - surprisingly after so many obstacles. Anyway, easily the worst trip I've ever had. Not flying Etihad ever again, the onboard experience was a 3/5 but the ground experience 1/5. More importantly, just stay away from any pre-clearance in Abu Dhabi, you're likely to miss your connection and waste a huge amount of time as a result.

✅ Verified Review | Abu Dhabi to Venice with Etihad Airways. Guaranteed flatbed seating on all long haul flights does not apply on this 7 hour plus flight. Complaints via feedback and ground staff were brushed aside. Nobody would accept responsibility. Asked about an upgrade for my son (flying economy) as we were in business class. Was told it was fully booked at check in - it wasn't. Business class luggage came out last in Venice, not first. Phone call to guest services made by my wife was not returned.

✅ Verified Review | Flew Chicago to Mumbai via Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways. There was a bit chaos at Chicago while boarding and once we entered the aircraft it took 2.5 hours for the crew to serve food and water. They should take a look into this as there were old travellers and toddlers on this flight. Cabin was good and leg space was ok. Food was some of the worst I have had in my travelling experience. Need to improve vegetarian meals served and the cabin crew needs to be more courteous.

✅ Verified Review | Abu Dhabi to Melbourne. Excellent customer service from the cabin crew and comfortable seats. I also flew in December 2016 to Abu Dhabi and I was impressed by the cabin crew. However, in my experience Etihad ground staff at Abu Dhabi displayed relatively poor customer service skills and behaved in an unfriendly manner.

✅ Verified Review | London Heathrow - Abu Dhabi - Sydney and return in the First class apartment. The apartment is superb. Much more refined than the Emirates suite, and in a different league from Qantas or BA First. The separate seat and bed set-up is excellent, there's a great feeling of spaciousness, and lots of storage. The vanity unit is a nice touch. The whole thing exudes class. Unfortunately I didn't find the bed desperately comfortable. It is extremely hard, even for someone who likes a firm bed. They need to invest in some thicker mattresses to deal with this as a priority. The shower is good, though not close to the quality of the EK bathrooms. Amenity kits were nothing special and didn't include deodorant. When I used my own, the spray set off the smoke detector and I was interrupted when only half-dressed by three crew members rather aggressively demanding to know if I was having a cigarette while showering. The toilet lighting was very dim on all four sectors which was a bit frustrating. The on board chefs were all exceptional in their attitude, and happy to make bespoke dishes (within reason), the F&B managers more varied and I didn't really see the point of them. Other crew were consistently very good indeed. IFE was ok with a pretty good selection of recent and older films. Transfers in AUH were speedy (though not well signposted) but First Class priority at security was not open. The (shared business and First) lounge at LHR was quite small but ok. Spa treatments for First passengers complimentary. AUH lounge not especially spacious either but with spa where I enjoyed an excellent massage and paid a small amount for a traditional shave (which was superb). A la carte breakfast was very good. SYD business and First lounge pleasant but no spa. Very friendly staff. Flights on time and any issues always explained. One big annoyance - at check in in Sydney I spotted that my confirmed seat had been changed to a much less attractive one. The senior customer service representative couldn’t work out why and after several conversations and calls discovered a couple travelling together wanted to be in adjacent seats, but hadn't reserved ahead. They had persuaded somebody senior, who should have known better, to displace me without asking. I was extremely displeased, not least that the change had been made unilaterally, for non-operational reasons. I had it changed back and received an apology from the agent (though not the person responsible), but it left a sour taste. Overall, however, easily now my favourite first class, and I wouldn't hesitate to fly them again.

✅ Verified Review | Edinburgh to Muscat via Abu Dhabi. Definite dip in quality over last few years with Etihad. Movie selection really poor - around 30 English movies only. Food poorer quality than I'm used to on long haul flights, and on an 8.5 hour flight we only had a "snack" (inedibly dry cheese roll) then 6 hour gap before breakfast of pasty eggs just before landing. Alcohol service awful. Surly and annoyed looks from cabin crew when we ordered a glass of wine to go with dinner - huge sigh, "well I'll need to get a piece of paper", then long wait until after dinner service finished to bring drinks. I understand it's an Arabic airline but surly attitude from crew unnecessary and Emirates etc much better for this. Cabin horrendously cold - everyone around needed extra blankets. I've never been compelled to write an airline review before but these flights really disappointing.

✅ Verified Review | Melbourne to Edinburgh via Abu Dhabi. Staff are attentive for me. Lounge at Melbourne Airport is superb. I'm a Virgin Australia platinum flyer so I get to use the first class lounge in AUH which is a bonus. For the Edinburgh flight you need to get a bus to the plane which adds time so not ideal. Food and beverage onboard is good with a broad selection and my first choice has always been available. The one beef I do have (and this has happened to me twice now) is that the concept of priority baggage seems to not be a benefit. Twice my bags have been last off which defeats the purpose of being first off the plane. It's a stated benefit so they should make sure they deliver on it. Not exactly the worst thing but it meant I waited 45 mins for my bags. One other thing, still not been credited with status points and I flew three and a half weeks ago.

✅ Verified Review | Seoul to Abu Dhabi return with Etihad Airways. Both flights departed on time and arrived earlier than scheduled. Business Class service was okay, but noticing a consistent drop in quality of service and range of food and beverage offerings. I think this is made up for by the pick-up/ drop-off chauffeur service and comfy arrivals lounge (which includes a complimentary shave service).

✅ Verified Review | Abu Dhabi to Los Angeles. The flat bed seats were comfortable. Inflight entertainment was below average, only paid WiFi was available. I found the food service to be poor in both quantity and quality. The first meal service took place about an hour after take off. After another six or seven hours had passed, I had to ask when the next meal would be served and was told that passengers request on-demand meals in Business class. The second meal was skimpy (I had ordered a vegetarian meal) and there were about 8 hours still remaining in the flight. During this time I had to make do with chips and tea. The flight attendants were friendly when spoken to but were not at all communicative on their own.

✅ Verified Review | Chennai to Abu Dhabi. Check in was smooth at Chennai. Boarding was chaotic with conflicting directions from two Etihad agents who did not seem to get along with each other. At the last minute, Business class passengers were told to wait and economy passengers were allowed to board first. Finally one of the agents relented and we were allowed to board and economy boarding was halted mid way. The seats were comfortable but not flat bed business seats on this 4hr 30mins flight. Food was adequate in quantity and quality. In flight entertainment was ordinary. We landed at one corner of the airport in Abu Dhabi and were taken in buses to the main terminal. Overall a barely average experience with Etihad.