Etihad Airways

Not Verified | Toronto to Ahmadabad via Abu Dhabi. Had high hopes of good service with this carrier- totally disappointed. From the check in(Hand baggage was allowed up to 12 kgs but their staff insisted each passenger to have exact distribution of 5kgs and 7 kgs, cannot understand why the displacement of 1-2 kgs more or less in each hand carriage would make any difference, ultimately when they realized they were being overwhelmed by delays in checking in passengers they overrode the requirement. On our in bound trip I we were crammed in very tight spaces, the entertainment did not function with loose wires dangling from the remote and the system would not even function manually, went through a 12 hour flight without any music, or entertainment. We had the same problem on our return flight 15 days later, we arrived well in advance of the check in time at the counters, the staff checked us in, stating we had to pay for 2 kgs extra baggage, then checked in our baggage, issued tags for our hand baggage, but at the security checkin prior to gate entry we were put on stand by again with the same issue of weight check of our hand held luggage, we were harassed to remove weights from the two allowed pieces and redistribute it until it was exact 5kgs and 7kgs. Could not understand why all these stringent requirements even when we showed them that the hand held pieces had our medications in them. We had requested vegetarian meals throughout all our flights, but the in flight crew argued that we should have requested this requirement at the time of booking our flights.

✅ Trip Verified | We have booked flight from Chicago to Hyderabad return via Abu Dhabi. While return on 13th Feb 2020, my family (Wife and two small kids) has been told tickets are cancelled. Moreover, at boarding pass counter instead of trying to understand situation my wife disrespected by Etihad Employee. We travel to airport from different city within country. One should try to understand if any misunderstanding instead of shouting your flight is not today. Etihad Airways made me to pay $991 for same flight and same ticket.

✅ Trip Verified | London to Thiruvananthapuram via Abu Dhabi. Travelled for the first time on this Aircraft. Instead of giving us one middle seat for the four of us (as we had a 1 year old, where we booked the full seat as its a Long haul), they seated us separately! When requested if then can do anything they were like - it’s not their fault. I lost my, £300 headphone during that chaos. I didn’t take it anywhere else from my seat. At least they should email me saying they found it in my seat. When I emailed them the response was it’s not their responsibility and they gave it to the local authorities. No replies afterwards! We were in Abu Dhabi for the transit - and what a mess no queues, nothing in place.

✅ Trip Verified | On February 12, we flew on flight EY21 from Abu Dhabi to Manchester and I would like to express my gratitude to the team in Economy class. The crew were friendly and attentive. My partner had a birthday the day we were flying and crew gave to my partner a nice gift and delicious fruit cake! The flight was pleasant.

✅ Trip Verified | Delhi to Auckland via Abu Dhabi. Worst experience ever, they didn’t let me board the flight. I don’t have surname on my passport and I used “LNU” as last name because other airline asked us to use this for flight booking. Every airline accepted this except Etihad. I don’t know why they have issue with passengers using “LNU” when the passport itself doesn’t have my last name. Instead of helping and changing name as per their requirements they asked us to book another flight ticket for much higher fare than the fare we booked originally. I am so upset and frustrated with this and I will never fly with Etihad again.

✅ Trip Verified | Colombo to Toronto via Abu Dhabi. A very harrowing experience, me and my family had Etihad Airways on my recent return from Colombo. We were to take the flight no EY267 on 21/12/19 from Colombo to Abu Dhabi and get the connecting flight the next morning from Abu Dhabi. We boarded the flight on time and it was to take off at 4.15 am. We were initially informed that the flight was delayed due local documentation issues with airport authorities. After two hours on board, once again announced delayed due documentation issues. After 3 hours on board the entire passengers were off loaded stating that there is technical hitch and the flight cannot take off. This was disappointing to us as we knew then and there that we cannot board the connecting flight to Toronto as the next Available flight was at 10.05 am next morning (Abu Dhabi time). We had no choice but to accept their offer to be put up at Shangrila Hotel in Colombo. At that time there were no sort of apology from Etihad staff for the inconvenience. When we asked for a glass of juice we were asked to pay only water was provided. We decided to walk out of the hotel and settle in at a nearby restaurant out of our pocket. We were asked to assemble at the lobby at 5 pm to proceed to the airport to board the flight at 9.45 pm to Abu Dhabi. But to our dismay when we reached the check in counter at the airport we were advised that we had to wait until next morning (4.15 am flight) to board the flight as we were traveling to Toronto. Once again the ground staff informed us that it’s their ground staff error boarding us to airport in the wrong bus. It was most unorganized way of handling passengers who had already undergone an extensive trauma from morning. To our irritation we were booked once again that night at Gateway Hotel which was of inferior standard. Finally we made it in the next morning on the flight to Abu Dhabi which was 24 hour detainment. We were fortunate that we made it to the connecting flight to Toronto without further hiccups. But once we boarded we found that the seats we had booked by paying extra CAD217.30 each (total CAD869.20), to be seated together, was not available. Only three seats were together and one seat was on the other row. Very disappointing. So we arrived in Toronto 24 hours late and had to adjust to time zone. I took up this with Etihad customer service and they offered $250 each as compensation that too a travel credit valid for a year, and they did say it’s final. So they are expecting me to travel again spending $1800.00 each to get their credit of $250.00 each? Absurd. Not up to the standard of known Etihad.

Not Verified | Its a worst flight experience I ever had. My flight was Chicago to Medinah return via Abu Dhabi. Flight crews are OK. Economy seats are Very uncomfortable and so narrow you barely fit in it. Food is worse, cold and did not had taste, spoons are cheap plastic. Old movies and more.

✅ Trip Verified | Abu Dhabi to Colombo. This flight was rather cramped and not up to the usual Etihad standards. The aircraft was not a wide-bodied and the seating was 3+3. With the narrow leg room it felt very cramped especially since the flight was full. Trapped in a window seat I had great difficulty in getting to the toilet. Food and beverages was average. There was no entertainment, not even a single TV monitor on this 4hr flight. It certainly was not up to their usual standards.

Not Verified | First of all I have been a Gold and now Silver member of Etihad for many years. The service they provide has got worse and worse over the years but at this moment I am writing to complain about the experience I have just had over the past week and a half. I purchased a ticket from Melbourne to Dublin (departure 16.2) on Sat 25 Jan paying with credit card&mileage. I was unsure on the website about the pricing at the time of booking, called Etihad team who assured me to proceed to the payment page. An error message came on the screen although the team member could see everything on his side. Money deducted, mileage deducted and no ticket sent. Etihad member assured me that there was no issue and to wait 24-48 hours for confirmation. I called on Fri 31.1 to express my worries about not receiving a ticket. They told me I would have my ticket within 24-48 hours for definite, promise sun moon and stars. It is now Monday 3rd Februrary and no ticket. Etihad has just confirmed there was a system error at time of booking and they cannot issue my ticket even thought they can see my money has been debited and my mileage debited also. They are refunding my money and my mileage and I have to book another ticket. This is not what I wanted, I wanted the ticket I paid for. The prices are now more expensive as it is the week before departure. Etihad said it was their system error not to issue the ticket. Why should I have to suffer due to their systems failures, shouldn't they rectify this for me as it is not my fault. As a silver member, my family and I travel to and from Europe every year with Etihad. My wife is a gold member and my daughter a platinum, we are all in shock at this treatment, wouldn't be recommending Etihad anytime soon.

✅ Trip Verified | Tokyo to Madrid via Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways. I was expecting service similar to JAL, ANA, Singapore Airlines, Delta, etc., but the seating was very cramped, service was mediocre and the food was only OK. This isn't an airline to fly in economy. It feels like a very low-end airline in the economy section. My guess is they focus on first-class and business class, but don't have an airline culture to be bothered with economy class customers. Worst seating I've experienced outside of discount airlines such as Ryanair, Frontier or Wizz Air. Seat in front of me was mere inches from me and it is uncomfortable and claustrophobic on a 12-hour flight. My second flight was worse, as the seats did not recline. They have crammed the seats in the plane so close together that the seats, literally, can not be reclined, so they've disabled the buttons. I had high expectations based on Etihad's reputation, which made the reality and second class citizen feel of the flight all the more surprising.