Etihad Airways

✅ Trip Verified | We were very disappointed by the following: Seats very cramped, when queuing for the toilet you felt you were imposing on peoples personal space. Service poor - we waited for over two hours for some water, our wine with dinner on all flights never appeared. On each journey we only had one drink! bearing in mind our flights were all over 11hrs. The in-flight entertainment system didn't work on our last flight, the only things available was BBC world news and a few games. The food selection was poor and often ran out. On one flight both meals had bland, dry pasta for the vegetarian option. (the vegetarian curry option on another flight was actually very tasty). We will not be booking with airline again and have advised friends and family to avoid.

✅ Trip Verified | Worst Airline, avoid if you can. My return trip was scheduled on 24/09/2022. I went to Ottawa airport at 4pm to check-in for my connection trip to Toronto via Air Canada. On the check-in counter, I spent over 45 minutes as the agent was not able to find the boarding passes for the Etihad Flight from Toronto to Abu Dhabi. When I tried to clarify the reason of not being able to get the boarding passes of the second flight, the agent answered that I have consumed too much of her time and Air Canada does not have contract with Etihad Airways and I need to contact Etihad Airways as this is not their problem and Air Canada is not responsible for the remainder of the flight. I have spoken to Air Canada Duty Supervisor as well who was not able to find any solution for me. In fact, the duty supervisor answered me in a very rough way when she came to know I am flying on Etihad that they have no connections with Etihad and will not provide any assistance or feedback on my inquiry. On the boarding gate of Air Canada flight to Toronto we came to know by 5:45pm that there is a delay for 6pm flight to Toronto by 2 hours due to technical problem in the aircraft. The flight was rescheduled for departure by 8:10pm and arrival to Toronto by 9:10 pm while Etihad flight departure to Abu Dhabi is scheduled 9:40pm. My husband contacted Etihad customer service in Abu Dhabi for a solution. He contacted Etihad Customer Service at 2:28AM Abu Dhabi Time. During the conversation he was directed to supervisor. The supervisor confirmed that I will not be able to catch Etihad Flight and recommended rebooking on the following day 25/09/2022 same itinerary (Ottawa – Toronto on Air Canada departure 6pm arrival 7pm and Toronto – Abu Dhabi on Etihad departure 9:40pm). Hence, I asked Air Canada to cancel my check-in to allow Etihad for rebooking. I had to collect my 8 pieces checked-in luggage (which included 2 car seats) + 2 handbags and stroller and booked a taxi back home. The Supervisor informed my husband during the call that there is a Transfer desk in Toronto Airport where I will find upon my landing to print for me Etihad boarding passes. Unfortunately, this information is not correct. On the second day, I booked a taxi again and reached Ottawa Airport at 4pm and checked in on Air Canada Counter. They were also not able to issue my boarding pass for Etihad flight due to absence of contract with Etihad. On the boarding gate, I was again informed that Air Canada flight got delayed and will depart 7:40pm instead of 6pm. The reason provided by Air Canada is “No Aircraft”. Air Canada took off 7:59pm and reached Toronto Airport around 8:50pm. However, I had to stay in the aircraft for around 25 minutes as there is no facility in Toronto Airport to receive the aircraft for the gate.

✅ Trip Verified | Having never flown on this type of aircraft before I was appalled at my journey yesterday. The seats are super tiny, think child size but squeeze an adult into them. I’m not a large person at all, 5ft 4 female but was squashed in between two large guys, one who insisted on typing on his laptop most of the journey and continually invading my space with his arms/elbows. Refreshments are not very forthcoming and I had to keep asking for water, which when it arrived was half a paper cup. Food was disappointing. The only saving grace is that i didn’t get my upgrade to business offer accepted and waste more money as these seats also looked well past their sell by date. Overall, extremely disappointing and won’t be in a rush to fly Etihad again.

✅ Trip Verified | Overall a horrible experience. Delayed departure from Frankfurt of more than 1h. Upon arrival in Abu Dhabi, the Gangway did not work, so we were made to wait another 35min before disembarkation. Needless to say the connecting flight to Riyadh was missed but the worst part of it was that the ground staff were completely clueless and hardly helpful. No service quality at all. I have Platinum status of Etihad as a frequent flier, but after that experience and the ridiculously high prices for average to below-average service quality. It looks like the Etihad management is detached from the reality of service the airline is providing in general. A complaint filed with the Etihad Guest Platinum Service, was replied to after 22 days. For me this was my last trip with Etihad.

✅ Trip Verified | Very bad service, not very Clear where to go for Help. Help desk even in security zone to pass by. Overbooking is on regular basis unfortunately. In cabin the service is ok. But airline itself is disaster. No Hotel inside airport so you have to go outside if you miss your flight because of overbooking by Airline and pay meals, taxi yourself.

✅ Trip Verified | Travellers beware when you book flights with Etihad Airlines because they don’t always give you what you paid for. I recently travelled on Etihad Airlines economy space class ticket round trip from Toronto to Calicut, India via Abu Dhabi. The regular economy class ticket is Can$1771 but an upgrade to economy space is Can$2000 more but provides better seats with more legroom for long flights. My economy space ticket cost Can$3100 but on my return flight I was given a regular economy boarding pass and told I would be given an economy space seat only to be told on board the flight that there were no more economy space seats. Once we landed in Canada my legs were so swollen I could barely walk. I’ve called Etihad customer service and was told a manager would call me to sort out the problem. I’ve called every day for 5 days because no manager has called me to remedy or compensate anything whatsoever. They just don’t seem to care. So travellers beware when you fly Etihad Airlines because you don’t always get what you paid for.

✅ Trip Verified | Large legroom for economy seats, attentive cabin crew. Clean cabin and toilets and a very helpful call center. The food and in flight entertainment are not bad but can be improved more.

✅ Trip Verified | Abu Dhabi to Riyadh was booked on March 5 at 9:55pm, instead i changed it to 02:45pm at 11:00AM. I book an extra 15kg weight but it did not go through when the booking was changed. On the booking management website it did not show extras. Out of fear I will arrive to the airport without the 15kg I paid for, it a second time and thought i will request a refund later. When I called the call center, I was met with a concerning attitude from the agent. From the first minute, she had an unwelcoming attitude, followed by a series of unemphatic approach such as us it is your mistake, you should read the terms and conditions, contact the feedback team. Then she said you have a screen shot of the booking management page not showing the error?

✅ Trip Verified | Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam, the boarding process was chaotic, since seats at others were not assigned contiguously or as desired. I was ready to change my seat so that a family with 2 small children would have the space to sleep in row 15. I would like to complain about the staff employed for the 17H ​​area. The board service was unfriendly from the start. No rubbish was cleared away, the service was a disaster. Other guests also noticed this. The staff even commented when serving the drink that this was the last drink, she couldn't keep pouring anything.

✅ Trip Verified | Just had a very disappointing experience flying Etihad’s new business class on their A350. First the good: the plane’s interior design is very attractive. Now the bad: 1) Etihad uses Air India’s lounge at JFK. Seriously? This was one of the dirtiest and least attractive airline lounges I’ve ever been in. We left within minutes of arriving. 2) Many of Etihad’s online systems both app and online - just don’t function correctly. It was not possible to manage any part of my booking online or via the app. Not possible to choose seats or check-in. 3) While the plane is beautiful, scratch and you’ll discover that beauty is only skin deep. Many of the new plane’s innovations do no function properly. Outlets don’t work, the silly built-in phone charger didn’t work, the entertainment controller was extremely unresponsive and didn't work effectively. Seat was not comfortable compared to other business class seats. 4) The bathrooms were not clean and did not function well. 5) Worst of all on this flight was the service. While the flight attendants were nice enough, they didn’t provide some of the basic service I'd expect even if flying economy. Glasses and water bottles were never collected, my empty coffee mug sat on my tray for almost an hour and no one ever thought to ask if I wanted a refill. 6) The cabin was kept ridiculously warm making it impossible to sleep. 12 hour flight without a minute of sleep. In the future, I will stick with Emirates, Singapore and Qatar when expecting a premium airline experience.