Etihad Airways

My experience was very negative about Etihad Airways, this airline has some serious issues with its ground staff. Upon check in at Dulles Airport, I was informed by that Hand Luggage should be not more than 7 Kg. so the first thing we did was to check our Hand luggage which was in the range of 7.25-7.50 Kgs, but the staff of Etihad insisted that it should be 7.0 Kg, not 7.5 even, so we started adjusting the weight in-between the carry-ons like a puzzle game till we manage to have 7.0 Kg exactly by their scale. Another problem was not far away when staff asked me about the (Exit-Rentry Permit) for my wife which is a requirement to travel to Saudi Arabia. I informed her its an Online procedure and they don't issue hard copies, but she kept on insisting that a Hard copy is required otherwise we all be offloaded. I tried my best to explain that it should show on your system, but she never listened to me. As a last resort, I went to the Supervisor who asked me if I have the Residence Permit number, which I had and everything was fine. Now why didn't the lady at the counter ask me this before off-loading me? So we got in the line again for Check-in and went through the tedious process again and I couldn't believe it when they handed me over the Boarding passes. On the departure gate, all our Hand-carry luggage was weighed again, anybody who bought anything from the Duty-Free shop was in trouble. Etihad Airways may have a good in-flight service , but very lousy ground handling staff. That the Last time I am traveling on Etihad Airways.

Flight was comfortable, crew were helpful. Food was very tasty. But the flight was two hours delay in take off. Because of this delay I had only 15 mins to catch my next connecting flight to Chennai. The flight was supposed to take off by 9:30 am but it took off by 11:30am. It's supposed to land at Abu Dhabi by 7:40pm but landed at 9:05pm and my next connecting flight was by 9:30pm. After that I managed to reach Chennai. But I was shocked to know that they did not transit my 4 bags that were left in Abu Dhabi. Then they told me to lodge the complaint on missing baggage. After lengthy procedure they agreed to send my baggage in next flight. All my friends say Etihad Airways is always delayed.

JFK-IKA via Abu Dhabi. On the first flight, seats were very comfortable with usb ports to charge your phone, and the size of the PTV was quite large for economy class. The first meal was delicious, the second meal not so much, but there was a constant flow of snacks during the flight. The staff were kind and helpful. On our second flight which was only 1.5 hours they gave us a meal, and two drink services. I was very pleased with my experience on Etihad.

I booked the chauffeur online over 36 hours before departure, got an acknowledgement that I would be contacted 24 hours before departure, but never heard any more. So I made my own way to the airport as wasn't sure if they would come. Lounge in Heathrow was stuffy, although good service. A380 flight was very pleasant and food OK. Flight attendants friendly enough. A330 to Perth felt claustrophobic and I think is too small a plane for such a long flight. My baggage did not arrive, (was not a tight connection). Many of the other business class passengers bags did not arrive either. My bag arrived 48 hours later, still with priority tag in place. It obviously served no purpose! I felt the service I received as a business class passenger was unsatisfactory and have lost confidence in Etihad.

I have just taken a very long haul flight half way across the world with Etihad in economy, and I am shocked at the service I received. Etihad seriously lacks in a lot of areas. I expected so much more from such a high profile airline. Check-in was the best part as a member of staff noticed I am very tall and sourced an exit row seat for me which I was extremely thankful for as it was a 13hr flight, but the tired Boeing 777 had uncomfortable aged seats and I couldn't wait to land. I selected a non-lactose meal, and it seemed to be half the amount of the regular meal, why is this? I had no bread roll or desert (both didn't contain dairy). On a 13hr flight we were only given two small meals and a snack which was a muffin. I didn't see any attendants for hours in between meals. I only noticed one lot of drinks being bought round, and other customers had to constantly call for drinks and food, and when asked it seemed such a big effort for them. The attendant who served me hardly spoke English, and didn't have a clue what was going on. I asked for a coffee and the cup wasn't even half full. I asked her why, and she said she ran out of coffee! Abu Dhabi airport shops were all high end expensive boutiques, not much opportunities for normal people. Most travelers were swarming the food court and alcohol and tobacco shops, no one was in the expensive ones. Toilets were disgusting! I asked at a transfer desk if there was any way I could get an exit row seat, I was just told "no, the flight is full". Unexceptable in my opinion. It is so uncomfortable and stressful having to sit in a regular seat when you are very tall, it makes the journey a nightmare. The A380 was a nicer plane, but everything else was still terrible - like the first leg. Attendants were rude and unhelpful, they had no sympathy for me being squashed in a normal seat. This was only a 7hr flight but we received more drinks than the 13hr flight? On both flights VOD was awful. I had flown with Etihad a few years ago and it was just the same, but I thought I would try again and see if they had improved due to the new fleet of aircraft, but how wrong I was. Next time I shall fly with Qatar Airways or Singapore Airways.

Clean cabin, attendants kind. Seats were nice, entertainment was fairly good and food delicious. Landed at 7am and generally found it a pleasant flight. However when I departed from the UK with Boeing 777-300ER Manchester to Abu Dhabi I found seat pitch pretty tight and slightly uncomfortable. Next time will probably try Qatar Airways or Emirates.

Automatically upgraded to business class, had a great experience on the overnight flight from Abu Dhabi to Rome. Excellent seats and service. Flight delayed by an hour due to slow boarding, fortunately the pilot managed to make up time in the air.

I recently flew to Dublin from Sydney in Business Class. While Sydney to Abu Dhabi was good, Abu Dhabi to Dublin was a nightmare. In from of my seat was a mother with two small children who screamed or cried almost all of the 7.5 hours or leaned over the back of the seat to knock things off my table or shout. I returned from Rome where I expected an Etihad Airways flight and decided it would be better in economy because at least screaming children are expected there. We boarded what we thought was an Etihad Airways flight, but found it to be Alitalia. The food was inedible, the seats were cramped and really uncomfortable and the crew unhelpful. I did not request Alitalia and after that I never will again fly Etihad Airways if they are partnering with them. In Abu Dhabi we again boarded what was supposed to be Etihad Airways, but this time it was Virgin Australia. They were fine. In Abu Dhabi I tried on three occasions to use my frequent flyer points to upgrade to Business class with frustrating results which ultimately failed and we boarded a fully booked flight to Sydney.

I was upgraded on my flight from Sydney to business class. The plane was brand new, seating great with ample storage and space. I could watch a show/movie on the tv screen and also have the flight path displayed on the controller. The meal and drinks was impressive and offered in the onboard lounge as well. The staff were friendly and attentive. The downside is that internet onboard is paid for and it's quite pricey for what you get overall.

Upgraded to Business using miles as flying economy out of ISB is such a miserable experience in economy. Had been sat in my nice business class seat for less than 2 minutes when the stewardess tipped a full tray of juice all over me! I was soaked! Admittedly it was a stupid passenger that had knocked into her and precipitated the event. However, soaked in sticky juice with another 12 hours of travelling ahead of me was awful. The stewardess was very apologetic and the CSD came to see me and promised all manner of wonderful things when I got to AUH such as the option to shower and fresh clothing being available. Sadly when I got to AUH nothing materialised. I then made my way on my next flight to London having dried out naturally. When I got back to the UK I contacted Etihad's customer service and whilst acknowledging what a poor experience I had endured and whilst espousing how customer service is Etihad's priority, denied my request and offered a partial refund of 10,000 miles - that was the sum total of Etihad's service recovery. Needless to say I have not flown with them since.