Etihad Airways

LHR-AUH-KUL first flight very good because aircraft only half full and plane pretty new. Service efficient and food quite nice in this flight. 2nd leg on older plane more cramped and plane crowded. Staff efficient but less nice. Funny to watch censored version of movies but system was quite good. Better than American carriers not as good as SIA. Emigrating so 30kg better than standard 23kg will be flying soon as far as Brisbane.

Flew Economy recently as part of a Virgin Australia fare Etihad covered the Sydney-Abu Dhabi-London leg on the way to England thankfully just the London-Abu Dhabi segment on the way back. Awful flights would avoid booking with otherwise great Virgin again if we're forced to use Etihad Airways their "code share partner". Very cramped and uncomfortable seats with a lack of legroom for tall people like me. Had a full flight very stuffy and noisy mix of rude passengers. Cabin crew tried but seemed tired and understaffed. Food was good Entertainment system was okay but a more limited selection than Air NZ and other airlines flown between Australia and Europe before. Stopover in Abu Dhabi was terrible on way to London huge lines and delays in overcrowded stuffy terminals to go through passport checks (twice) ground crew were rude. Inflight ads kept going on about how the airline had been named best airline for the umpteenth year running ? Cannot understand why will do best to avoid at all costs in the future.

I found the seat cushion lose from the seat frame it was floating all the time in flight. Only one meal was served between Toronto and Abu Dhabi with a sandwich in a paper bag at the destination. The crew is rude. No water provided for two and half hours as they were busy. At T 3 Abu Dhabi we were herded like cattle before security after arrival for transfer. No rest rooms near departure waiting areas.

BKK-GVA & LON-BKK. I have flown Etihad many times since they first started up and they are getting worse. The price of their business class tickets are now the same as airlines that fly direct. It was worth flying them when they offered a cheaper fare but not worth it now for the following reasons. Lounges both in Abu Dhabi and London a disgrace crowded with useless staff. A new policy that you only get 2 limo transfers per trip I am gold but the person traveling me was not. Bangkok refused to confirm if my travel companion could travel with me on the London transfer. It took 4 phone calls in London to get it sorted. Menu choice is now boring. Entertainment system is full of old movies. The seats on the BKK to AUH sector are old. This airline keeps stating its the best - does its management fly other carriers. The management should also try calling its offices in Bangkok and London and have to wait forever to be answered.

This airline is now black listed on our travels. We were not allowed on the flight due to over booking. There were 4 of us travelling and seats were scattered over the plane. I was not allowed to sit with my wife The vegetarian meal that was ordered at booking and confirmed 5 times at check in even by the airport manager was not loaded. Staff promised compensation but withdrew the offer after the flight had left and we were stranded. Every person we dealt with offered some form of assistance but no one actually did anything after we were out of their line of sight. Do not fly this airline.

MEL-AUH. Flight good service friendly and room to stretch as cabin was very empty. AUH-SYD. At the airport my passport is checked at check in - no problems. Passport control the passport is checked twice. I arrived at the gate 55 mins before flight departure to find a long queue. Before getting to the gate another passport and boarding card check for the name. Then the gate. We waited and waited and waited. Security also waited and waited. There are only two persons manning the gate for a full A340-600 flight to Sydney. I observed both counters. The First and Business counter was taking around 45 seconds to process a passenger. The economy counter was around 1 min 10 sec per pax. Finally I get to the gate counter 5 minutes before the scheduled departure. Again 1 minutes to process my boarding pass and no reason when I asked why they needed my passport. Tthere were 53 people behind me so I knew the departure would be late. Of course it was by 52 minutes. The flight was as good as it could be for an overnight flight with friendly staff and plenty of food.

Our dance team flew from New Zealand to Serbia and back. The staff were friendly and helpful. They even brought us a special dessert and a card to say good luck for the competition we were attending. On the return trip they gave us all a glass of champagne when we took off to celebrate our win at the competition. The food was delicious with great beverages as well. The movie range was large and the seats in economy were fine. We would thoroughly recommend flying with them again.

October 18 Seat 23H Flight EY461. Melbourne to Abu Dhabi. I suppose it is inevitable that comparisons will be made between this flight and the Emirates 777 economy service to Dubai. Having done both now I would say they are fairly level pegging apart from the fact that Etihad uses an A340 600 with a 2x4x2 configuration much preferable to Emirates 3x4x3 for couples. The A340 is very quiet and surprisingly comfortable even on a 14 hour leg. Clients wanting to stopover will prefer Dubai. While boarding was orderly and relaxed the experience was spoiled a little at check-in. I had booked through Virgin Australia using points and pay - and assumed travel on a major partner airline would be seamless. No such luck. First the check-in guy had to call Virgin - then the airport duty manager got involved and eventually phoned Abu Dhabi for approval. Meanwhile we went for a long walk - it was that or be stabbed in the back by the anxious horde waiting to be checked in. Finally all was fixed - but it took about 40 minutes. The welcoming crew were bright and chatty and flight EY461 left Melbourne on time. Note that the bins above the window seats are smaller than the centre aisle. Safety instructions are via animated video and crew demos. The entertainment screens are a good size and the touch system really easy and simple to use. Emirates ICE is also great but the touch controls don't always work all that well. About a half hour out hot paper towels were served and dinner started 40 minutes later. I had Moroccan beef casserole in couscous not the most appealing looking dish but quite tasty thanks mostly to the black olives. I was pleased to see Australian products were used. The meals are medium in size the other noteworthy point is that steel utensils are used. I had a glass of red wine and asked for another when the trays were taken but the bottle had gone. To her credit the hostess did fill my glass later. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with the lot - fine for me. To summarise: Apart from the hiccup at check-in smooth good value flying.

JIA 10/23 to Chicago on American Airlines. Then Etihad on 10/23 flight EY150 Chicago to Abu Dhabi. After seeing the pictures online and flying on what seemed like a lawn dart with AA I was so excited to fly on the Etihad Airways. However that quickly ended as soon as we landed in Chicago and had to get in another line to check in. A man met you before you even went through the line and placed your bag in the carry on stand to check if it fit. After seeing him give one lady a hard time with hers since the handle grazed the side I knew we were done. Sure enough all 4 carry ons we got on fine with AA were "overweight" and exceeded everything else they could possibly find wrong. So $700 later we had to pay for all 4. Absolutely no care about it and the guy needed a manager to override it. She even shook her head at the ridiculous fees but still did nothing. Although they present this put together and professional staff the unfriendly crew poor meals and lack of overhead complements as we saw a few quarrels over space it was anything but. I'd much prefer my laid back friendly JetBlue or Southwest staff any day. Needless to say we plan to travel extensively while living abroad in AD but will not use Etihad again.

When checking in early at Sydney airport we asked for the bassinet we had requested with the booking for my wife and young children. Unfortunately this couldn't be arranged for their connecting flight in Abu Dhabi. A little confused we asked how they could all be gone 14 hours before that flight. We were told they had been reserved. I understand that airlines have different bassinet policies and accept that. Over the next 2 hours we were told it was our fault for not buying another seat that they wouldn't have a look to see how full the 2nd flight was and they wouldn't speak to our travel agent who was trying to help us. Finally with my children distressed and my wife in tears she simply said she couldn't fly so we went home.