Etihad Airways

✅ Verified Review | Flew Etihad Airways from Bangkok to Abu Dhabi. Check in was smooth in BKK and we were given priority access in immigration and security. Unfortunately EY uses the Louis Tavern lounge and there is not much to speak about this lounge. We boarded and the plane took off on time. Service was efficient and the crew were very nice. We landed ahead of time but had to wait for a long time on the runway as there was no gate available. Worse still our luggage, in spite of having priority tags, were among the last ones to come.

✅ Verified Review | I often fly Ho Chi Minh city to London via Abu Dhabi, and this is the third time on Etihad. Previously the food has been fine but this time the meal provided did not match the menu in any way except the kind of meat it included. I tried 2 meal options and both were disgusting and not at all what you would expect from a quality airline. I spoke to the cabin manager who was very helpful and kind and offered me extra snacks if I wanted. She explained that Etihad had previously had all catering in this route done in Abu Dhabi but they had just started to get it from Saigon. I am a frequent domestic flyer on Vietnam Airlines and the food is nothing special but what was provided to Etihad Airways was so below even Vietnam Airlines standards that I am amazed more people did not complain. Once I switched to the Abu Dhabi to London flight everything was normal and fine again.

Abu Dhabi to Cairo. As a Etihad gold guest member I was unable to take my daughter into the lounge prior to boarding from Abu Dhabi airport. Although a few weeks earlier I was able to take her into the lounge when flying from Abu Dhabi to Sydney in Sept 2016. Apparently it depends on the mood and the person behind the desk to check you in. My friend who was also a business class passanger and a gold member left the lounge and waited by the gate for over and hour and a half. The lady at the lounge said " oh don't worry it's not a long wait, you'll be boarding soon as you have to take a bus to the aircraft". Very disappointed.

✅ Verified Review | Doha to Islamabad via Abu Dhabi. Worst experience this time, its not the 1st time I've been on this airline. Before this I use to enjoy the trip but with the passage of time the quality of service they are providing got lower, especially the quality of meal. At Abu Dhabi airport for connecting flight you always had to cross half of the airport. If you landed at terminal 1, for sure your next flight will be at terminal 3. Completely tiring and disgusting thing.

✅ Verified Review | Singapore to Rome via Abu Dhabi. This review is not so much about the flight but more about the rudeness and lack of service. As a business class flyer you pay a premium for the little things such as seats, chauffeur pickup and service. Our experience so far has been far from what we thought Etihad would deliver. In Singapore the allocated pickup time for the chauffeur was not suitable so we spent time calling and explaining this and requesting another time. We understood that this had been done and waited the following day for the car, which never arrived as it was not changed as per the conversation we had, so we had to make our own way to the airport. The flight from Singapore to Abu Dhabi was fine but the staff were not friendly. The staff and food from Abu Dhabi to Rome was much better and pleasant. In Venice, we called Etihad to book the chauffeur service and were told it by their staff to call Alitalia as it was a Alitalia flight even though we booked and paid through Etihad, it is an EY flight number, plane and ticket. The care factor of the staff member was zero. We then had to call Alitalia. After four separate conversations and Alitalia confirming the water taxi on a return phone call, we have now been advised by the external company that we have a car booked. We explained it is Venice and we need a water taxi and that this was confirmed by Alitalia staff to be told by the external chauffeur company that we have to pay our own way to a designated meeting place on land to take a car. Numerous emails later and lots of time later, we are now left with no chauffeur service and each company blaming each other. If this is the business class service you get with Etihad then is it any wonder people choose to fly their competitors. We are Platinum and Platinum Plus flyers and travel constantly and wanted to experience Etihad. But we have been so disappointed in Etihad's service and the extra costs we have incurred. When a service is advertised as part of a ticket price and is listed on their and/their partners websites it should be delivered.

✅ Verified Review | Hong Kong to Munich via Abu Dhabi. Not what I expected. Aircraft was OK, as with most A330's/A340's with 8 seats abreast. Lighting was good, it has different colour of lighting that is dimmed enough to create a lighting environment to sleep, and the other good thing is that the lights are pretty much always dimmed. IFE had good movies, live TV on the HKG legs which was pretty cool. What's really bad about IFE is that it doesn't turn on until like 30 mins after take off, and it shuts down well over 30mins before landing. It's 2016, I thought airlines could manage better. What was also below expectation was the flight attendants. The AUH to MUC leg was the best, I felt like attendants were happy and cheered up, but the others I felt like I shouldn't bother them for anything, they just don't smile. One occasion there was a slight misunderstanding in what drink I wanted - no worries I just asked again, in a friendly way, but the response was "you said you wanted xxx" in a frustrated expression.

✅ Verified Review | Return flight from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok. Ground service was great on both flights, we were 4 people and we asked to cheange seats succesfully. Outbound flight was in the morning, I enjoy entertainment and food was good. Return flight was during the night, seats were comfortable and breakfast was good. Cabin staff very friendly. Definitely very good carrier.

✅ Verified Review | Flew Etihad from Abu Dhabi to Beijing. Yet another bus trip halfway to Liwa to reach the plane on departure from, and return to Abu Dhabi - the latter particularly chaotic. To be fair, as observed previously, all the Middle East airlines love the bus. Notwithstanding, on-time departure and arrival in both directions. Seating in the cheap seats I found to be cramped compared to the Chinese domestic airlines I later experienced, and the 330s are definitely showing their age. I'm not liking Etihad's practice of throwing out my 'special meal' (vegetarian) - which was fine - as if I and others have some form of disease therefore not worthy of a drink with our meal. Qatar arrange to serve special meals with all others so this is purely down to Etihad's idleness. I didn't notice the crew, which is a good thing. Temperature far too cold on the return flight.

✅ Verified Review | Bangalore to San Francisco via Abu Dhabi. he staff was not at all welcoming and lacked courtesy. The food was okay and they provided the meal selection that I made at the time of booking. The flights were on time. Not many movies of interest to me, and the headphone jack had a problem! So overall quite a bad experience.

✅ Verified Review | Johannesburg to Frankfurt via Abu Dhabi. The main reason to chose Etihad was the price, and despite the overall longer travelling time (at least 6 hours to FRA) it was worthwhile. The seating in economy class is never great, but Etihad seem to make to make it tolerable. The A330 2-4-2 configuration is pleasant enough if you travel with a partner and manage to get a window an aisle seat. Overall not a bad experience. All flights departed on time and arrived slightly ahead of schedule. Cabin service friendly, efficient, and helpful. Quality of food above average. In flight entertainment offers more than enough options. Overall a very positive experience, and one needs to consider the price of the ticket. For around EUR 500 return you can't expect business class service, and any review must take this into account. Flown business class on Etihad before, and that is a different story altogether (in a positive meaning). Just one negative remark. On the return flight from FRA to JNB we exceeded the luggage weight limit by 1.5 kgs between the two of us (i.e. 750 grams each!), and the check in clerk forced us to to unpack two books and transfer them to our hand luggage. I agree that there must be a limit, but a little bit of leverage would really be appreciated. On the other side, when you see what some passengers bring on board as hand luggage, you wonder how they got away with that.