Ethiopian Airlines
Reviews and Complaints

I was denied boarding by an incompetent and illiterate gate agent in Cotonou. The agent could not read English and claimed my visa was not valid. Check-in staff later admitted that it was valid after I had been denied boarding and had missed my flight. Ground staff was unwilling to help and issue a new ticket and referred me to the call centre.

The call centre is thoroughly unhelpful as well. They either keep you waiting for hours or claim there is nothing they can do.

I flew Ethiopian Airlines as a Business Class Customer on August 22nd from Washington DC to Lome. I landed in Lome, Togo August 23rd and caught the next flight on ASKY to Abuja, Nigeria. I made the flight but my checked piece of luggage did not.

I called twice to Ethiopian and told two different things: first guy said I needed a file number. So I drove to Abuja airport (2 hour -round trip) to get the file number. Called again and was told to get the baggage claim number which was taken when I completed the missing luggage form. Went to airport to get this number. But no one could help me.

I rode to the Abuja airport 3 different times to find files number, claim number and to pick up the luggage when it arrived.

In the meantime my friend in the area of Lome went to to talk with them at the airport. They said they did not have the luggage and it was still in Washington DC. My luggage finally showed up 4 days later. I am very disappointed and while I need to fly Ethiopian Airlines on my return trip to the states I will never fly with you again.

On 27 April I was booked in Air Ethiopia. I upgraded to business, but then had to change date and upgraded again. They agreed I had overpaid by about 900$ and promised to refund me but never did. No amount of correspondence and phone call helped. They promise to get back to you but never to. Finally they lied that they had refunded they money but never did. They delay, don't answer, make promised they do not keep, have no proper phone service and constantly lie and delay. I would avoid this company.

My client suffered a long denial and access to his luggage and after two days the box was returned damaged, the lead passenger is ADEDEJI ABIODUN. He departed through Ethiopian airline 900 y class by 13:40 on the 7th of August. for Chicago as the destination.

A layover at ADISSA BABA

A change of flight to Ethiopian 516 Y class to Washington, then another Ethiopian airline 1350 to Chicago.

I am filing a SERIOUS complaint about Ethiopian airlines baggage handling section.

name - tessa fraser

ref number - mrktyu

flight number: et309

from: nairobi (nbo-jomo kenyatta intl.)

to: addis ababa (add-bole intl.)

flight number: et847

from: addis ababa (add-bole intl.)

to: cape town (cpt-cape town intl.)

flight number: et858

from: johannesburg (jnb-o.r. tambo intl.)

to: addis ababa (add-bole intl.)

flight number: et318

from: addis ababa (add-bole intl.)

to: nairobi (nbo-jomo kenyatta intl.)

We flew to Cape Town on 7th June 2022 Flight number ET 309 on this flight we had our treasured pram for our 1.5year old daughter. This pram holds so much sentimental value to us as it has travelled so far and to such remote places with us. We even have a photo album dedicated to pictures of this pram and our baby called 'The pramventures'

Anyway, when we arrived in Cape Town on the 7th we were UTTERLY dismayed and shocked to discover the airline had broken the prams front wheel which made the entire pram rendered totally useless. This by the way is not an easy pram to break. We especially favored it for its incredible 4x4 qualities, disc brakes and ability to maneuver through rough terrain as we live on a farm. We were told to report CT baggage handling the incident and leave the pram with them. They told us they would contact the airline with a claim.

In the meantime, we began our (4000km) road trip around SA with our 16kg baby, I am stating her weight because for the next few weeks our entire holiday was ruined by having no pram, we were unable to peruse certain hikes we had mapped out, we had to abandon beach boardwalks and we could not shop or dine out in restaurants as this pram was our baby’s bed

After struggling to reach Ethiopian airlines and CPT airport baggage claim we realized it was hopeless and would not get refunded in time to replace our special pram, so we bought a replacement pram so we could at least enjoy the last bit of our holiday.

The new pram was a game changer, and we were finally able to take walks, do shopping, dine out and enjoy South Africa fully. We never got contacted by Ethiopian Airlines or CT baggage claim so we kept calling and eventually got an email which I can send, it has all the images of the broken pram and confirmation from Cape Town baggage claim. For some UNKNOWN and bizarre reason Ethiopian Airlines said we had no claim and there was nothing they could do even though they had damaged our very valuable property

We decided we would keep following to Ethiopian airlines. In the meantime we ended our holiday and came back to the airport on 4th July to fly on flight number ET 318 to Nairobi via Addis.

CAN YOU IMAGINE our utter shock and disbelief when we landed in Kenya to be told that they had lost our second pram! At baggage claim they then proceeded to tell us there was nothing anyone could do as the pram was nowhere to be found. Whilst checking in at O. R Tambo the lady had put a baggage tag on our pram to be handed in while we board the plane but failed to attach the baggage to our boarding pass. We had seven checked in baggage in total, however when trying to file the complaint in JKIA airport, Nairobi there were only six baggage tags on our boarding pass. Therefore, they told us they could not open a claim.

SURELY there is a reference online to this missing item linked to our check in details?

We have lost TWO prams with this return flight, and we need compensation. Can someone kindly get back to my case and offer a solution as this is extremely disappointing to not only lose one (treasured) pram but two!

We really hope we don’t have to escalate this case and that it will be resolved swiftly.

I have done a family travel booking with Ethiopian airlines some time in early 2020 to travel to Nigeria in December 2020, but Covid-19 pandemic caused the trip to be cancelled and the Airlines refunded our money in full.

Based on the above relationship, I applied to travel to Nigeria through the website on the 18/01/2022 and the cost of the return ticket was 495.00GBP which I paid with my Debit card. This transaction was completed by someone(AJ), who claims to be a Senior Sales Representative of Ethiopian Airlines as attached documents revealed.

My E- Ticket was sent via my email and on whatsApp, also see attached.

Two days to my departure on 07/02/2022, I attempted to check in my luggage,the ticket could not match any check in details with Ethiopian Airlines or any other air lines. All attempts to get in touch with this fellow/Ethiopian Airlines failed as nobody was answering my calls.

My family came to my rescue because at that point I've no money for another ticket, and they secured for me a Turkish Airline flight ticket to make my journey the next day because I must make that trip for obvious reasons.

I've made several attempts to this guy asking for my refund to no avail. In one occasion, he answered and said he will call me back, he never did that. In another occasion, he said he was in a meeting that he'll call me back and that didn't happen and lastly in another call, he said the company is having cash problem, that I won't be refunded with cash, did not say how I will be refunded and said he will call me back and that was the last I heard from him. He does not pick my call and has finally blocked my number. He used Ethiopian Airlines Staff/Air craft as profile pic on the whatsApp, he has removed it.

I humbly appeal to the Ethiopian Airlines Authority to unmasked this person and take the necessary steps to deal with it and recover my money (495.00GBP).

Dear Mr Alemu Temesgen and team,

I have tried and tried to change this ticket with no success.

Ticket No.- [protected]

As you can see by the response from Mr Alemu Temesgen I was informed that I could make, and I quote, " Please kindly be advised that the lalst date you can return from Harare is until 17 Dec, 2022.Un limitted free date change is allowed and you will pay if there is a price difference."

The fact that this has come from an employee of Ethiopian airlines means I have acted by his instruction in waiting to make a change on this ticket. I therefore have legal grounds upon which to act upon if I do not get the change by following his instructions. I waited to make the change within the timeframe he informed me that I had. The fact that your team is now instructing me that this is not true, Is not in any way or form my problem. It is in fact your issue to sort out. I WILL NOT accept anything other than a change of ticket to my designated date within the timeframe that Mr Alemu Temesgen instructed me that I had, which is quoted above.

You cannot treat a paying customer this way, where I have only followed the instruction of a representative of the airline! I have gathered legal counsel on this matter and will pursue that council's advice unless this is sorted out as instructed by Mr Alemu Temesgen Ethiopian airlines directive.

I look forward to a favourable response soon.

Regards

Gabrielle

Good day Sir / Madam

I trust that you will peruse the following complaint and assist me with a positive outcome. If you cannot assist me then please advise me who to contact

A) On 16 October I bought 2 tickets on Ethiopian Airlines to fly between Cape Town [South Africa} and Rome [Italy] on 5 May 2020.

B) In March 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic forced all airlines to stop their flights

C) I was informed by Ethiopian Airlines that the validity of my 2 tickets were extended till 31 December 2021

D) HOWEVER – in +/- October 2021 the new Omicron Covid-19 variant was discovered in South Africa and ALL countries barred South African visitors from entering their countries

E) Italy was one of those countries. So we [still] could not use or rebook our tickets to Rome, Italy.

Based on the situation explained in (D) and (E) above , I wrote an email to Ethiopian Airlines to request that my ticket be further extended as these border closures made it impossible to meet the original extended deadline of 31 December 2021. This was obviously outside of my control.

This is were my complaint actually started

a) On 6 December 2021 I received an email from Ethiopian Airlines CLEARLY STATING THAT THE VALIDITY OF MY 2 TICKETS IS EXTENDED TILL 31 AUGUST 2022 [see email 1 below]. I accepted this email as a extension granted

b) I therefor did not attempt to make a booking before 31 December 2021

c) On 31/01/2022 I wrote to Ethiopian Airlines requesting to make a “new” booking as per the extended deadline of (a) above.

d) On 1/02/2022 I got another email back from Ethiopian Airlines explaining exactly how I must go about to book and pay for 2 new tickets [see email 2 below]

e) THEN, LATER ON 1/02/2022 I RECEIVED AN EMAIL BASICALLY SAYING THAT MY TICKETS HAVE LAPSED ON 31 December 2021.

f) This was unacceptable and I wrote an email to Ethiopian Airlines saying that it was wrong [see email 3 below]

g) On 2/02/2022 I received another answer from Ethiopian Airlines SAYING THAT = “kindly be informed that all tickets from South Africa to all destinations validity is extended up to 31 Aug 22” [See email 4 below]

h) Then suddenly later on 2/02/2022 Ethiopian Airlines [again] informed me that the tickets have expired . [see email 5]

THEREFOR :

Ethiopian Airlines informed me on 3 [three] occasions that my tickets were extended till 31 August 2022.02.04

This clearly caused me T0 MISS THE ORIGINAL 31 DECEMBER 2021 DEADLINE AS I PLANNED TO BUY NEW TICKETS BEFORE THE 31 AUGUST 2022 DEADLINE

I feel that the Airline has been kind in making the original extension but very unfairly and brought me under 3 expectations that the tickets were extended

My request therefor is that the airline honour their 31 August 2022 deadline as proven by their email communication

Thank you very much

Dr JP Muller

+[protected]

[protected]@absamail.co.za

Original e-ticket = [protected]

EMAIL 1

From: [protected]@ethiopianairlines.com

Sent: Monday, 6 December 2021, 20:53

To: Koos

Subject: Re: Covid extended airticket

Dear JP Muller

Thank you for your email!

Kindly be advised that due to the current pandemic the ticket validity is extended until 31 Aug 2022. So you can reschedule your ticket as per this policy.

Note- Fare difference has to be collected (If exist)

Thank you for choosing Ethiopian.

Kind regards

Imran H (Mr.)

EMAIL 2

From: [protected]@ethiopianairlines.com

Sent: Tuesday, 01 February 2022 09:35

To: [protected]@absamail.co.za

Subject: Re: Extended Covid tickets

Dear valued customer JP Muller,

Thank you for your ongoing contact!

Kindly be informed that you can make the booking directly with us or at the local office. You can also make the booking online and hold the reservation, then you need to send the booking code to us to associate with the existing ticket. If you are going to change the destination there might be a fare difference depending on the date which you will change. If you have further inquiries, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Thank you for contacting Ethiopian and looking forward to hearing from you!

Kind regards,

Abenet A.(Mrs)

EMAIL 3 :

From: [protected]@absamail.co.za

Sent: Tuesday, 01 February 2022 15:27

To: '[protected]@ethiopianairlines.com'

Subject: RE: [Message not scanned by Threat Defense] Extended Covid tickets

Good day

This is not correct

Please refer to the email of 6 December 2021 [below] in which Ethiopian Airlines extended our tickets till 31 August 2022

Regards

JP Muller

EMAIL 4 :

From: [protected]@ethiopianairlines.com

Sent: Wednesday, 02 February 2022 11:23

To: [protected]@absamail.co.za

Subject: Re: [Message not scanned by Threat Defense] Extended Covid tickets

Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms

Thank you for your email.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience

kindly be informed that all tickets from South Africa to all destinations validity is extended up to 31 Aug 22

Thank you for choosing Ethiopian and we look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Wondimu Bezabh

EMAIL 5 :

From: [protected]@ethiopianairlines.com

Sent: Wednesday, 02 February 2022 21:35

To: [protected]@absamail.co.za

Subject: Re: New booking on Covid extended tickets

Dear Valued Customer, JP Muller

Thank you for your email.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.

Please note that your ticket number [protected]/[protected] which was issued in 2029 was valid for a travel date until 31 DEC 2021 and for a refund until 31 JAN 2022. Thus, we are afraid to inform you that effective (01 FEB2022) onwards your ticket will not be either cancelled refunded or exchanged for this ticket as per the ticket rule.

Please let us know if there are further inquiries.

Thank you for choosing Ethiopian.

Kind regards,

Tigist Asrat.

I had a flight 9 November 2020 from The Gambia to Addis Ababa. I had four pieces of luggage, one with a fee for being overweight. I was told that I would need to self-transfer at Charles De Gaulle. I was not allowed into baggage claim due to covod restrictions against U.S passport holders. For the entire five hour layover I could get no help and arrived with no luggage. After three days the luggage arrived with the overweight one missing. It is over one year and no resolution. DOT cannot help because it occurred between two foreign countries. I can't find the proper regulatory agency to assist me. This is depressing and disappointing for many reasons.

Complaint- Reservation For Ticket [protected]/10/2021 Return on 19/10/2021

Reference is made to the above-stated complaint. On 12th December 2020, I bought a return air ticket through Opodo for £513. 74 for traveling to Zambia on 2nd February 2021 using Ethiopian Airlines. I however had to cancel the booking due to unforeseen circumstances and rescheduled to travel on 9th March 2021 and I was charged £137.80 as a penalty fee. Because of the Covid19 situation, I again decided to reschedule, and on 20th February 2021, I phoned Traveloflights to change to an open ticket.

During the said phone conversation, Sidney Fosters the agency senior Travel Consultant alleged that I missed my flight on 9th February 2021 which was not the case. I explained to her that it was an error on the Agency's part because I couldn't have canceled a flight for 2nd February 2021 and reschedule it for 9th February 2021. I was then advised to pay £140 to change to an open ticket and I made the said top-up payment. I was further advised that the open ticket will be valid for a year from the day of the first purchase which in this case is 12th December 2020. And I was further advised that whenever I am ready to travel all I needed to do was to notify the Agency and give them my new date of travel. The above advice was also included in the confirmation email sent to me by Sidney Fosters dated 20th February 2021.

On 3rd September 2021, I phoned the Agency to inform them of my new date of travel which is 5th October 2021, and return on 19/10/2021 as advised. To my surprise, I was advised by someone who introduced himself as Austin that I was supposed to pay a penalty fee of £135.40 and the balance for the current ticket fare.
I am very disappointed with that because the ticket I bought on 12th December 2020 is still valid. It was validated by the penalty fee I paid on 20th February 2021 changing it to an open ticket. Why should I pay a penalty fee and why should I pay the difference as a balance to the current fare? To be honest, I am very disappointed and feel defrauded because 5th October 2021 is within the one-year window from the first purchase on 12th December 2020 as advised by Sidney Fosters.

On this same day from about 9.30 am to about 5 pm I made several attempts to phone you (Ethiopian Airlines) but was unsuccessful. This has caused a lot of stress on me because I have already booked my holiday and intend to travel on 5th October 2021 and return on 19th October 2021.

Can my ticket be issued please to facilitate my travel as agreed with the Agency failure to which I will take the matter further citing Traveloflights as first respondents and yourselves as second respondents.

I await hearing from you by 15/09/2021. Failure to which I will buy a new air ticket with a different airline and the costs maybe be your liability as a principal party.

Thank you in anticipation.

Yours Sincerely,
Florence Nsama

Re: Flight to Dar Es Salaam on 15 July 2021 at 21.00

I am writing to make a formal complaint about the conduct of some of Ethiopian airlines' ground staff. I went to Heathrow's Terminal 2 on Thursday 15 July 2021 at around 18.00 hours with my sister as we were travelling to Dar Es Salaam via Addis Ababa departing at 21.00 hours. We had checked in online before arriving at the airport but when dropping off our bags and obtaining our boarding passes my sister was informed that her negative PCR result would not fall within the 72 hours by the time she arrived at Dar Es Salaam and as a consequence she was denied boarding. Prior to this, I had already received my boarding pass but after my sister's refusal, my check in agent revoked my boarding pass also.

Finding ourselves in this stressful and helpless predicament, we frantically sought advice from staff who advised us to ring the PCR testing company to see if they would change the testing time on the certificates. However, this proved futile as this could not be done.

In desperation, we asked a staff member if we could have a PCR test taken at the airport to avoid missing our flight but the woman told us that we wouldn't get the result back for a another two days, which we discovered subsequently was untrue.

We were then advised to go and speak with the person at the ticket desk, which we did.
I explained our situation and asked the man at the sales' desk whether we could alter our flexible tickets so that we could simply travel to Addis Ababa since our flight to Dar Es Salaam was stopping there anyway. He categorically advised us that this would not be possible and told us that all we needed to do was to call the sales' team the following day and re-book our flights. He personally went to cancel out outbound flights, so that our inbound flights would not be affected.

The following morning, I was able to rebook my flight without any complication, apart from the fact that I incurred another £250 which was the difference in flight prices and taxes. My sister however was shown as a no show by the airline and therefore told that her booking had been cancelled. After much stress and discussions with the booking agent, my sister was able to establish that she had arrived at the airport and was able to rebook, also incurring an additional fee of £250.

I must emphasise that my sister who is disabled and susceptible to a lupus flair up when severely traumatised was extremely distraught by a situation which to my mind could have been avoided if staff had given correct information and had not flippantly dismissed a valid PCR which showed that we were fit to fly.

To compound our fury, we were compelled to pay for two further PCR tests at £140 each and upon arrival at Dar Es Salaam, the airport authorities did not even look at our test certificates as we were required to take their rapid test, so it was clear that we could have flown with our original PCR certificates if that member of staff who was clearly intent on being objectionable had not behaved in a difficult manner.

For an airline which I had previously heard positive and commendable reviews about, this experience was not what I expected and I would therefore invite you to investigate this complaint as a matter of urgency as my sister and we had to pay out an additional £780 in total and await hearing from you as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully

Claudia Lord-Lynch

Hello,

The plane had arrive to my next destination (Adis Ababa Ethiopia) and was told we missed our flight because our plane arrived late. The passengers were rushed off the plane and told to run without being explained why .. which was difficult for me because I have health issues, and a bad hip, I arrived to customer service to find out exactly what happed and they were rude, made me feel as it was our fault that we missed the flight, ( which it is was not) did no make me feel as if I was valued customer, no apology was given, no further information was given. I was due to arrive to my destination early Saturday morning.. now I will not arrive until Sunday morning, , I hope that this matter can be rectified and that Training will be giving to customer service people to treat the customer's with respect and I would like to be compensated for my time, apology and compensation ( complimentary Etc.

I let my baggage in Roma when I boarded off airplane for some reason I thought I would check it out at Stanstead airport where I arrived via Ryanair air craft.
I reported this ref: O/FCOET18619 they informed me that Ryanair have been unable to reclaim luggage from Rome after 1 week.
Meanwhile I had been calling daily 44 [protected] speaking to different staff promising me that they are sending emails to the baggage services I will get an email but did not receive any.

I was then informed that my baggage had been send back to Addis Ababa and the manage will send an email to the supervisor to put it on next flight to Heathrow. Again I should get an email nothing happened.

I have failed to log this on the Ethiopian claim form could be the reference no is different.

I am calling the global centre no above they cannot answer my call they ask me to try again.
I am frustrated angry in despair how can the service not answer assist clients or honour what they promise to deliver.
I need my baggage no ET 509596 ticket code ET 401509

Madam, Sir,

Just to mention that,
I had a very Unpleasant Experience today (14.06.2021) with your TELEPHONIC FRONTDESK : Miss EVELYNE…

Such a rude and inappropriate attitude of your collaborator, participates to reduce severely, the capital of sympathy from engaged African Customers, towards your Company.

Hence,
I will Abandon the Flying Ticket i bought from your Company.
You can use it for any other person in need :
Réservation Code = EVVTAK

Sincerely,
Yves Yamgoue.

I reported delayed baggage over 6 months ago and have not received a response . I arrived In Lilongwe on the 6th November 20, my baggage did not turn up until 8th November. I. sent a driver to collect my luggage 10th November. Even though I eventually got my luggage I was told that I if I wanted to claim compensation for my delayed luggage I would need to fill out Baggage Inventory forms
which I did on 12th November 20 and sent to Ethiopian airlines, Golden Peacock mail, Presidential way, ground floor room B-04 box 30427, Capital city Lilongwe 3, Malawi.( by post) [protected]@ethiopianairline.com (by email)

Good Day . During 2019 we booked tickets on Ethiopian Airlines to Prague but due to Covid 19 we had to settle for vouchers which we again used in 2020 to book tickets to Belgium. On [protected] my mother in law staying in Free State passed away, 1000km away from where we stay. Whilst busy with funeral arrangements, five days later my father in law also passed away. We had to pay for everything as they were Government dependent. Six days later, 2021-03-01, my wife went into hospital for major surgery which had complications. Three weeks late 2021-03-23 my wife went in for another major surgery and ended up in ICU. She stayed in hospital for ten days. She has to go back for some more major surgery during July 2021, Covid 19 permitting. We explained everything to Customer service who send us to Cape Town Branch. I travelled to Cape Town 100km away. Got no instant result but two weeks later an email saying we cannot be refunded but should except vouchers. we feel that the latter part is not Covid related and something beyond our control. We used all our savings for funeral costs and certain medical expenses not covered by Medical Aid. We cannot eat or drink a voucher. We need the money. The doctor explained that my wife will not be 100% before over more than one year. Now we are mostly depending on one income and not two. Please refund us our tickets.

On the 14th March my family and I were due to return back to the Uk but we was refused our flight because we had not filled in PLF. We new nothing of this form and whilst we were filling it they made us miss our flight. We returned the following day for the net flight, then they asked us if we had a negative covid test, again we new nothing of these unlawful procedures as they were introduced in January, again we were refused our flight. From the 19th of March Ethiopian airline stopped travel to the UK, and my Family and I are stuck in Ethiopia incurring cost we can not afford, the Customer service we have had to deal with has been nothing but disgusting, dismissive and unhelpful, in fact, they are in the wrong job, what I did learn from them is that they do not want to incur £2000.00 penalty from the UK, even after telling them its going to be a lot worse when you get sued. I would like a refund so that my family and I can get on an alternative with another airline. Stopping anyone from traveling is unlawful and I am entitled to the service I paid for and I did not get it. So please refund me,

Good afternoon

I attempted to fly from London on 20 December 2020 on a one way ticket as I was moving to Zambia. The only way I could get on board was to buy a return ticket and was told to request a refund after I arrived in Zambia, which I did. I made a refund request and this was confirmed in an email dated 6 Jan 2021 and written by Fikir T. The subject of the email is [protected] - TICKET REFUND
I have sent many emails requesting my refund with not even the courtesy of a reply.
On 16 March I received a noreply email from Ethiopian informing me that the flight I purchased back in December has now been cancelled.
So, please advise what happened to my refund

reservation code VXYTQQ
Ticket Number 0712127762129 Paris-Nairobi
Issue date: 16Aug2020
Issuing Airline and Agent: Ethiopian Airlines
Issuing Agent Location: Nimes, France

I bouth a ticket with with Ethiopian Airlines in August 2020 that did not used because reasons related to COVID 19 pandemic. I paid EUR 1174, 27 and the airline reimbursed only EUR577, 27.
The price of the ticket was EUR 704, 27 and they took this amount to deduct a penalty fee to reimburse EUR577, 27. I also paid EUR 470 for luggage and after 6 months requesting reimbursement of this money they said this amount is not reimbursable, which I consider it is totally unfair.

The passenger is my husband, who travelled with Delta on August xx from Melbourne, Florida (USA) with final destination Nairobi (Kenya). He had a lay over Paris, France where they not let him take the connection flight with Air France because his COVID Test has been expired. He had to take a test and stay in a hotel for 4 days waiting for the result. As soon as he got the result he had to travel immediately in a direct flight to be able to comply with the 96 hours valid test required by Kenya. I searched on line and the only direct flight on the same day was with Ethiopian Airlines so I bough the ticket. Minutes later Delta informed they had agreement with Ethiopian airlines so Delta switched the connection flight with Ethiopian Airlines (instead of Air France).

So My husband ended up taking the Ethiopian airlines plane with 2 different tickets. I immediately contacted on the same day to cancel the ticket that i bought and they said I had to wait and request the
reimbursement wich I did, but as I said, 1. they applied a deduction fee stating it was a " No Show", when in fact it wa not the case., and 2. They do not want to reimburse the money I paid por the bags. The people at the Ethiopian airline counter at the airport in Paris did not speak good English and could not understand what my husband explained. They should have realized with his passport on hand that the passenger had 2 ticket for the same flight. Personnel at reservation@ethiopianairlines.com are very polite but I have the impression they do not undersant english very much or they do not care about the issue because they do not get the ideas easily.

I have made this complaint months ago.

Passenger:

APAKI/NICHOLAS

Reservation code:

GRFVKQ

Date issued:

02 Sep 2020

Ticket Number:

[protected]

Invoice number:

0928883

Issuing airline:

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES ENTER

On October 28th, 2020, me and my friend were finally allowed to fly from Benin to Washington D.C. Me and my friend booked a return ticket from Chicago to Cotonou departure was September 18th and return was October 23rd, until I received an email October 14th, stating:

Please be advised that your flight ET916 of October 23rd from COTONOU to ADDIS-ABABA is cancelled and moved to October 24th for your trip. Therefore, you can now travel from COTONOU to CHICAGO(ORD) on October 24th.

I call to change our ticket to the next day, the 24th, it is Chicago to D.C. On October 24th. We went to the airport for check-in but missed the flight because we did not come in with our COVID-19 test. Immediately we rescheduled to the next available flight, which was the 26th.

The problem started when we were about to check in our luggage's for about than four hours waiting at the airport. The airline agents claimed there was no network, so we would have to wait. At precisely two hours before the planned take-off, they started to check passengers in, even though they said they would close checking one hour before the take-off. When it got to our turn, we submitted our COVID-19 test and the young man replied I don't have your name on my manifest. It was a "printed paper" he had, without a computer.

I showed him our electronic ticket, in his words, "but you are not on my list, I remember you, why did you miss your first flight" I responded, how is that supposed to be your business, is this flight free or am the one paying my way. I further said, can you concentrate on getting me on board? He then went and spoke to a co-worker across the counter and asked me to wait.

According to the agent, we are checking from our office, and he asked us to move to the side. After 15 minutes, I went back to ask him for an update; as if they forgot about us, he went back and said, oh! You missed your previous flight, and now you would have to pay for that. I told him I already sorted that out with the customer service online. He would not tell me what the fees would be until about 18 minutes to the closing; each one of us would have to pay 381, 081 local currency, according to them, no credit, debit, or U.S dollars.

He then directed me upstairs, "Ethiopia airline office, " to go seek any possible help. I went to the office, and they agreed to help me if I pay the stated amount, then I demanded a receipt because my trip was business paid. And I said I would have to call the airline for an explanation when I get to the U.S, everybody at that point froze, and the man I was talking to ignored me and started to speak to another client on the phone as it appeared. In the end, we had to miss that flight again.

Finally, we had to reschedule for the next flight for the 28th. On the D day, we got to the airport went straight to the office at the airport. The same man we met said everything looked perfect and that we okay to fly. Even though we did not do anything differently like the last time, just like what happened on the 26th, the airline agent would not begin check-in because the network was wrong. Except for Ethiopia, other airlines were checking in their passengers; this is the tactics they use to put passengers under pressure, thinking they will miss their flight and be willing to bid. I even spoke to another passenger who had to pay whatever extra sum they demanded, and another lady who was crying none stop had to miss her flight.

It was time to check the luggage in; the lady at the counter said my bag went above the allowed pounds, even though the scale had an extra two without anything on it. She said I would have to pay 25, 000 local currency. I told her I did not have up to that. She then said she could only allow me to pay 20, 000. I said, okay. When I reached for my wallet, she said, not now, "go by the AMT machine, put the money inside your passport, and hand it over to me." I was scared and did as she had instructed, then I asked for a receipt, she said, don't worry, you are cleared.

When I got to Chicago, I had called customer service to make my complaint but was issued an email instead. My lawyer encouraged me to send the email. Please, let me know if you need more information.

Nicholas Apaki