Etihad Airways
Reviews and Complaints

I purchased a return ticket of Etihad Airways (ticket No.607-[protected], reservation No.EY/X7TTBT) from Tripoli Libya to Lahore Pkistan.I have been travelled from Tripoli to Lahore on dated 08-06-2012. My return date from Lahore was due on 06-07-2012 which i couldn't travel due to my sickness. Many times, i tried to contact with Etihad airways Lahore office by phone but didn't get line (you can also check toll free line, nobody can contact by phone). On dated 06-07-2012, i went myself to Etihad Airways Lahore office and requested them to extend my reservation date on end of July 2012. They were told me that i must pay them (16000-Pk.rupees) and these are our service charges. So, i have to pay them. Now, i am asking to your good office that what is this, please send me full details. In previous, I always travel by Emirates Airline, many times i extend my due dates but they never asked me about extra charges. I hope that, if your airlines always follows the rules & regulations of this kind, i am looking no more future of this kind airlines.

We were delayed due to weather on American Airlines.
As soon as we landed in Chicago we checked the status of our etihad flight, which was shown as being an hour late. Seeing his we were relived that we will be able to catch our flight. But on reaching the Etihad counter around 8:10 pm we were told that the plane has already left the gate. Up until this point we were calm and readily accepted the circumstances. There was a couple traveling business class who were told the same thing, but after 20 minutes or so the business class passengers were escorted to plane right in front of us.

Now, this obviously makes many things apparent. Firstly, the Etihad staff lied to us about the planes leaving the gate for takeoff. Secondly, business class passengers are given special privileges while boarding and on-board flights but in this case economy class passengers were not even allowed to board a flight that was still standing at te gate and not scheduled to takeoff till an hour later. On asking the staff there, we were told that it was the manager's (Micheal Reynaldson) decision to let the business class passengers board. The manager wasn't there at the counter the entire time that we were there so we couldn't talk to him.

Along with displaying an indifferent, arrogant and rude behavior, the Etihad staff was not ready to communicate with us. At one point they all left us waiting and went inside the office and we could hear loud bursts of laughter which felt as if they were making fun of our situation.

We were traveling with an 18 month old child since morning and the least that the staff could have done was be polite, courteous and honest. We would have understood if we were told that our seats had been given to others but yr dishonesty and unprofessional attitude makes us not want to fly Etihad again or even recommend to anyone else.

If a company has customer service and satisfaction as one of the top priorities, then we would not have been treated this way. By talking with other friends and relatives we have come to know of many other such unpleasant experiences. I had high expectations from this airlines as I have lived in Abu Dhabi for 14 years and absolutely love the city. Unfortunately, my very first experience has been extremely disappointing.

Yesterday's ey0558 flight from erbil to abudhabi was scheduled at 15:45 hrs and upon reaching the airport, it was informed that the flight preponed and left before noon. Called few people in the airlines and they informed that they cannot do anything, you may call dubai office or pay extra for next day's flight etc etc.
I met few other passengers who had same experience becuase of the same issue.

I am a frequent flyer and decided not to fly in etihad any more and also decided to discourage others to choose the same. Now booked in a different carrier to fly today evening.

During the first week of March, we at the office made a booking for a return ticket at Etihad Airways for the Managing Director of the company.

We received a quote for the return ticket, stating that the total cost would be just over R5000.00. I proceeded to do the payment with the business credit card.

Two days later, our Managing Director was contacted by the Fraud Department at the bank. They informed her that a payment of over R12000.00 had gone through to Etihad Airways.

I immediately contacted the Airline again, and confirmed the total cost of the ticket with them (again I was told that it was only supposed to be just a bit more than R5000.00).

However, the consultant could not resolve the query over how it had happened, then, that a double payment had apparently been taken.

Over the next week or two, my colleague and I have been incessantly trying to contact Etihad airways. However, no-one has been of any assistance to us.

On the last occasion, I was given an e-mail address to which I could send an enquiry, and was assured that the matter would be looked into. The consultant even acknowledged receipt of my e-mail before he forwarded it to the relevant authorities.

In the meantime I have re-sent the e-mail numerous times, each time the message turned out to be "undeliverable".

I am really at my wits' end at the moment.

Please be advised that I’m here complaining against your airline for making a cancellations without notification which cause below situations:
 Delay at work in Abu Dhabi
 Spend money to go back to my village from Tripoli Libya airport
 Putting stress on me.
 Inconvenience.

For these reasons, I would like to request the company to take the accountability at least to pay the status situation in the monetary and stop this from happening again to all potential passengers to satisfy my quench even though the money cannot compensate the suffering, I have incur.
Your cooperation to sort out this issue would be highly appreciated in order to meet the international of MOTO “CUSTOMER IS A KING”.
Best Regards

SALEH/MOHAMED MR 17FEB TIP AUH
________________________________________

ETIHAD AIRWAYS DATE 13FEBRUARY12
MADINAT ZAYED BOOKING REF 8OJKK8
OPP.ZAYED SHOPPING CENTRE
ABU DHABI SALEH/MOHAMED MR
TELEPHONE: +[protected]
FAX : +[protected]
EML:[protected]@ETIHAD.AE

SERVICE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE
-------------- ------------------- --------------------- -------- -------
ETIHAD AIRWAYS - EY 688
FRI 17FEB TRIPOLI LY ABU DHABI AE 1345 2045
TRIPOLI INTL INTERNATIONAL
NON STOP TERMINAL 3 DURATION 5:00
NON SMOKING
RESERVATION CONFIRMED- U ECONOMY
ON BOARD: MEAL
EQUIPMENT:AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A330-200

RESERVATION NUMBER(S) EY/8OJKK8

SALEH/MOHAMED MR TICKET:EY/ETKT 607 [protected]

TICKET IS NON-REFUNDABLE IN CASE OF CANCEL/REFUND
CHARGE AED 300 FOR REISSUE/REVALIDATION
CHARGE AED 200 FOR NO-SHOW
CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK TO ACCESS YOUR ONLINE ITINERARY :
WWW.CHECKMYTRIP.COM/CMTSERVLET?R=8OJKK8&L=GB&N=SALEH

I have recently purchased a ticket online (using my friend credit card). After I completed the purchase, Etihad had sent me a purchase confirmation email reminding me to bring a copy of the credit card I used for this purchase.

Etihad emplyee refused to board me to the flight as he wanted the "original credit card" and did not accept a copy of the credit card or the card holder ID. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

They were claiming that the bank did not process the payment and [censored]ged as fraud! Few days later, I got the bank statement and in fact Eithad did get the money and that purchase was a successful transaction. But with them you can no way get your money back...

By the way... I have all evidence and documentation that proof that payment was received by Eithad. But they simply wanted to defend their employees. check the attachement

They forced me to buy a NEW one from the airport. I paid double the price.

I don't recommed this airline to anyone... My recommendation is pay little extra $ and fly EMIRATES much much reliable.

cheers, Anas

[protected]@hotmail.com

When Etihad food poison you they WILL refuse responsibility completely unless you can provide a sample of the meal that poisoned you. (not easy 5 hours after the event when you suddenly realize your ill JOKE - Not even a free drink as compensation for leaving you sick with side effects for over a week. You have been warned. there are better airlines with better service who dont ask you for samples of the food they supplied you. I gave them 10 days and 5 emails to rectify the situation and all they did was say "not our fault." - NOT GOOD ENOUGH. It clearly was your food. NEVER FLYING WITH YOU, EVER AGAIN.

We are a group of customers affected by the chaotic actions of Etihad
Airways in relation to reservations made, paid for, confirmed, then
cancelled by Etihad Airways in a most unprofessional and careless
manner.

Situation is as follows:

On Sunday, October 23rd, each of us proceeded to individually purchase
tickets for flights departing Madrid and Barcelona, with final
destination Sydney. These flights were reserved and paid for at the
fare specified by Etihad Airways, both through Etihad's own online
booking portal and through third parties such as lastminute.com or
edreams.es. Those tickets were mostly for First class tickets or
Business class tickets. Again let me stress that the price for these
tickets was specified by Etihad, not by ourselves, the customers. It
was an admittedly low fare of around 320 euros roundtrip, but who are
we to argue with Etihad's website?

At that point some of us proceeded to contact Etihad in order to check
if our reservations were correct and confirmed, in order to begin
making arrangements for what was supposed to be a pleasant flying
experience and an enjoyable stay in Sydney. Every step of the way
Etihad Airways behaved as if these reservations were perfectly OK,
sending confirmation mails, adding our itineraries to their systems
and all the time confirming that the transport contract was absolutely
correct. Some of us even went beyond what could be normal customer
behavior and double-checked with Etihad if the price paid was correct
and if there would be any problem with our tickets.

Etihad assured us that there would be no problem with the tickets and
the price paid for them. We trusted Etihad and most of us started
making arrangements. Probably a mistake, trusting Etihad that is.

Few days later, the first person that had bought a ticket departed
Madrid enroute to Brussels on a Brussels Airlines flight (codeshared
with Etihad), business class seat, no issues at all. No warning of any
problems, nice service, excellent start of what was to become a
chaotic flying experience. At his arrival at Brussels Airport he saw
an Etihad employee displaying a sign with his name on it and the tag
"Diamond Class" (First class product of Etihad). Assuming this person
was there to help him, he introduced himself and this employee told
him the following:

-That his tickets had all been cancelled because the fare was too low.
-That he would be reassigned to Economy Class (double downgrade from
First Class).
-That he could request an upgrade to Business Class (not to First) if
there was room.

From that point on, it seems someone in Etihad Airways decided, after
more than a week had passed, that the tickets we bought had been too
cheap, and they could perhaps cancel all of them, resell them at a
higher price and get away with it.

Etihad has been sending progressively more aggressive communications
to all of us, stating what they term "compensation options" that are
basically neither compensations nor options in our opinion. Etihad
Airways has even gone as far as hiring a law firm in Spain that
proceeded to send us a threatening letter.

What follows is a quote from that letter's final paragraph:

BEGIN QUOTE
We are instructed to vigorously defend any claim that is pursued
against Etihad. Furthermore, we note your threats in terms of alerting
the press and social media and we are instructed to carefully monitor
any comments that are made and Etihad reserves the right to pursue
legal action against you if any comment is defamatory or is published
for the purpose of damaging Etihad's reputation.
END QUOTE

We honestly consider the only thing damaging Etihad's reputation is
Etihad's own behavior. We are merely the victims of Etihad's policy,
which seems to consist of the following two tenets:

-If you see a good price for an Etihad flight, you may as well forget
about it, they won't honour it.
-If by any chance, you still go ahead and book it, pay for it and
confirm it, your ticket may get cancelled if Etihad has found someone
that will pay more cash.

A purchase is a purchase, not a bid.

booking refernce:8E5HAK
abu dhabi to peshawar, 6yh november, sunday, coral economy class
EY 261
E-ticket:607-[protected]

flight staus has changed without prior notification.
i booked ticket 2 months before to go for eid to my country after long wait'
etihad airwys give me sever mental toture before my flight and it cost me much more costly ticket in emergency

I travelled on Etihad airways in December via Abu Dhabi and also back on 26th December. On going on the EY601 to Abu Dhabi (a long haul flight) my television screen froze, I told the air hostess who said she would redo them all, still it did not work...in fact I had no entertainment on the whole of the journey of around 10 hours.
After reading all about Etihad and it was the airline of the middle east I was very disappointed in my flight.

We also thought the food on the shorter flights was not up to scratch. I would not travel on this airline again.

I want to take the opportunity to congratulate the UAE government and its people for their great achievement, making the Emirates, one the most modern and prominent countries in the world, and a pioneer in the Arabian Peninsula. However, I consider it as my duty to make you aware of matters that do not seem in harmony with such a noble image, involving the airline company: Etihad and its transfer desk at the Abu Dhabi international airport. The following lines describe a possible instance of unlawful, abusive and perhaps discriminatory practices, associated with harassment and intimidation, by the staff of the Etihad transfer desk at the Abu Dhabi International Airport, with an individual named Mr. Rajeev at the forefront.
On April 26th 2011, my wife, Mrs. Adrienne Davie Arevalo, started her journey at the NIA airport International in Manila on board of EY423, going to Pristina in Ex-Yugoslavia, with two stops over, one in Abu Dhabi and another in Istanbul. All flights were booked and confirmed. And Mrs. Adrienne was in possession of valid Philippine passport, secondary identification and entry documents to her final destination. However, when arrived at Abu Dhabi, the Etihad transfer desk refused to issue the hard copy of her next flight EY4151 to Istanbul, arguing that one of her air carriers: Tam regional AtlasJet KK625 was not recognized and not found on their system. Notice that Atlasjet KK625 is not associated in any way with Etihad Airways. The points of origin and destination of the flight were all located in Europe and didn’t involve any UAE territory. The help desk forced Mrs. Adrienne to miss her flightEY4151 scheduled on April 27th at 0245and pressed her into booking another flight to replace the AtlasJet KK625 that the staff didn’t find or didn’t like.
I personally booked two other flights one from Istanbul to Zurich with Swiss air and the other one for Zurich to Pristina via Zagreb with Croatia Airline to solve the problem. The help desk had also rescheduled the Abu Dhabi Istanbul flight. When came time to board the new Abu Dhabi Istanbul flight on April 27th at 0950, the help desk denied her the ticket one more time, pretexting that while the Swiss air E-ticket was ok, the Croatia Airline flight number was not specified on the confirmed reservation. Notice that Croatia Airlines is not related in any manner to Etihad Airways and this part of the trip was completely taken place in Eastern Europe. When she finally got the information and the printed E-ticket, the flight to Istanbul was already gone. She has to spend more than 48 hours for a connection that was supposed to last about an hour, under harassment, intimidation and even threat of deportation. Notice that she was only in transit in Abu Dhabi and that all the issues brought up by the desk pertained to transactions with other airlines that are not related to the Etihad or the UAE in any way. Eventually, she rebooked another flight from Istanbul to Pristina with a Hungarian airline, scheduled on April 28th, 2011, which finally satisfied the help desk staff.
Any reasonable and prudent individual would understand such harassment if it was related to some immigration or legal issues. But, Mrs. Adrienne was only in transit with valid identification and entry authorization to her final destination. Mrs. Adrienne did have valid flight confirmations in all segments of her journey, confirmed by printed itineraries and E-tickets. Mr. Raj and the help desk staff were not acting as law enforcement, unless they had authority to do so. However, even in this case, they still need a probable cause which can be hardly found in this case.
I travel frequently to the UAE and do appreciate the quality of service of the air transportation industry in general. In fact, the world had recognized the national UAE carrier Emirates airline as the Airline of the year 2011 and in 2010 it ranked 8th among the best airlines in the world. However, apparently not all the flight operators are committed to the same high standard. Some manifestly disregard the provision of the transport regulations civil aviation(TA 029/07: passenger protection), the fundamentals of good customer services and the best practices of the air transportation industry.This fact seems also partly confirmedby customer reviews about the Etihad airways over the internet.Instead of joining the ranks of the displeased customers, I decide to formally address this complaint to whom it may concern.

My expereience with Etihad airlines would be the first and the last after July 9, 2011. My family and I have been travelling to India from Canada for the past 10 years, several times. Sometimes, several times in a year. We have always travelled by Emirates and had the best possible service.
This year my dad decided to book with Etihad to see how the flight would be and we got the ticket for a little cheaper (as there was a cancellation).
Issue:
My brother and I were late at the baggage area of the airport by three mins. Though we had already checked in (via online), they did not make any effort whatsoever to check the baggage in. There was not one person at the counter to help! Not one. By the look of the surroundings, it looked like they had closed the area before the actual time (before 9:45 pm). There was one Etihad staff walking around. So, we go to him asking for help. He did not give us any help, no contact information, no resources on what to do next. All he said was, "You have to re-book".
Once I got home, I called the toll-free number of Etihad airlines. I was put on hold for over an hour! In the end, I decided to leave a voice message. I also emailed them regarding our problem. After four days, I still have not gotten any response from them.
I decided to leave feedback on their website. Left three complaints regarding their crew, their customer service, and their response to complaints. I stil have not recieved any response.

After contacting our travel agency, we are required to pay $575 per person (total $1150) to rebook a flight, just cause we missed the flight by three mins! That's heartbreaking. We don't have that much money right now. And, if we cancel the tickets, then we are losing about $1400 dollars.

If there's any possible way, someone can help us by forwarding this message to the rightful owners and get us some help, it would be much appreciated.

Thank You,
Nithu Thonichalil

I have Lost one Baggage during my flight from Abu Dhabi to Beirut with my family as a visitors to Beirut.
Four baggages out of five were received at the destination point last 26 June, 2011. Till date there is no call /response received from Etihad airlines nor acknowledging what is the next process.
I called the baggage lost centre in Abu Dhabi, asking to be compensated for not having my stuff for my trip daily use but the one answering the phone pretend deaf and not giving neither a comment nor an apology for the fault of losing the baggage

I got a compensation ticket from Etihad (USD 200) when one of my Bombay flight had overbooked they had re alocated me on to another flight. In that Compensation ticket, it is mentioned that you can exchange it for taking ticket, use it for extra buggage allowance etc. In that ticket it had not mentioned its expiry date. Last when I had travelled to India, I have extra luggage of 3 KGs & tried to pay the money with that compensation ticket at Abu Dhabi airport. The extra baggage collection team at Abu Dhabi airport refused to accept the compensation ticket & nobody from Etihad airways are ready to give me written answer. They are telling we cannt accept this compensation ticket offer which had 1 year old date. Please note thta in that ticket no where it is mentioned its expiry date.I would like to know is there any expiry date? If yes why does it is not mentioned in the ticket?

i have a complain to etihad airways.i was traveling on 19 june 2011 by etihad from karachi to abu dhabi.when i reached home and opened my bag then i see that all gold jewellery of my wife was not there.we lost our gold jewellery by travelling etihad air ways.our bag was locked but some one opened our bag by any trick and stole our things gold jewellery and camera. in my jewellery box there was 6 bangles of gold, 3 chain & locket and 4 rings & 2 ear stud.we hope you will help us.
date : 19 june 2011
flight No : EY 222
time of deposit bags : 3 : 00 AM
timeing of flight : 5 :50 AM
baggage number : EY 002369
my name is Irfan ur rehman khan

Paid $3000 dollars for return flights to Ireland last week. They have my money but have not issued me with flight details. I have talked to 14 different people from Etihad. They accept that they have received payment form me, but they never booked the flight. Now they want another $200 as flight cost as increased while we were trying to sort out problem. I have told them I just want my money back so I can book with a different company. I have been told that it will take 10 working days for money to be repaid to me. Over the past few days I have been told numerous times I would be emeailed by them or my calls would be returned...none of these things happened. It is by far the worst customer service I have experienced

I booked an airline ticket over the phone with Etihad, using my ADCB credit card. I was entitled to a 10% discount which i have not yet received. Both these BIG companies in the UAE have sneaked out of giving the discount - each one blames the other after having blamed me! They are pathetic, cheating, lying ###, who have eventually resorted to making up a story about the fine print which is in their terms and conditions - i asked for it to be made available but not forthcoming.
My ticket cost more than AED 9000, which when i paid for, asked the Etihad consultant to make sure that i get my discount. This is recorded, and easily accesible. NOBODY RETURNED MY CALL EVEN AFTER ME REPEATEDELY CALLING ADCB AND ETIHAD. THIS POOR SERVICE DOES NOT BELONG IN THE UAE - I WILL HEREAFTER CHANGE MY BANK AND CANACEL MY TICKET AND NEVER EVER, FLY WITH ETIHAD AGAIN. LIARS AND STEALING IN A MUSLIM COUNTRY! :(

On 29-04-2011 I approached to etihad airways lahore – pakistan office and met ms. Fauzia bashir who gave me a return ticket of 02-05-2011 and asked me to deposit an amount of rs. 33, 210.00 I gave her my wife’s visa card. She took it and go to the machine and later on she asked me that this card is of your wife that is why we have to get your own card or cash. She again made some calculations and asked for rs. 34, 980.00 in cash. I paid rs. 34, 980.00 in cash and received my ticket. After getting free from meetings I was just informed by my wife that etihad airways lahore – pakistan office had deducted rs. 33, 210.00 from her account as the transaction is showing the fact from his account statement and they had also received from me rs. 34, 980.00 in cash.

my dad mr baboo khan 70 years old and my mom fatima baboo khan 56 years old was traveling on 13th of april 2011 at 9.25 am. from manchester to abu dhabi to eithad airways flight no, Ey 16. when my older parents gone to the check out than lagauge was 3 kilo over than your staff were very rude and said tack 3 kilo out or pay some money. but accent was very rude behavior. than my dad and mom took some stuff out and stay in the qeue again after 25 minut they serve same checkout again and this time only 0.7 kilo over than your staff very very rude again. then i was very angry because of him rude behavior and i asked can i speak to manager than he call 2 more lady and i request my parents very old and they cant stand in the qeue again its only now 0.7 kilo over lagage and they got 2 tickets thats mean they only 0.3 kilo over. please leave them to go. but sam thing again they were very strict very rude and they said no. leave the counter and move from here. then i said no i want to speak to the manager then we will move from here then 1 lady gone to manager and dont know whats shes said to manager and 1 man come to me he s name is Jamal and he was the manager and he;s catch my shoulder and push me away from the counter i told him dont tuch me but he done it again and said move from here he was very aggrissive very rude . this is very very poor service of staff. then i call the police and told to police mr jamal is manager of the eithad airways counter at this time and he pushed me . and i also made my complaint to manchester police. and police spoke to at this time supervisor she is call Vicky. and also i made my report to her. a very very big air line staff working like this. this is very very shame full. and also provide you name of the staff they involed this incedent. 1 MR JAMAL 2 ANDREW 3 JADE 4 FREYA. they all 4 people involed in this incedent. can you please tack my this complaint very seariously because this is abuse my family by eithad air ways staff. thanks

My name is David Andrew Fuller. I am a British citizen working in Thailand. I am writing to complain about my return flight from Manchester to Bangkok. I work for a prominent school in Bangkok and I usually volunteer full time during April as it is my school’s main holiday. I returned this year to England to see my new born nephew.

During my stay I received an urgent message that a volunteer had not shown up and I was need back at the school quickly. I called the Ethihad number and asked if I could alter my return ticket. I was told that I would have to pay extra 140 pounds for an upgrade. I didn’t want an upgrade but was reassured that I would have a higher baggage allowance, so I agreed to the upgrade.

I then used my extra baggage allowance to purchase second hand (cheap) books for the poor school I volunteer at. I was even asked to purchase some prizes which could be awarded to the students who had improved the most. The total cost of these book and prizes came to about 20 pounds.

When I arrived to collect ticket I was told I was only upgraded to another level of economy and was not entitled to extra baggage. I voiced my concern about my bag weight to the ticket office but was told to talk to the check-in people. When I checked in I was charged 260 pounds for extra baggage. I was told to pay the fine or throw away the books and prizes. I remade calm I explained what I was told when I booked the ticket but the man in charge was not interested, he claimed there was a miscommunication to me but I was told to pay the fine or leave the line.

So I paid 140 pounds for an upgrade I didn’t want and 260 pounds for extra baggage I would never have bought. The final cost was almost as high as the original return ticket going both ways.

I felt that no one wanted to deal with this problem and I was been pushed away with no help or explanation. Each station just wanted my money and to get rid of me. The standard answer to my questions was “Go to the website”.

A similar event happed to a fellow teacher traveling on Emirates Airline. The teacher explained he was carrying materials for a charity school and the airline found a way to help the teacher.

My experience was that no-one was willing to listen, explain anything to me, or take responsibility for their actions. I was even asked why I was not returning to England afterwards and asked to prove that I was employed in Thailand even though I have the relevant visa and work permit!

Then when I arrived at Abu Dhabi I was told that I could not board my connecting flight as I didn’t have a valid ticket. I was told to leave the line and wait. After waiting for an hour where I was told that I may not be able to take my flight, I was then told that the mistake was made in Manchester and I could board the plane. Again, no apology or explaination.

I have been traveling between England and Thailand for the past 10 years and this is my worst experience ever. I usually travel with Emirates but my travel agent suggested Etihad as an alternative. This was a decision which I regret and will not be using this airline again. If it had been clearly explained to me when I phoned to alter my ticket none of the following mistakes would have happened. I should have realized that I was dealing with someone with communication difficulties after giving my reference 3 times to the phone operator.

I will now be unable to return to England next year as I had to use 3 months salary to cover the extra cost I have incurred trying to return to Thailand. In my opinion a sign of a good company is how it deals with problems. My experience was that this problem was pushed away and I was left taking responsibility for the mistakes made by the people I was interacting with. These types of mistakes cannot be allowed to go unchecked.

([protected]@hotmail.com)