Etihad Airways
Reviews and Complaints

I travelled on 15th Jan 2017 and as per schedule I was to have a 2 hr stopover at AbuDhabi . My flight at the place of origin was delayed by 10 hrs on top of that another 9hrs delay at AbuDhabi was conveyed to me at the time of checking in my luggage . The supervisor at the check-in counter promised that because this undue delay is beyond my choice of travel programme it would be compensated by ensuring a proper lounging arrangement at AbuDhabi during my wait of 9 hrs for my connecting flight .Shockingly the transfer desk staff at AbuDhabi was very rude and refused to even acknowledge my request saying that maximum we can offer you is a "SORRY" in apology. I had to spend 9hrs in total discomfort in waiting area in addition to the earlier more than 12 hrs to reach AbuDhabi .My request that I am a heart patient had no effect on their behaviour . It is surprising that Etihad website has no scope for writing a complain I tried their feedback corner but could not send my comments through as there was connection error forever. Having suffered every kind of indignity at the hands of transfer desk staff ( Because I happened to travel by economy class and one of the girl infact happened to ask what country passport I was holding) I had no other option but to tell myself that I should never travel by Etihad again and probably send them a legal notice through my attorney for claiming for pain and suffering . Imagine a journey of 25 hrs as against actual 5 hrs which made you feel you awaful of the attitude for which they charge you so heavily.
I felt tricked by the check in staff at Delhi and and humiliated by the transfer desk staff at AbuDhabi.

I was very disappointed after booking my summer holidays more six weeks in advance, I recieved a phone on the day that I was due to fly telling me the flight had been cancelled! The lady on the phone said that I must fly 3 days later...this is my only annual holiday and I was very very disappointed. I called my friend who was booked on the same flight and he told me that his was not cancelled and he was due to take off on time.
Under further investigation I discovered that I had in fact been lied to and the flight had been over booked not cancelled! This is totally unaccepticable and I was not offered any apoligies what so ever.
I feel that I was treated very anfairly by a usually very good company

I flew on flight EY450 - Etihad Airways from ABU DHABI to SYDNEY on the 11th March 09. I use my own wheelchair to get around and when I got on the plane the crew put it in the hull of the plane. When I arrived at Sydney airport I saw that my wheelchair had been damaged. I am very upset as I need to use it to get around whilst I am in Sydney on my honeymoon.

We fly back to England on the 1st April 09, where I will get it repaired. I would like to know if you would be willing to compensate me, as it was on your flight when it was damaged. I will have to send the wheelchair to Germany for repair so I will need to hire another one whilst mine is getting repaired. Which is somewhat of an inconvenience as mine is tailored for my disabilities.

I am sending you photos of the damaged to my wheelchair. In the photo you will see that the push arm is bent, I presume it must have been thrown or jammed against a heavy object.

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.

Dear Sir/Madam,

This complaint is for Etihad airlines for flight number 100 which was suppose to take off at 10pm on 1/21/10 but they decided to take off early leaving our passenger behind & leaving her lauggage at the airport. The passenger checked in around 0820pm and got the boarding pass. Just to let you know that she (the passenger) got this ticket on the same day of flight for family emergency reasons. She waited for the flight and around 0920 she was there for security checking . She was there at the specific gate aroung 0940-45 and the boarding attendant told her that she can't get in because the flight took off already and left her lauggage on the airport. (No announcement was heard for her name by any of our family memebers, #4, while waiting for flight).

It was very frustrating experince for all of our family memebers especially in this time of family emergency. I, myself, daughter of the passenger has been travelling for around 10 years and never had an experince like this ever before. The flights always get late but never early.

I would really appreciate that, if the airline is questioned about uninformed decision of early take off and should be compensated for the frustration she & all of our family memebers had to go through.

I love travelling; but never with Etihad again
On new york terminal on Nov 27 2017: i was told that i could not be provided the seat that i booked 3 months ago: not only that they also mentioned that me and my wife will have to sit 4 rows apart with the 18 month baby in my wife lap for the 13 hours flight; the booking clerk referred me to the manager(juan) who was not only patheticin terms of communication skills and customer care but was also so rude that he mentioned that i cant listen to you as i dont have time and if i dont want to take the seat he wil cancel the flight and will not refund the money as it will be deducted due to last min cancellation

I am planning to do legal prceeding against the career

Would not travle with this airline with illitrate crew that cant even talk to their cutomers with courtesy

This is a distressful complaint signifying the disastrous journey my family and I experienced at the hands of etihad airways even without actually flying. Etihad airways is an airline that at this point, we are vowing never (And I repeat never ever) to travel in again.

My wife and I are both physicians in philadelphia and were travelling from jfk to karachi pakistan. On the way, we had scheduled a 3 day stop over in abu dhabi for the sake of sightseeing in the uae. As instructed to by etihad airways, I had sent my visa application to their ticketing department 3 weeks in advance of my travel and had bought the tickets so that all of the airline's requirements were met.

We had packed and planned for this 2 week vacation (Which, if you ask any physician in the us, is a luxury we cannot afford to cut short) and were on course to a safe travel to all the above mentioned destinations. Since I had not heard from the airline about the status of our visas two days prior to our departure, I initiated contact with their local ny office which was closed presumably due to the weather and was connected instead to their 24 hour call center where I was informed that the visas were 'processed' and that I would be getting the email confirmation shortly. Since this never happened, I contacted them again (24 hours prior to my departure) and was told that the visas would come through in the next 24 hours. When this did not happen, I called them again only to be told that we will not know about the visas till 3 days after our departure (A time period tenured to be spent in the uae) and so when I very politely (Yet intuitively) asked about how we could still keep enroute to our final destination of karachi, they said 'we are very sorry but the earliest we can get you there is 4 days from your initially scheduled departure time and that you would have to pay $150 extra per ticket for the changes'. Even if I was to forego the money I lost when I cancelled my hotel reservations in dubai, the money I spent to get from philadelphia to jfk, the money that I ultimately spent staying in a hotel for a night in new york, I still cannot understand why?, when they refer to us as 'guests' they don't really mean it! I understand the beaurucratic delays that visa processing can incur. I also understand that the airline has no ultimate responsibility in that regard, but if they have undertaken the task of sponsoring their guest!, than the least they owe that guest is a the courtesy of early intervention and prompt rescheduling to accomodate his or her needs. I say this in no less words and for lack of a better alternative: their customer service stinks! And I will never (Read never ever) fly through this airline even if it is the last flying module on the surface of this planet! And I gaurantee you that this news will reach the ears of every other vacationing physician, travel authority and if possible, governmental agency so that people know exactly how ridiculously sheepish they're personnel are. We spent most of the night of feb 12th at the airport in ny and the whole day travelling from philadelphia to nyc to meet the new security dictated timelines for international travel out of the us. As a professional of busy stature, you also will acknowledge that it is not so much the dissapointment of not getting my visa in time, but the fact that they were not bothered to inform me of it despite their undertaking of doing so, so that I could make alternative plans to salvage my remaining vacation time. Also their inability to cooperate in the most unforeseen circumstances is also testimony of their lack of desire to satisfy the needs of a customer who they so hypocritically refer to as 'guests'! Because the last thing we are to them is just that!

I hope this email will draw some attention to the plight of unsuspecting (Yet busy) professionals who were so miserably dissapointed by an uncaring staff at a supposedly prestigious airline.

Hi I was travelling form Heathrow to Mumbai dated on 24.08.2017 plane time 9.05 am and had bad experience with the customer service executive.
We were 3 members, myself and my parents and our luggage was 49 kgs which was below the limit and had requested the service provider people if i could move some goods from hand bag to luggage bag as my parents were very old to carry huge hand bag and me too had a back problem, but their reply was soo rude like "This is none of our business", "You have to look after yourself" "We don't care about you and your parents". I also tried to complaint to the manager but everytime different people came and claimed to be the manager and no one cooperated us. The things which could have been managed properly were not manageble by these people. As per my knowledge Etihad airways is an reward winning airlines but thanks to your service which proved that you are not worth to be the award winner and would never travel by this airline again and would also suggest others not to travel by this airlines. I still have the names of the two people who were handling checking part but do not wish to display this on the net. Thanks

Loyed Dias

To whom it concerns,

I would be grateful with some advice about this matter.

I have a flight with Eithad Airways from Singapore – Abu Dhabi – Dublin on the 19th December 2017 EY 473 originally flying at 08.25pm.
I booked a connecting flight from Darwin Australia to Singapore arriving at 19.00pm lots of time to get Eithad flight at 08.25pm.

I rang Eithad for another reason, when they told me my the flight was changed to 19.40pm, this now means that my Jetstar flight will get in too late and I will not meet the connection. So I now have to fly a day earlier from Darwin to Singapore – taking another day off work and paying for a hotel in Singapore just because Eithad have changed flight times.
Eithad never informed of the flight change... Luckily I had rang them or else I would have just missed my flight. They said they had informed the Travel Agents who I originally booked through which have told me they got no notification.
They said they cannot put me up in a hotel or anything; basically tough luck as my Jetstar flight is not on their systems.

I don’t think this is fare on Eithads part, is this what they do to everyone when they change times?

I look forward to having your comments.

Thank you!

Hi,

I am my husband flew from Manchester to New delhi on 26th dec 2017, we had to change from Abu dhabi at 2205 hours and we were waiting there to board but after gone pass time, there were no announcement that flight were delayed, suddenly after some time it appeared on the board that flight is delayed by 8-10 hours and when we asked at etihad information desk, they didn't respond very well, it was very rude behaviour, no arrangement nothing, no information were given to us. because of delay we had to suffer a lot, We had to pay full taxi price which had suppose to pick us up from Delhi airport, and apart from that we missed our train.

now after all this we re booked taxi for Delhi from Abu dhabi only according to delayed flight but when we reached Delhi airport, our luggage was missed and because to that couldn't catch 2nd taxi and had to pay 2nd taxi price also, and after 4 hours, filing our report at etihad counter, when we came out without any luggage, we had to book taxi again, have to book hotel because of missed train.

when we got back our luggage back after 3 days, I noticed at home that one of my red color jewellery box was missing from the luggage. and also while giving back our luggage they misguide us, they never delivered our luggage to my delivery address and we had to go back to Delhi airport to pick our luggage which was very painful.

I want to complaint against Etihad for rude behaviour, not providing information, my missed jewellery box and because of all this the extra money we had to pay at different stages. I want compensation and investigation to be done for my missing jewellery box which had expensive jewellery in it.

I had very good reputation in my mind about Etihad but after this first time bad experience, It spoiled that image. I would never definitely recommend Etihad to any one.

It has been more then 1 month for complaint but still didnt hear anything from Etihad.

My ticket was issued without my full name as shown on my passport, and my after my travel agent checked with Etihad I was informed that it was possible to change the ticked to my full name at at cost of $150 which I immediately paid. Etihad have now advised that they gave the incorrect information and will charge $550 to reissue the ticket - which is literally 3 key strokes. Etihad advised the agency (a very large and national one), that they had recently changed their rules but had failed to pass this information on to the agency. This is disgusting and they should be held accountable.

I wondering the rules of this airline, you can not carry choclate in your caban laguage if you buy the choclates from outside of Airport, but you can carry choclates if you buy from duty free shop inside the airport. Really this DAMN rules shows how the stupid peoples handling this airline, Security issue choclates can be melt, This airline is piece of ###, garbage, pee and so on. My friend told me you can carry only your ### in caban laguage.

I lived in Jeddah for 2 yrs, the whole place is a rip - off thats how they live, Allah says it's OK to rob infidels so that excuses everything!

I am appalled to see the reaction and comments to the complaint. I bet, none of you have a baby or have ever traveled with one. There are many many reasons why she might have run out of the milk - connecting flight, security, going sour etc etc are just some of them. Also, if you read again, the complaint is not about the milk, the complaint is about attitude! I have two young kids and being an expat I have to travel home a couple of times a year - 14/18 hrs flight. To me, the distinguishing factor with the airlines is how they treat the kids. Etihad in fairness has been great until now.. always supplying kids meal, hobby pack etc
Folks, please be a little more sensitive. For the OP, escalate these issues politely to the cabin manager or to the pilot. Your chances of getting a instant resolution to the problems are lot higher since one complaint of negligence from the manager or pilot can pretty much scar the career of the crew for a long time. They will listen more.

Dear OP,

Please check your DM's as I would like to help if possible.

Kind Regards

Etihad Helper.

I have to say your complaint does paint me a rather disturbing image of you and your wife as a couple of high maintainance finger snappers!

Was it Lauras fault the food choice ran out?

Was it Lauras fault you forgot to pack a baby bottle?

It is never nice to be on the receiving end of an underwealming customer experience and the corporate response from Etihad when you receive it will no doubt be a standard one of apology and regret. However look beyond that. Laura is not a machine. She is human like the rest of us. With feeling and emotion and error of judgement. There are all sorts of reasons why you may have considered her service to be inferior.

Could it be a cultural misunderstanding or a language barrier issue?

Perhaps she was embarassed to confront you again after the whole meal issue and chose the easy option by missing you out?

Perhaps you were unreasonable in your requests to the point she found you rude and she couldn't deal with you anymore?

I wasn't there so cant say for certain but these are all posibilities you can consider for sure.

As both a customer service provider and as a customer (fare paying I hasten to add as this seems to be an extremely important issue to you as you mention it several times) I find if you treat others in the way in which you also like to be treated then you are more likely to receive a positive experience in return. Smile and make eye contact. Have manners rather than demands. Be reasonable and realistic. Where exactly was Laura meant to find this alternative menu you were needing? She already told you there were no other choices available. Was she to tell the captain to divert? Were you inferring she should break rank and fetch you food from Business Class? I do hope not.

First of all Laura was not put aboard EY17 from Abu Dhabi to London that day to be your slave for 8 hours and pander to your wifes intollerance to dairy. Her primary function that day was to ensure your safety in the event of an emergency.

Secondly, it is not any airlines obligation or indeed any passengers right to be offered an alternative menu. Ultimately, ALL you are paying an airline go get you from A to B.

You are not paying for the 2 million channels of video entertainment, the cheese lasagne or the hot towel they bring round after take off. These enhancements are put here as deal breakers to win your custom over another airline. Despite the glitz and glamour airline websites like to portray in order to win your custom, they are ultimately a marketing tool. Your wife (being a journalist as you also mention - why?) should know not to take everything she reads at face value.

Next time you fly, you should take a good look around the aircraft galley and you will see it is not a vast warehouse in the sky with snacks piled high cater for everyones individual pallete. Spare food rarely exists. All provisions are normally calculated to the bare minimum.

Perhaps your wife should ask for a lactose free meal when booking flights in future?
The code the airline need is NLML. Also the code for infant food is BLML. They are standardised international meals codes recognised by all airlines with meal servicese requests can be taken care of at the time of booking or by calling the airline at least 48hours in advance of travel. That way your wife and baby are guaranteed to have something they can stomach and will probably be served ahead of the main meal service. And please next time you fly, pack a babys' bottle just incase - they are waivered from the liquid ban and would have saved you a load of hassle and who knows... you may have even seen Laura in more positive light.

Why didn't you bring milk for your baby on a 7 hour flight?

my tkt num 607 [protected] /888 / 889
my tkts issue on 22 par but no display in pnr KTJBAB ...plzz assosiate my tickets thnxs

It is impossible to resolve any issues throught Etihads call centre service. Not to mention frustrating.

Dear Dispertion,

Thank you for your comments regarding your flight with us. If you would like to private message me more details, I shall be able to investigate this further, and hopefully reach a satisfactory resolution as soon as possible.

Kind Regards

Etihd Helper.

Get a lawyer, if you have a valid case and you will be rewarded with your money. I never believe in any company who takes advantage but sounds like you have no choice but to sue them.

I have called Etihad customer center 5 times in last 24 hours and I am not able to get to any line after waiting for 30 mins. Very very bad customer service. At one time I felt like someone was on the line but dropped the call. I am calling from a land line in US to their 1888-8-etihad number. Thr is no one there...

Dear Michael,

Thank you for your comments regarding your flight with us. If you would like to private message me more details, I shall be able to investigate this further, and hopefully reach a satisfactory resolution as soon as possible.

Etihad Helper.

BOA credit card is very dangerous to use for flight booking

Using BOA credit card for flight ticket booking is jut poking your nose with knife - Bobba

I totally agree. The customer should be told that they will be charged the foreign transaction fee. I came to know when I checked by bank of america statement.

Unpleasant experience for sure.

I absolutely agree to you MYWAY i bet this is just another typical indian with a british or american passport who thinks she rules the world ! These people are all the same thier brain is stuck in thier ###!

They will accept a photocopy of the front and back of the card and a signed statement by the cardholder that they agree to the purchase of the ticket specified. I have done this and it works.

Trip was delayed for two hours from BNA to ORD causing my connection flight to AUH to be delayed for 24 hours and all what the manager offer is sleeping for 24 hours in Chicago airport

Etihad please deliver my blue box to skypark all i have in this world is in there please i beg you it has been two days now im a foriegner in cebu city with no money or clothes i filled out the form and my name is atere abisola deborah please in the name of God deliever my blue box to skypark as soon as possible i have nothing to wear or use without it!

hi, my name is tamanna hayat, i travel islamabad to chicago, march 20-2013, i lost my bag chicago airport, i contact the eitahad people
the give me tag and the told me, they will send my address, everyday i am call to baggage claim office in chicago nobody respone me, the person name is salma in chicago she told me, she is talking with head office, almost 3 month,
what can i do

same thing happen to twice. I traveled with 5 family members. They suppose to credit all account after the travel according to their own site. Since it had happen to me before I asked the employee who was check in about it. And he said it will be credited on all account. When I checked after a month nothing was credited to the account. After the call they credited my account and didn't credited any other account. so I called them back. This time they said they can only credit the return flight and I thought they will be crediting all account as per my request. But this time only credited only my wife's account. And I emailed them back and they are not responding to my e-mail. I am convinced that they are either incompetent or playing a game. I am thinking of getting a lawyer so I can file a complaint againt them for false advertisement.
C.A

Abrahm.

I fully agree
Etihad are cheaters and liars. They write one destination on their tickets then I found myself arriving at another. Beware! I tried to complain but to no avail. I wouldn't recommend them to any one!

Dear Vasantha Chirumamilla,

May I suggest you email your details to feedback@etihad.ae, who will ensure that this can be looked into and rectified for you.

Kind Regards.

Etihad Airways ***SUCKS*****

My baggage was also lost by Eithad air during flight from Newyork to Abudhabi to Islambad. Now they are giving me 460 $, which is nothing. My file number is ISBEY15824. Please some one advise me what to do
regards

Wali Imran

We travelled from DFW-HYD via Frankfurt on Etihad Airways on July 17th. We did not receive one bag. No response from them.

I've had similar experience with Ethiad airways. I had to book tickets for my parents in india to visit me in US. While booking the tickets online they payment was to be made in indian rupees instead of dollars because the origin of the journey was from india. So i had to borrow the debit card of my friend in india and book the tickets. After the booking i get an email with ticket confirmation and also an email saying if my parents cannot show the debit card used for ticket purchase while boarding they wont be allowed to board. I called the customer service and explained my situation and told them since its my friend's debit card my parents wont be able to produce it for verification while boarding. The customer service is absolutely useless they keep repeating the same sentence like parrots instead of offering any solution. The soltuion they offer is..produce verification or loose the moeny. What i dont get it..how can someone charge me for a ticket and still not give me a ticket that i can use. My arguement was either give me a ticket without these damn comditions or dont charge me until i satisfy the conditions. They dont agree to either..they want to charge me but yet not give me a ticket. This crazy policy is costing me 2000 dollars..i'm surely not going to let this go...they are going to have to fight it out in consumer court...

feckless bumble ###s at the transfer desk at abu dhabi

I can vouch for the intransigence, maliciousness, and incompetence of the service staff at the transfer desk at t3 in abu dhabi. I had a miserbale humiliating experience, my complaints were treated with indignance and I was threatened punitive measures. Etihad has no valid, fair, method to file customer complaints.