Etihad Airways review: Open ticket validity

Had a return flight booked in April ‘22 from Melbourne to Dublin, business class with Etihad whom I have flown with for many years,

I had to change the return date twice due to health problems.

On the second occasion, I was advised by Etihad Customer Service that I could have $1700 of the ticket price of $10,000 refunded or pay an additional amount of $2050 to purchase an ‘open ticket’ which was unrestricted.

This seemed like a sensible and good economic option and I paid the extra $2050.

When I tried to use the ‘open ticket’ for my return flight, I was told different stories.

1/ that the ticket was valid to October ‘23 but he was having problems completing the booking on their system and to call back

2/ When I called back, I was told that the same ticket was only valid to June ‘23 and I therefore couldn’t use it at all but they would try to compromise as I had not been told of a limited timeframe. The customer service agent would call me back. She didn’t!

3/ I contacted Etihad through their, very cumbersome, feedback forum as advised. They do not have an email address for complaints.

I received a reply by email from Jovana, with the complaint number: Feedback CRM:[protected], who said that the open ticket I had purchased with the additional $2050, was only valid for one year from the date of the original flight in April. She tells me this on 25th July 2023.

Jovana apologised rather insincerely and ‘looked forward to welcoming me back on board’. It was a rather patronising email.

In summary, I paid $12,000 for a flight from Melbourne to Dublin.

I responded on 26th July and explained yet again that, when I paid the additional amount for an ‘open ticket, I was not advised of any time limit and felt the least Etihad could offer was a compromise in the form of an additional small amount to allow me to complete my return flight.

To date, I have received no response.

I have tried to use the ‘feedback forum’ to contact Etihad but it will not accept the complaint number I was given and states it is invalid.