Etihad Airways
reviews and complaints

Hi

I travelled from Melbourne, Australia to London on 31 December 2018. My flight number was EY 461 leaving Tullamarin Airport to Abu Dhabi at 2230. My seat number was 22A, a window seat. I was very uncomfortable and my feet started tingling. I had to stand up and walked to get some comfort.

I asked the flight attendants for an aisle seat so I can walk frequently. I explained to them that I was so uncomfortable and that my feet were tingling (there were three of them) and I spoke with all of them. One said to sit in a seat where there was only one window seat occupied. After five minutes another flight attendant came and asked me to move because the person seating in the window seat was mentally disable and that his Dad was coming to see him regularly from first class. I asked the attendant if he has paid for three seats. Obviously not. The reason was because the Dad was coming to keep an eye on him and because of his mental disability.

I asked if I can sit in the row with extra legroom as all those seats were empty. I was denied. Two flight attendants told me i have to pay US$150 to sit there. They were not interested with me be uncomfortable and that my feet were tingling. I also told them I could develop deep vein thrombosis. The fact that those seats were empty they still refused to honour me a seat unless I pay $150.

One of the attendants told me to walk around and see if any seats available in the economy class. One guy was sitting in a window seat with his leg sprawled on the other two seats. He told me he has bad leg and he cannot let me sit in the aisle seat. So one of the flight attendant asked him and he refused saying yet again he has bad leg. Did he pay for three seats I asked. The attendant said to me "don't be judgemental"

Further down towards the rear of the plane there were few more seats available in the middle row of the plane with only one person occupying each row of three seats. Each of them were lying down taking up the three seats. I asked the attendant to ask one of them to move and vacate a seat for me, the attendant refused saying they are not allowed to wake them up. So they also had paid for three seats each! What,
the attendants would not wake them up in case of turbulence or emergency to put on their seat belts?

I was told by the attendants that I should go back to my seat 22A. Etihad professes to be a 5 star flight and 5 star comfort. I was disgusted that I was not offered a seat when there were some vacant specially the ones with extra leg room or still the others were allowed to occupy three seats for the price of one. I was so uncomfortable all the way on 14 hours flight . The treatment I received form your people is deplorable and despicable. They refused to acknowledge how uncomfortable I was and because of that my feet was tingling. I paid almost $1500 one way fare to endure such harsh treatment. Obviously your staff are not trained to look after the comfort of passengers.

I would like an immediate response. you may write to me at [protected]@hotmail.com or call me on +44 [protected].

Kind Regards

Rafick Azmutally

Myself and my partner were due to fly Melbourne -London 28th Nov 2018, Ticket no:
[protected] + [protected]
Unfortunately due to a family bereavement we had to book an alternative flight prior to this date. Our flight initial Ethiad flight was booked through Fly Far, we were unable to get through to them to cancel the flight (numerous call attempts were made).

Our next best option was to ring ethiad to give them the curtiosy of letting them know we would not be on our outbound flight on the 28th Nov 2018 and they could resell the tickets (x 2 economy)
We were not even looking for a refund or date change due to having booked another flight and extremely stressed with our family bereavement.

The customer service representative from Ethiad were grateful at the time and informed us it would not affect our return flight.
Today is Friday 04-Jan 2018, Our return flight is on Sunday 06 Jan 2019----2 DAYS TIME, from Dublin to Melbourne. We tried to book in today and were unsuccessful.
We phoned fly far who again did not answer, we phoned ethiad who informed us our return flight was cancelled due to missing our outbound flight.
Ethiad then informed me i would need to book another ticket as fee's for missing the flight and flight changed would be more than a new flight.

Our flight is on Sunday 06-Jan-2019 and We have now purchased 4 tickets for the same flight. Two of which are now null/void due to the airlines for-fit policy for missed outbound flight even though we informed them.

Dear complaints officer
Etihad airways

Ref pnr zizrxf, etkt [protected], etkt [protected]

I am ahmed bucheery, gold member card holder [protected] and my wife fatema bucheery, silver member card holder [protected]. both of us are very loyal to etihad for many years but we both hardly benefited from the loyalty program

We were returning from london to bahrain on 24th dec 2018 on ey 18. between both of us we were entitled to 105 kg but we had 110 kg and to our surprise we were charged 99 sterling pounds! that was very strange and I asked if I could redeem some points but we not allowed.

Unfortunately, despite surprisingly being charged a big sum for a very small over weight, one of suitcases was not delivered until today 27th dec 2018 after many follow ups.

I have been frequently travelling on etihad business class, and the same for my other members of the family, but unfortunately I was never given a courtesy upgrade like what I get with gulf air and emirates from time to time!

Please justify

Best regards
Ahmed a. rahim bucheery
Email: [protected]@ithmaarbank.com
Mobile: +973 [protected]

i am a frequent passenger of ethihad for the past few years. Being a gold class
member i have been reciving my baggage terribly late. Most of the time i recive my
baggage at the end after eveyrone else recve theirs. I had informed this matter to the authorised ethihad staff also to the station manager but no action had been taken about it.Its been happening to me quite some time and recently 2 days back.Its really sad no action is taken hope you can find a solution for my problem

Dear,

While trying to check-in passenger Beatrijs Schoutteten on-line for the Etihad flight from DMM to Brussels on Thursday evening 13/12 (booking ref. W64YWO ) was our credit credit card charged 3 times?

At 13:25 on 12/12/18, the credit card was charged a first time for 170 SAR for selecting a seat.
At 13:27 on 12/12/18, the credit card was charged a second time for an amount of 226 SAR?
At 13:29 on 12/12/18, the credit card was charged a third time for an amount of 170 SAR?
The attached picture shows those charges.

Problems were experienced while trying to check-in on-line as the website.
May I kindly request you to cancel the second and third credit card transaction which are clearly incorrect.

Best regards,
Beatrijs Schoutteten

[protected]@yahoo.com
mario.[protected]@mattex.com
00966 / [protected]

Hello sir,
Most of the people are spoiling their lifes from this [censored]y company please take actikn and save the lives. As you can see the most of the complaints.. The company make fools the people, they don, t know shat they are doing [censored]y things. Please strickly take the action to those fraud team. That is your responsibilty to aware the other innocent people who are next target of this fraud company. Please please let do the action.
Thanks

Can someone please help.
I have flown twice this year with Etihad from SA to NZ. And both times my luggage did not arrive with me.
I arrived on 30 Nov and my baggage is still not found. I also struggle to get hold of someone on progress. The website just say tracing. Check later. We are 3 people who travelled together and none off our luggage arrived.
I also had a very bad check-in experience at OR Thambo. Check-in took more than two and a half hour. Did they not do something wrong. I really need some answers!
This is not the service I expected from Etihad and I am greatly dissapointed.

Dear Tony Douglas, CEO Etihad Airways

Re: PPQIED

I am writing for your kind urgent attention regarding today's incident on Abu Dhabi Airport at 1st class checkin counter.

I am a Gold Etihad Guest. My flight EY 151 departure time was 9:25 am from Abu Dhabi to Chicago (Business class ticket) on 23/11/2018. I reported 2 hours earlier on the 1st class checkin desk as all other counters were busy.

First, I was told that the flight is closed. On my request, when the staff tried to check me in they said that ESTA visa is on the attached previous passport which should be on the new passport although the previous passport was not expired and the new pass passport was issued due to additional pages. I requested that please check me and let immigration decide as I have travelled before several times when both passports are attached together and my ESTA visa is valid until 2019.

Unfortunately lot of time was wasted during that conversation. During this time I made an other application for ESTA and received immediate approval. Unfortunately, the staff still did not check me in.
My flight departed while I was still sitting at checkin desk and then they asked me to pay penalty/ airfare difference for next available flight in Business class on 24/11/2018.

I wait for your early response.

Best regards

Muhammad Tahir

Hi this is Syed Ali travelling from Chennai to Kuwait.
If I wont allow Hand baggage and check in baggage then u should have to clearly mention while we r booking ticket to our destination. Suddenly when we came with both baggage to drop in check in counter y should u not allow at once and irritating customers wat if uneducated n senior citizens will do that will the check in will not allow, if u r not allowing excess baggage then its k, we brought exact baggage also if u would not allow then do BUSINESS on footpath dont keep good n great names like Etihad n do such irritating n nasty things with customers...

I paid and booked a round trip in Etihad airways from New york to bangalore and travelled in December. After that I paid a change fee and then converted to a open ticket for my return journey as ticketing team convinced me that this ticket is valid for 1 year and I just have to pay the fare difference. I have been trying to book the ticket the last 3 months and every time they refuse to book the economy ticket and say that reissue tickets are only available from business class and it will cost be $4000. Everyone can see that Etihad economy tickets are available from $500 on all websites. I tried to escalate the issue many times by email and phone but I only get standard response. This policy is a complete scam - they are not allowing the customer to book a return journey even though I paid for the round trip. Instead they are asking to pay $4000 when the new ticket price itself is only $500 (this ticket price comes up in every website). I need a refund of my return portion and I never want to fly in Etihad again. If they cannot refund then I need them to book me an economy ticket, which is available on all days. My ticket expires in December and Etihad is making sure they do not resolve this issue before that.

I am writing to complain about inappropriate and unethical behaviour by etihad staff. I was travelling with my wife and son to Bangladesh on 8th April 2018 (eticket [protected]/337/338). We met Mr Madan Sapkota at the check out counter. As my wife was Nepali hence Mr Madan wanted to help us since he was from Nepal as well. During the conversation, he requested for mine and my wife's number so he could inform us when its time for boarding.
At first, it seemed as a kind gesture from Etihad employee. Unfortunately, he has started sending inappropriate messages on watsapp and IMO. He even pestering my wife to meet him while in Nepal.
I am highly disappointed by the unethical behaviour by an employee from such a reputed organization like Etihad. Employees as such are jeopardising the image of Etihad. I am requesting Etihad to look into this matter on priority and make sure customers are not harassed by staff in future.
If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me on [protected].

Regards,
Sharif Ahmed

Dear Team,
I have booked my tickets on 09/11/2018 . The booking was done onlilne using my Axis Bank Debit Card. The total amount Rs. 75051 for 3 tickets from delhi to athens, was taken on 9/11/2018. However there were 2 debits of Rs.25017 on 15/11/2018 again quoting the transaction of 09/11/18. Thus there is a debit of Rs.50, 000/- extra in my account for a transaction that i have not done.

Request you to reverse wrong entries done on 15/11/18.

I was traveling from Bahrain-Abu Dhabi-Belgrade on 2nd of November. My flight from Bahrain was supposed to depart at 10:45 pm but it was late and I didnt make it on time for my flight Abu Dhabi-Belgrade at 2:15 am. Instead they gave me a ticket for Athens at 9:15 am and there I had to wait for 4 hours before my flight to Belgrade. I had more then 7 hours to wait at Abu Dhabi airport, I am 5 months pregnant and I had to pay for a hotel at the airport ( I'm sending you a receipt).
I am asking you to recompense my loss by giving me refund in the amount of the return ticket i paid for my flight Belgrade-Abu Dhabi-Bahrain.
If we are not able to make a compromise I will hire a lawyer and try to protect my legal rights on court.
My name is Miona Nikolic, my passport number is [protected], number of my bank account is [protected] at Telenor bank, Serbia.

My wife and I are travelling from Heathrow to New Delhi via Abu Dhabi on Thursday 1/11. I have been trying all afternoon to update my personal details and check in. Your website will not accept any updated details and will not allow me to check in. So far I have tried 15 times! There is no on line helpavailable so I tried calling Etihad Customer Service. On the first occasion I did get an Agent to answer but he abruptly and deliberately hung up on me without bothering to listen to my problem. On the next occasion I went to Option 1 and the automated message told me to manage my booking on line and then terminated the call. I have now been trying for nearly 3.5 hours without getting anywhere and have asked my Travel Agent (Lumle Travel) to look into it.

I am genuinely astounded by the poor service and lack of care from Etihad Airways - an airline which I previously understood to have a good reputation. Can you please help me?

On Monday the 22nd of October 2018 I tried to check-in online as I usually do. Unfortunately, I was not able to do so. Please refer to my screenshot attached. As far as I am aware of checking in online allows me a 20% discount for excess luggage up to 48 hours prior to departure.Due to the amount of excess luggage I wanted to pay with/use my guest miles. I explained the issue to the staff when I arrived at the airport for check-in. I was told by the staff that it's impossible to pay with guest miles at the airport at all. Unfortunately, I was not aware of that at all. I had to pay the full amount AU$1099, - by credit card at the check-in desk. The response I received regarding my email was a random copy of the standard check-in procedure which I can read on the ETIHAD homepage anyways and is not related to my question and inquiry at all. There was also a note about an ongoing investigation.RE: Failure online check-in [INTR:[protected]]. On 30/10/2018 I received another email about the outcome which includes the following: Etihad Guest [ACCT:2458685] "Dear Mr ..., This is to inform you that, since your flight has already been completed, our team will not be able to perform investigation as to why you were unable to check-in online. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.For future reference, if you are unable to check-in online, please provide us with the screenshot of the error received or call our Contact Centre for assistance before your flight.We appreciate your understanding in this regard.If you need any further help, please contact us.Kindest regards, "
Unfortunately, I am absolutely no satisfied with the response and outcome. I understand, that it is not the staff's responsibility and fault for what happened. But I strictly followed the procedure which was established by Etihad. The error message"Sorry, we can't check you in online. Don't worry, all you have to do is show your payment card at the airport check-in.[E3]" which popped up while the system or software failure occurred, was programmed and established by an IT specialist on ETIHAD's behalf. Someone must have given instructions to submit this message in case the system does not work properly.
There is nothing associated with calling/contact Etihad immediately and sending a screenshot as suggested afterwards. Why would I do something differently, if ETIHAD'S policy and the system error message does not require to do so?
At this stage I am pretty upset about the efforts Etihad put into this case.
I consider myself being a loyal ETIHAD frequent gold status member so far. But experiencing difficulties in this extend, I contemplate to return to my previous airline as a frequent member and will stop over in Dubai in the future, hoping there will not be any kind of such reference. It is not about the result, but the way of treatment, like:sorry, we can't do anything about that. I can't see any efforts in any way, which makes me thinking of stepping back from ETIHAD. I can hardly recommend the airline after this incident.It is not my fault when the online system does not work properly, nor am I in charge for the right procedure which is not even supported by the online platform. Regards Holger

Like to refer to DPR SINEY12083 summited by arrival services at changi airport Singapore for claim of damaged luggage caused by mishandling during our trip in Dec 2017.

It has been closed to a year since the case was reported, assessed for claim, but no response from your airline.

We are totally disappointed, hope you could look into the matter immediately.

Worst Airlines -- Never travel on this airline

I'm trying to postpone my return journey ticket. When I called the customer service, agent provided a fare diff of $368/- ($148 + $200 + $20) for changing the return trip from India to LAX, after keeping me online for more than 1.20 min.

Just before I provide my CC information, the call got disconnected w/o any notice. During the call, agent promised to call back, if the call is disconnected just in case, but that never materialized, though the call dropped.

When I called back again, other agent picked up the call and mentioned that she can't give that price for ticket change and the new Price is now $632+20.

This is merely cheating from Airline side and they are ripping passengers.
I spent more than 5 hours on phone with different agents to change my wife's return ticket but finally no use.

Regards
Ram

Good evening

I wish to complain about both the non, and mis information, given to me by an Etihad Advisor back in England. Firstly, I'd like to explain the devastating reason I had to fly to Abu Dhabi.

On Saturday 13th October my dear daughter Kate Wells (a Deputy Head at an Abu Dhabi school) called to break the devastating news that she now has breast cancer.

To get to her as quickly as possible, I telephoned an Etihad Advisor on Monday 15 October (confirmation e-mail received at 15.52) to book a flight as soon as possible so that i could be with my daughter for her many scans and tests. I explained all of this to the gentleman advisor. I am not a frequent flyer and friends suggested I ask if there's an option for an Open Ticket. Which I did do. I specifically and precisely told the Advisor I had no idea when I'll be returning to the UK. I just needed to get to Abu Dhabi to be with my daughter for as long as I could.

The Advisor understood what I was saying to him. I was booked on to flight EY12, 09.35 from LHR. I was told he will book me on a return flight on October 31st. I immediately told him I do NOT want to return on 31st October as I need to spend as much time as I possibly could with my daughter. He assured me this was just a temporary date and when I arrive at Abu Dhabi there would be no problem changing the return
Flight to another date.

I can absolutely promise you that the Advisor made no mention to me whatsoever of any Admin fees and flight rearrangement costs/charges for changing my flight back to the UK. There is no way I would ever leave my daughte, who was in great need of family support, after only 15 days! She had a biopsy two days ago and her chemotherapy will commence possibly Tuesday 4th November. Finding out today about these added costs came as a total shock to me. It seems especially unfair when I hadn't even been informed about any of this in the first place. It's an added complication I could truly do without whilst trying to support and help my daughter.

The total lack of customer service, and non information of company policies that were not outlined to me from the outset - when i actually asked him for his help and advice in the first place - is truly appalling and disgraceful.

Before we knew our daughter was seriously ill (medical documentation for proof is available) my husband and I had booked flights to visit her for the Christmas period and return early January 2019.. Due to the change in our daughters circumstances I shall be stopping here longer once again. I am more than happy to pay extra for this service now that I am aware of your charges.

Otherwise I couldn't fault my very first Etihad flight. The entire flight crew were extremely helpful, kind, friendly and courteous. The aircraft landing was the best I've ever experienced. I also spoke to a lovely stewardess on the flight to Abu Dhabi about having been told I could easily change my return ticket to another day.

I don't wish to be disrespectful to you in any way at all, but I do feel there might be a need for extra staff training to ensure all Etihad telephone Agents are able to provide an excellent and full customer service.

My details are as follows:
Mrs Wendy Victoria Wells
Booking Reference FPJXUS
TICKET [protected]

Dear sir / madam,

I and my wife are on a trip to london and have travelled from mumbai - abudhabi, abudhabi - manchester vide pnr no. Darzbt and wryast (ticket attached). Please also find attached an economy ticket issued by you (pnr no. Yktgcu). We are shocked to observe that the baggage allowance of business class (on which we are travelling) is 40 kgs per passenger, while the baggage allowance in economy is 45 kgs. I am a regular traveller by various airlines and this is the first time I have realised that the baggage allowance in economy is more than the business class.

Looking forward to an explanation for the same.

Further wish to put on record, that my abudhabi - manchester sector on 19.10.2018 (flight no. Ey15), the entertainment system and control panel for the same was not functioning. On complaining about the same the flight purser reset the system, but it still did not function. Hence I have travelled for almost 8 hrs without any entertainment system, which please note.

While this is my first travel in etihad (business class), the above experience has left quite unpleasant memories.

With regards,
Rajesh g. Duseja
Mob. No. [protected]

I have not been provided with Boarding Pass for Flight No. EY0256 (from Abu Dhabi to Kolkata) scheduled on 22nd October, 2018 at 13:45 hrs, instead of having a confirmed Ticket No. [protected]. In stead I have been provided Boarding Pass for break journey (from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai and then from Mumbai to Kolkata) which was scheduled after 8 hours (vide PNR : RLNEKP and PNR : NZRMKN).
Again, after arrival at Mumbai on 23.10.18, my baggage were missing. So, again the flight to Kolkata was missed. The baggage was delivered to me after 9 hours of arrival at Mumbai. Then I was provided Air Ticket and Boarding Pass for Kolkata in Jet Airways, Scheduled at 19:10 hrs on 23.10.18.
Altogether, I have been late for more than 24 hrs for no fault of mine and I faced extreme harassment.