Etihad Airways

Good evening, my name is Martin Stoev and I am writing to you in regards to a situation that occurred when I was trying to check in for my flight on the 8-th of April from Seoul to Abu Dhabi. The situation made me extremely upset and caused huge inconvenience for me and the people that I was travelling with. On purpose I waited a couple of days before I sit down to write this complain to you because I wanted to calm down and to explain in a professional way how I was mistreated by Etihad ground staff at Seoul airport when trying to check in sports equipment.

First, let me start by introducing myself - by profession and visa I am a full-time fencing coach in UAE. Personally, I am traveling 15 years already all around the world first as an athlete and then as coach.
Currently two of my fencers are representing UAE at the World fencing championship in Poland, so I consider myself to play an important role in the developing of the fencing sport in UAE.
The purpose of my trip on the 4th April to South Korea was for two of my students to participate in a Qualification round which is needed in order to participate at the US national's championship. Also, let me mention that my two students - Alizeh Kizilbash and Zara Kizilbash are below 18 years old, so on this trip I was responsible for them not only as a coach but also as a guardian to whom their parents voted me their trust.
We used Etihad Airline services for our trip to South Korea on the 3th of April and had no issues from Abu Dhabi to Incheon. The issue occurred on the way back from Incheon International Airport to Abu Dhabi on the 8th of April (flight number EY 873, departing at 01:00)
Check in opened 21:30 and were there hoping to drop the luggage and enter the airport. The girls checked their bags (they must be dropped on the oversized luggage corner) first and then when I left my fencing bag for check in and the ground staff asked me what is inside the bag. I gave them full information about our fencing equipment and in reply I was told that I need to have permission for knifes!
In fencing we DO NOT use knifes, the equipment that we use and had with us is called Epee. I won't go in details to explain the structure of the Epee, but it is not a knife and you cannot cut with it and that is why it is safe to be used (the range of the students we train is from 5 to 58th years old.
And that is what I was trying to explain to the Etihad stuff who was dealing with the check in but obviously she didn't understand what I was explaining.
She called the Duty Supervisor Sinhyun Kim. It took him an hour on the phone to try to "resolve" the problem and in the end I was told that we need to have a permission to bring back our fencing equipment back to Abu Ahabi. I will just mention here that at the airport in Abu Dhabi no one said such thing. I have been travelling to so many destinations in Europe, also in Asia and never had been asked for a permission. I live in Dubai, so I use Emirates airline often and I never experienced such problems when I was coming back to UAE.
So, after making us waiting for more than an hour he told us that we need to live our baggage behind if we want to go on the flight back to Abu Ahabi.
Me and my students were in complete shock of the situation at that point. We went earlier to check in order to try to avoid the stress that you usually have at airports. Not only we couldn't avoid that stress but the way Mr. Kim "handled" the situation created fear and worries in me and my two fencers (who are under 18 years old and their parents are waiting for me to bring them to Abu Dhabi) won't be able to go on the flight home. This whole time he had our passports with him and we didn't know are we going to catch our flight and are we going to receive our equipment and I started panicking at this time.
Because I am responsible in front of my students parents to bring their children home I had to do something in order to catch the plane. I offered the Duty Supervisor to move out all Epee's from our bags, wrap them and put them as a separate item.
For the solution of this situation that I thought I had to pay 20 000 won for packing the swords. We also had to leave 7 epees in South Korea and the price per epee is around 150 euros. I filled all documents, gave contact for the UAE fencing federation invitation from US fencing federation for this qualification tournament in South Korea.
I am a respected fencing coach in UAE and what happened affected me seriously in more than one way:
1. I am responsible for two girls under 18 y/o and without reason Etihad made unnecessary stress to me and to them. I had to find a plan how take the flight even without our Epee fencing equipment, because my first duty is to keep them safe and bring them back to their parents. Because of Etihad I didn't know to react for first time after 15 years flying with different companies. There must be compensation.
2. Parents of Alizeh Kizilbash and Zara Kizilbash are Etihad Gold Members. Their names are Dr. Faisal Hasan and Dr. Ayesha Cheema-Hasan. They have US passports are residents in Abu Dhabi. Many times, they travelled with Etihad carrying the fencing equipment and they never had a problem.
3. On 6th May UAE is organizing World Fencing Cup for Women. Obviously, Etihad employees cannot make a difference between a knife and epee. Are you going to stop all athletes participating and make additional stress?
4. UAE is known as country where an expert can come and practice his profession and being appreciated. Etihad took my tool for giving lessons - my epee. Because of that I cannot effectively practise my profession.
5. With this act Etihad made a statement - During the year of tolerance they don't tolerate what they don't understand. This act can be accepted as an attack against the entire fencing community in UAE. Or just personal attack against me as professional, coach and leader of the group traveling to the other end of the world.
Our equipment was send on the next flight to Abu Dhabi (if you need to check it - the number of the baggage is: 5607EY135952). The problem was not that the equipment came one day after us but the way that the ground stuff handled the situation - their lack of knowledge and lack of knowing how do deal with their customers.
I think that the entire unnecessary stress that we experienced must be compensated from your end actions must be taken.
Looking forward for your prompt reaction!
Coach Martin Stoev
Email: [protected]@mkfencingacademy.com
Phone: [protected]

اليوم (يوم الخميس مبكرا وصلت إلي مطار أبوظبي وذلك في وقت ٠٢:٤٥ صباحاً.. تأخر الخطوط من الرياض وفقد لجمهورنا الخطوط تحويل الرحادلات الي بلادنا المختلفة والآخر انا حصلت تذكرة الثاني بالليل ١٠ :١٠ مساء في اليوم الجمعة..والآم ٦ ساعات ما حصل غرفة والموظفين في تحويل للرحلات في تيرمينال ٣ مكذبين أنهم قالو بأربع ساعات أصدر تأشيرة للفندق..والان سته ساعات ولا سيما اي موظفين ما أعطي خير واضحة والاولين خلصو دوامهم

EY 22 Flight 7.10 pm Wed 27th March from Manchester Airport cancelled
Eventually give hotel room at 3 am at Hilton Garden Inn Old Trafford on Thurs 28th March after appauling treatment in the Airport for some 7 hours of which I have complained to them separately
Back to Airport at 6 am Thurs 28th March for flight EY 2022 10.15 am
Only this was also delayed and departed some 3 hours later meaning another missed connection
Another night in Abu Dhabi at Premier Inn
Back to Airport for flight EY 450 Friday 29th March
Arrived Sydney Saturday 30th March a full 24 hours late
Please award me the maximum compensation for this experience with Etihad Airways
You need to treat your customers better
Judith Anders

My name: Ismail Syam
Flight no. EY418
Dep. Date: 04.04.2019
From: Abu dhabi to Kuala lumpur

When boarding on 21:45 LT..i saw 2 persons stand up at Door's plane, and i asked one of them that i forgot my HAND CARRY duty free in the WAITING ROOM for boarding in Abu Dhabi, and she said "dont worry we will find it" because i can't come back by bus to the termonal that's why i asked their help.. And i am waiting until 3 bus completed drop all passenger on board, finally 22:25 LT, the plane start moving for departure..i think that my package already found, once arrived i asked to same aerohostest but i really dissapointed to hear her sound.. "NOT FOUND".. so many time i use Etihad for support my traveling.. But this time i really dissapointed..

I hope my package that is 1 hand carry plastic with 3 packs of Chocolates inside found and hopefully Etihad Team would like to deliver it home, this my address:

Jl. Daeng Tata, hartaco indah,
BLOK 2A No.51 MAKASSAR - INDONESIA.
TELP: +6281.355.355.467

I TRUST THAT ETIHAD IS ONE OF THE BEST AIRPLANE IN THE WORLD..AND VERY CARE WITH THE PASSENGERS..

Thanks for your kind assistant.. Much appreciate if you could arrange for delivery.. And i will speak to everyboddy that This Airplane is the best in my life..

I am a GOLD customer and last week I purchased extra air miles which took well beyond the 24 hours to credit my account. This stressed me out completely and I was treated really unprofessionally by Etihad. It was totally unacceptable that it took so long to credit my account. Once credited I went to book my flight; air miles + cash. I knew the total I needed to pay. At seat selection I opted to look how much it would be for the front section - I was expecting a charge to alert me BUT IT DIDN'T so I continued with a seat selection in the first section of the aircraft. At checkout there was no charge added for the seat and I paid the price of my flight as expected.
Unfortunately a few days later I see that you have charged me £131.67 for this seat.
I have emailed 3 times to GOLD Guest and my request for a refund have been ignored and I am constantly being told that you are unable to refund me. I keep telling you that it was not my fault that your website didn't tell me. I would never pay this amount for a seat! Also it is theft and a "unathorised" transaction on your behalf. Please resolve this for me.

Flight EY 0022, E Ticket:[protected], Date:26/03/19
Dear Sir,

I have been charged £53 extra for the baggage. together my three bage (two main baggage and one hand carry) and toled me that i me three kilo extra.
I explain that my hand carry includes laptop and charger which is 2.5 kilo . i will take them out seperate but dont charge me for the laptop.

But they did not accept it and treat me that I will miss the flight otherwise although there were still two hours for the flight.
I belive that the Airline staff took advantage of my vulnaribility and pressurise me pay for extra.

I am very unhappy about the policy and staff behaviour.
I request to look in the matter and expecting refund for the laptop charges.

Kind Regards

Sultan Ali

Hello,

I have flown by the flight below and I had a serious issue during taking the flight.

—

Etihad Airways Flight 873
Sun, 17 Mar-Confirmation no. RSRZVZ-No Updates
Seoul ICN to Abu Dhabi AUH
00:15

—

I had joined the bid program for upgrade as the attached email.

But I did not have any notification from Etihad Airline about that my bid was accepted hence I have issued my economy boarding passes at the check in desk on the flying day.

Later I have noticed a transaction of my credit card was made for the amount of the upgrade bid which is AED 1936.00.

I have explained this to Etihad Ground Crew at the boarding gate of Incheon Airport on the same day, they said the credit card transaction will be cancelled, then I have flown by the flight on economy class seat.

But till today, still a cancellation is NOT been made yet, please cancel the credit card transaction immediately.

I am completely not happy with what happened for the Etihad flight.

I request immediate action and response from Etihad on this issue.

Jong Min Park

I am booked in to travel tomorrow booking ref ugbrv mrs kathleen holt and mr edward holt I paid extra for my seats my husband needs leg room and I dont like to be enclosed in I had seats 18h 18j on flight ey16 manchester to abu dhabi I checked in to day why I printed boarding pass are seats had been changed to 31d 31e. I phoned customer service and told aircraft was changed so seats were changed I explained I still should of been given the same seats I paid for and not in a row of 4 that is the cheaper seats. I cannot sit there I will feel to enclosed in and panic I asked to be given seats I paid for. I was told to get the check in counter early to see what can be done. This is not good enough I should of been told of this change and I want the seats I had 1 aisle 1 middle with extra leg room. I am a frequent flyer and think this service
Its really bad. If I dont get my seats back I will not use etihad again
This is causing so much stress before I even travel I am so upset please can you help
Kathleen holt
[protected]

Hi my Name is Thomas Noonan Etihad Guest number [protected]. On our outbound flight on the 9/02/19 at the Gate at Dublin there was only about 50 seats and a large crowd had to stand for upwards of 40 mins before being boarded. there didnt seem to be any zone procedure as usual apart from those needing assistance and with children were called forward after that it was just a push to the front. It was the same coming back to Dublin from Abu Dhabi at Gate 6 which I think also was catering for gate 5 the crowd was packed into the hallway and it was a struggle to get to the Toilets near the end as people thought we were jumping the queue'. I have never encountered this system before and one of my travelling companions was really struggling to stay standing for over 45 mins. Is this going to be the normal procedure for future flights or was there some other reason for this chaos and overcrowding of a very small area. The flight to Dublin was EY45. Furthermore there was a problem with the Entertainment system and the number of music and movie channels was drastically reduced from my previous flights I had taken' I accept there can be problems periodically with any system so thats not a major concern. I have enjoyed travelling wit Etihad on numerous occasions and I have never had any reason to complain before. Thanking you for reading this letter. Thomas Noonan

I have been writing to the Etihad Guest response team (feedback@etihad.ae) since January this year regarding a ticketing scam I was unfortunate enough to be a victim of and that was perpetrated by an employee of Etihad's from their customer service centre in Abu Dhabi. However, each time I write I am sent a standard response saying they will get back to me but no one ever does. My reference number is: [protected]. I have waited the required 8 weeks for the airline to reply but have heard nothing. Who am I supposed to talk to? This is highly reprehensible behaviour from such a well-established airline. It is very disturbing to learn that my complaints have all fallen on deaf ears and I have not even been accorded the courtesy of a decent response.

I bought a ticket and was double charged .. I've rang and rang and get nothing but rude unexceptable responses .. I've been given an email address, to which no one answers ! My next step will be to get a solicitor involved ... no one cares .. I've googled this scenario and it seem to be a standard scam from etidad and it's happened to, too many people .. my booking code is PEJXJU .. it's €1600, which I cannot afford to do without, it has gone since feb 23rd .. how can a reputable company behave in this manner ? I intend going to every social media platform if I am not dealt with ASAP !

Hi Team, My name is Gunjan Mansharamani and my PNR number is EVYBBV. I was traveling from LHR to Dublin to Abu Dhabi and final Destination was Ahmedabad. I started my journey on March 16th and I landed in AMD on March 18th. My 2 bags were lost and after filling the claim form I got the reference number as AMDEY 17066. I received my first baggage on March 20th and still my second baggage is missing. The Ahmedabad baggage department has no information about flight in which my bag are coming. I need my Bag as I have important papers of my company in that I have been suspended by my company until further notice as I was not carry them in Carry on. I am helpless and in deep trouble becuase of this. I spoke to Executive Anjali on March 2nd Friday and Super visor Megha and they were not able to get in touch with Lost and Baggage department of Abu dhabi. At 4:15 pm on March 22 2019 Friday I called the AMD duty manager El Sharif Hussain who is busy in meetings and denied to speak with me for my issue. I think meetings are more important and no body cares about the customers in Ethiad. I completely helpless and please help me with Bag and compensation for the inconvenience caused by the Airline, Gunjan Mansharamani +91 [protected]

Hello sir..
I received a job offer from etihad group of companies, for the post of Accountant, they are offering me 4000 AED. With all facilities provided by company.. They demanded me passport copy and photos to upload on their website for the further process.. Kindly tell me is it fake or real... I received email and also about job offer by etihad group of companies. And I received email from ert@etihadgroupcareer.com.

I would like to lodge a formal complaint against the ground crew in Cairo International Airport handling my flight EY654 to Abu Dhabi on the 16th of February.

While boarding the plane around 1:20 PM I was asked to provide my passport and boarding pass when trying to provide it, the lady tried to snatch it from my hands, I advised her to wait, and after providing the documents to her she looked into them and then she threw the passport with the boarding pass rudely to her colleague on the desk, this was racially motivated by the ground crew, as I am a Coptic Christian and the ground crew that was involved in the incident was wearing the hijab and I had a tattooed cross that was visible on my right hand when the incident happened and I recall from the incident that her treatment changed to be aggressive once she saw my Cross.

I would like to complain about :

1- why all the crew did not wear clear badges to reflect their names as I do not know the name of the responsible that did this, all I know that she was wearing a scarf.

2- The rude and the unprofessional way I was treated should not be tolerated

I tried to reach out to Ethad Airways [RQID:694928] but no response.

I strongly believe that no one should be discriminated against for religion colour or gender, and I look forward to hear from you soon.

kind regards,

Raef

I was flying by Ethihad to USA on Jan 19 from India. My Checked in baggage was delayed by 3 days (Claim # ORDEY14703) & when I received the same it bag was damaged. I had sent informed to Ethihad air ways also sent 3 follow-up emails but there is no response from Ethihad airways.

Due to 3 days delay I had to purchase some mandatory clothing. I had request the refund for
1. Delay for 3 days
2. Baggage damage
3. Initial purchase need to be done due to baggage delay

Thank you.

I ordered a Samsung gear 3 watch from the etihad reward shop. Supposedly it takes max 6 working days for delivery. Its now been 3 weeks an 6 emails without a single response! I'm furious with this! The previous time it took 2 months for a tablet I ordered! I've emailed customer service twice and filled the contact us page 4 times. Not a single reply! Thanks for effectively steeling my money!

Hello,
I am the regular traveller to Europe on business purpose. This time I preferred etihad airlines for my travel, which very much disappointing and frustrating. While travelling from India to Frankfurt I was asked to postpone my travel to next day due to over booking. Some how did not happen because I denied. While return back to India at Abudabhi ethad denied my boarding. I have planned ans booked the flight as per my comfort, comittments, personal works, paid huge amount for ticket. Now as I was stopped from boarding at terminal3 of abudhabi airport, all the planning got effected. Who compensates my valuable time. They provided accommodation in a dormitory kind of room where just space for a bed like a cell for sleeping. No facilities are available. Forced to use public airpoet toilets. For the food I got to run half kilometer, even the coupon is very limited. Atleast i thought it could be okay if they give accomidation and others are fine. But very worst service from etihad. Frustrating. Not treating the customers well. When I questioned the people at information center who postponed my flight to next day at terminal3 they are not responding at all. They are not accountable and telling that you can complaint in the etihad website with very casual way. I have travelled many times in lufthanza, Emirates air swrvives. Never had any problem. I would have booked better flight if they could have made "flight full/no seats avaialble" in booking sites. Etihad tried to change the flight at both the times while to and fro. Who compensates for my valuable rime? Who are you to change my flight of I have already booked on perticular date? Please give me the justification. I had very bad time and discomfort lost my 1day of time inspire of spending huge amount on booking ticket in etihad airlines.
I have changed from below flights.
EY 216 -> EY236

My daughter and I recently flew from Chicago to Hyderabad, India and back on American Airlines and American's partner airlines, Etihad Airways. When I arrived at the airport for the departure flight, I was informed each traveler was only entitled to one checked bag and there was a $100 baggage fee for every additional checked bag. I paid $200 for two additional bags. American claims this is per Etihad's policy, but Etihad's website states each person is entitled to two checked bags. Moreover, I have a gold card member of American Airlines and also carry Citi Platinum Select American Airlines credit card that entitles me to two free checked bags for myself and each person traveling with me.

On the return flight, Etihad informed me that the charge for one additional bag was $300. I asked why and was informed that was the policy. Nothing on Etihad's website provides any indication of this baggage fee. Nor did American Airlines ever state I would be charged $320 for one bag on the return flight.

In short, I paid a total of $520 for two "extra" bags to Hyderabad and one "extra" bag on my return. I believe the "extra" bags were not extra. They should have been included in my fare. I believe your action in allowing this charge is in violation of a USA Department of Transportation regulation found at 14 CFR 399.87.

I asked the Etihad agent at the Hyderabad airport where it says we pay $320 for extra bag and he could not show it. Clearly, it does not exist. I am also surprised that it is $100 per bag while leaving USA and $320 on the return. It makes no sense to me. I traveled on Etihad before and was allowed 2 bags per passenger. This has ruined our experience and I doubt we will ever travel on Etihad.

my baggage got delayed more than 24 hours while travelling from Jeddah - Abu Dhabi - Kuala Lumpur. I am demanding compensation against delay my baggage since this incidence disturb me a lot. I faced very serious problems such as:
1- my medicines for blood pressure, Cholesterol, Diabetic medicine and uric acid were in the delayed baggage so, I was without medicines for more than 24 hours.
2- my+family's clothes were in the delayed baggage so, we spent more than 24 hours without changing dress.
3- our all chargers for mobile phones and WiFi were in the delayed baggage. So, we were without communication with our families in home country which create physiological stress for us and for our families.

Personal Information:
Name: Fahad Mohammad
Cell Phone: +[protected]
Email: fahad. [protected]@gmail.com
Irregularity Report# KULEY29728
Date: 24JAN2019
Flight# EY 312 23JAN2019 at 17:20 and EY 418 on 23JAN2019 at 22:30 and arrival to destination (KUL) on 24 JAN 2019 at 10:00.
Booking ref: (VLO24N)
eTicket: [protected]
TAG Number: EY142614