Etihad Airways

I had booked a flexi ticket for a trip made on 1 August 2023. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to change the date of the ticket which was made possible after I paired the fare difference. I was told by the Etihad agent on the chat that I could get a certain amount as refund but what followed has been a harrowing experience.

I tried cancelling the ticket online only to be told of the dozen cancellation charges. Not only that they kept insisting that I needed to pay additional an additional fee to have an agent cancel the ticket.

When I asked for information on the refund amount, I kept getting the response that they could not provide me with this information.

They kept insisting rather that I made changes to my destination during my onward journey which is absolutely false.

Frustrated, I just told them to cancel it which they did but sent me no email even after promising me. I see that the flight has been cancelled on Manage Booking but I received no email information on this via email or information on when and how much the refund will be.

If Etihad cannot provide information on refunds who can?

I gonna breakdown the negative side of Etihad when it comes to processing refund.

Note that according to them the refund will take 7 to 45 days to appear to your bank but did not elaborate the conditions.

1. From the time of cancellation, 7 to 45 days to process the refund (this

probably to compute the amount refundable)

2. When they finally process the refund you have to wait again 7 to 45 days for

God knows what!

3. They will not contact you for any questions such as Bank Information, they will wait for you to contact them.

4. When you finally give them the Bank information, you will wait again 7 to 45

days.

So when you decided to book Etihad make sure that you are 101% sure that you can make it to the flight and cancellation will not be your option.

Etihad cancelled my family of 4 flights in 2020 due to travel restrictions with Covid. Received notification that my flight money was put into a travel bank account. Travel Bank A/C No [protected] to expire July 2022.

Booked another flight in June 2022 that was fully flexible/cancellable as I needed to use this credit by July 2022. We were not in a position to travel but chose this option so I could change ticket closer to the date if needed. I had booked a flight to travel in March 2023. This flight was then cancelled in July 2022.

My options in the email was to call the Call Centre to: Rebook a different flight or Request a Refund.

I called the Call Centre requesting a refund in July 2022. They advised I was unable to get a money refund as the form of payment for this flight was from a travel bank credit account.

The Call Centre advised they could only transfer this money back into the travel bank credit account as this was the method of payment or a ticket that was valid for 3 months. I pointed out that the Travel Bank account was expiring in July 2022 and a ticket being offered to me in July 2022 valid for 3 months when my flight was not until March 2023 was not a suitable resolution. (In later correspondence they said I declined this ticket which I did not, I was going on advice from the call centre that they were escalating my case as I was seeking a refund).

After months of calls to the Call Centre in Bangladesh trying to get assistance or a resolution and getting the same answer each time that my case was being ecalated. Finally, on the 10 December 2022 a call centre person advised I could try emailing “Feedback” to explain my case. While I was preparing my case for “Feedback” Etihad automatically transferred my flight money into the travel bank account on the 15/12/22.

The email states the amount credited was $3467.76AUD but when I open my account it is showing $0 as the account has expired.

I contacted the travel bank department and they advised for me to go back to the call centre.

Call centre advised for me to write another email to “Feedback”. Their response was:

"We regret to inform you that your ticket cannot be used as an open ticket since it has already been reimbursed on the initial form of payment".

After many calls to the Call Centre not once was I advised that there was a time frame that my ticket would be transferred back into the travel bank credit account.

I was advised in the last correspondence that there are recordings of conversations so if it is possible to hear these then it would prove that I was trying to seek a resolution.

If Etihad can at least provide me with an open ticket valid for 12 months which I should be entitled to when they have cancelled flights. Please note I did not decline an open ticket I was clearly trying to seek a refund or a ticket that was at least valid for 12 months.

I am a doctor and had to travel to Uk for work and the staff made me wait for 4 hours for the connecting flight and didn’t give me seat in the flight booked for 1045 am on 28th august to London Heathrow..

Very disappointed with the way staff spoke and also very disappointed with the compensation..

I had to literally beg them to get me into the flight but all efforts were wasted ..

I am under sever financial loss due to this ..

I would request you to compensate me for this or else I have to go the legal way ..

The supervising officer was saad Ahmed ..

I booked a return ticket from Manchester to Ahmedabad for 12th June 2022 and a part of payment was through the travelbank voucher . But then Etihad cancelled the flight from Ahmedabad and rebooked another time. So I had the option to cancel for free so I called customer care. He clearly mentioned I will get an entire refund and the money paid through the travel bank will be refunded back in the travelbank. I have still not received that refund to the travelbank, please look into it and process my refund.I know travelbank is now Etihad credit and that also does not show the refund. This my 10th time contacting Eithad, email to the Etihad credit team, phone calls everything I tried still no refund from you guys

Reference number

FGLQRX

Case Number

[protected]

Bank account Number

FAB bank debt card

[protected]

On 10th January 2023 a soft payment was made to Etihad for flight to Barcelona. I have been unsuccessful in receiving the refund, despite many phone calls and emails.

Over the last eight months I have not received an acceptable standard of customer service in seeking my refund. Communication has been poor and I am still the one needing to follow up and no refund has been received.

I have sort further information from Perla regarding her email stating a refund had been issued. My bank has no record of this refund and funds are not in my account. I have asked for further information eg date of refund and SWIFT code of this transaction so it can be investigated from the banks end and have had no further information or contact from Perl.

I think from the lack of information and clarity from Etihad the money still sits with them and I will need to seek further help to ensure I am refunded the money.

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.

I have a complaint to lodge against your check in staff.

I can't file the complaint using "https://www.etihad.com/en-ae/help/feedback/share-feedback", boring, provocative, unresponsive, time-consuming!

my wife and son were flying from abu dhabi to cairo on 14 August 2023 at 10.05 AM. There are some mistakes in names, i called the agent when i discovered the mistakes, but he said it is not a problem as long as there is no substantial difference in names and are pronounced the same. based on that, my wife and son arrived from cairo airport despite the mistakes, no problems, no charge for changing the name, no hassle, no stress, no tension, no troubles at all! (ticket name: Hayam aboshehin / Passport Name: Hiam Aboushahin)! No big difference for 1st graders! but for your Asian staff, I wish i hadn't seen them for even a second! different world, different mindset!

But here at abu dhabi airport, your check in staff, indians as my wife told me, forced my wife to pay AED 520 and change the names

Even more, she didnt have extra luggage and she had to take some luggage with her onboard and spoil the gift she had bought!

Booking Ref : N98FYG for wife and son

Ticket Nos:

EY 607-[protected] (wife - Hayam Aboshihen)

EY 607-[protected] (son - Heban Zeyada)

Flight No. EY 653

actually i ve bn flying Etihad for over 15 yrs now, and never have i seen this shameful experience or met such a stubborn mentality staff!

Please look into this complaint and reimburse me the amount paid for correcting the name mistakes I am not accountable for!

I ve bn trying to send the complaint via etihad help link, but the process stops everytime I click "Continue"!

THAT'S ALL in details!

Waiting for an action from your side!

Regards

Maged zeyada

+[protected] (whatsapp No)

[protected]@gmail.com

I received the approved refund request below from Eithad Airways guest servies in Abu Dhabi below...

--------------------------------------------------------

Please let me know if your able to assist and I have copied in the credit note your team provided below as an fyi?On Tue, Dec 20, 2022 at 12:15 AM Payment Solutions wrote:

Dear OD,

kindly note the refund will take 10-15 working days , please request the customer to follow up with the bank . in case the bank can't find the transaction please request the customer to dispute with their bank .

regards,

__________________________________________________________________________

Requester : Sean Lee Heung

Category : Finance

Description :

This email comes from an EXTERNAL source.

Good evening all.

Could someone please provide the following updates...

* A confirmation when the refund will be processed back to my AMEX Credit Card

* And that the amount will match what my colleague Evangelos paid to cover the re-issued tickets... copy of the receipt attached

Regards,

Sean Lee Heung

On Wed, Nov 23, 2022 at 12:45 AM Aisha Morilla Astejada wrote:

Dear All,

Guest has been charged for PCC Override because of the CCNV edit and was unable to present the original or copy of the CC used purchasing the ticket. Kindly do the necessary to refund the amount charged from guest CC account.

Regards,

Aisha Morilla Astejada

Reservation and Ticketing Agent, Hub and Midfield Operations

Etihad Airport Services – (Ground)

PO Box 35566, Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

M: +[protected]

E: [protected]@etihad.ae

etihad.com

CELEBRATING THE UAE’S

REMARKABLE JOURNEY

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----------------------------------------------------

It has been...

** 257 Days from the Etihad Airways email (1st attachment) confirming a refund was approved back on November 23, 2022 regarding booking reference TMEGWZ!

***** 390 Days (2nd attachment) since the original tickets were purchased on July 12, 2022!

I am looking for someone at Eithad Airways to help me with processing my refund?

Regards,

Sean Lee Heung

I have a complaint to lodge against your check in staff.

my wife and son were flying from abu dhabi to cairo on 14 August 2023 at 10.05 AM. There are some mistakes in names, i called the agent when i discovered the mistakes, but he said it is not a problem as long as there is no substantial difference in names and are pronounced the same. based on that, my wife and son arrived from cairo airport despite the mistakes, no problems, no charge for changing the name, no hassle, no stress, no tension, no troubles at all!

But here at abu dhabi airport, your check in staff, indians as my wife told me, forced my wife to pay AED 520 and change the names

Even more, she didnt have extra luggage and she had to take some luggage with her onboard and spoil the gift she had bought!

Booking Ref : N98FYG for wife and son

Ticket Nos:

EY 607-[protected] (wife - Hayam Aboshihen)

EY 607-[protected] (son - Heban Zeyada)

Flight No. EY 653

actually i ve bn flying Etihad for over 15 yrs now, and never have i seen this shameful experience or met such a stubborn mentality staff!

Please look into this complaint and reimburse me the amount paid for correcting the name mistakes I am not accountable for!

I ve bn trying to send the complaint via etihad help link, but the process stops everytime I click "Continue"!

THAT'S ALL in details!

Waiting for an action from your side!

Regards

Maged zeyada

+[protected] (whatsapp No)

[protected]@gmail.com

I have cancelled a booking online on 12 May, and still haven't received the refund.

Please find below the ticket number and guest name:

Ms Eliana Bantchev

Ticket number: [protected]

Flight from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta

I called the customer service several times, and wrote also several times to [protected]@etihad.ae. The response was to contact the customer service, which said that the situation would be resolved. No response as of today at all. The representatives failed to even send follow-up emails. Very disappointing, and a great loss of time, without any resolution, for a ticket that was fully refundable, and which has been cancelled online already.

You will find attached the screenshots that I took at the end of the cancellation process online, on 12 May 2023. (for a flight departing on 15 May 2023).

The flight was successfully cancelled online and I expected to receive the amount without any trouble, as I fully trust Etihad and recommend it.

Looking forward to your response, and to receiving the refund.

Thank you and best regards,

Eliana Bantchev

As part of service, they advertised that they will help with Immigrations/Customs. At airport, they did not help saying that they are not allowed in that Area. It's ridiculous that Airlines is taking money from passenger through these services and providing bad service. I hope this helps anyone looking to purchase Meet and greet service from Etihad. I ended up paying money for1 adult and two kids and did not getting full service they advertised. Very disappointed.

Am a passenger on flight number EY15 on the 12th Aug 2023.

It has been the worst ever exeperience i have had so far. The Etihad staff was rude, without manners and simply unacceptable. After showing my passport and boarding pass they would not wven give me thier names nor show me their id’s.

There were 3 men and the one particularly rude was a thin tall man wearing glasses and the other 2 just supported him and would not show thier ids which they were wearing at the time nor their names when i asked them so that i could complain.

Also they would let me take a photo or record the incident.

Based on my family's previoius business class travel experience on Etihaad, this year on April 6, 2023 I booked tickets for me and my son to fly from ORD to HYD on 13th May 2023 paying $3776.22. However within 4 hours I ended up cancelling for a family reason. I called Etihaad within 4 hours from booking tickets, and they assured that I will get the money back within couple of days as the cancel was within 24 hours. They also got approval from Refunds.

From there on, it has been a nightmare for me for the past 5 months. I have been calling every week. Some weeks I called almost every day. Everytime I call, I am assured that I will get money back, and some of the customer service managers were kind to tell me that they will take this as personal case and escalate to refunds deparment and will get my money back within two, three, seven days.

However, I have been getting same response every time I call. They say they have been escalating to refunds department, and the refund is approved by refunds department, and there are a couple/few emails to front-office team that refund will be given within 15 working days. But that was on June 11th, and today is Aug 13th.

So here I am after cancelling tickets on April 6th, I am still waiting for refund on Aug 11th.

Following are the people I talked to in various customer service centers of Etihaad. I called at all times of the day, and all days of the week hoping someone will be an angel and get me my money back.

Jes from India Call Center

Saloni from India Call Center

Jes from India Call Center

Sandra from Serbia Call Center

Sofia from Serbia Call Center

Jan from Phillippines Call Center

Zaheed Pasha from India Call Center

Ms Saloni who was fantastic, in returning my calls to take my bank routing and account number, personally assured me that she will follow up and get my money back, but unfortunatley I still did not get money back.

Ms Jan, and a couple others also assured me the same thing.

ETIHAAD, PLEASE YOU HAVE GIVEN ME COUNTLESS NIGHTMARES, HEARTBURN, FRUSTRATION, ANGER AND HELPLESSNESS.

At this point of time I have no option but to approach attorney to get my money back AND COMPENSATION FOR THE TORTURE YOU ARE PUTTING ME THROUGH.

I WANT MY MONEY BACK, PLEASE!

[protected]@gmail.com

I have been attempting to contact customer service for the past 6 months regarding the status of my refund for the tickets mentioned below. Unfortunately, I have not received any response so far, and there has been a lack of proper communication or updates on the status from etihad team

The customer service representatives have assured me that my refund would be addressed, but I have yet to see any progress in that regard. I am becoming increasingly concerned about the situation, and I would appreciate an explanation as soon as possible. If I do not receive a satisfactory response in a timely manner, I may be left with no choice but to pursue legal action regarding this matter.

I have made approximately 30 to 35 calls to customer service up to this point wasting time around 50/60 hrs on calls. In these calls, they have indicated that they would send an email to the refund or payments team, but unfortunately, no action has been taken or acknowledged on their end.

Hi, my parents are travelling on October 25th from Cairo to Melbourne and connecting in Abu Dhabi. They have a 22-hour layover and meet the Etihad criteria.

to be eligible for a free stopover hotel. However, your booking tool shows no availability, and I tried to contact you via chat and phone multiple times, but no one was able to help. I requested to make my own booking at any of the approved partner hotels and then claim for it as my parents are old and cannot spend 22 hours at the airport or the lounge. and I found heaps of complaints about the same issue, which made me so frustrated with Etihad Airlines, as I never face this kind of problem with Emirates or Qatar Airlines.

Flight EY281 4th July 2023 COK -AUH

Ticket# [protected] & Tag# 607EY528941

Name: Rajamohanan Sivadasan

I am Canadian bought ticket online from Canada to travel from Cok to Auh On 4th July 2023.

On arrival my check in baggage was damaged beyond repair and made a compliant # AUHEY98362. Having checked the baggage at hotel, I noticed that my optical was missing as well.

Made a claim with all required invoice and other documents. The compensation for Samsonite bag provided is not satisfactory and also refused to provide any compensation for lost item. The total settlement offered is C$84. Though I raise a doubt about lost item, actually noticed only at Hotel when I had a detailed check for it for my use.

I am very much upset with this settlement and the way my claim is handled. Optical invoice & baggage purchase invoice already submitted.

To whom so ever it may concern

It is with at most, disappointment and annoyance that I am emailing you regarding a recent flight that me and my family had to take with Etihad.

I am expecting to get a reasonable reply other than an apology for the difficult situation that we had to deal with.

Me and Family which includes my husband, my daughter, and my son booked the tickets to fly to Kochi in April and the flight was scheduled on 05th July to Abu Dhabi and Kochi. We reached Kochi on the 6th. We did check in online and managed to get 2 seats together, which was manageable as me and my daughter got the seats together and my husband and my son got seats together. When we were due to fly back on the 27th of July, I woke up at 1 am Indian time to check online as it said the online check-in will open 16 hours prior. As we tried to check online most of the seats were blocked by the system and we didn’t get the seats together. So I rang the office and I was consoled by a lady that she will pass a message to Air Arabia (connection from Kochi to Abu Dhabi) and Etihad (Abu Dhabi to Dublin). My issue was that my 13-year-old son was given a seat far from our seat and my husband in a completely different area. We were initially given seats in 4 different areas and a kind person at the Abu Dhabi desk gave us two seats together. I kept on requesting everyone in the offices that I don’t feel comfortable leaving my child somewhere on the flight with no family member near him. As I got on the flight I requested the crew to check if there are two strangers sitting beside we could request a swap. The attitude of the staff was really upsetting and in our opinion, they didn’t try to solve the issue at all. I was worried as my son was not feeling well and I did explain this to the crew. The whole night my son had to stay beside a stranger and I was not able to check him frequently as I was in the middle seat and the guy beside me was sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb him throughout the night. The whole night I was awake and so my husband worrying about our son who is sitting with a stranger. My son was so upset about the whole issue

My question to Etihad is what if my son was sick during the night or if there was an emergency during the journey, who will take responsibility for this? I was asked by an office staff in Abu Dhabi to file a complaint. Is this the solution for this crisis? We as a family booked the ticket to travel together and I didn’t expect this at the last minute. Our friend and family who traveled together with us did check online and managed to get the seats together at the same time we checked online. I will be reluctant to book flights with Etihad if there is no proper explanation and reassurance provided. As we know that this is not a budget airline we expect minimum facilities like providing seats together for a family. Air Arabia crew told us not to do the online check-in in the future. Just need the proper advice just in case we decide to travel with you in the future. I as a mother of two children don’t expect my children to travel on their own unless we chose to do the same. To my knowledge, people choose to book flights and travel on their holiday to relax and not to build up stress. Ticket prices with airlines are gone up so high and even after paying this amount Etihad crew told me that if I purchase the seats with another 500 euros they will allocate the seats together. My query is how they get those seats and in my opinion, it is pure greediness. I need a proper explanation for the inconvenience that was caused. I can submit the booking reference on request

Kind regards

Diana Paul

[protected]@gmail.com

I have been trying to get help locating travel credit from a booking which was originally made in August of 2021 which had to be cancelled due to health issues.

I was told my fare would be put in a travel bank and I had until July 31st 2023 to use it.

When I looked into my new Etihad credit account it only showed $4,498.05 which reflects the value of my ticket and not the value for my wife and son.

I have been trying for weeks to get this resolved with Etihad customer service and I’ve been unable to resolve. I have been promised calls back while they investigate and no one calls back. I have spent hours on the phone with Eithad customer service and no resolution.

Today the credit expires and I am unable to book on the site.

I am EXTREMELY frustrated and there is nearly $10,000 of Etihad credit unaccounted for.

I am requesting this matter be escalated to someone who is able to resolve this issue.