Etihad Airways
reviews and complaints

I bought a Abu Dhabi-Zurich flight for 10.01. Flight was canceled last minute and re-booked on 12.01 without asking. Date was not suitable so requested to rebook on 09.01. Etihad asking for new charges (660 Aed) and that is difficult to understand since the cancellation was initiated by Etihad, not me.
The payment was done but Etihad system error asked me to pay a second time and the first amount would be refunded within 7 days... Transfer was confirmed by my bank...
Etihad seems to enjoy the transfer of its internal mismanagement to the customer.
The last time I am taking this airline and I will let know about this type of misbehavior around. Shame

I am Etihad Guest bronze no. [protected] and my daughter is a family addition to this.
I had booked a return ticket for her Bah - Ord - Bah. Please see the attachment. She had initiated the ticket and it is the return journey I am complaining about. (Chicago to Bahrain).
This flight was rescheduled three times. On the last reschedule the transit time at Abu Dhabi which was initially 2.5 hours, increase to 11.5 hours.

I understand that things change, and some things are inevitable, but there were no transit facilities offered for these 11.5 hours. My daughter was expected to sit or stand for 11.5 hours after a flight of 14 hours.
Forget about lounge facilities, she was not offered even water and was expected to buy her own food.

The solution offered by the call centers on phone was to upgrade to business class or pay for a lounge (this is only valid for 3 hours)

Out of desperation, I booked her an airport hotel in Abu Dhabi.

I am a frequent flyer of many airlines and even the low-cost and budget airlines offer better service.

I am attaching the initial ticket, the rescheduled flight, the boarding pass as well as the hotel booking.

I am expecting a response from the airline.

In anticipation.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Head - Surgical Service Line
American Mission Hospital
P.O. Box 1
Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain

Etihad offered to give credit if a customer paid in money to their travel credit account so if you put in £1000 you would get up to £1000 in credit making a balance of £2000. I won't be able to travel & have asked for my original credit amount back which I consider my money but they have refused. There is nothing in the T&C that states that they will not refund you.

I have booked tickets through n agent for 6th Jan 2022,
From Delhi to Abu Dhabi EY 211, 6th Jan 2022
From Abu Dhabi to Toronto EY 141, 6th Jan 2022.

Agent has given Booking Ref: GGSQA for both these tickets .

No PNR or Ticket number has been given. Agent says that PNR or Ticket number will be given two days before date of flight.

Please confirm whether booking is genuine.

Please send reply to [protected]@gmail.com

Hello

Dear Etihad !

I have a problem with a payment that occured with a booking on Etihad french website.

6/11/2021 - 1st try : So I tried to book a flight on the 6/11/2021 (CDGMEL : 13/12/2021-21/05/2021) but at the payment (with my VISA x-2963) process a problem occured on the website. The booking didn't get through and I didn't receive any email from Etihad.

7/11/2021 - 2nd try : So as it didn't work, I retried the next day 7/11/2021 to book again the same flight but this time I paid with my MASTERCARD x-2087 via Paypal (transaction number=8P312330WF7379159) and it succeeded. So I received this time a confirmation email with my booking reference=RXIUIB / ticket=[protected].

08/11/2021 : But the next day 8/11/2021, I received a notification from my bank that my account was debited for the 1st try (attempt on the 6/11/2021 with my VISA x-2963) and I didnt receive any email from etihad for that.
So now I have been debited 2 times 1432.48 Eur for only 1 trip.

Can you help me please ?

Kind Regards

I am writing to express my disappointment and dissatisfaction in your service. I had booked to travel form Kochin to Ireland via Abu Dhabi and London (please find flight details attached), however as I attempted to check in 2 and a half hours before the flight, I was advised by the staff at the check in desk in Kochin airport that I would be unable to travel as I do not possess a UK visa. They informed me that in recent days, other passengers had been refused travel for the same reason. I told them that I knew I could travel transit via UK with my Irish Resident's Permit (IRP) card. I have a stamp 4 visa. They assured me that without a UK visa I would be unable to travel, stating it was a new rule. I checked on the uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y/india/transit/republic_of_ireland and there was no evidence of this.

I then contacted the travel agent who I had booked the flight with (details as attached)-he spoke with the staff at the check in desk and assured them that I would be granted entry with my IRP card. They were adamant that I could not travel and would need to arrange another flight. I had already spent approximately one hour trying to sort the situation. My travel agent arranged a flight for me with Emirates, with transit via the UK also. I travelled back to Ireland with no issues or questions about my visa.

As I'm sure you can imagine, this was extremely stressful and upsetting for me. I had travelled to India to see my parents for the first time in 2 years, at short notice as my father had become ill. I left my husband and 2 young children at home in Ireland, and was anxious to get back to them after being away for 2 weeks. I also had work commitments in Ireland, having to attend work as a nurse in the HSE on Tuesday the 7th of December. The staff in Kochin were not helpful at all, and clearly weren't aware of the current travel rules. This was very distressing and having to book another ticket at such short notice was expensive and very inconvenient. As previously stated, I travelled home with Emirates with no problems using just my IRP card in the UK.

I suggest that your staff are informed of the most up to date travel rules and are more accommodating and sympathetic to the passengers travelling with your airline. I expect a full refund for my flight.

Look forward to hearing from you,

Kind Regards,

Nimmymol James

Airline canceled the trip and held the money for nine months now in what's so called "Travel Bank Account". informed airline that I want a refund and I dont want my money to be held infinitely in travel bank account. Airline is adamant that it will not refund. Ticket was purchased from the airline and the cancelation of trip was by the airline.

Transaction ID: 223698
Ticket Number: [protected]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I trust you are well?

My clients booked ETIHAD AIRWAYS tickets through my travel agency. I pre-paid for seats once the tickets have been issued and directly on the airline website.

The airline cancelled the flights and I refunded the clients for the fares/taxes. The airline now refuses to refund the pre-paid seats (ZAR1162.00 per person)

ELECTRONIC TICKET LIST BY *HTE
NAME TICKET NUMBER
>*TE001· SWANEPOEL/GERHAR [protected]
>*TE002· SWANEPOEL/SUSARA [protected]
REF# Booking reference
LZXJWZ

Many thanks.
Riaan Goosen
OWNER/MANAGER CLUB TRAVEL
+[protected]
riaan.[protected]@clubtravel.co.za

Me and my family were flying from Ahmedabad to Frankfurt via Abu Dhabi.
Date 05.09.2021
We already had submitted RCPCR test report (negative), which were not older than 24 hours.
Etihad staff members have forced us to pay 14, 000 INR. for further RCPCR test, which were not required, (and said we must do it again at transit) before giving our boarding pass. And after asking, they replied, it is compulsory at transit to do again RCPCR test, doesn't matter our test report is valid or not.
We asked if we pay at Abu Dhabi, Etihad staff answered, no you have to pay here only. They were not going to give us boarding pass before that.
I am attaching my ticket, Test reports and also a Receipts of that amount which were taken from us forcefully. And also they didn't do any RCPCR test at Abu Dhabi airport. They only did rapid test, which was actually that time not required/
After complaining lot many times on lot many different ways finely they sent me an email with wrong calling name, that they will give us money back within 14 days. After 14 days we have not received anything.
I am attaching also that emails here.
Also I want to inform you, that like us they are doing this to each and every passenger. So think how much money they are making for doing rapid test. I feel, it is big fraud. Please take a look in it.

Thanks and Regards.
Neha Mehta

15/12/20 to 31/12/20 Holiday to Maldives booked through an agency. Etihad flights and separate accomodation.
21/12/2020: Arrived at our resort at You and Me Cocoon resort. We were given a liaison person (Nishan) a.k.a the butler. We gave him our return flight details when he asked for them (23:45 30/12/2020 from Male international flight number EY279) and we asked him to check that we had all the necessary paperwork to travel home with. We were told that we did not need a COVID PCR test to travel back with Etihad airways.
We received no correspondence from Etihad airways and we checked on the website. Advice from the website (screen shots attached) included asking for the user to insert the destination airport into a box to get more specific information. Beneath this box then instructed us on what to do. We were flying back to Manchester so when the advice beneath detailed that "if flying to London" then a PCR was required we did not think that we needed a PCR test to travel because we were flying to Manchester and also the travel corridors were open from Maldives and Abu Dhabi therefore we were not required to isolate. This together with a changing tier system in England to have essentially locked down London meant that we were confused and so we asked the resort to check with the
2 / 14
Rebecca Wockenforth complaint against Etihad Airways Airlines case 9544257
airline for us as our telephones would not work on the resort. We were told that we did not need a PCR test.
30/12/2020: Arrived back to Male airport from our resort to check into our flight. We were turned away immediately because we did not have a recent PCR test result. All I had was the PCR result we obtained prior to leaving the UK and they would not accept this. Etihad pushed us to one side and refused to help us. We managed to find a man at the airport who let us use his phone for a fee so that we could call Etihad and rebook the flight back home on the next available flight on 01/01/2021 at 23:45. As a paediatric doctor I needed to get home for work purposes. Unfortunately then everything became worse. We were told by the men at the airport that they could take us to a hotel in Male where we could stay for the night then they would take us to get a PCR test in the morning. It was very late at this point and we were desperate so we went with them as we had no alternative hotel and neither of our phones would work so we had no way of booking anywhere else. Etihad had essentially abandoned us. We were taken to the Noomoo hotel. I felt incredibly unsafe there and cried all night. Using their wifi we managed to book another resort for the 31/12/2020 (Bandos resort).
31/12/2020: PCR test complete at MedLab Diagnostics in Male city. Transfer to Bandos resort until 01/01/21 when we managed to get to our flight and come home.
I assumed this would be covered under our travel insurance policy with Natwest- they informed us that as Etihad was clearly to blame, we had to contact them and make a claim.
I called and emailed Etihad mutiple times using their "feedback" resource detailing the problem and they finally ended my requests for reimbursement of extra expenses on 23/3/21 by saying in an email that the matter was closed.

I booked my tickets in January 2021 for travel from Toronto to Cochin on 2nd December 2021 and back on 7th January 2022. A few days ago (15 November, 2021) I was informed by Etihad that my flight EY 281 (Cochin - Abu Dhabi) was cancelled and that I need to reach out to their Contact Centre.

Etihad's Contact Centre informed that there are no flights/seats from Cochin to Abu Dhabi for months and that I should look for other alternatives or ask for a refund. Finally after hours and days of waiting on their Contact Centre phone lines, I was asked to fly from Mumbai (BOM) to Abu Dhabi and that I will have to arrange my travel from Cochin to Mumbai (1500 km).

At the same time, there were other travel options from Cochin to Abu Dhabi (e.g. via AI699) available on etihad.com, but they were not willing to provide that option.

Since then I have been following up with Etihad, on Twitter/emails/calls/LinkedIn (they even promised to call back), but there has been no response from Etihad.

This has been my WORST TRAVEL EXPERIENCE ever and the WORST AIRLINE I have ever dealt with.

I believe that if not anything else, I am entitled to air fare from Cochin to Mumbai. I was charged for travel from Cochin to Abu Dhabi and now if Etihad has cancelled my flight and booked me from another airport, it is their responsibility to provide for my travel to that airport.

Hello,
We have been trying for to make contact with Ethiad for the last 3 days to deal with an issue with regards to our flights and our travel Bank.
On the 1st occasion I got through to someone who was not able to deal with the issue and said he would put me through to the correct person. I waited 2 hours on hold and gave up.
My wife has tried again on 2 occasions over the last 2 days. Again the same outcome - 2 hours waiting on both occasions and no help.
We are at a loss what to do? Is there any customer service in Ethiad?
Regards,
Jerry Kelly [protected]

I hereby wish to lodge a complaint regarding the partial refund we received as a result of ITEHAD's change to its flight schedule for flight EY0601 that was originally meant to depart from Cape Town at 15.30 on 1 January 2022.

As a result of the email received from ITEHAD I phoned the ITEHAD's call centre on 24 November 2021 and managed to get through to the one in Egypt. I spoke to one of the consultants by the name of Nadia who confirmed that the ITEHAD flights would no longer be flying to Cape Town.

I enquired about a ticket refund because of the significant change to the flight schedule and the consultant confirmed after she consulted with her superior, that we would be entitled to receive a full refund, which I accepted and which the consultant duly processed.

I was therefore shocked and disappointed when we were refunded R990.75 for each ticket (x5) but the purchase price of each ticket was R4 999.00.

I therefore request payment of the full purchase price immediately since cancellation was as a result of the significant change to the flight schedule, and through no fault of ours.

I whas offered to buy 2 extra seats on my flight EY 77 to Amsterdam the 23 th of november. The mail showed a map on which i could choose the row. There where only 3 to choose from so I suggested the rest of the plain what full. I payed for two extra seats( row 29), but when I entered the plain it whas nearly empty and everybody could sit where the wanted . I think i have been misled by the map . I complained in the plane and they took notice and i would receive a mail they promised. But up to now i did not receive anything. This is not correct . So what to do ? I want my €125 that i payed returned to my account. Regards .Anthonie Wielemaker

Subject: Booking Ref : UJQGEW : Flight cancellation and request for refund.
Etihad Guest Ref: 500030246144

My Etihad flight EY0281 from Kochi to Dubai (XNB via AUH) on Jan 02, 2022 was informed as cancelled on 15th November 2021 without rebooking.

The above ticket was booked on 24.07.2021 for Jan 01, 2022 travel COK: AUH: XNB timings 21.05: 23.50:01.50. Within 3 days on 26.07.2021, I got notification of cancellation and rebooking to Jan 02, 2022 COK: AUH: XNB timings 02.45:05.30:08.50. Now on 15th November 2021, I was informed that my flight EY0281 as cancelled without rebooking. The risk of peak season ticket price hike averted through early bird booking ended up with egg on my face. Airline industry is on recovering phase from Covid-19 mess and its ridiculous to see unreasonable rescheduling and eventual cancellation that too from prestigious national carrier.

I tried to reschedule online through my Etihad Guest Ref: 500030246144 which also ended unsuccessfully. The website is not allowing me to manage the booking - it states "We're unable to process your request We're unable to process your request online. Please contact us and we'll be happy to help.(GEN13)". Further I tried to refund which also ended unsuccessfully. The website is not allowing me to process refund request - it states "We're unable to process your request. Please provide valid information.(REF39)".

Now the weird part is, none of the customer service agents are reachable after trying continuously on landline [protected]. I have been trying to reach Etihad Customer Service since 12.35pm on 15.11 2021, however couldn't reach due to 2-hour hold time and frequent disconnections. Further I wake up on 16.11.2021 morning 3:00 am and tried continuously till 6:00 am which too ended up unsuccessfully. It's disappointing that customer is unable to reach the customer service agents that too of Etihad in artificial intelligence era. I had to recently cancel 2 journey bookings and 1 journey reschedule in 3 different airlines for me and family. I could reach the customer service agents of all the 3 airlines and process full refunds / reschedule without any hassle.

Etihad had put me in difficult situation. My attempt to reach one of the agents through live chat went unsuccessful as the agent advised/messaged to keep trying [protected]. Also I tried to reach the landline no [protected] which was a reception and was not helpful. It's very unfortunate as I am traveling from dubai in December 1st week and at such a short notice I am not getting return tickets. Tickets available are at sky high fares. Etihad is a national carrier and it's a matter of grave concern, that passengers have to face such an uncertain situation with no effective communication possible. My visit is inevitable and was planned months ago for my father's surgery. Hence, I had no other option than to book my return ticket in other airline at almost double the rates.

I would like to request my flight Etihad EY0281 full refund of AED 456.06 x 4 = AED 1824.24 + AED 467.76 Etihad Travel Bank Account Balance = AED 2292.00. In ADDITION, I request you to kindly consider the matter and provide me extra over tickets rates I paid for other airline (Ticket attached AED 4340 - AED 2292 = AED 2048.) If I had got through any one of the customer service agents I could have booked in flight Jan 02, 2022 COK: AUH: XNB timings 08.35:11.20:14.35.

Today on 22 Nov 2021 I got Travel bank voucher after deducting AED 16.00 (AED 456.06- AED16.06 = AED440.00) Tax x 4 = AED 64 for Etihads cancellation, as a fine for no fault of mine. Anyhow its not my fault that I couldn't reach any of the agents after repeated trials and live chat attempts to resolve.

Kindly look into the matter and do the needful immediately.

What happened?
Booking reference: VARZTK
Date of incident: 18 November 2021
Location: Mumbai International Airport
Desirable resolution of this complaint: Rebook flight to Chicago without any fare difference and charges

The old age parents (Age 71 and 66) with knee problem and diabetes and Blood pressure were traveling internationally and at Mumbai airport. They were at the counter 4 hours before the flight (2:40 am flight). They kept them waiting aside standing for 2.30 hrs with no one to help. Later when they were called the staff was rude.
They were not allowed to board the flight to Abu Dhabi due to different format of RT-PCR test report. The Etihad staff at the counter did not bother to take a look at my parents' documentation or answer any questions or requests and ignored them. My parents asked them what is the name of the person in charge but the lady in charge was not telling her name to them too. She was shouting at them.
My parents requested them multiple times to tell them what documentation they need but the lady staff finally abused, threatened and harrassed them at the airport saying that I will see to it that you will never board any international flights now on.

How were passengers affected?
They missed their next Abu Dhabi to Chicago flight. Their hotel bookings in US got cancelled. They missed the ceremony they were planning to attend. In India, they were forced to go home at 3 am in the early morning in COVID times. They had to find cab with all luggage without any help to get back to home at this early hour.
With all this trouble my mother's BP was shoot up, she had to go to doctor the very first day as the clinic opened up. This would have led to serious medical emergency.

What would I like Etihad to do to resolve my issue?
I am humbly requesting Etihad to give them next earliest flight within 4 days to Chicago from Mumbai without taking any fare difference and charge to compensate the trauma. And make sure that the staff does not cause them the problem and respect them while boarding the flight next time and provide them proper assistance.
Please respond ASAP on urgent and high priority basis.

My name is marilyn ashalatha joshua and had booked two tickets for my husband and myself from bengaluru to london on 17/11/2021 for travel on 27/11/2021
booking ref: tddkiq
ey 237/ ey 17

i have not received the confirmation mail and also the amount has not been deducted from my account.Please let me know if i have to re book or is there something you need to do backend?
urgent response awaited!

my mob [protected]
mail : ashalatha.[protected]@gmail.Com

Hi sir I have flight from delhi to abu dhabi then abu dhabi to london we travel in business class I have long stay at the airport in abu dhabi but they is no lounge for us where we stay there is no water no milk no food I have my family with me as well my kids 2 year old I have without food for 6 hour
Have saw my son and wife crying for milk my son got ill and left us in chill a/c I have paid for busines please contant me on [protected]@hotmail.com or [protected]
Thanks

In 2020 I did a reservation with ethiad to bangkok. Due to corona the flight was canceled.
Instead of paying of my money to my visa account ethiad deposit my money in a guest accunt and has to be used within 2 years. I wasnt happy but accepted.
Now in 2021 I found in october a special business fare from amsterdam to bangkok for around 1250 euro.
In mind that I have a deposit from 1100 euro I made the reservation. But when I finished with reservation
I had to pay the full fare without ethiad use my deposit money.
I called an agent and explain what happen. He told me no problem and canceled the reservation.
He explaind how to use the deposit money and told me that I have to pay only the difference with my credit card. So far so good.
When I tried to make the reservation it was not possible to use my deposit money.
The system did not accept the combination of the deposit money with credit card.
Called an agent again. This tkíme I had a very unfriendly woman.
She explaind me that I can use the deposit money only by do a reservation via an agent and the special offer is not available in her system.
But she told me that the special offer is not in her system and I have to make a reservation for a much higher price around 1550 euro.
So I want to wait until a new offer come up. I asked her wht happen to my deposit money after 2 years over.
She told me that the money that time is gone and there is no refund. Due to only 2 month left of the 2 years in march
I agreed to buy the ticket for around 1550 euro in mind that I loose my money in 2022 booking reference tzdtyp.
At this time the special offer was still available on ethiad web page.
I ask now what is that that I cant use my deposi mony via web reservation?
But therefor the agent can use it ofcourse for a much higher price.
Ethiad I am very disappionted about this behavior and forsure that was the last time with ethiad.
Instead helping me you make more money out of the situation.
Again I am very disappointed that I loose around 300 euro

Juergen rakowski

Hi there,
I'm travelling with infant next week on 17th of Nov 2021, I check Etihad website and there they says children and Infants must required PCT test to travel india and on there hand on Etihad mobile app they says children under 5 years are exempt

I'm hope to get it resolved ASAP.
Call on +[protected], if you need more information.

Thanks.