Review: Etihad
Airline
Worst Middle Eastern airline - never again
61 people found this review helpful
The Airline booking site didn’t accept my credit card, so had to book on expedia (with the same credit card – no issue). This should have rung alarm bells as now I could not access ‘manage my booking’ or seat allocation buttons. Tight seats, unfriendly staff on trans-atlantic leg – better on the Asian legs. Claim we were 8 minutes late for boarding on USA inbound leg and denied boarding, then offered to fix it for $3800 – very generous!!! Primarily due to the pre-check for US customs, something that is not necessary on other airlines. Maybe US border protection know something we do not! Of course, the penalties about matches a new same day air fare – great business model for multiple sales on seats. Ground staff were most unwilling to minimize actual fare penalties and had no authority. I was told to ring the travel agent (making us feel less and less like Etihad customers), which was a challenge as Expedia claimed it was an airline issue. When I advised this to Etihad, the staff were polite, but still obliged to maximize the revenue. A family of five stuck in Abu Dhabi is an easy target. It was actually cheaper to rebook on Qatar rather than travel with Etihad and I understand that is what they preferred (we were not Etihad customers anyway). A low cost travel business model with a full service airline price tag. Good for backpackers, maybe business travelers; however, economy passengers should shop around. Qatar, Emirates and Gulf are all significantly better and worth the few extra dollars. Royal Jordanian marginally better and worth considering over Etihad.
61 people found this review helpful
This review is solely based on the opinion of a Silver Travel Advisor member and not of Silver Travel Advisor Ltd.
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HMJalmost 5 years agoLots of salutary lessons here about booking through Expedia - thanks! Sounds like a dreadful experience.
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