Etihad Airways
Reviews and Complaints

Hi

My wife was booked to travel on Etihad EY 280 to Kochi from Abu Dhabi yesterday 29/05/2023. She was traveling on an emergency as her father was admitted into the ICU and his condition was deteriorating. He was asking for my wife, who is his eldest daughter.

From the airport, they just did not board her citing overbooking as a reason, and I had to purchase another ticket on another airline via Mumbai to send her.

How can an airline refuse to board a passenger who has a confirmed booking? They were citing IATA rule permits them to do so... but what about the inconvenience caused to the passenger, his or her time money and the trauma one undergoes, both physical and mental?

Anticipating a positive response. This is in the interest of all would-be passengers, who can undergo similar experiences

Regards

Prometheus George

I am not looking at the few dollars as compensation, but a permanent solution where no passenger is offloaded for no fault of his and just to add to the profit of the airline!

To Guest Services

I am writing to you to advise how disappointed my husband and I were with our recent flights with Etihad Airways. On our flight from SYD to AUH, my husband and I were not seated together, despite me checking in the second "Check In" opened. We were both seated in middle seats, one in front of the other. We managed to get the seats changed when we arrived at the airport, 3 hours early, so we had seats together. My husbands Entertainment Screen did not work. The handset was stuck and the Flight Steward had to get a knife to remove it from its cradle. The screen would not reset, despite the Flight Stewart rebooting the system several times. Eventually we were told it could not be fixed. The flight was full and so we could not move seats. My husband had to fly over 14 hours without being able to watch any movies or television shows.

The light was also not working so he could not read or do any crosswords etc. Given we left at 20.50 pm, this was very inconvenient, he had to sit and do nothing the entire trip which made it a very long, boring flight. We paid a lot of money for a Full Service Flight and we did not receive it. The flight from AUH to CAI did not have any entertainment screens, so my husband didn’t get any entertainment the whole flight from Sydney to Cairo. A week or two prior to us returning home, I looked on the Etihad App to see how much it cost to select our seats for the AUH to SYD flight, to ensure we were seated together. I played around with a few seat selections and decided we couldn’t afford to pay extra and I would "Check In" immediately I was able to, so we got good seats. The cost of the seat selection was in the “Payment Basket” and I could not find were I could delete this so I exited the payment section and closed the app, thinking the seat selection was cancelled.

I set my alarm to get up at 4am the day of “Check In" to make sure we got good seats. I was unable to get our Boarding Passes for the AUH to SYD Flight as my seat selection was not cancelled and Etihad was waiting for payment before allowing me to save the boarding passes on our phones. There was no area in the app to delete the seat selection. This was extremely stressful as I didn’t want to be seated apart from my husband on such a long flight. I had gotten up early to Check In and I couldn’t get seats for the second leg of our flight. We tried calling the airline before all the seats booked up but as it was 4am and the office didn’t open until 9am. We called at 9am the next day, explained what had happened, that we didn’t want to pay for the seats but couldn’t cancel it and could we please be allocated seats together.

The lady on the phone understood what we wanted and placed us on hold so she could sort it out. We were on hold for so long, that my talk time allocation on roaming was used up and the line was disconnected, we were unable to call back. We thought she would have still cancelled the seats being held and allocated us seats together, even though our call was disconnected. When we got to the airport for our flight home, the seats were still on hold, awaiting payment. We ended up getting allocated the worst seats on the plane, the back row, right near the kitchen which is noisy, the lights are on and its impossible to sleep. Our entire experience with Etihad was very disappointing. My husband was given 10,000 points for the inconvenience but this is not enough points for anything.

We tried to get Etihad Lounge Access in Abu Dubai while we were waiting for our connecting flight to Sydney. We thought this was the least your company could do for us for the inconveniences however we were denied and our points, even with the extra 10,000 points were not adequate to get into the Etihad Lounge. We went to Guest Services and explained what happened on our flight over and could we please be allowed Lounge Access while we waited for our connecting flight to Sydney. We were told they couldn't do anything, to send in a complaint when we returned home. We would like reimbursement for our flights or some compensation for the problems encountered on our flights. We do not feel 10,000 points is adequate for having no light or entertainment, when we paid for a Full Service Flight.

It ruined our once in a lifetime trip to Europe.

My mother-in-law and father-in-law travelled last 23 May 2023 from London Heathrow flight number EY26 departure at 9.55pm. We have specifically requested for special assistance as they are both elderly, first time flyers and non-English speakers. The flight from London to Abu Dhabi was okay but arriving in Abu Dhabi, there were no assistance waiting for them at all! They only had 65mins layover and had to run to get to their gate. They had to ask someone from our country to help them on what to do next and find the gate. I believe this is absolutely disgusting! Flight number EY26 arrived 2minutes late from the ETA. And my parents had to board flight number EY428 departure time at 8.55am bound to Manila. Etihad failed us and my parents. Your service has to improve and take the elderly as priority! We are not happy with your service and certainly would think twice before choosing your airline if our parents would ever travel again! Horrendous, unhelpful service!

May 18 fuel leak /fire incident when landing at Abu Dhabi

After a pretty gruelling 14 hours flight as we landed there was clearly an issue as we could see fire trucks waiting on the run way. There was no announcement or explanation made at this point people naturally started to panic and demand answers as to why they could not disembark the plane, or use the toilets. The situation became really unmanaged with passengers shouting out and getting angry and aggressive. My daughter was travelling alone, and was really scared, the man next to her was getting really irate and abusive to the staff, saying if he was not allowed to go to the toilet he would urinate in the aisle, I think staff should have dealt with him individually and helped my daughter who was clearly upset. I appreciate the issues with the safety of leaving the plane was unfortunate, but it caused a very stressful situation that was not under control. Passengers should have been calmed down, drinks, snacks offered, it felt like some staff were not trained to deal with this, and made the situation escalate as they appeared to be unmanaged. No vouchers were offered to make things better and no regular updates given. It was 2 hours until passengers could get off the plane by which time it was chaos, with exhausted customers complaining, and no apology or individual assistance or advice offered to passengers with connecting flights. My daughter who was booked on t etihad flight ey019 to london had to run panicking that she would miss her connection, why was this not managed as the delay had been caused by an etihad issue. Overall we feel very disappointed that a single girl travelling alone had to experience this chaos, she is booked on her return flights on the 7th June

EY026 and EY450 and is now very nervous of flying with Etihad

Booking Reference Number - TABZBZ

Ticket Issue Date - 01st Feb 2023

Ticker Number - [protected]

Full refund ticket on cancellation

This was a round-trip ticket from IAD to Bangalore and back. The journey start date was 5th April 2023. The ticket was cancelled on 3rd April and since then I have connected with the Ethihad team for a refund of the ticket money. They said it will take 45 days and with that, it will be refunded. Today it is 25th May and it's more than 50 days, and I have not received the refund. Even today I did chat with their customer service representative and every time they are saying the issue has been internally escalated. They do not even mark my mail id which I have provided every time.

Need the refund to happen immediately.

Regards,

Partha

Hello,

We live in Charlotte and called Etihad to book travel ticket from Charlotte to Hyderabad on Jan 4th. Etihad told us there were no flights from Charlotte and nearest airport is Raleigh. On Jan 4, we booked tickets from Raleigh to Hyderabad with travel dates Sep 10th-Nov 10th with Reference # YRGKBT.

On Jan 11th, we received email from Etihad that our flight is cancelled and rebooked tickets on March 2nd with same reference # with travel dates Sep5th -Nov 10th.

For baggage, Representative said that each person get 2 check in bags free and didn't verify the ticket later. But in ticket notes it said 1bag is allowed

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But bottom of ticket mentioned as below, that 2 bags are allowed per person

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On May 10th, we came to know that flights from Charlotte to Hyderabad are available.. then I called Etihad and asked for my options. Representative1 said we can rebook the ticket and there is no price difference. Hence we rebooked from Charlotte to Hyderabad with Reference # UFPVSG. At the end, He mentioned about baggage allowance that "there is only 1 baggage allowance per person and you can cancel ticket if you are not interested and full refund will be issued. Please decide and call back anytime".

We later called another representative and he also stated same as above. Hence we checked with other airlines and they said 2 check in bags are allowed for each person. So we decided to book with other airlines and called Etihad to cancel ticket. Representative3 said full refund will not be issued which is contradictory from other 2 representatives statement.

On same day we spoke with Manager that we got misinformation and he said he will do inquiry and call us back within a week.

But we didn't receive any call back and called Etihad again on May 20th and they said they will call us back but didn't receive any call. I called again on May 22nd and received response that "Representative1 mentioned that he informed us about baggage allowance initially before rebooking the ticket" which is completely FALSE. But they didn't mention about the FULL REFUND part

Problems we have is:

1. Due to misinformation we need to pay Etihad 600$ for 2nd baggage allowance in total. When it's not our fault why we need to pay?

2. My husband's name is spelled incorrectly and I asked Etihad representative to change and he said "they can't change the name ,the only option is refund the ticket and make new booking for him". We will loose ticket fare. When it's again Etihad representative problem with spelling..why should we need to pay again?

3. When we booked tickets initially ,we paid for seats too and later when ticket changed from Charlotte to Hyderabad our seats are not booked. We couldn't select our seats now through "Manage" option from website or app.

Why we are getting different incorrect responses every time we call Etihad and PLEASE HELP WITH OUR PROBLEMS soon. We are seriously disappointed with Etihad service from January 2023.

Thank you,

Swapna

When I booked my return flight from Manila, the booking was 12.20 on the 16th May. With a 3hr stopover. It was changed to 15 May at 23.40 with a 4hr stopover. Then changed to 10.02 on the 16thMay with a 14hr stop over. When I book my flights I look at stopover times so I think this treatment is discussing and I am looking for compensation

Fligr reference UFYMM4.

If you require any further information, can you please state exactly what you require

I was at Chicago (ORD) airport on Sept. 15th, 2022 for flight EY 151 to Abu Dhabi. At Etihad counter agent check all documents she took all 4 bags and put tags on them, gave me wheelchair tag for my special need son. Before giving me my boarding passes she asked my credit card. I gave her that. She said this card not on file. I showed her Email from ETIHAD my E ticket number, booking Ref. # and last numbers of my credit card used it to buy tickets

She said she need full 16 numbers to issue boarding pass. I even talked to Supper wiser in charge no LUCK. I had to load al my 8 Bags (4 small &4 Large). And go home had to buy new tickets for Sept. 16th 2022 pay extra First agent was asking for $660 additional top of new price for EACH ticket but after talking to head it was waived ($660 each) It was about 2am local time. On April 1st 2022 I had purchased total of 5 tickets. 3 tickets traveling on August 20th 2022 (Boking ref. GSUFSO) and 2 tickets for traveling on Sept. 15th 2022. (Booking ref.# EGHLVO) I forgot that for last two tickets I did used another card It was not with me at the time. ANY WAY MY TICKETS WAS PAID IN FULL ON APRIL 1st, 2022 Since returned to USA on Oct. 12th 2022 I have called several time and send FEEDBACKS. Last feedback was on December 14th 2022 FEEDCACK NUMBER [protected]

I have made several calls regarding this. Yesterday and today spent more than 30mints Each.

Originally I had booked following tickets with Etihad for my wife and kids,

Ticket Issue Date: 12th Oct 2021

Booking reference: JYEBKS

These tickets I have cancelled on 12th Feb 2022 and I have received travel bank credit for the full amount. This credit was valid for 730 days since issue date, as per the email confirmation from Etihad, which means it should be valid until 12th Oct 2023 (12th Oct 2021 + 730 days).

On 18th Jan 2023, I have received an email from Etihad about new platform for managing travel bank credit but it didn't work for me because they have not provided login details.

On 4th April 2023, I have email to Etihad asking for login details to check my travel bank credit but instead they have sent me screenshot of my travel bank account which was showing zero balance with no other explanation or help to get more support.

After several unsuccessful attempts calling to Etihad support/helpdesk team, I have finally raised complaint on 20th April 2023 and Etihad has officially registered my complaint with reference "CRM [protected] & [protected]". Although they have given very generic response to my complaint again with no useful information or evidence to cancel my travel credit.

I am still chasing Etihad complaint team with above reference number but they have stopped responding to my email so I am raising my complaint again using this platform and hoping to get my money or credit back.

Evidence Attached as follows,

1) Travel tickets:-

Ticket_MRS KETA PARIKH.jpg

Ticket_MRS PAL PARIKH.jpg

Ticket_MRS RUI PARIKH.jpg

2) Travel credit refund confirmation email from etihad

Email_TravelCreditRefund1.jpg

Email_TravelCreditRefund2.jpg

Email_TravelCreditRefund3.jpg

3) Travel bank account balance confirmation screenshot from etihad,

Email_TravelCreditRefund1.jpg

4) Complaint registered with Etihad,

EtihadComplaint_CRM_[protected].jpg

I understand this is very long chain of events to understand fully but I am happy to provide any further explanation/evidence require in order to support this complaint procedure.

I putting in this complaint to escalate the unaccepable delays I have experienced recently getting compensation for a damaged baggage claim. I travelled to Cochin from Toronto on July 22, 2022 and when I landed in Cochin I noticed that 2 of our bags were damaged. I put in a damage claim through Etihad immediately including photos and bag tags. Customer service initially advised me that the claim takes bout 2-3 months to process so I patiently waited for an udpate. It is now May 2023 and I have yet to get a response back from Etihad in spite of 20+ calls to their customer service. The experience almost makes me believe that Etihad is deploying delay tactics to wear down customers putting in similar claims to avoid payment. There were some of the things that I heard back from the customer service staff which I really can't fault as they were just following instructions

- At every call, they noted that an escalation email was sent to the concerned department to expediate processing the claim - the same message was repeated every time with no result
- After about 6 months of regular follow-ups they noted that an email was sent to me with a compensation amount but was sent to the wrong email id. This was used as an excuse to justify the delay in resolving the case. They noted that this was being rectified but I still did not get any udpates
- 3 months later since identifying this issue and follow up calls the customer service agent says an escalation email is being sent to expedite the case - I am still waiting for this elusive email.
For a premier airline, the lack of importance given to customer service is surprising especailly considering the stiff competition that airlines face from their customers. I would also think that there are internal quality checks to resolve things in a timely manner

Airflight no EY 658 scheduled departure was in 5th of May 2023 from Cairo International Airport at 7:00 am towards Abu Dhabi International Airport landing scheduled to be at 11:25 am UAE time where we suppose to take Etihad Bus towards Dubai departure EY 5422 at 14:30 pm UAE time to reach Dubai at 16:30 pm. Flight EY 658 delayed more than 12 hours due to technical problem as informed by cabin crow.

Flight rescheduled departure from Cairo International Airport at 7:30 pm delayed more than 12 hours than the original departure time, we reached Abu Dhabi Airport at 12:15 am next day 6th of May, where i toke the bus reaching to Dubai by 3:00 am 6th of May along with my wife & 2 kids.

total delay more than 12 hours with total overall journey from Cairo to Dubai around 22 hours duration.

Date: Oct 6 2022

Journey Leg: MAA-YYZ

Booking Reference: DUCNLZ

Feedback ID: [protected]

2 of my baggages have damaged. They approved for damaged claims of 100 USD. Waiting since last year and till now I didn’t receive any refund. Now they closed the request without getting the refund. Totally tired and fed up of following you up on my refund. Really very worst service. Not sure what happiness you people found on cheating people. If karma is real then you all people will lose job and face the consequences.

I booked my travel from Dublin to India for 17th May via third party agent Hopper. I was travelling for a wedding that was scheduled for 21st May. But unfortunately due to death in the family, travel plans changed & now I need to request a change in flight for June for a rescheduled wedding. I worked with Hopper (Etihad won't address issue till 48 hours to flight) multiple times to raise Waiver/exemption form due to death in the family but Etihad kept refusing it. Shared all relevant documents - death certificate of deceased, wedding card, passport but to no avail.

I am writing as a disappointed customer of a world famous airline that is showing no humanity in my case. This is not a regular occurrence & I feel utterly disappointed & disheartened with Etihad. Totally understand that mine was a non-refundable fare that was used to book a flight but the death in the family is an extreme case & believe my request should be honored on humanitarian ground as mentioned under Etihad policy.

Dear sirs,

I bought on 29/06/2021 3 tickets from MXP to SEZ . refCEFAWX.

Since Italy has closed flight for leasure reason after this day for all summer and especially for the countries where Seychelles where listed I had to cancel my flight as it was in the conditions.

Instead of giving me cash refund they proposed me the travel bank credits.

I have tried to book again the flight this year since many months, once the covid restrictions are definitely away but the prices for Etihad flights are crazy if compared to any other good company flying the same road (Emirates, Qatar,..)

They also have sometimes no flight at all in summer time where I can book the holiday.

These credits are going to expire in 08/2023 and as for many many other passangers my money will just be kept from etihad for no service and not for my default

I ask Etihad to refund me the credits since i am now not aible to use my money in any way in Etihad website.

Daniela

I booked flight ticket with Etihad Airways to fly to Europe, however my visa is being rejected. I called airline to get assistance since I am not able to fly without visa. The customer service advised me that the option I had to cancel my flight and get refund for the tax only. At that time, I concerned about being tagged as no show and my ticket will be forfeited. Hence I requested him to cancel my seat to avoid no show and hold the refund as I still need to figure other option. But he processed the refund right away. Now I found out that I was able to change my flight date with minimum penalty. I tried to contact them to review the case. The supervisor called me but she lied about reviewing the voice recording of the first call. Now I lost 90% of my ticket value and Etihad Airways is not helping to correct their wronged action.

I have raised this complaint long back. So far didn't receive the response from Etihad.
Case Ref [protected] CRM: [protected]
My Compliant is as follows,

I have travelled via EY 269 flight from Chennai International airport to Abu Dhabi International airport on 23rd Feb 2023. I have opted for Meet and Assist services at Abhu Dhabi international airport and I paid $109.00 (Reference No [protected]) for the same. But no one came and provided me with "Meet and assist" services in Abu Dhabi Airport. When I checked with the Etihad staff at reception, they informed me no one was available for "Meet and Assist".

My layover time is very less, hardly 1 hour and with 2 of my children I caught my final destination flight EY 19 to London Heathrow just 10 minutes before Flight Departure. I was running around the Abu dhabi airport and no one was there to support me. This is very poor service from Etihad

Thanks and Regards,
Devipriya Sathish Balaji

1. I was forced to accept travel bank credits instead of a cash refund for my tickets due to Covid lockdown. I just found out that EU and Australia requires Etihad to refund all the remaining travel credits to affected passengers. And therefore, I am demanding for a refund of my remaining credits.

2. Etihad forced me to accept travel credits against my will and set out a deadline by September 2022, I had to use up all those credits or I would lose everything. I had written to Etihad for an extension but got rejected. Therefore, I was forced to make a reservation with booking reference UITQSQ with the remaining travel credit in September 2022.

3. I have sent out many emails and tried the call center. No one can modify the booking UITQSQ. The trip originally starts in May 2023 from Malaga, Spain and return to Malaga, Spain but I no longer live in Malaga and want to change my trip to start from Barcelona, and I do not have time to travel during that time. The operator told me that the system would not allow me to change the route and I had to complete my trip by 28 September 2023.

I am not accepting having those conditions set on me. I did not have to make a booking with much uncertainty if Etihad had refunded my money to me in the first place.

4. Now that I found out by the demand of EU and Australia, where I reside and my country of origin, Etihad has to return my remaining credits to me in cash. I demand that Etihad has to refund the travel credit me in cash.

I have filed a feedback to etihad with case number CRM:[protected] on 7 April. They promised to reply within 14 days. Heard nothing from them so far.

I booked 4 tickets on 5-APR-2023 from Chicago, USA to Chennai, India with a stopover in Abu Dhabi during June/July 2023. I realized I mistakenly booked the Abu Dhabi to Chennai leg to reach chennai at 7:35PM but I wanted to take the flight reaching chennai at 2:55AM as soon as I paid. Immediately I called Etihad to change that one leg and the agent said no issues he will change it. Instead of one leg he changed the entire ticket to 25-June-2023 WITHOUT a stopover. Again I immediately contacted Etihad and I was told they have to file an investigation and if it is really an agent's mistake they will rebook without any additional charges. All day on 05-APR-2023 I was sitting with Etihad customer service. Finally around 6PM a customer service person Michelle called and CONFIRMED IT IS AGENT'S MISTAKE but they do not have the dates available I booked or stopover available on the dates Agent mistakenly booked. We were open to take any available date but the customer service rep told meI have to pay an additional $800 to book my ticket since that's the best she sees from her end. She also said it's not fair to ask me to pay $800 more for their agent's mistake. The other option is she can refund my money fully and I will be getting it within 24 hours for me to rebook online which I have been trying to do for the past couple of weeks. I saw another deal after a week online and I am not able to book with a stopover or use multi-city options. I am reaching out to Etihad Customer Service via phone and chat. I was told it's working fine. I asked a bunch of friends to try it in the US. None of them are able to book with Stopover or use the Multi-city option. It allows only round trips and one way. If I have to book via agent I have to pay a fee to book via phone. It's been 2 weeks. I am going through hell with Etihad support and have not booked my ticket yet. I attached all the error screenshots and submitted a feedback to the email provided by the agent. I got a reply saying to submit feedback with the link provided in that reply email. I tried to submit feedback via that link and I got a message that you haven't travelled yet so I cannot submit a feedback.

I don't understand after all the mistakes done by the agent why they are not honoring the price and re booking it? I was told if I pay $800 more they will book it. Why should I pay $800 more?

Michell from the Investigation team confirmed the agent's mistake and apologized. The supervisor who called me to refund the money was very polite and helpful. One of the US Agent Diamonds, is her name, also really tried to help but she couldn't do much. These are all the only 3 folks who really provided good customer service. Thanks to them.

The rest of the customer service team members was really challenging to deal with.

Hi, I have my tickets booked for June 20 and my reference number WX8V43. I would like to change the dates and book earlier due to some emergency.

They are charging a cancellation fee + an additional fee for the change in the flight. I don’t have a problem paying the difference. But on the website when it is showing $1350 they are charging me $1850 for the same flight+ cancellation fee.

Why should I pay $500 extra than what is displayed on the website? I I don’t understand why you are doing this and forcing us not book Etihad in future. I have never had this experience with other airlines.

The customer service representative could not help. I am hoping to pay the same price as you have it displayed on your website and not extra.

I was traveling to Delhi - Abu Dhabi - Rome on 16 April, 21:10. Flight no. EY223. I checked in 8 pieces of luggage, the support staff at the counter just checked in 7 pieces and didn’t tag the 8th piece. I lost my 1 piece as I didn’t have the tag slip of the 8th luggage which went missing, I got to know that on reaching my destination Rome. Worst airlines ever. Has never encountered such stupidity by any airline staff ever. Never travel with Etihad.