Etihad Reviews 

I bought my ticket with Etihad two full weeks before my flight. Two weeks. I did everything right. I showed up at the airport three and a half hours early, thinking I was being responsible and giving myself plenty of time.

Instead, I got told I couldn’t even check in — because they had oversold the flight. Let that sink in. They sold more seats than the plane actually has, took my money, and then acted like my confirmed ticket meant nothing.

But it gets worse. They didn’t turn me away and rebook me on the spot. No — they made me wait around the airport for two hours before they’d even tell me whether I’d be allowed on my own flight. Two hours of standing there, stressed, watching the clock, not knowing if I was going anywhere. Their answer? “It’s 50/50.” A coin flip. That’s what my paid, confirmed ticket was worth to them.

Absolutely appalling treatment. We booked return flight from London to Tokyo. We paid for one suitcase and assumed we paid for both ways for the suitcase. It turns out that was not the case. We were cynically held to ransom in the airport where they charged us 400 pounds sterling for our suitcase on our return from Tokyo. This is abuse of power and disgraceful. Never again Etihad will you see my money. Very shortsighted strategy. Ugh.

Very disappointed with Etihad. We paid for what we believed was one checked bag for our trip, but it turned out it only covered the outbound flight and not the return. This wasn’t made clear during the booking process, and it felt incredibly misleading.

At the airport, we were suddenly charged around £400 for our suitcase, leaving us with no real choice but to pay. It felt like a sneaky way to catch customers out rather than being transparent about baggage rules.

The flight itself was fine, but being hit with such an unexpected and expensive fee completely ruined the experience. I would strongly recommend that anyone booking with Etihad double-checks every baggage detail, as what seems obvious may not actually be included.

I am extremely disappointed with Etihad Airways. I booked a flight from Moscow to Bangkok with a transit in Abu Dhabi. During the booking process on the official Etihad website, the system automatically offered me a FREE 2-day stopover in Abu Dhabi and included the hotel in the itinerary. Everything looked perfect, so I paid for the ticket.According to my schedule, I fly out on the 5th, arrive in Abu Dhabi on the 6th, and fly to Bangkok on the night of the 9th.However, when I tried to finalize the stopover hotel booking, Etihad refused to issue it! I contacted their customer support, but they simply stated that they cannot process the stopover because my stay in Abu Dhabi exceeds 48 hours.This is absolute nonsense and a total scam! Your own website calculated this itinerary, your own system offered exactly these 2 days as a free stopover, and you accepted my money for it. Now, your support team hides behind formal rules, refusing to fix your own system's glitch.If your website offers a 2-day stopover option to a customer, you must honor it. Right now, this looks like deceptive marketing and terrible customer service. I demand that Etihad resolves this technical issue and provides the accommodation that was promised and paid for!

Excellent vol Abou Dhabi Paris dimanche 19 juillet .
Merci à Line , hôtesse en business class pour son professionnalisme, son attention , son service absolument parfait et sa gentillesse !

Etihad downgraded our Warsaw flight to a wet-lease operation, and the experience fell well below acceptable standards. Broken infotainment, dirty blankets, and a noticeably old and unclean cabin made the journey frustrating and disappointing. Transparency and basic onboard hygiene should be the minimum expectation. Preordered child meal didn’t arrive. HiFly which is operating for Etihad left our kid hungry. Staff wasn’t responsive and helpful. They informed that they don’t have it and they can’t do nothing about it. So you are paying for good quality during long haul flight and instead receiving Ryanair.

Greedy and unfair business practice - we paid for a return flight to Tokyo from London, including one suitcase. Checked in online for the return - there was no mention of baggage but we had set up our suitcase with the return included we thought - logically. You don't take a suitcase in just one direction and we had booked a return flight. They told us no at the check in the next day and charged us a huge £460 for one bag - one way. Day before online it would have been £60 but they somehow didn't get round to advising us, against all common sense, that our suitcase was only covered one way. This is unfair practice - holding us to ransom in a really cynical and greedy opportunist way. Never again with Etihad.

A great travel experience. Time schedule was very good. Staff overall are very helpful.

⭐☆☆☆☆ (1/5)

Very disappointing experience with Etihad Airways. My flight was overbooked, which led to long delays and a layover of more than 24 hours. There were also issues with the hotel and meal vouchers, and I missed my train in Germany, resulting in extra travel costs. I also missed work because of the delay and received a warning from my employer.

The compensation offered was only a travel credit, which is of little use since I’m not a frequent Etihad traveler. Despite explaining the financial losses and inconvenience, my complaint was closed without a fair resolution. I expected much better customer service from an international airline.

Our experience with Etihad was deeply disappointing and completely inconsistent with the airline’s reputation and ticket prices.

Before the trip, Etihad changed the date of our flight without providing any meaningful explanation. After more than 15 days of phone calls, repeated conversations and wasted time, we eventually ended up travelling on exactly the same date as originally booked. The entire process was unnecessary, stressful and extremely poorly managed.

The return journey was even worse. Our original two hour stopover in Abu Dhabi was changed to an eight hour overnight stopover, with no compensation, hotel accommodation or lounge access offered. Etihad’s solution is essentially this: pay extra to access their lounge, or spend the entire night sleeping at Abu Dhabi Airport with your children, potentially on the floor.

The quality of the aircraft also appears to be a matter of luck. You may get a modern plane, or you may get an aircraft whose only functioning feature is its ability to fly.

On one of our seven hour flights, the entertainment touchscreens for all four of us, two adults and two children, were not working properly. The sound was also broken, the reading lights did not work, and one of the reclining seats stopped functioning during the flight. Even more concerning, overhead luggage compartments above random passengers repeatedly opened by themselves during the journey.

The aircraft felt decades old and was clearly in need of major maintenance and refurbishment. A seven hour flight with children and no functioning entertainment system, no sound, broken lights and defective seats is not acceptable from an airline positioning itself as a premium carrier.

Based on our experience, neither Etihad’s prices nor its reputation are justified. The airline may market itself as premium, but the service, customer support and condition of the aircraft we experienced were anything but premium.

I am extremely disappointed with the level of customer service I received.

Unfortunately, due to incorrect travel documents, I was denied boarding. At the airport, the only assistance I received from the check-in staff was that I should call customer service.

At first, I couldn’t even reach anyone by phone. I then contacted the chat service to change my flight, but the only response I received was that I had to manage the booking myself through the app. Unfortunately, the app does not work properly and it is far from clear how to manage or change a booking.

After trying again, I finally reached someone by phone. I was told that the earliest available flight was three days later. However, I could clearly see that there was a flight available the following morning. I was told it was fully booked, yet I was able to book a ticket for that exact flight myself. This would also have allowed me to catch my connecting flight.

Four hours later, I contacted the chat service once again. Only then did I finally receive a clear explanation as to why that particular flight could not be rebooked.

This has been the worst customer service experience I have ever had with an airline. Because of the lack of support, poor communication, and inconsistent information, I decided to cancel my booking altogether and purchase a new ticket with another airline—one that I know provides reliable customer service.

I sincerely hope you review the quality of your customer support, as this experience has been extremely frustrating and disappointing.

What a disappointment !!! Before booking make sure that you have luggages included !! Attractive rates but once it’s booked and paid; you realize that they only allowed cabin bags !!! For any additional checked bags you need to pay for it !! Didn’t pay attention -as it was not out first trip with them- they had always included bags previously. As we were traveling with our 6 years old daughter & didn’t want to struggle with the cabin bags ; we pre- bought additional 10 kg before our flight from Bangkok to Brussels (total 35 kg expected) but upon checkin the agent on duty told us that it wasn’t the case - only 25 kg he said ! Thought that maybe the online transaction didn’t succeed (despite of the debit on our credit card statement) and refund will be processed later on - happened sometimes - Official complaint has been sent to Etihad and conclusion of it ? No refund as it was actually our fault for not showing the proof of the purchase and that we only gave 2 checked bags for a total of 23 kgs instead of the expected 35 !!It’s now our job to do their job !!! No one wonders why a customer pay 150€ more for an additional 10 kg bag and deliberately choose not to get benefit of it !! Unrealistic !! Choose a different airline !!

They ruined my holiday. They don’t have any empathy. They give you a delay after you miss your flight and as compensation you can bag for your baggage and they send you when you holiday is over. Never again emira…. Never do this to his costumers. Bye bye Etihad and thanks for this stress!

I booked a flight with etihad. I payed for a reserved seat in economy class. Later i was upgraded to business class. There is no way to reclame the payment for the economy seat. On the website they state it's possible.
All the other experience was fine, no problem at all with the flight, staff etc.

Third world class service by etihad when it comes to services regarding flight delayed,,, I wonder how they are running a company… seems like fooling people and making fake promises.. Entire management is terrible,,, never gonna fly Etihad again in ma life ever..

​Avoid Etihad if you can. My flight was delayed for nearly 30 hours, and the airline left us completely stranded. They didn't provide a hotel or any accommodation, leaving exhausted people stuck waiting in the airport the entire time. When we tried to get help or updates, their customer service was totally non-responsive.
​It is completely unacceptable for a major airline to just abandon paying passengers like that. Save yourself the nightmare and book with someone else.

So, if you are not familiar with the airline’s policy and you report damage to your luggage on the 8th day and not within 7 days from your trip, airline simply says “even though you provided all facts and pictures and I am responsible, it is our policy to reject your claim, citing a strict internal policy”. Great Etihad! I know you are typically right, but this is the best way to lose long standing customers. And this, regardless all the declining service quality (on time flights, food service during flight, cleanliness, etc). Things just get worse and not customer-centric.

I booked tickets consistence with China's 240 hour visa-free transit policy. Etihad's pre check in included a link to verify the documentation of my return flight. I received a QR code. At OHare, Etihad folks say the QR doesn't work and since they've never heard of people visiting China without a visa I cannot fly. I spend over two hours discussing it calmly with supervisors and showing them info I'd printed out after meticulously researching this and talking to other Americans who did the exact same thing out of the same airport. In the end, Etihad refuses to let me board, yet checks me in as if I had boarded, which prevents me from pursuing a refund. I call them and they offer a third narrative, that I was a no-show. After much debating, they offer a 50% refund, claiming that they're doing me a favor by charging me $650 for their own incompetence. I submit a reimbursement request and am told I'll hear back in 3 business days. 30 days and numerous calls later, they reply to me using a completely different name than my own (not a misspelling - a completely different person, first and last name) and say they are not responsible for ensuring that I have proper documentation.

Such business practices should be illegal and I highly advise against ever flying with this airline.

My experience with Etihad Airways was nothing short of awful.

Our journey with Etihad actually started months before our flight, where our original flights were cancelled with little to no information, push our holiday back before it had even begun.

However fast forward to the day of our flight, and our flight from Manchester was delayed, causing us to miss our connecting flight to Hanoi. During the flight, the cabin crew repeatedly told us not to worry because the connecting flight would wait for us. We trusted what we were told, only to arrive in Abu Dhabi and discover that the flight had already left. There was no communication during the flight to update us or prepare us for what was actually happening.

From that point on, everything went downhill. After eventually being directed by airport staff, we were left waiting for over four hours with little to no information about what was happening. We were eventually given food vouchers, which gave us a bit of hope, but when we went to use them, we discovered they didn't work. It was just another example of the complete lack of organisation and care.

The customer service throughout the entire ordeal was shocking. We were left feeling ignored, misled, and completely unsupported at every stage. Delays can happen—that's understandable—but poor communication, broken promises, and a lack of basic customer care are much harder to excuse.

I would not recommend Etihad Airways to anyone based on this experience. For an airline that markets itself as a luxury carrier, the reality couldn't have been further from the truth. Luxury travel? My arse.

No refund. I appreciate the mayhem after the Iran conflict broke out. I have an email from them in early March saying "If you don't reply, your booking will be cancelled and you receive a refund". Phoned them. They said I should have requested a refund. I said I followed your email - why did you keep sending me flight updates? Over 4 months later still nothing. On my return leg (they changed the departure from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and did nothing to help with the issue) I went to their service desk at AUH on June 11. They looked into the case then told me repeatedly "yes, we will refund you, it is processed, will take 2 weeks, promised." Still 5 weeks later nothing. Have to phone again...