Etihad Reviews 

If I could leave 0 star I would. Three of us on the same booking were delayed in Abu Dhabi by 12 hours on the flight to Thailand. When we got there they gave us “complimentary dinner” which when we reached the hotel was closed, so we had to spend our own money for food and Ubers as in the morning the coach back to the airport was late also and we couldn’t risk missing our flight. When we asked about compensation as we missed our day and money spent on the hotel, through the many calls and emails each of us sent them, two out of the three on the booking received their compensation and not by the goodwill of Etihad’s hearts but because they had to under the law (UK261) where if you are delayed more than 4 hours at the fault of the airline (As they admitted it was their fault to us) you are entitled compensation. When it came to my compensation however, I though the many calls and emails I sent was constantly told it would come though and to wait for an email which I know believe was just an attempt to wait out the 3 month period where they wouldn’t have to pay me my compensation.

The worst airline imaginable! AVOID!

​Etihad Airways has displayed a complete and shocking failure of basic operational competence and human decency. Check in staff unlawfully denied boarding to my sister and her young child, despite her holding a fully valid, approved UK visa.
​Instead of performing standard carrier protocols such as placing a two minute call to the 24/7 UK Border Force Carrier Support Hub to verify her valid immigration clearance staff lazily refused her entry.
​Worse still, after wrongfully abandoning a mother and child, Etihad completely violated international aviation laws on basic Duty of Care. They offered zero hotel accommodation, zero food vouchers, and zero assistance, leaving them stranded on the airport floor with no money or safe place to stay.
​I have called Etihad customer support over 20 times regarding Case Reference 2609106151568. Every single representative lies, promises a supervisor will call back within hours, and then completely ignores the case. Not a single manager has called.
​This is not just abysmal customer service; it is gross negligence and endangerment. This matter is now officially logged with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UK Home Office, and legal representatives for full financial compensation and damages. Do not trust this airline with your family's safety.

Eithad is rubbish service their planes are always late i never saw such a rubbish service before . If you are choosing it never ever choose it 3rd time I travel this time also late so never gonna book it again

Such an unfriendly aggressive airline with every interaction. Terrible with special assistance passengers, aggressive at check in and customer service. The complaints procedure isn’t fit for purpose, guidelines not followed. The complaints handlers are arrogant and very slow to respond. I will never fly with them again, I’ve made complaints now to the civil aviation authority in both the UK and AbuDhabi about them, honestly they are just awful

My daughter booked a long haul flight with Etihad airlines. Etihad had completely changed the day of her flight. She was entitled to accept the change or have a full refund. She opted for full refund. This was in April this year. She still wasn’t received it. The latest is to wait 40 working days which she has. She was told it was on its way and now it isn’t. The stress she has gone through and the loss of the money she really needs is totally unacceptable. I had to write and comment on this and warn other customers of this diabolical service from this huge company.

Very bad experience with this airline.waste of money.at karachi airport checkin staff uzma parveen is very rude and unprofessional.they damaged my suitcase and no one was in london airport to guide.i will never fly again with them.

Case reference: 2608236098310
I booked Etihad Business Class, but the reality was a complete bait-and-switch.
The most unacceptable issue was on flight EY159, which was unexpectedly swapped to a wet-lease operated by Hi Fly. This was a massive downgrade from the premium Etihad product I paid for. The cabin was severely outdated with a cramped 2-2-2 configuration (no direct aisle access for window seats), downgraded catering, and no pyjamas. To make it worse, the Inflight Entertainment system was completely dead for the entire duration of the flight.
The onboard service was equally disappointing. On my other flight (EY498), the service was incredibly slow. After my main course was cleared, I was left waiting over 40 minutes just for dessert. As it was a night flight, I eventually gave up waiting just so I could get some sleep (in a seat that, incidentally, was broken and wouldn't recline to a lie-flat position).
I submitted a formal complaint highlighting that I paid for an Etihad Business Class experience but received a materially inferior wet-lease product and poor service. Etihad’s response? They instantly closed my case and sent an automated template apologizing for my "flight not being on time"—an issue I never even raised!
If Etihad substitutes your expensive ticket with a low-standard wet-lease, do not expect them to take responsibility or offer a refund. You will just be ignored by an automated system.

This airline probably need to be out of service!!
Rediculous management. My flight was cancelled and updated 4 times in less than 8 hrs. I was back and forth at the airport in Bali.
When I was finally put on a flight. I realise in Abu Dhabi tjaty glighy layover was more than 14hrs.
I went to customer service for Etihad for them to provide me a place to stay.

I waited another 4-6 hrs at their desk with no help.
I left and booked a hotel myself.
Now to file that claim. I am unable to.
Save yourself the hassle. Use another airline. They also charged 1600 US for one way. I paid approx 900 to go one way with a different airline.
Hopefully I never hace the cause to use this airline.

+10hrs delys and after boarding and i am still stuck on the airplane and its still didn’t departure i am in hell literally

Etihad's “free Abu Dhabi stopover” – buyer beware

I chose Etihad for my latest Business Class trip from Barcelona to Bangkok largely because of its heavily advertised Abu Dhabi stopover.

I travel to Asia two or three times a year and had enjoyed flying Etihad via Abu Dhabi last November. I subsequently flew Air India to Bangkok on its A350 and had an excellent flight, but opted for Etihad again specifically because I wanted to repeat the Abu Dhabi stopover experience.

Etihad currently advertises its stopover with phrases including “Stay in Abu Dhabi or Al Ain on us” and promotes complimentary accommodation for up to two nights.

Unfortunately, the reality of trying to arrange it (once they had my money) has been very different.

I booked my ticket directly with Etihad but could not find a clear way during the booking process to construct the one-night stopover I wanted. I therefore contacted Etihad to arrange it.

The additional amount I was quoted was more than €350 when I called. I escalated via their online help who then revised it to an additional 2000 euros + on top of the 2600 e already paid.

So an airline benefit that was a significant reason for choosing Etihad in the first place would effectively cost me over €350 (or is it now another €2000? - no one seems to know) to access.

I complained online and asked Etihad to look at the circumstances commercially. They have refused to budge.

I find the way this stopover is marketed deeply misleading. Advertising complimentary hotel nights is rather less attractive when a customer who booked directly with Etihad can discover that arranging the necessary itinerary afterwards costs hundreds of euros.

I'm now left with a 7+ hour transit in Abu Dhabi, which I specifically wanted to avoid. As someone with a heart condition, comfortable long-haul travel matters to me and is one of the reasons I now pay considerably more to travel Business or First Class.

The irony is that this isn't about the quality of Etihad's aircraft or onboard service. My previous experience was good enough to make me choose them again.

It is the customer experience surrounding this supposedly complimentary stopover that has lost them a repeat premium-cabin customer.

My advice: if Etihad's advertised Abu Dhabi stopover is influencing your choice of airline, do not assume you can simply add it afterwards. Make absolutely certain that the 24+ hour stopover is built into your flight itinerary before you pay for the ticket, and check the total fare carefully.

I certainly wish I had.

On my next trip to Asia I'll be looking elsewhere.

"Absolutely flawless experience from start to finish. The flight was completely on time with zero delays, and the entire journey was absolutely perfect. The cabin crew was attentive, the service was seamless, and the overall comfort made it a wonderful trip. The food and beverage experience was excellent. All three main courses were flavorful, well-seasoned, and served at the perfect temperature. The menu offered a great variety of options. I highly recommend Etihad Airways and will definitely fly with them again!"

I genuinely used to enjoy flying with Etihad, but after this experience, I honestly cannot see myself flying with them again. I paid around $3,800 for an international flight, only to discover I had 0kg checked baggage and only 7kg cabin baggage. Like seriously, who expects someone travelling internationally to have no checked suitcase at all? Especially when you are already paying thousands for the flight.

What makes this even more frustrating is that the same baggage issue happened on my previous Etihad booking and Etihad resolved it within minutes, with no issues or back and forth, and gave me some kg for checked baggage. So when I saw 0kg this time, I genuinely thought it was another error and contacted them within hours. Instead, this time I was advised that baggage for my return journey could cost more than $3,000 — almost as much as the flight itself. How does that make any sense?

I’m not even demanding some 40KG. I would be completely happy with 1 suitcases. I literally just want to travel internationally with one suitcase. Charging almost $3,800 for an international flight and then potentially another $3,000+ just to have checked luggage honestly feels unethical and like passengers are being ripped off. At least give people a reasonable option to travel with a suitcase rather than making the cost completely unrealistic. Extremely disappointing, and after previously enjoying Etihad, I genuinely cannot see myself choosing them again.

Recently I was traveling from Copenhagen to kochi, my flight was on 20 th Aug and it was postponed to 21st Aug, while checking in i faced a lot of issues with the luggage and the ticket, that's when Saima, the staff of ethihad helped me overcome the problems calmly politely and within minutes I was in my seat to takeoff. The flight no. EY178 which i travelled was very well maintained flight, take-off and landing was so cool thanks for the team ethihad

Follow-up regarding Case #2608246101597 | PNR: 7M466F
​I am still waiting for a meaningful response or resolution from @Etihad / @EtihadHelp regarding my complaint.
​Due to the sudden passing of my mother, forced me to purchase a separate emergency ticket to attend her funeral. Etihad subsequently auto-cancelled my original itinerary and charged an extortionate €550 penalty just to let me use my scheduled return flight back to Ireland.
​While your team acknowledged my case (#2608246101597) under review, there has been no follow-up or timeline provided. Callous disregard for a grieving customer is unacceptable. I am requesting an immediate escalation

Today, september 8 I flew fir the first time with Etihad Jakarta to Copenhagen with layover in Abu Dhabi. This experience wich was new for me really surpassed my expectations widely. Everything worked well and the crew really treated me with respect and professionalism.

On EY63 business class AUH to LHR B777-300. This plane is a disgrace and should not be still flying. It is old, dirty and the layout is terrible. Not worth the money unless you get a huge discount!!!

Etihad moved my international flight from JFK to Abu Dhabi approximately three hours earlier on the day of travel because of weather.

The weather is not my complaint.

The problem is Etihad never notified me of the change.

No email. No text. No phone call. Even the Etihad app did not update to show the earlier departure.

I had traveled from Wisconsin to New York based on the confirmed schedule. Because Etihad failed to notify me, my entire trip was disrupted. I had to make alternative arrangements, incur additional costs, lose bookings and leave for India two days later.

An Etihad representative later reviewed the communication history and confirmed to me that no notification of the earlier departure had been sent.

Months later, Etihad still has not refunded my unused ticket.

Their Guest Relations team has been just as frustrating. I repeatedly explained that I was not asking for compensation because of the weather. I was asking why Etihad changed my flight by hours, failed to notify me, failed to update its own app, and then refused to refund the unused ticket.

Instead of addressing that, they kept repeating that weather was outside their control, told me to contact insurance or my travel agency, and eventually declared the case closed.

Weather may explain why a flight changes. It does not excuse failing to notify your passenger.

Terrible communication, terrible complaint handling and zero accountability. I would not trust Etihad with an important international trip again.

EC261 Compensation Approved in December – Still No Payment by September
Our EC261 compensation claim with Etihad was approved in December 2025 following a delayed flight and missed connection from London Heathrow to the Maldives.
We were advised payment would be made within 30 working days. It is now September 2026 and no payment has been received.
Over the past several months we have:
completed forms multiple times,
been given conflicting instructions regarding bank details,
experienced repeated technical failures on the compensation portal,
provided screenshots and evidence,
contacted customer services numerous times,
and requested formal complaint escalation.
During a telephone conversation we were advised that a supervisor would contact us directly, however nobody ever did.
The most disappointing part has not been the original flight disruption itself, but the handling of the approved compensation afterwards. The communication has been inconsistent, and responsibility has repeatedly been pushed back onto the customer despite clear evidence of system issues.
We are now preparing to escalate the matter to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
This is extremely disappointing from what is presented as a premium airline.

Ground staff, cabin crew, app were all an amazing experience and made our trip better. Punctuality in terms of flight times were reliable and we could not be happier with the services.

Our flight was cancelled. They put all the passengers outside sweating and inhaling all the toxics from the scooters etc. Only after 3,5h hours they gave us water because I’ve asked them in chat of Etihad.

We waited 4 hours to put us in a bus then drove to wrong (overbooked) hotel and left. We waited next half an hour for the next bus. Then we were put in a hotel with very bad quality with very bad food.

After long messages with them we got flight for 3 days later.
I have chatted with them for two days asking for any informations (for example about the taxi which will take us for the airport) , any updates and they were always saying that they have opened the case for me but they can’t do anything more.
There were no updates on „the case”.
They gave NO RECOMPENSE or anything.

They just „washed their hands from everything”.

I am sure I will never recommend these airlines to anyone. Very disappointed.