They are a joke.
They are a joke.Old, no bar service even on intercontinental flights.Book Qatar or Emirates in this region, Etihad is a budget airline bloody joke
Brian
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Etihad Airways
1.150 reviews
Last reviewed: Mar 4, 2026Do you agree with Etihad Airways's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 179 customers have already said.
dxbooking.etihad.comMember since Mar 2026
Etihad Airways is an online company. Based on 50 reviews on TrustPlane, it has an average rating of 1.1 out of 5 stars. Last reviewed March 4, 2026.
Customer Reviews
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50 reviews
Do not trust Etihad Airways
Do not trust Etihad Airways. When things go wrong, their true colors show. On Feb 28, flight EY102 departed Madrid but was forced to divert right back to the origin. Did Etihad step up to manage the crisis? No. We landed to find abandoned counters. Their ground staff literally hid and vanished to avoid dealing with stranded passengers.Is this the "premium" global airline experience they constantly advertise?They only crawled out of hiding 5 hours later because they had to dispatch a different flight. We were given absolutely nothing. No hotel accommodation. No food vouchers. Not even a bottle of water. Instead, their staff desperately handed out empty promises of a "100% immediate refund" just to pacify the crowd and clear the terminal.It was a lie. I am still waiting for my money. You failed to fulfill the carriage, you abandoned us at the airport, and now you are holding our funds hostage.PNR: ®®®®. Have a corporate escalation manager contact me immediately, or my next step is a formal EU261 compensation claim with the Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency (AESA) for severe regulatory violations.
Muhammad Noman Fazil
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Misleading and unresponsive company
After trying 2 times to book stopover program, they both times said Hotel is not eligible for this trip, and every time it was non valid reason for it. After trying to clear with their customer service, i literally spend TWO days trying to reach them on call and online chat. On chat always says your number is higher than 12, not saying if im 13. or 150. in line. And that was without any update for hours and hours (only update on chat was sometimes "if you are still here click yes"). Hotels are not that expensive there, but its about technicalities, misleading and false principle from their side. Now i know why so much people complain (hidden blackout dates, counting full day when making stop only 2 hours because it says you will come to abu dhabi 23:55 and your plane leave 02:10 etc etc)
Zvonimir
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Dear Etihad Airways Customer Relations…
Dear Etihad Airways Customer Relations Team,Flight Details: Manchester to Abu Dhabi 30th November 2025 EY74 and Abu Dhabi to Ahmedabad 1st December 2025 EY244I am writing to formally express my deep dissatisfaction with the level of service I experienced during my recent journey with Etihad Airways. As a senior passenger, I found several aspects of the flight to be unacceptable and far below the standards expected from an international airline of Etihad’s reputation.1. Baggage Handling and Allowance IssuesOur baggage allowance was clearly stated as 30kg in total. However, despite being within the total permitted weight, we were refused the option to check in two bags. As senior passengers, we were forced to lift and handle heavy baggage one piece at a time, which was physically difficult and extremely inconvenient. This lack of consideration for elderly passengers is unacceptable.2. Inadequate Food PortionsThe meals served were presented on what appeared to be a 5inch by 2 inch plate, with portions more suitable for a child than for an adult. The quantity was insufficient and did not meet basic expectations for a long-haul international flight.3. No Meal Choice Before Landing in Abu DhabiBefore landing in Abu Dhabi, passengers were handed a box of pizza with no alternative options offered. I do not eat pizza, and therefore had no suitable food available. It is unreasonable for an airline to provide only one food option without considering dietary preferences or restrictions.4. Poor Quality Spirit SelectionThe only whisky offered was Red Label Johnnie Walker, which is widely known as a very basic and inexpensive option. For a premium airline such as Etihad, this is disappointing. Better-quality and widely respected options such as Famous Grouse or Jameson should be offered to passengers.5. Extremely Uncomfortable SeatingThe seats were hard, narrow, and highly uncomfortable, making the long flight very unpleasant. Seat comfort is a fundamental aspect of passenger experience, especially on extended journeys, and this fell far short of acceptable standards.Overall, this experience was disappointing and not in line with the image Etihad Airways promotes. I sincerely hope this feedback is taken seriously and used to improve services, particularly for senior passengers. I also expect a response explaining how Etihad plans to address these concerns.I look forward to your prompt reply.Sincerely,Surendra K Vaidya
Surendra
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Extremely disappointing experience with…
Extremely disappointing experience with Etihad Airways.Our booking (LHR–Jakarta return, February/March 2026) was subject to a significant airline-initiated schedule change of more than eight hours. While we understand that operational changes can occur, what followed has been genuinely shocking.We have received complete silence from Etihad since 25 January despite multiple emails. Not even an acknowledgement of receipt.When attempting to raise a formal complaint via their online customer service, we were repeatedly redirected to a “feedback” form that only allows complaints after travel has been completed. We were explicitly told that complaints cannot be raised prior to the flight taking place — which makes absolutely no sense when the issue concerns a pre-departure schedule disruption.It is astonishing that an airline of this size does not appear to have a functioning complaint channel for upcoming travel. The live chat agents repeatedly ignored the actual question being asked and redirected us to irrelevant links.A premium airline should offer premium customer care. Unfortunately, this experience has been the opposite — dismissive, unhelpful and unresponsive.Until this is resolved properly, I cannot recommend Etihad based on the customer service standards demonstrated so far.
Zaur M
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Extremely poor and concerning booking experience with Etihad
I am extremely disappointed with my experience with Etihad after attempting to book flights directly through their website.After completing the booking process online, my payment was successfully authorized and blocked on my card, yet no ticket was issued and no confirmation email was received. Shortly after, I received a phone call from a number in Abu Dhabi, with the caller claiming to be from Etihad and immediately requesting sensitive credit card details.Given the seriousness of the request, I asked for basic verification: an official email, a notification through the Etihad app, or any written confirmation proving the call was legitimate. The caller was unable to provide any verification and continued insisting on card details over the phone. This raised obvious security concerns, and I refused to proceed.To protect myself, I suggested calling Etihad directly through their official customer service number, which I did. At that point, despite the fact that the same fare had been consistently available on the Etihad website for two full days, I was suddenly told that the price had increased by over $300.What makes this experience even more unacceptable is that:When Etihad initially called me, the original lower fare was still being offered, but they could not prove they were actually Etihad.Only minutes after I contacted Etihad through official channels, I was told the fare had changed.While still on the call, I searched again and found new bookings available online for less than what Etihad was now asking me to pay.The explanation given was that “fares are subject to change”, but this explanation is not credible in this context. The price had been stable for days, was offered during the unsolicited call, and then increased only after I chose the safe and correct path of contacting Etihad through official support.To make matters worse, despite no ticket ever being issued and no active booking existing, my payment remains blocked, and I have been informed that I must now wait 7 to 14 days for the funds to be released. This means being left without access to a significant amount of money due to a failed transaction that was not caused by any error on my part.This entire experience felt unprofessional, confusing, and frankly unacceptable for an airline that presents itself as a premium carrier. Customers should never be put in a position where they feel pressured to share sensitive payment details over the phone without proper verification, nor should they be financially penalized for choosing to act responsibly.I invested considerable time and effort organizing this trip around work commitments, only to be met with poor communication, questionable payment handling, pricing inconsistency, and a prolonged delay in recovering my own funds.This experience has seriously undermined my trust in the Etihad brand. I hope the airline urgently reviews how it handles payment verification, customer security, and pricing consistency, because this was far below acceptable standards.
Saahil
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The most family unfriendly airline I have ever experienced. From check in to landing at my destination.
The most family unfriendly airline I have ever experienced. From check in to landing at my destination.I booked an Etihad flight via Booking com from Kuala Lumpur to London via Abu Dhabi for me and my family, which includes 3 young children aged 3 and under.My flight were booked with 4 x baggage allowance as our youngest was an infant. However upon check in at Kuala Lumpur Airport, the Etihad check in staff were refusing to check in my 4 x luggage each weighing the 25kg each. The reason for this is that in their system, it was showing them that I had no baggage allowance even though I showed them booking confirmation that it did.This was a very traumatising situation, especially as it caused a great uncomfortable experience particularly for my young children. We arrived nearly 4 hours early to check, but check in took nearly 2 hours because our suitcases were being rejected an the staff were extremely rude, unhelpful and very patronising. At the end, in order to avoid missing our flight, we were blackmailed that unless we paid a fee of over £1,775.00 we would not able to travel with our baggage.I would like to further add that inside the plane, the crew were very family unfriendly. They were making up rules as they went along as to what my children can and cannot bring onto the plane. They could see we had our hand fulls with our children but yet this probably attracted them to what I believe to be targeted and picked on.I must say this was the most family unfriendly airline I had ever experienced and travelled upon. I do not recommend Etihad Airlines at all. They've gone downhill. Iam exploring all options available to seek a refund on this extortionate fee I was wrongfully charged.
F7 RAY
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Extremely disappointing and exhausting experience with Etihad Airways
Our journey with Etihad Airways turned into a complete nightmare. Due to a delay on our first flight from Bangkok to Abu Dhabi, we missed our connecting flight. We were assured by a flight attendant that the connecting flight would wait for us, but this never happened.As a result, we were rebooked 14 hours later, with an additional stop, and forced to travel overnight, without any proper rest or sleep. We eventually arrived at our final destination one full day later than planned, which caused us to lose an entire day of work. This is an unacceptable consequence of poor planning and mismanagement.The situation at Abu Dhabi Airport was chaotic. Customer service was absolutely terrible: we were sent from one desk to another with no clear information, no explanations, and no real assistance. No one took responsibility, and no one seemed capable of managing the situation.To make things even worse, we never received a single email or notification informing us about the delay, the missed connection, or the changes to our itinerary. The complete lack of communication added even more stress to an already exhausting experience.For an airline that claims to offer high-quality service, this level of disorganization, lack of support, and disregard for passengers is shocking. Arriving a day late, traveling all night without sleep, losing a workday, and receiving zero communication is simply unacceptable. I will never fly with Etihad again and strongly advise others to think twice before choosing this airline.
Fabio Ferrantino
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Etihad Airlines … What an absolute…
Etihad Airlines … What an absolute “shxt show”. By far the worst carrier I’ve used, best avoided.
David Barker
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Etihad is a FRAUD Airlines & they are…
Etihad is a FRAUD Airlines & they are CHEATING their customers. (PNR DUR6BJ)I had booked a flight for my wife from Mumbai to London on Etihad Airways for the 3rd of October & return on 13th of October. The fair booked did not have a check-in luggage included & nowhere on their website were we able to add the check-in luggage. On contacting the airlines, we were told that the check-in luggage cannot be added in advance & we will need to do the same at the counter. On enquiring about the cost, we were told that the cost for the luggage would be max. 200$. We found this price very high & we could have booked an AirIndia or British Airways DIRECT flight for this extra, but did not have much choice as the travel date was only few days away.On reaching the counter for the Check-In, we were informed by the staff that it will cost us Rs. 55,000/- (USD 650$) for check-in bag weighing 20 Kgs. This was ridiculous, but even after arguing with their manager for an hour, they did not even budge & as my wife was travelling alone & had a schedule ahead, we had to pay that amount.Next day I talked to Yatra & my travel agent to cancel the return flight so that I can book another flight, but was informed that the cancellation fees is 100% & I will not get any refund, nor can I upgrade the ticket to a higher class which will include the luggage.This means that the Etihad Airways wants me to pay a total cost of Rs. 1,70,000/- (USD 2000$) for an Economy class return flight from Mumbai to London. I can easily get a BUSINESS CLASS ticket on any reputed airlines for that price.I have travelled the world to more that 70 countries, but have never experienced this type of shameless THEFT. This is absolute FRAUD being committed by ETIHAD AIRWAYS on unsuspecting customers.All flyers kindly beware of ETIHAD & use it only if you want to be CHEATED. We will never use this airlines again as they are absolute FRAUDS.SAMIR GARG (M: +91-9820127458)
Samir Garg
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The Worst Customer Service of any Gulf…
The Worst Customer Service of any Gulf Based Airlines! I spent close to 22 hours flying on 2 flights without my Religious Diet because their website is not working properly and the Call Center Agents in India are beyond unprofessional and pretty clueless!
AlexChicago
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No customer service in case of cancellation
While we resided in Islamabad we booked a flight to the Maldives for holidays. It so happened that our return was to take place the day after the entry into force of the ceasefire between India and Pakistan during the air conflict in May. We were to fly Malé-Abu Dhabi-Islamabad. Etihad informed us at 23h, for a flight to take place at 09h the next morning, that the whole flight, including the Malé-Abu Dhabi leg, was cancelled as they were not operating to Pakistan just yet. The mail said we would be contacted by phone for assistance. That never happened. Nor did the chatbot service that they offered work. We managed to get in touch with no one at Etihad and faced being stranded in Malé. I booked a ticket to Dubaï, where we stayed one night before finding an Emirates flight to Islamabad. Etihad never contacted me. But that was not all: as I had booked via Booking.com I requested a refund for the return leg. Naively I expected to get a 50% refund of the total, the to and return flight being with the same company and for the same journey. Huge mistake: Booking told me Etihad could only refund 33% of the total. I asked how come the cancelled return flight proved half as expensive as the first leg. I requested an invoice issued before the cancellation, but Booking told me Etihad could not provide that. I contacted Etihad but evidently I got no response from the chatbots that constitute the bulk of their customer service. For me and from now on it is a completely blacklisted company, flying with them is subjecting yourself to daylight robbery.
Karim
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Etihad Airways (Update)
An update on my case. REMOVED from flight INVOLUNTARILY due to OVERBOOKING.Case reference: 2508124838044Original flight plan 16 hours. Altered flight plan 52 hours.Etihad airways have still not compensated me a penny, refused to reply to me emails, and ignored my 'letter before action' request. I can only assume the airline is refusing to pay the deserved compensation.I have been trying to claim my. compensation for 3 months. Now Etihad have stopped replying.I will be taking this case to the small claims courts in the UK, and suing the airline for refusal to pay the required compensation. I will also be claiming any expenses incurred, and interest accrued over these 3 months that the airline has refused to pay.Will keep everyone updated on what happens.NEVER FLY WITH THIS TERRIBLE AIRLINE.
Tom Corrigan
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Worst Airline I ever flew with
Worst Airline I ever flew with. Old, run-down airplane, not even a screen for entertainment and worst: seats so hard and worn, that you can’t sit without a pillow.
Carsten Baumann
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Customer service non existent
Very poor, I guess this is what living in the arabic world is like. No such thing as customer service basically. It's been nearly a month since I filled information regarding a lost item on their flight. Still no email to confirm whether they received the form or any email back saying we have searched the plane...nothing
Pras
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Worst Experience with Etihad Airways – Left Stranded and Ignored
I have never had such a terrible experience with an airline as I did with Etihad Airways. It will be the first and the last time.On 6 October 2025, my flight EY417 from Kuala Lumpur to Abu Dhabi was delayed, which caused me to miss my connecting flight EY177 to Copenhagen. When we landed, I went directly to the transfer center, where hundreds of passengers were left waiting for hours with no clear information.Etihad staff collected our passports, claiming they were applying for visas so we could be sent to hotels outside the airport, but then told us there were “immigration issues.” Meanwhile, passengers were stressed, confused, and completely abandoned without a real solution. Some people gave up and took their passports back because nothing concrete was happening.I personally waited almost 3 hours before only receiving food and beverage vouchers. I was exhausted and unable to sleep on a bench, so I had no choice but to book a room at the airport hotel myself for 177 USD. Etihad refused to take responsibility despite an airport hotel being available inside the terminal.This shows a complete lack of care, responsibility, and sense of situation from Etihad Airways. For a company representing the UAE, this was a big shame. Instead of helping stranded passengers, Etihad abandoned us in chaos.I am now seeking a full refund of my hotel costs and compensation for the stress and exhaustion this ordeal caused me. Until Etihad takes responsibility, I will strongly advise others to avoid flying with this airline.
Aimad Ziat
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Worst service ever
Worst service ever , my mother in law had stroke and had been admitted to hospital in Dublin so we submitted all the hospital documents to Etihad airways to freeze or cancel the flight ticket but the call operators are so bad that they dont know what to do and just keep on telling that they will review , today is there date of travel and even today they are coming back telling that they are reviewing documents , the staff is so lazy to review hosiptal document and issue refund of the ticket , i will never travel in Etihad again and wont recommend anyone to travel through this worst airlines
Anonymous
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I recently booked Etihad Airways for my…
I recently booked Etihad Airways for my wife, specifically requesting wheelchair assistance throughout the journey. Unfortunately, the experience was extremely disappointing and far from what one expects from a premium airline.Despite selecting the wheelchair assistance service, at the departure gate I personally had to push the wheelchair from the gate to the aircraft, as the staff member left us saying boarding was still an hour away. This completely defeats the purpose of requesting such a service.The situation was even worse at Abu Dhabi airport. After landing, no wheelchair assistance was provided, and I had to struggle to request help from outside agencies. This caused unnecessary stress and wasted precious time during a tight transit. The same issue occurred again at our final destination, where no one was available to assist.For passengers who rely on wheelchair services — especially the elderly or those with medical conditions — this kind of neglect can mean missing connecting flights or facing dangerous physical strain.Based on my experience, I strongly recommend that passengers do not rely on Etihad Airways wheelchair assistance. If you are traveling with elders or family members who truly depend on this service, be prepared that you may have to manage everything yourself. This is unacceptable from an airline that positions itself as customer-focused.
Anil Shamapant
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Non sense policy
I changed the date of our flight 3 days before due to the sudden death of my father. I sent all the documents needed and hoping to get a refund after I paid 1900 usd for rebooking of our ticket. But I'm so disappointed to hear this from etihad airways (We understand the circumstances and appreciate you taking the time to explain the situation. However, as per Etihad’s policy, once a booking has been reissued, we are unable to offer a waiver or refund of the penalty, as the ticket has already been processed.)Sorry , but I really don't understand their policy if it states in their official websites this statement.Special Circumstances:Etihad may waive change fees in cases of verified emergencies like family illness or bereavement.
Sheila Rose Pedersen
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Awful Customer Service and Breach of Etihad Stopover Program – Avoid!
I booked with Etihad because of their advertised Stopover Program, selecting the Traders Hotel (beachfront, family-friendly). What I actually received was:Unacceptable substitution: Etihad unilaterally replaced with Pearl Rotana (a completely different standard, no beachfront) without offering a like-for-like alternative, despite their own T&Cs requiring this.False promises on room allocation: I was explicitly assured by an Etihad agent (chat transcript saved) that my family of four would have a enough beds or rooms. I had to contact hotel myself for the truth; only one king bed had been booked. Completely unsuitable and in breach of Etihad’s own Stopover policy.Contradictory policies & poor customer service: Different Etihad staff gave completely conflicting information – first saying the hotel fee was refundable, then claiming it was non-refundable. When I asked to remove the stopover and fly direct (since Etihad failed to deliver), I was told I’d need to pay penalty fees. In other words, I get penalised for their failure.Even after escalating, Etihad refused to take simple steps like contacting the hotel to arrange correct rooms, offering a comparable property, or providing a realistic refund. Instead, they passed me back and forth with “we wish we could assist further” – when clearly, they chose not to.Bottom line: Etihad failed to deliver what was promised, breached their own Stopover Program terms, and misrepresented key booking details. The result was stress, wasted time, and potential financial loss (as I will have to pay for another room at a hotel I dont even want to stay at or book a completely different hotal that has rooms large enough for a family of 4).If you are considering Etihad’s stopover offer – avoid it. It is misleading, unreliable, and customer service will not help you when things go wrong.
Neil Madden
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According to TrustPlane, Etihad Airways has a 1.1/5 rating based on 50 verified reviews as of April 2026. Source: trustplane.app/company/dxbooking-etihad-com