Etihad won't honour extra baggage allowance (?)

[Poggy]

Hi there,

I am flying from Munich to Sydney via Abu Dhabi (EY4 and EY450). Both these flights are codeshare with V Australia, although operated by Etihad and I booked through Etihad. I understand that V Australia have a reciprocal agreement with Etihad whereby you get 10kg extra baggage when you have Silver Velocity membership. This is clear on the Virgin website and Velocity staff have confirmed this over the phone.

However, after speaking with Etihad, to two different staff members, neither of them were even aware of the codeshare or the reciprocal agreement and I was told that I only get the 28kg allowed from Etihad (as I am an Etihad Guest member, lowest tier) and they have 'no knowledge' of Virgin baggage allowances.

Virgin told me twice today that I get the extra 10 kg. The benefits for Velocity members flying Etihad are shown on the Velocity website and vice versa, so I have no confirmation so far from Etihad that I actually receive the extra 10kg (5 kg, really). I just have a print out from the Virgin website.

Does anyone else have experience with this? Is the best thing to take the print outs from Virgin with me to check in, or will this not help if the check in staff are unaware of the reciprocal agreement?

I chose this route specifically for the reciprocal agreement and I need as much baggage as possible as I am moving back to Sydney and will be living out of my suitcase a month prior to (and after) my flight.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Major]

As I understand the agreement if you booked through Etihad then you are subject to the EY baggage rules. If you booked through VA using VA codeshare then you would be able to utilize the VA baggage limits for your status.

 

[777]

I think on this page it's pretty clear the benefit is meant to apply when flying Etihad and not merely when flying a VA codeshare.

Silver Membership | Velocity Frequent Flyer

Not sure how to convince them of that in Munich though.

 

[lagerbay]

I found the baggage allowance between EY and VA fairly inpenetrable and not harmonised. However I book through VA and assumed that their conditions were what would count. Also, I flew Sydney to Frankfurt earlier this year using VA to Abu Dhabi and EY onwards. I booked premium econ but of course this reverted to economy since EY don't have premium. What this meant was that I had 32Kgs baggage as far as Abu Dhabi, but only 20Kgs after .... meaning that I only 20Kgs allowance really ...

 

[malmacdowall]

Hi there,

I am flying from Munich to Sydney via Abu Dhabi (EY4 and EY450). Both these flights are codeshare with V Australia, although operated by Etihad and I booked through Etihad. I understand that V Australia have a reciprocal agreement with Etihad whereby you get 10kg extra baggage when you have Silver Velocity membership. This is clear on the Virgin website and Velocity staff have confirmed this over the phone.

However, after speaking with Etihad, to two different staff members, neither of them were even aware of the codeshare or the reciprocal agreement and I was told that I only get the 28kg allowed from Etihad (as I am an Etihad Guest member, lowest tier) and they have 'no knowledge' of Virgin baggage allowances.

Virgin told me twice today that I get the extra 10 kg. The benefits for Velocity members flying Etihad are shown on the Velocity website and vice versa, so I have no confirmation so far from Etihad that I actually receive the extra 10kg (5 kg, really). I just have a print out from the Virgin website.

Does anyone else have experience with this? Is the best thing to take the print outs from Virgin with me to check in, or will this not help if the check in staff are unaware of the reciprocal agreement?

I chose this route specifically for the reciprocal agreement and I need as much baggage as possible as I am moving back to Sydney and will be living out of my suitcase a month prior to (and after) my flight.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi Poggy,

I have faced the same previously with trips to Abu dhabi then onto Paris CDG. I had no troubles with the extra baggage at CDG.
Generally the checking staff at the airport will have a much better idea than tose you speak to on the phone. The EY staff at Munich will have faced this everyday booking the EY flights and the codeshare with VA.
Worst case, they charge extra for the baggage, pay it at the airport and then take it up with VA when you get back to Australia. BUT make sure you have your Virgin Australia number on the ticket. If it shows your Etihad Guest number on the ticket then the benefit may not apply...

BTW have you been to Munich before. It is my favorite airport. The only one I know with a bar, right after customs in the departure hall, where you can get a 1 or 2 Litre beer styne and a strudel and wander around the departures area..... love it,.....

Also i you havent tried it before, check out the Augustiner Am Platzl. An excellent beer hall with Schwien that is to die for..... and great beer. A little less touristy that the better known Hofbrauhaus accross the road.

 

[Poggy]

Thanks guys.

I did indeed check with Velocity if it mattered who I booked through and they said it didn't. This is just Etihad being a bunch of doofuses.

It sounds like a bit of pot luck. I have the phone number of the Etihad staff at the check-in desks and was told I could call them to ask them personally if they were aware of the baggage rules (I have to call them while they check in the daily flight to Abu Dhabi, so I am sure they will love that!). However, I checked a few old threads in this forum which were more focussed on lounge reciprocal rights, and a a couple of people had mentioned that they had got into big arguements at check in over this, and even if I confirmed with a staff member today, who knows if it is the same person who will check me in during January?

To be honest, Etihad were so rude throughout this affair that I no longer want to fly them, and a move overseas is stressful enough without me worrying about having to pay extra baggage and then take it up with V Australia.

I checked and I can get home via Frankfurt/Singapore (the route I am used to) with Lufthansa then Qantas in premium economy for only 300 euro more, and I have silver status with both those airlines. I am going to change my ticket. For a bigger seat and peace of mind it is worth it.


Have I been to Munich before? I actually live here. I have been living in Germany for two years and am now moving back to the sunburnt country. I had never thought about that regarding the airport restaurants/bars. I guess you just get used to that sort of thing! People also tend to wander around the street or sit on the train drinking here, too, because you can buy really cheap bier in cornershops and kiosks.

 

[malmacdowall]

Thanks guys.
Have I been to Munich before? I actually live here. I have been living in Germany for two years and am now moving back to the sunburnt country. I had never thought about that regarding the airport restaurants/bars. I guess you just get used to that sort of thing! People also tend to wander around the street or sit on the train drinking here, too, because you can buy really cheap bier in cornershops and kiosks.

Aaah... I should have asked you for tips.... Dropped into Munich in Oct this year ti visit our office thier ... Only stayed 3 days and loved it ... Will definatwly return ... Do you happen to know where I can buy good Bavarian beer in Melb or aus ?

I only regret not buying a big 2 liter bottle ti bring back... was trying to find somewhere to buy it online from Aus...

Have a great trip back to Aus.... Goid time to return when the weather here is just getting better

 

[Poggy]

You are not alone asking that question about the beer. My (German) boyfriend wants to open a German beer importing company when we get back (a pipe dream). The Löwenbräu in the Rocks in Sydney sells the Bavarian biers, but by the glass and quite expensive. I assume the Bavarian Bier Cafe should also have them. I don't know of any stores which sell German beer, other than Woolies, who were apparently selling 1 litre cans of Paulaner (the brewery I live next to) in a glass Masskrug (stein) around Oktoberfest time. Will definitely be on the look out once I get back though.

 

[airtraveladdict]

This is one of those facepalm experiences I have had with Etihad as well.

I had the same experience as Lagerbay, was flying PE to Paris and London return, on the way to Paris, was allowed 32kg all the way but the return flight only 20kg because Etihad doesn't recognise PE and they charge $US50 per kg, if you are over. And at the time I did not have status.

But to clarrify this, I had to ring Velocity who told me to ring Etihad, who told me to ring back in a couple of days so they can find out. I rang back a couple of days later and they still didn't know.

Eventually one of the call centre operators called the supervisor who called the Heathrow airport duty manager, who said, 20kg is the maximum limit, because you are flying in economy with Etihad not PE. So fair enough.

But I would have thought now that we have status, we would be allowed that extra 10kg, otherwise why list it as a benefit on the website.

They just don't know what to do with Velocity members and it's not as if this alliance is 1 month old, its been around for awhile now, you would have thought Etihad would have sorted this out.

Maybe the people at Etihad who signed off on this alliance never passed on the message to the staff???

It's like the lounge access also, platinum Velocity members have to use that Al Reem Lounge, they can't even use the business lounge let alone the first class lounge.

I have seeing more organised chook raffles compared to what goes on with Etihad Airways/Abu Dhabi airport. And its a damm shame because the experience on V Australia is the total opposite and I hope one day they can fly all the way to Europe via Asia, so we never have to connect at Abu Dhabi...EVER...AGAIN or get on an Etihad flight.

I'm sure if you fly J or F class with Etihad, you don't experience any headaches. But all the glossy brochures, Enya type music promo videos will not boost the airline, if they don't follow through with the service onboard and the on the ground.

 

[anat0l]

It's like the lounge access also, platinum Velocity members have to use that Al Reem Lounge, they can't even use the business lounge let alone the first class lounge.

There's been a few data points around that VFF Platinums were invited to use the First Class Lounge in AUH. It's not the oldest fact in the book, though, but the staff apparently should know how to handle it. So hope your case is not fairly recent.

 

[airtraveladdict]

There's been a few data points around that VFF Platinums were invited to use the First Class Lounge in AUH. It's not the oldest fact in the book, though, but the staff apparently should know how to handle it. So hope your case is not fairly recent.

the experiences are mixed amongst VFF Plats, a couple of weeks ago, notzac was not allowed in in F lounge, but only a week or so before, 777 was allowed in.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....elocity/velocity-plat-ey-win-win-33154-3.html

Off topic: The whole thing just cements in my mind, that Etihad is a chaotic airline. Its like the priority boarding situation run by Etihad on a V Australia flight from Abu Dhabi.

PE passengers have to board in the normal queue, even though its a V Australia flight and sometimes Velocity Gold are allowed to use the priority security queue, (because Abu Dhabi airport has individual security checks at the gate after you have passed through the main airport security twice).

Sometimes there are no signs to say you can use the priority queue, only say Etihad guests.

 

[notzac]

the experiences are mixed amongst VFF Plats, a couple of weeks ago, notzac was not allowed in in F lounge, but only a week or so before, 777 was allowed in.

I've been allowed in once and denied access subsequent to that -- having asked a few questions around the place, I understand F lounge access was being negotiated and then fell through. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, lounge staff at AUH jumped the gun and started letting VA Platinums in to the F Lounge ahead of arrangements being finalised.

The Al Reem lounge that VA Gold/Platinum guests get access to is a ... well, my post will get deleted if I say what I really think of it. I would posit that management at VA don't actually realise quite how bad it is; I doubt any of them have ever seen inside it. It's cramped, the wifi doesn't work very well (if at all), the bathroom facilities aren't the cleanest, the food spread is rubbish and the drink selection is awful. Yes, it's better than the terminal (just), but it's not an enjoyable experience.

It's a piss-poor effort on both EY and VA's part really. EY stuffed up their lounge offering by letting their Silver tier pax in to the J lounge, panicked when it became overcrowded and banished everyone accessing the lounges by way of status to the Al Reem lounge. EY's Silver pax should be using the Al Reem lounge, Golds the J lounge and Gold Elites the F lounge.

Following that, VA stuffed up the arrangements by not negotiating J lounge access for Platinum guests when the F lounge access didn't work out. If anyone from VA is reading this, especially anyone at a management level .. I encourage you to fly whY to Europe a few times. Many of your corporate guests do not have the ability to acquire J seats (I know our travel policy certainly doesn't allow J for anyone less than SVP), so this would be an especially relevant learning experience .. I challenge you to 'enjoy' the ground experience at AUH and then tell me that it's comparable to QF lounges at SIN/BKK/HKG.

*gets off soap box*

 

[airtraveladdict]

I've been allowed in once and denied access subsequent to that -- having asked a few questions around the place, I understand F lounge access was being negotiated and then fell through. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, lounge staff at AUH jumped the gun and started letting VA Platinums in to the F Lounge ahead of arrangements being finalised.

The Al Reem lounge that VA Gold/Platinum guests get access to is a ... well, my post will get deleted if I say what I really think of it. I would posit that management at VA don't actually realise quite how bad it is; I doubt any of them have ever seen inside it. It's cramped, the wifi doesn't work very well (if at all), the bathroom facilities aren't the cleanest, the food spread is rubbish and the drink selection is awful. Yes, it's better than the terminal (just), but it's not an enjoyable experience.

It's a piss-poor effort on both EY and VA's part really. EY stuffed up their lounge offering by letting their Silver tier pax in to the J lounge, panicked when it became overcrowded and banished everyone accessing the lounges by way of status to the Al Reem lounge. EY's Silver pax should be using the Al Reem lounge, Golds the J lounge and Gold Elites the F lounge.

Following that, VA stuffed up the arrangements by not negotiating J lounge access for Platinum guests when the F lounge access didn't work out. If anyone from VA is reading this, especially anyone at a management level .. I encourage you to fly whY to Europe a few times. Many of your corporate guests do not have the ability to acquire J seats (I know our travel policy certainly doesn't allow J for anyone less than SVP), so this would be an especially relevant learning experience .. I challenge you to 'enjoy' the ground experience at AUH and then tell me that it's comparable to QF lounges at SIN/BKK/HKG.

*gets off soap box*

Yes Notzac is 100% right, EY gave its silver status members (which only needs 1.5 Melb-LHR flights to achieve) access to the J lounge and the whole place got overcrowded.

J lounge should only be open to business travellers or gold FF, and F lounge open to first class travellers and platinum. That's how QF works and 1World partners.

I realise the mods will say I'm going off topic here, but I feel this issue has been around for months for all us Velocity FF, and we still haven't seeing any resolution. I'm not a Platinum FF, but I can say besides the 4x complimentary upgrades on domestic flights, I don't see any "amazing" privileges outside of Australia.

The Al Reem lounge/Etihad connection/Abu Dhabi airport is quite possibly the worst experience to fly to Europe. I'm sure the experiences for J and F class pax are different, but for those of us who fly economy or premium, its not pleasant and I wish Virgin's management would pick up on this, because it is not value-adding to the Velocity membership.

 

[wyvern]

The Al Reem lounge that VA Gold/Platinum guests get access to is a ... well, my post will get deleted if I say what I really think of it. I would posit that management at VA don't actually realise quite how bad it is; I doubt any of them have ever seen inside it. It's cramped, the wifi doesn't work very well (if at all), the bathroom facilities aren't the cleanest, the food spread is rubbish and the drink selection is awful. Yes, it's better than the terminal (just), but it's not an enjoyable experience.

It's a piss-poor effort on both EY and VA's part really. EY stuffed up their lounge offering by letting their Silver tier pax in to the J lounge, panicked when it became overcrowded and banished everyone accessing the lounges by way of status to the Al Reem lounge. EY's Silver pax should be using the Al Reem lounge, Golds the J lounge and Gold Elites the F lounge.

Following that, VA stuffed up the arrangements by not negotiating J lounge access for Platinum guests when the F lounge access didn't work out. If anyone from VA is reading this, especially anyone at a management level .. I encourage you to fly whY to Europe a few times. Many of your corporate guests do not have the ability to acquire J seats (I know our travel policy certainly doesn't allow J for anyone less than SVP), so this would be an especially relevant learning experience .. I challenge you to 'enjoy' the ground experience at AUH and then tell me that it's comparable to QF lounges at SIN/BKK/HKG.

That's so right. The Al Reem lounge is in the wrong part of the terminal for the connection and with awful wifi, bright lights, unconfortable seating and no proper work space, it has to win the accolade of being one of the worst premium lounges, if not the worst premium lounge on any longhaul route.

VA/EY also need to introduce the ability to book and travel PE right through on this journey (i.e. add PE to the EY planes on this route). There is little point having PE to AUH and Y only on the London sector.

And to compete with OneWorld and Star carriers they also need make using points to upgrade a fare easier.

The Al Reem lounge, the lack of PE right through, and the ease of using points to upgrade on the alternatives is whY I have reverted to flying BA/QF/SQ on Y/PE Australia-Europe flights.

 

[Moopere]

I've read through this thread and it cements in my mind how much work it is for Pax to choose an airline who isn't part of an alliance. Virgin has tried pretty hard to partner with a whole bunch of folks and on the face of it, its a great thing. But its near impossible to utilise in reality as mapping the different allowances and travel classes and ticket types across several partners via codeshares etc, etc just makes for a mostly 'hope filled' experience rather than any sort of known quantity.

There is possibly some value in the reciprocal FF points and the potential for status I guess, but again, after a fairly quick look at this myself, its hopelessly complex and you pretty much just have to 'hope' that the various computer systems align properly and give you your dues.

 

[777]

I've read through this thread and it cements in my mind how much work it is for Pax to choose an airline who isn't part of an alliance. Virgin has tried pretty hard to partner with a whole bunch of folks and on the face of it, its a great thing. But its near impossible to utilise in reality as mapping the different allowances and travel classes and ticket types across several partners via codeshares etc, etc just makes for a mostly 'hope filled' experience rather than any sort of known quantity.

There is possibly some value in the reciprocal FF points and the potential for status I guess, but again, after a fairly quick look at this myself, its hopelessly complex and you pretty much just have to 'hope' that the various computer systems align properly and give you your dues.

To be honest i'm not sure what that has to do with it. The OP's concerns about baggage allowance aren't based on actual experience - just bad phone advice. I haven't heard reports of it being denied in practice and i've never had any problem with lougne access as a plat for example despite using it at several ports where VA are totally unknown. The concerns about lounge access at AUH, although pretty bloody cough, are similar to the situation confronting EY's own elites (with the exception of the Gold Elite Plus or whatever they are called). I think the lounge situation at AUH is pretty poor but i don't think it necessarily follows that it's for the reasons are because they aren't part of an alliance.

I think the situation in AUH needs to be improved (it's not the quality of the Al Reem lounge in particular but the location away from many flights/ connections) or Etihad will lose business to other VA partners. In the medium term it's worth remembering that AUH is building a massive new terminal/ airport and i'm sure better lounges will be part of that plan.