How low can Etihad go ?

[JohnK]

God its a bus ride on a perfectly fine bus, stop being so precious... What do you want a chauffeured limo just for you??

Agreed, nothing wrong with the bus when it's actually running to schedule. I've done this transfer a few times and would do so again if not for the 737s.

 

[IrishPete]

Agreed, nothing wrong with the bus when it's actually running to schedule. I've done this transfer a few times and would do so again if not for the 737s.

Well, on the day I experienced it, it was an overcrowded bus, with more passengers waiting than could fit on, it was hot, I stood the whole way, it was held up in roadworks so it was slow and meant I didn't even have time to go to the toilet between the flights. If I wanted to travel by bus, I would travel by bus. When I pay for a plane ticket, I expect to travel by plane. I also dislike buses between terminals and airplanes for the same reason.

Having paid for Business Class and arrived First Class, then yes, a limo would actually be appropriate. Or Gatwick has had a maglev for decades, maybe it's time Australia caught up with the 1990s.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Having paid for Business Class and arrived First Class, then yes, a limo would actually be appropriate. Or Gatwick has had a maglev for decades, maybe it's time Australia caught up with the 1990s.

citation required

 

[juddles]

Reading thread but struggling how this relates to Etihad??

 

[mannej]

Reading thread but struggling how this relates to Etihad??

It’s not relevant considering that you don’t transfer between T1i and T1d at PER with a bus. From there the rest has gone OT.

 

[IrishPete]

citation required

Sorry, monorail.

Gatwick Airport - Wikipedia

Bringing it back to Etihad (though a bit off the original topic), the bus rides at Abu Dhabi really give me the coughs too, and take up a lot of time that could be spent relaxing in a lounge! The gates I always seem to depart back to Australia from these days have huge queues for the toilets, even.

I'm still rusted on to Etihad, but with Qatar and Emirates now flying to Dublin, the WD40 is starting to work the rust loose.

 

[docjames]

Wonder this gives any incentive for VA to look at using a 332 for PER-AUH again?

 

[casanovawa]

Wonder this gives any incentive for VA to look at using a 332 for PER-AUH again?

I imagine if Etihad could get a decent load they wouldn't have canned it...

Although the WA economy is showing some signs of life again after being in something approaching a recession for the last several years... So you never know what the future holds....

 

[jase05]

I imagine if Etihad could get a decent load they wouldn't have canned it...

Although the WA economy is showing some signs of life again after being in something approaching a recession for the last several years... So you never know what the future holds....

All the WA folk are in SE Asia half the year. Every resort we ever go to is full of them

 

[Must...Fly!]

All the WA folk are in SE Asia half the year. Every resort we ever go to is full of them

Not untrue, VA couldn't make/wasn't interested in making DPS work and HKT clearly wasn't working either with the range limits.

 

[easypoints]

Can't say I'm surprised this happened...

Etihad recently changed their policy, such that F & J award bookings made after April 1st are no longer eligible for chauffeur service.

A reward booking I made back in February on Etihad (J) was - re-ticketed at the start of April... same dates, same departure/arrival time, same flight number...

but now of course, I get the following message on Etihad's website:

Not eligible
Complimentary Etihad Chauffeur service is not available

 

[Denali]

Can't say I'm surprised this happened...
Etihad recently changed their policy, such that F & J award bookings made after April 1st are no longer eligible for chauffeur service.
A reward booking I made back in February on Etihad (J) was - re-ticketed at the start of April... same dates, same departure/arrival time, same flight number...
but now of course, I get the following message on Etihad's website:
Not eligible
Complimentary Etihad Chauffeur service is not available

They tried this on me when they change the flight by 5mins and I went via their FB page, pointing out that they change the booking, not me so I still expected (and received) the service but read my notes below.

I flew SYD-AUH-EDI return with EY in J so mini flight trip report.

Because of all that ive read, I expected a demoralized crew and bad experience and found it was good. Not earth shattering fantastic but overall, I found the crew were prompt, helpful and attentive and the food good. The experience wasnt worth 100% of the paying ticket price (I would fly SQ if I was paying) but as they were reward seats, I was very happy and not once left annoyed with the flight or staff.

Flights. Full J cabin, early boarding protected for first on board (after kids/people needing extra time). Crew happy to explain seat functions, FAs introduced themselves, pre departure drink choices available (liked the lemon lime one) and food on demand was good and I didnt find it annoying while sleeping that others (inc my husband) was being served. I thought the AUH-EDI crew was outstanding.

One flight we landed at an outpost somewhere so was bused in and J had their own bus and it seemed nicer than the Y buses waiting. Everyone had a seat and no one standing. You could honestly swing a dead stuffed cat in the space of the J bus we had. Man at the bus door protecting the bus for J pax only.

Re: Chauffeur service. Our tickets were booked so long ago we still got this service and to be honest, I will happily pay to stick to my own driver in future.

No email confirmation so we were left to the day wondering if one was going to show up (we live in the burbs) and a Uber backup plan if they didnt show up, which I found stressful. Driver took avoiding Sydney tolls as a challenge so we took much longer time to get to/from the airport than needed. On our airport to home trip, we would have been half way home if he paid the ED toll by the time he actually hit the harbor bridge!

Big negatives. No PJs and no mattress for the seat. I spied a empty seat on take off and grabbed their blanket and pillow soon after to pad my seat around the foot area a bit. No amenity kit for day flight is another neg but their amenity kits has got to be one of the worst out there, so much preprinted rubbish inside, give us some mouthwash instead.

 

[easypoints]

They tried this on me when they change the flight by 5mins and I went via their FB page, pointing out that they change the booking, not me so I still expected (and received) the service but read my notes below.

I flew SYD-AUH-EDI return with EY in J so mini flight trip report.

Because of all that ive read, I expected a demoralized crew and bad experience and found it was good. Not earth shattering fantastic but overall, I found the crew were prompt, helpful and attentive and the food good. The experience wasnt worth 100% of the paying ticket price (I would fly SQ if I was paying) but as they were reward seats, I was very happy and not once left annoyed with the flight or staff.

Flights. Full J cabin, early boarding protected for first on board (after kids/people needing extra time). Crew happy to explain seat functions, FAs introduced themselves, pre departure drink choices available (liked the lemon lime one) and food on demand was good and I didnt find it annoying while sleeping that others (inc my husband) was being served. I thought the AUH-EDI crew was outstanding.

One flight we landed at an outpost somewhere so was bused in and J had their own bus and it seemed nicer than the Y buses waiting. Everyone had a seat and no one standing. You could honestly swing a dead stuffed cat in the space of the J bus we had. Man at the bus door protecting the bus for J pax only.

Re: Chauffeur service. Our tickets were booked so long ago we still got this service and to be honest, I will happily pay to stick to my own driver in future.

No email confirmation so we were left to the day wondering if one was going to show up (we live in the burbs) and a Uber backup plan if they didnt show up, which I found stressful. Driver took avoiding Sydney tolls as a challenge so we took much longer time to get to/from the airport than needed. On our airport to home trip, we would have been half way home if he paid the ED toll by the time he actually hit the harbor bridge!

Big negatives. No PJs and no mattress for the seat. I spied a empty seat on take off and grabbed their blanket and pillow soon after to pad my seat around the foot area a bit. No amenity kit for day flight is another neg but their amenity kits has got to be one of the worst out there, so much preprinted rubbish inside, give us some mouthwash instead.

Thanks for your response Denali.

I reached out to Etihad on facebook, and they were able to amend my booking - such that I could book the chauffeur as intended.
I've used the chauffeur service twice this year in Abu Dhabi and was happy on both occasions.

 

[Saab34]

Sinking continues...

Almost certainly is set to be the worst economy experience to Europe.

https://www.etihad.com/en-us/about-us/etihad-news/archive/2019/etihad-airways-launches-new-fully-customisable-economy-experience/

 

[Must...Fly!]

Doesn't sound so bad?

 

[dajop]

Doesn't sound so bad?

Proof will be in the roll out. Difficult to- understand what is meant by the marketing spin, but the word "enhance" appears too many times! Also when you read things like "The next-generation seats, which will maintain comfortable ‘living space’ in the seat area, and provide increased knee room ", the skeptic in me interprets increased knee room = same knee room, when inevitably we put the seats closer together. Also on flights longer than an hour or two, BYOD to watch IFE is a pain, unless there is somewhere to slot the screen which doesn't involve having the tray table down.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Proof will be in the roll out. Difficult to- understand what is meant by the marketing spin, but the word "enhance" appears too many times! Also when you read things like "The next-generation seats, which will maintain comfortable ‘living space’ in the seat area, and provide increased knee room ", the skeptic in me interprets increased knee room = same knee room, when inevitably we put the seats closer together. Also on flights longer than an hour or two, BYOD to watch IFE is a pain, unless there is somewhere to slot the screen which doesn't involve having the tray table down.

I suspect they will be slimline seats. I actually misread the release and thought seat-back IFE would remain standard across all aircraft. That is a bit of a shame then.

 

[SC9]

Flew with them to Europe and got back yesterday; it looks like they have slotted themselves between LCC and a Full Service airline. Perhaps a new segment called LCC+. Very basic offering in Y. Asked for an eye mask but unfortunately they no longer offer it. They used to provide one which says Meal or No Meal on the other side. I have VA Gold, but no T3 lounge access in AUH. Only access to Al Reem in T1, which is an ok lounge nothing to write home about. I ended up using Al Dhabi lounge on the return flight using Priority Pass.

 

[Blacklight72]

This is interesting,
I just came home from London on Monday flying Etihad. I have been a platinum velocity member for 5 years now.
First thing I did when I got home was join the Qantas club.
Etihad has gone backwards, fast.
Unfortunately flying to Europe under the Velocity program simply offers you nothing other then a couple of nice lounges a long the way.
The first class lounge in Abu D. Is nice .
There is no way of doing any upgrades through the program without giving up 500,000 point for an upgraded seat.

I’m interested to hear from Qantas members if they have jumped ship from Velocity recently and why.

I have been with Velocity for 13 years in total now and it seems every other program has left it for dust.

 

[Rubix]

Oh no. I am flying them for the first time back home to Europe. Did it to try out the different route, planes, and VA Platinum partber lounge offerings....

I always use SIA but thought I would try something different this time.

I was really looking forward to Etihad but it all sounds worse and worse.

No cup of tea and biscuits on 14hr flight? Even my beloved VA offers that for free......