Etihad - Extremely impressed

[Chivas 0]

As a Gold card holder on Eva and Emirates I was somewhat miffed at having to use Etihad last week due to an emergency which required my immediate attention and not being able to get on Eva/Emirates at a couple hours notice.

 

However Etihad exceeded all expectations.

Seat size was fine (and Im tall) food excellent with "signature dishes",quality video on demand system (comparable with Emirates or better) short connection times in Abu Dhabi and best off all a superb smiling attitude from the cabin crew.

 

Get themselves a frequent flyer club and they'll take a lot of business.

 

Excellent

 

Chivas

 

Edited June 22, 2006 by Chivas

[BongoBill9999 0]

Good to hear. Flying with them in a couple of months. Finding that Qatar (who I normally use) has gone a tad expensive.

 

How did you find Abu Dhabi Airport? It seems to come in for a bit of flack.

 

Bill

[Brown1950 67]

Have flown with Emirates ex Manchester (silver member) Now booked with Etihad

4/9 - 28/9 cost £411.00 - £80.00 cheaper than Emirates !

 

Two flights a year with Emirates allow me an upgrade to business on one of the flight sectors - is the extra cost of flying Emirates worth it ?

[Chivas 0]

Was in Abu Dhabi for only 1 hour anyway.

 

Certainly user friendly.

 

Big duty free shops

 

Not on a size level with Dubai but prices the same.

 

Chivas

[rainsberger 0]

They are excellent airline will be flying with them on Setember 21th from

Gatwick 11.00 flight ,my mate is using the 09.40 flight out of Manchester

and we both meet up in Abu Dhabi for 21.55 flight to Bangkok.

Only booked my flights on Monday but for £380 could not resist to click

the buy button.

This will be 3 times out of last 4 visits to Bangkok i have used Etihad.

[deadman 0]

very good airline! will be looking to fly with them again later in the year or early next summer. abu dhabi airport is much smaller compared to dubai but i found their new boeing 777-300er planes much better than emirates!

[farman 11]

Great airline

 

Great IFE

 

Great food

 

Great seats

 

Great staff

 

What more can i say................... erm.............

 

GREAT!!!!

 

Abu dhabi airport is a bit small and smokey and theres not too much to do there, but i was only in transit for an hour(enough time to strech my long legs and smoke myself stupid before 2nd leg to bkk)

 

 

[WelshFarang 0]

As a Gold card holder on Eva and Emirates I was somewhat miffed at having to use Etihad last week due to an emergency which required my immediate attention and not being able to get on Eva/Emirates at a couple hours notice.

 

However Etihad exceeded all expectations.

Seat size was fine (and Im tall) food excellent with "signature dishes",quality video on demand system (comparable with Emirates or better) short connection times in Abu Dhabi and best off all a superb smiling attitude from the cabin crew.

 

Get themselves a frequent flyer club and they'll take a lot of business.

 

Excellent

 

Chivas

 

Were you travelling cattle class or did the ''gold card'' get you in to business class? I'm using them in Dec. and I believe one reason for the cheaper ticket is the fact that there is no frequent flyer scheme available.

[Brown1950 67]

Etihad the national airline of United Arab Emirates started operations in Nov 2003 and planned to become a major player in the airline industry within 5 years based on the Emirates hub and spoke system. The advantage Etihad have over the competition is their business plan is based on Government funding. The family who own UAE have resouces beyond our dreams especially when you look at the US5 billion order last year for new planes. As Etihad do not have to make a profit then we as passengers should enjoy the lower fares !

[farman 11]

Etihad the national airline of United Arab Emirates started operations in Nov 2003 and planned to become  a major player in the airline industry within 5 years  based on the Emirates hub and spoke system.  The advantage Etihad have over the competition is their business plan is based on Government funding. The family who own UAE have resouces beyond our dreams especially when you look at the US5 billion order last year for new planes.  As Etihad do not have to make a profit then we as passengers should enjoy the lower fares !

And we DO!!!

 

Well i do anyway!!

 

 

Edited June 22, 2006 by farman

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Thanks for the report Chivas ...... it is appreciated.

 

brown1950,

 

As Etihad do not have to make a profit then we as passengers should enjoy the lower fares !

 

They most certainly do need to make a profit, as do Emirates and Qatar, although they obviously have access to cheap capital to fund their expansion.

 

As an aside .......... their 777s are in a 3-3-3 configuration rather than the 3-4-3 configuration favoured by Emirates. It's a no-brainer which is the most comfortable service of the two.

 

Tom

Edited June 23, 2006 by CheshireTom

[Chivas 0]

Were you travelling cattle class or did the ''gold card'' get you in to business class? I'm using them in Dec. and I believe one reason for the cheaper ticket is the fact that there is no frequent flyer scheme available.

No-I was in economy.

Any Gold card from Eva/Emirates wouldnt get me an upgrade on Etihad.

 

The current inflight magazine mentions new innovations coming to Etihad-a frequent flyer club being one of them.

 

Chivas

[EnglishPaul 3]

Thanks Chivas for posting.

I`ve used(and been happy with EVA) last 3 flights never flown with Etihad but they sound just as good(albeit with a stopover) and at a lower price.

Those that have used Etihad-Who are you booking with Direct or through an agent?

Cheers Getting tempted to book another trip!

[Chivas 0]

I used my usual agent in Pattaya-my tickets are in reverse-Bangkok/London/Bangkok and was 34000 baht but you can certainly purchase for at least £100 cheaper if originating out of UK.

 

Chivas

[seabass 0]

I wen t with Etihad for the first time, having been with Singapore before.

 

Food not good, (avoid the grill, but the curry is good) but as the planes very very near empty, had leg room when had to sit, and on way back managed to find 4 seats in middle to sleep on. Virtually everyone on the plane did if they wanted. TVs good, hot air hostesses (yes it matters) and very good landings made for an excellent trip at £440.

 

Spoke to a guy who worked for Etihad. He said that they were buying a new big plane every month, and were losing money hand over fist. However, as they didnt pay for petrol, and wanted to build a brand, were prepared to make big losses to get market share. They are also apparently planning to build a big new airport to go with the new planes to create a big hub.

 

The airport itself is great for the first minute, but there is nowhere quiet to go, and everywhere you go there seems to be shitty kids playing some noisy game. Also there are big groups of women in arab dress being led places by dodgy men with their passports, but it all seemed above board and organised enough. Most people only had 1 - 2 hour stopovers, so its not too bad in the end, though singapore airport is a different world of good to anything ive seen.

 

Personally, I am delighted that these oil rich countries based half way between UK and BKK are starting a new plane filling competition.

[pauly77 1]

Flew last month with them from Manchester,stopover in Abu Dhabi too long,3 hours on the way as plane was early,and 2 hours coming back,really not much to do there. All flights were pretty empty so had row to myself each leg,otherwise I would have found it a bit cramped as I have long legs and the damn footrest gets in the way as I have no use for it.

But I think as a comparison with Emirates,provided they maintain the big price difference,I would continue to book with them as I prefer their flight times,and food,entertainment and service is comparable.

I am tempted for a return visit before Xmas as £400 is current price with Etihad for flights in December!

[Dr Mick 111]

I fly out with this airline on 14th July from manchester booked 3 months ago cost

£390 which i think is excerlent ,my friend wanted to go with me 3 weeks later .lol the price had increased to £510 ,so looks like i will be alone in my big double rooom in pattaya but sure i will have great time,first time visitor

[farman 11]

I fly out with this airline on 14th July from manchester booked 3 months ago cost

£390 which i think is excerlent ,my friend wanted to go with me 3 weeks later .lol the price had increased to £510 ,so looks like i will be alone in my big double rooom in pattaya but sure i will have great time,first time visitor

Another happy Etihad customer.....

[farman 11]

Food not good

Cant agree with that.....sorry!!!

 

Will be my 5th flight in a year with this airline come late august/early september and i can not fault it.

 

Have raved on about Etihad many a time before in previous posts..........

 

ETIHAD ROCK!!!

 

 

 

 

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Cant agree with that.....sorry!!!

 

Will be my 5th flight in a year with this airline come late august/early september and i can not fault it.

 

Have raved on about Etihad many a time before in previous posts..........

 

ETIHAD ROCK!!!

 

 

 

 

They only managed to get their shit sorted around April this year when they received their new aircraft for the LGW and BKK routes ....... prior to that, it was pretty much hit and miss with them. That said, they do seem to be getting better reviews than they were 6 months ago.

 

For guys, such as yourself, who are regular flyers with them, the lack of a FF club must be a major issue........or on the flip side of the coin, if you had done a similar number of journeys with Qatar or Emirates they would be bending over backwards for you by now; and you would have saved a few quid along the way.

[glynbuk 29]

i am booked on etihad pearl class(business) at christmas this year and looking forward to it

 

last christmas i flew thai airways and it wasnt that good but was direct, this time i go indirect and hoping for a good journey

[Brown1950 67]

Cheshire Tom

 

As a silver member of Emirates flying from Manchester usually costs me £500 a trip however i can save £100 a trip by flying with Eithad so what is the advantage of using Emirates ?

[valentinoxxx 4]

Flew Etihad Pearl Class on a previous trip. Excellent new seat that converts into a fully flat bed(none of that angled nonsense). Plus an in-built massager.

The food and service wasn't as good as in Emirates Business Class, but the seats are better.

British Airways Club Class, watch out. Average food and bog standard service. Seats and direct flights are it's saving grace.

Edited July 8, 2006 by valentinoxxx

[valentinoxxx 4]

I used my usual agent in Pattaya-my tickets are in reverse-Bangkok/London/Bangkok and was 34000 baht but you can certainly purchase for at least £100 cheaper if originating out of UK.

 

Chivas

Sounds a little expensive. Which agent do you use? I use KN Travel in the South Pattaya Road. +66(0)38 710 967 - 70

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Cheshire Tom

 

As a silver member of Emirates flying from Manchester usually costs me £500 a trip however i can save £100 a trip by flying with Eithad so what is the advantage of using Emirates ?

I'll use Qatar as an example (I believe emirates are the same i.e. 1.25 of miles flown for silver membership and 40k miles each way for return journey upgrade).

 

One return journey MAN-BKK earns approx 16.5k miles or 20% of the miles req'd (80k) for a roundtrip upgrade. The difference in price between economy and biz class is approx UKP 1k, therefore each flight on Emirates is worth two hundred quid in miles compared to the 100 quid price difference between the two airlines. Even if you choose the silly option and obtained a return economy ticket at 80k miles you would still earn 20% of the miles required but retain the extra baggage allowance, preferred check-in. lounge access etc that you wouldn't get with Etihad.

 

Clear as mud?

 

Tom