Hey Chris,
For some reason I dont know why my edit didn't get added in anyways here are the issues I faced on my Etihad Trip this time. It was J on the A380 as VA Plat.
They ran out of most of the Food offerings 6 hours into the flight even thought J wasn't full. I was given an option of 2 dishes after having a nap
Dec 2016 same flying J they lost all 3 of my bags for 3 days. this time they lost 1 of my bags for 2 days and I had to keep calling them to find out the status of my bag
They were definitely short staffed on board as aircrew took ages to get to me.
My Studio seat broke twice! they had to come and restart the seat which restarted everything and it takes around 10 mins
They broke the wheel on my BRAND NEW Samsonite Octolite!
It was by far worse than flying Y on SIA.
I am a little worried as I am flying from BNE-AUH-CMB on Saturday and I will be flying Y! I should have flown SIA but Etihad's lounge offering is way better for VA Plat than SIA. :(
IMO EY's biggest mistake was trying to form its own alliance by buying lots of money losing airlines rather than join a global alliance. I guess they are trying to compete with EK who has a bohemoth fleet of A380/777 that do not need to join an alliance.
The problem is they did not try to rebrand those money losing airline. I'm no expert but I guess once a poor image is stuck to an airline (think Swissair, and more recently MH) it'll take lots of rebranding to shed that image. I can't see anything was done to the likes of Air Berlin or Alitalia. Airline is a very costly business and as those airlines continue to lose money, it was costing EY big time.
I guess it is very unfortunate that EY has invested all these money into their fleet to make them a 5 star airline and all of the sudden they are doing these drastic cost cuts. It would've been better if they never tried to get that 5th star.
QR on the hand is a lot smarter by joining OW and never tried to form an alliance itself.
IMO EY's biggest mistake was trying to form its own alliance by buying lots of money losing airlines rather than join a global alliance. I guess they are trying to compete with EK who has a bohemoth fleet of A380/777 that do not need to join an alliance.
The problem is they did not try to rebrand those money losing airline. I'm no expert but I guess once a poor image is stuck to an airline (think Swissair, and more recently MH) it'll take lots of rebranding to shed that image. I can't see anything was done to the likes of Air Berlin or Alitalia. Airline is a very costly business and as those airlines continue to lose money, it was costing EY big time.
I guess it is very unfortunate that EY has invested all these money into their fleet to make them a 5 star airline and all of the sudden they are doing these drastic cost cuts. It would've been better if they never tried to get that 5th star.
QR on the hand is a lot smarter by joining OW and never tried to form an alliance itself.
another big mistake was that Etihad never made their "alliance" real or official but rather called them etihad partners.
would have been better if they had created a new alliance from scratch
Completely agree. The food quality was absolutely terrible flying F from MEL-AUH-LHR in July 2017. I'm not exactly a big fan of VA J domestic catering but it was not even up to that standard.
Completely agree. The food quality was absolutely terrible flying F from MEL-AUH-LHR in July 2017. I'm not exactly a big fan of VA J domestic catering but it was not even up to that standard.
Geez! It must've gone down hill quite a bit. I flew MEL-AUH-JFK in Mar 2017 and I must say he catering was really good. Better than EK F to be honest. Champagne was a bit meh tho but we already knew that EY don't serve vintage champagne on F.
Completely agree. The food quality was absolutely terrible flying F from MEL-AUH-LHR in July 2017. I'm not exactly a big fan of VA J domestic catering but it was not even up to that standard.
Geez! It must've gone down hill quite a bit. I flew MEL-AUH-JFK in Mar 2017 and I must say he catering was really good. Better than EK F to be honest. Champagne was a bit meh tho but we already knew that EY don't serve vintage champagne on F.
I think it all has to do with James Hogan leaving and Peter Baumgartner taking over. Since Peter has taken over the standards have definitely gone down. In fact the in-flight manager was telling that they are not renewing a lot of the aircrew's contracts.
I flew Etihad J Perth to Amsterdam in Nov 2015 - superb on every leg.
Went to London in May last year - OK out of Perth but AUH-LHR and vice-versa was more than disappointing. I woke up about an hour out of LHR and wanted a cup of tea. I waited more than 10 minutes after I'd pushed the bell before anyone came (they'd finished serving breakfast). Had a similar experience LHR-AUH and AUH-PER wasn't as good as the outward flight. I kept wondering what if I'd rung the bell because of a medical emergency!
I'm going again next month, and after reading above am expecting the service to have dropped even further. I'm VA Platinum and enjoy the First class lounge at AUH, but think I'll be going SIA next trip.
Flew EY in Y last week on four sectors RT to CDG from PER.
Cabin crew were great, Y class was a good experience and the lounges were brilliant. Food offering in Y was fair and nice. Decent enough not to complain and I wouldn’t believe J is any worse then when I flew back in October with EY.
Their service standards & product has dropped sufficiently. I think they will be lucky to scrap in as a 4 star airline this year. I used to the biggest EY advocate as a Platinum member but over the past year until now they have gone down big time. Their product which was the 'Etihad thing' is now to a low-cost carrier level. The thing that amazes me. I have written to them numerous times about such things & virtually every response is like they have their head in the sand. Management really need need to take notice of passengers reviews etc on such media fronts. Sadly they have lost me a 'guest'.
There is absolutely no doubt of the fact that EY is going down and down. Flew F from NRT-AUH . No Japanese meals. When I asked what was the chef,s choice , was told everything is over because other passengers have eaten although there were no more than 3 other passengers. No amenity kits provided for my colleagues in J for a 1130 duration flight which was entirely in darkness and the excuse given was that the new policy was no to give kits in "daytime" flights. Claiming miles for flights taken is a nightmare and might never get posted if you dont hound them.
Definitely agree. I flew etihads A380 business to New York and I was disappointed. Paid a high price for the ticket and it did not live up to expectations. Service was awful (flight attendants were downright rude), seat rock hard and uncomfortable, amenities limited to amenity kit and pillow and blanket, and everything we asked for got the reply “sorry, only in first class now”, including slippers!! Only positive aspect was decent food. Would much rather fly emirates 777 business than Etihad again.
I flew back DUB-AUH-SYD J class yesterday using up our guest miles and agree with all the above comments. They have stoppped the table service in the lounge in DUB and you can’t even get a pot of tea anymore, it’s all self service. Food on both legs poor, I now only eat the cheese and soup which are usually of an OK standard. No PJ’s anymore on AUH-SYD, when I quizzed the crew they said it was a cost cutting measure. Champagne was of a lower grade too, Piper-Heidsick which is fine but when I flew QR 4 weeks ago they had 2 choices of bubbles, one being a rose. Seat in J is rock hard and the crew seem so disengaged and unfriendly, lack of proactive service and constantly have to reach for the call button every time you want service is frustrating. We fly 3 business trips every year to DUB and tried out QR for the first time in Dec, they blew us away in terms of product offering, food and absolutely brilliant service, there is no going back to EY now...
Yeap I think I am done with EY too. I have one flight booked with them today but after this one no more!
They have also reduced the Extra luggage that Plats get. It used to be 23kg in Y and 32 in J to all destinations except between GCC and ISC but now its a flat 20kg's extra no matter what class.
I wonder if they will notice the drop in their bookings or if just a minority will notice the drop in service and offerings.
They have also changed their WiFi on board to a download quota. Earlier you could just pay for the hours and download unlimited which was great for NetFlix as their IFE offering is horrible!
asbindia
asbindia
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 26 Aug 2013
Total posts 49
Hey,
Chris C.
Chris C.
Member since 24 Apr 2012
Total posts 1,116
It certainly hasn't been a great string of headlines for Etihad as of late...
Etihad cuts Melbourne lounge entry fee, now sells access to VIP room
Etihad drops business class pyjamas
Etihad tightens the screws on Etihad Guest frequent flyer scheme
Alitalia, Airberlin are Etihad's $808m headache in $1.87bn loss
Etihad abandons Etihad Regional, its upscale Swiss-based arm
Etihad scraps free chauffeur drive for business, first class
Etihad drops Airbus A380, first class 'Apartments' from Melbourne
Etihad clamps down on baggage transfers for connecting flights
Etihad Airways axes first class on Brisbane-Abu Dhabi flights
Etihad to shut out Silver frequent flyers from airport lounges
A couple of years ago, any time Etihad 'did something', it was an improvement. Now, not so much.
asbindia
asbindia
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 26 Aug 2013
Total posts 49
Hey Chris, For some reason I dont know why my edit didn't get added in anyways here are the issues I faced on my Etihad Trip this time. It was J on the A380 as VA Plat.
It was by far worse than flying Y on SIA. I am a little worried as I am flying from BNE-AUH-CMB on Saturday and I will be flying Y! I should have flown SIA but Etihad's lounge offering is way better for VA Plat than SIA. :(
Michael Kao
Michael Kao
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 06 Nov 2014
Total posts 163
IMO EY's biggest mistake was trying to form its own alliance by buying lots of money losing airlines rather than join a global alliance. I guess they are trying to compete with EK who has a bohemoth fleet of A380/777 that do not need to join an alliance.
freshthoughts
freshthoughts
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 08 Aug 2016
Total posts 112
another big mistake was that Etihad never made their "alliance" real or official but rather called them etihad partners.
theworld2
theworld2
Member since 12 Aug 2014
Total posts 6
Completely agree.
The food quality was absolutely terrible flying F from MEL-AUH-LHR in July 2017. I'm not exactly a big fan of VA J domestic catering but it was not even up to that standard.
Michael Kao
Michael Kao
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 06 Nov 2014
Total posts 163
The food quality was absolutely terrible flying F from MEL-AUH-LHR in July 2017. I'm not exactly a big fan of VA J domestic catering but it was not even up to that standard.
Geez! It must've gone down hill quite a bit. I flew MEL-AUH-JFK in Mar 2017 and I must say he catering was really good. Better than EK F to be honest. Champagne was a bit meh tho but we already knew that EY don't serve vintage champagne on F.
asbindia
asbindia
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 26 Aug 2013
Total posts 49
The food quality was absolutely terrible flying F from MEL-AUH-LHR in July 2017. I'm not exactly a big fan of VA J domestic catering but it was not even up to that standard.
Geez! It must've gone down hill quite a bit. I flew MEL-AUH-JFK in Mar 2017 and I must say he catering was really good. Better than EK F to be honest. Champagne was a bit meh tho but we already knew that EY don't serve vintage champagne on F.
I think it all has to do with James Hogan leaving and Peter Baumgartner taking over. Since Peter has taken over the standards have definitely gone down. In fact the in-flight manager was telling that they are not renewing a lot of the aircrew's contracts.
Di
Di
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 16 Dec 2015
Total posts 6
I flew Etihad J Perth to Amsterdam in Nov 2015 - superb on every leg.
Went to London in May last year - OK out of Perth but AUH-LHR and vice-versa was more than disappointing. I woke up about an hour out of LHR and wanted a cup of tea. I waited more than 10 minutes after I'd pushed the bell before anyone came (they'd finished serving breakfast). Had a similar experience LHR-AUH and AUH-PER wasn't as good as the outward flight. I kept wondering what if I'd rung the bell because of a medical emergency!
I'm going again next month, and after reading above am expecting the service to have dropped even further. I'm VA Platinum and enjoy the First class lounge at AUH, but think I'll be going SIA next trip.
MattJelonek
MattJelonek
Turkish Airlines - Miles & Smiles
Member since 08 Jun 2014
Total posts 90
Flew EY in Y last week on four sectors RT to CDG from PER.
PVM
PVM
Member since 04 Jul 2013
Total posts 9
Their service standards & product has dropped sufficiently. I think they will be lucky to scrap in as a 4 star airline this year. I used to the biggest EY advocate as a Platinum member but over the past year until now they have gone down big time. Their product which was the 'Etihad thing' is now to a low-cost carrier level. The thing that amazes me. I have written to them numerous times about such things & virtually every response is like they have their head in the sand. Management really need need to take notice of passengers reviews etc on such media fronts. Sadly they have lost me a 'guest'.
sumayya
sumayya
Member since 06 Nov 2015
Total posts 1
There is absolutely no doubt of the fact that EY is going down and down. Flew F from NRT-AUH . No Japanese meals. When I asked what was the chef,s choice , was told everything is over because other passengers have eaten although there were no more than 3 other passengers. No amenity kits provided for my colleagues in J for a 1130 duration flight which was entirely in darkness and the excuse given was that the new policy was no to give kits in "daytime" flights. Claiming miles for flights taken is a nightmare and might never get posted if you dont hound them.
Bruce777
Bruce777
Aegean Airlines - Miles & Bonus
Member since 17 Sep 2017
Total posts 26
Definitely agree. I flew etihads A380 business to New York and I was disappointed. Paid a high price for the ticket and it did not live up to expectations. Service was awful (flight attendants were downright rude), seat rock hard and uncomfortable, amenities limited to amenity kit and pillow and blanket, and everything we asked for got the reply “sorry, only in first class now”, including slippers!! Only positive aspect was decent food. Would much rather fly emirates 777 business than Etihad again.
jennyg
jennyg
Member since 03 Feb 2018
Total posts 1
I flew back DUB-AUH-SYD J class yesterday using up our guest miles and agree with all the above comments. They have stoppped the table service in the lounge in DUB and you can’t even get a pot of tea anymore, it’s all self service. Food on both legs poor, I now only eat the cheese and soup which are usually of an OK standard. No PJ’s anymore on AUH-SYD, when I quizzed the crew they said it was a cost cutting measure. Champagne was of a lower grade too, Piper-Heidsick which is fine but when I flew QR 4 weeks ago they had 2 choices of bubbles, one being a rose. Seat in J is rock hard and the crew seem so disengaged and unfriendly, lack of proactive service and constantly have to reach for the call button every time you want service is frustrating. We fly 3 business trips every year to DUB and tried out QR for the first time in Dec, they blew us away in terms of product offering, food and absolutely brilliant service, there is no going back to EY now...
asbindia
asbindia
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 26 Aug 2013
Total posts 49
Yeap I think I am done with EY too. I have one flight booked with them today but after this one no more!
They have also reduced the Extra luggage that Plats get. It used to be 23kg in Y and 32 in J to all destinations except between GCC and ISC but now its a flat 20kg's extra no matter what class.
I wonder if they will notice the drop in their bookings or if just a minority will notice the drop in service and offerings.
They have also changed their WiFi on board to a download quota. Earlier you could just pay for the hours and download unlimited which was great for NetFlix as their IFE offering is horrible!