I know they are the new kid on the block as far as airlines go.
We flew to Brissie earlier this year with Emirates and we were pretty happy with them, but my new employer has booked me on Etihad this time round (mine is not to reason why - they're paying after all. Apparently availability is poor at the moment because of the RWC) but as they are so new there doesn't seem to be much in the way of reviews.
I was relatively comfortable with them after looking at their website, but looking at my e-ticket it states that it is "operated by Eagle Air". So that's it is it? I'll be sat next to the rear gunner and have to use the outside toilet, or is it better than that?
I must admit that I had never even heard of Etihad until I read this post today.
I told Google to look for Etihad + reviews. There are now loads of forums in which people yap about air-travel.
There were loads of reviews and I read some of them . Abu Dhabi airport is a hole by the sound of it. Everyone who has used Etihad seems to agree about that!
Quite a few of the ex-passengers praised Etihad for their food. Apart from that, the reviews do seem to be mixed , though.
Are you sure about Eagle Air's involvement? I've just searched for them and, regrettably, the results look scary to me!!!! It seems there are several companies called Eagle Air. One of them - the first link that came up - is an outfit based in Uganda, no less. Another one is a charter flight operator. A third appears to be a freight-carrier. Which version of Eagle Air is Etihad involved with?
Good luck, my friend.....
Cheers
Gill
PS: What is RWC, please?
Last edited by Gollywobbler; 26-09-2007 at 10:31 PM.
Reason: Typos and addition
I'd never heard of Etihad until my tickets arrived! The few reviews I'd found were almost lukewarm, cabin staff excellent, Abu Dhabi airport a dump as you say.
I'm positive about the "operated by Eagle Air" bit, that's what scares me soooo much. Logic tells me that as it's 3 eight hour sections that not just any old junker can fly it, but as the only significant entries on Google relate to some firm flying dinky toys out of the States and (worse than that) a Ugandan company flying 50 year old South African Airlines cast offs.
It's got to the stage where I'll even consider flying BA out of Heathrow, just so that my bags can go on a holiday all of their own.
But the good news is that I'll eat well......
Dave
PS: RWC = Rugby World Cup = every man and his dog hauling themselves over from Australasia to watch the All Blacks beat the Northern Hemisphere's decidedly average teams.
Last edited by Sheerluck; 27-09-2007 at 06:56 AM.
Reason: Additional explanation
We get a travel magazine here in Germany and they have ratings out of 5 for all major airlines and they seem to be accurate. e.g BA 3/5, Lufthansa 3/5, Emirates 5/5 and you'll be pleased to know that Ethiad has 5/5 as well. :)
here is a link to an independant site with reviews by passangers...... it's in German but you'll see on the first page that there is a top 5 with Singapore No.1 and Ethiad in second place if you click on the airline name you can see what mark people gave..... 1 is the best.
Thanks for that, my german (from three bouts there as a kid) just about stood up to it! I feel a little more comfortable now, it's just strange that there's this fantastic new airline, and they must be pretty good if they're only just behind Singapore, and no-one's heard of them?
I'll post next week, so other PIO'ers can see whether they're worth considering on their reccie flight!
I'd heard of them before as they want to compete with Emirates and we're in Emirates frequent flyers scheme. They've been aroud for a while now and as you said 2nd place behind Singapore with an average of 1.9 they must be good. Emirates have 2.1 !
I'm sure it will be fine and there's no need to worry.
We've got our reccie booked for Feb with Emirates of course, get 32kg instead of 20 and hope to get some upgrades too
I'm in Emirates FF scheme too, which was partly why I was so miffed at having to fly Crab Air out of Heathrow rather than an airline that I knew out of Birmingham. Got a fair few miles, so like you was hoping for a free upgrade and extra luggage allowance.
But no, instead I've got to fly via an airport that has been universally voted as having taken the Black Hole of Calcutta's crown for grottiest dump known to man, (and apparently Abu Dhabi airport is almost as bad!) somehow cram all my belongings into a 3.5kg luggage allowance and then sit looking out of the window for 31 hours because the inflight entertainment consisted of one middle aged flight attendant holding up a book and flicking through it, whilst I'm sitting snacking on something that has the taste and nutritious qualities of the contents of a cat litter tray.
At least this way I might be pleasantly surprised!
I'm in Emirates FF scheme too, which was partly why I was so miffed at having to fly Crab Air out of Heathrow rather than an airline that I knew out of Birmingham. Got a fair few miles, so like you was hoping for a free upgrade and extra luggage allowance.
But no, instead I've got to fly via an airport that has been universally voted as having taken the Black Hole of Calcutta's crown for grottiest dump known to man, (and apparently Abu Dhabi airport is almost as bad!) somehow cram all my belongings into a 3.5kg luggage allowance and then sit looking out of the window for 31 hours because the inflight entertainment consisted of one middle aged flight attendant holding up a book and flicking through it, whilst I'm sitting snacking on something that has the taste and nutritious qualities of the contents of a cat litter tray.
At least this way I might be pleasantly surprised!
Dave
There have been adverts for them on the sky channels - cant recall which one I'm afraid but it does claim they have been voted the best airline - now whether that is by people held at gun point or by those being told its the only way they will get out of Abu Dabi airport by giving a good review or genuinely they are very good I'm not sure but their advet is pretty swish.
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Hiya, we plan to fly Emirates again when we make the move, I knew about the increased baggage allowance but is there anyway of getting an upgrade in the deal without paying for it? We looked at the prices of business class last night and they are sky high (sorry couldn't resist) at the moment.
We're members with Emirates which means we could already choose our seats for our reccie in Feb when we booked.
The only chance of getting an upgrade is either cashing in miles ( if you've got enough ) or asking at the desk when you check in and hope business is not full which is what we'll be doing.
Hopefully when we do the one-way flight ( end of next year if all goes well ) we'll have enough miles saved to upgrade when booking
