TalkBoard Topics - Motion Passed: Forum for Etihad

Moved by bhatnasx and seconded by jackal:

Talkboard recommends the creation of an Etihad Airways Etihad Guest forum.

This vote will close on Nov 20, 11 at 8:23 PM Pacific Time or after all TalkBoard members have registered their vote, whichever comes first.

Per the TalkBoard Guidelines:

A motion shall pass if the ratio of 'yes' votes of TalkBoard members to 'no' votes is at least 2 to 1 and the 'yes' vote count is a majority of the entire TalkBoard. (Since the TalkBoard has 9 members, this means 6 'yes' votes in most cases, 5 'yes' votes if 2 or more members fail to vote 'yes' or 'no'.)

The purpose of posting voting topics in the public TalkBoard Topics forum is to solicit member feedback on any motions that are up for a vote and to allow for comments after a vote is made. It is at the sole discretion of the individual TalkBoard members whether they choose to post in the public discussion thread, there being no requirement to do so.

Members should feel free to discuss the pros and cons in this thread or in the other thread containing pre-vote discussion.

Edited to add:

On 16 November 2011, the TalkBoard passed this motion 9-0.

Voting yes: bhatnasx, Cholula, jackal, lucky9876coins, Markie, nsx, SkiAdcock, Spiff, UA_Flyer

I think it's a great idea, esp w some of us being able to use AA miles. I would one would like feedback on seats, menus, ground service, esp car service, lounges, FA's, connections, etc.

delete

I vote yes.

Actually TB members are the ones who vote, but it would be great if you would articulate why you think this should be approved (if you haven't already posted in the other thread) for TB members to consider before voting.

Cheers.

Actually TB members are the ones who vote, but it would be great if you would articulate why you think this should be approved (if you haven't already posted in the other thread) for TB members to consider before voting.

Cheers.

And here is the link to said other thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkboard-topics/897534-proposal-etihad-airlines-forums.html

I think having an Etihad forum would have a lot of benefits for Flyertalk. Already Etihad takes up the majority of threads in the "Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs" forum, and having a forum dedicated solely to Etihad the amount of threads would only increase.

Etihad as an airline has a really good case to be considered a major international airline worthy of its own forum. It serves about 68 destinations, and it announces more and more destinations almost every month. It has one of the airline industry's most ambitious expansion plans in terms of purchasing aircraft and new destinations and code shares.

Etihad's product is highly rated for the most part, and its first class and business class product are industry leading. As controversial as some of those travel awards are, it has gained quite a few in the last few years. Most users of Flyertalk seem to want to fly Etihad and are curious to learn more.

Etihad's frequent flyer program is actually quite robust, and growing. It has many partnerships with other airlines and it seeks to further gain more partnerships and maybe even one of the 3 big airline alliances. Its new partnership with American Airlines has really increased interest in Etihad, and the Etihad thread on American airlines is currently at 20 pages, and there are still posts almost daily in it.

A new forum for Etihad would help others who are new to Flyertalk find their home forum easier. Right now its quite often the case new posters don't seem to be able to find where topics about Etihad should be posted. There was one such post yesterday. It may also attract Etihad to have an Etihad Guest representative in the forum to answer our questions. Etihad seems to be actively using social media (like twitter) to engage its customers, and they seem to be driven to improve their frequent flyer program.

I don't know all of the politics for why one would vote against a measure like this, but I would assume it would be on the basis that the con of gained by adding another airline to the already large list in the forums would be greater than the actual benefit of having a separate forum. From my point of view I think an Etihad forum would be busier than some of the already active airline forums, and if there isn't a discussion to decommission them then I think it would be an obvious choice to vote for a new forum for Etihad.

Opening a forum for the airline would make sense considering its growth.

That being said, I find its new 2-year mileage expiry laughable, certainly one of the worst in the industry...

Opening a forum for the airline would make sense considering its growth.

That being said, I find its new 2-year mileage expiry laughable, certainly one of the worst in the industry...

All programs have their pluses and minuses and Etihad is no different. A forum for it would help discuss where you can get the benefits as well as discuss the negatives like the one you point out. There are a lot of pluses to Etihad's program, and its not hard to redeem flights with Etihad especially using their Miles + Cash option, as there are no restrictions other than the specific fare class and you earn miles based on the percentage of cash you paid for the ticket. The other thing is Etihad's frequent flyer program is meant for frequent flyers. It won't benefit someone that flys every other year. If you fly just two flights in a year in economy most likely you'll be a silver member. Its not a domestic airline and most of its routes are some of the longest routes in the world.

The other thing that I never knew about (found out on this forum) is that Etihad often allows cash upgrades, the forum has helped a lot of people figure out where this happens and have given loading advice for people on the likelyhood of an upgrade.

I'm unlikely to fly with Etihad as they don't go where I want! However, they are a frequent topic of conversation on the BA Forum by those who could/do use them as a carrier option.

YES ... they deserve their own forum.

I'm in favor for 3 reasons:


EY has been getting a lot of attention lately due to their recent tie-up with AA and plenty of people (myself included) would like accurate, specific information about the EY experience
Even before the AA deal, EY is one of the major players in the Mideast region and purports to be a "top" carrier, so it demands scrutiny to find out just how good (or bad) they are -- plus all the neutral data like schedules, configurations, etc.
More, specific, accurate information can only help and can't hurt!

Thanks for some of the articulate arguments for the creation of the forum, both in this thread & the other thread. It does help TB members when considering whether to create a new forum, and is very much appreciated.

Cheers.

That being said, I find its new 2-year mileage expiry laughable, certainly one of the worst in the industry...

Southwest used to have that policy (rolling expiration of credits), and originally each credit expired in 12 months! Yet at that time Rapid Rewards was considered extremely lucrative, because credits were so cheaply earned. It's a package deal.

All programs have their pluses and minuses and Etihad is no different. A forum for it would help discuss where you can get the benefits as well as discuss the negatives like the one you point out. There are a lot of pluses to Etihad's program, and its not hard to redeem flights with Etihad especially using their Miles + Cash option, as there are no restrictions other than the specific fare class and you earn miles based on the percentage of cash you paid for the ticket.

I don't disagree with you at all there, and all good points.

The other thing is Etihad's frequent flyer program is meant for frequent flyers. It won't benefit someone that flys every other year. If you fly just two flights in a year in economy most likely you'll be a silver member. Its not a domestic airline and most of its routes are some of the longest routes in the world.


Well, this is more debatable. I fly to Bangkok 2-3 times a year on Qatar, often on more expensive economy tickets, and am silver. No different there. I have, after 5 return flights and many hotel bookings, enough miles for a return ticket to Bangkok... but only just within the 2 years. Due to my schedule I couldn't really use them until next year... if I was with Etihad, that wouldn't be an option. While I don't fly very frequently like many busy business travellers, compared to most of the flying public, I am a frequent long-haul traveller, and usually on the same airline nonetheless. Clearly Etihad only want to appeal to incredibly frequent travellers, most people would never be able to save up for a "trip of a lifetime" when miles expire after 2 years...

Southwest used to have that policy (rolling expiration of credits), and originally each credit expired in 12 months! Yet at that time Rapid Rewards was considered extremely lucrative, because credits were so cheaply earned. It's a package deal.

Well, you just answered yourself. Easy to get the points, so (I'm presuming) a frequent business flyer could accumulate rewards quickly... again, generally not so useful for those on vacation. In some ways, SW could be compared to the likes of Easyjet (without all the charges); surely a 12-month FF programme is a way of grabbing some of the business crowd away from the more business-oriented airlines? (You are the SWA moderator, I won't argue with what you have to say on the matter!) :)

Anyways, just my opinion. I certainly do not debate that an Etihad forum would be useful, I'm all for there being one...

Well, this is more debatable. I fly to Bangkok 2-3 times a year on Qatar, often on more expensive economy tickets, and am silver. No different there. I have, after 5 return flights and many hotel bookings, enough miles for a return ticket to Bangkok... but only just within the 2 years. Due to my schedule I couldn't really use them until next year... if I was with Etihad, that wouldn't be an option. While I don't fly very frequently like many busy business travellers, compared to most of the flying public, I am a frequent long-haul traveller, and usually on the same airline nonetheless. Clearly Etihad only want to appeal to incredibly frequent travellers, most people would never be able to save up for a "trip of a lifetime" when miles expire after 2 years...

Anyways, just my opinion. I certainly do not debate that an Etihad forum would be useful, I'm all for there being one...

Don't really want to go off topic here, but the reason for that is Etihad recently made some major changes to their reward pricing, where Y redemptions became very uncompetitive, J redemptions remained the same or similar as before, and F redemptions got cheaper, for most routes. The idea of quick expiry then is obviously to force people to use up their miles for overpriced Y redemptions, and ensure that only very frequent flyers (who would have Gold status) are able to obtain better value J & F redemptions.

Thanks for the explanation, Ung 1. Can't say I like their reasoning, but this is for the consumer to decide if it's a wise idea...

/end thread hijack :)

I'm unlikely to fly with Etihad as they don't go where I want! However, they are a frequent topic of conversation on the BA Forum by those who could/do use them as a carrier option.

YES ... they deserve their own forum.

I agree with you this. I think it's doubtful to creation new EY forum. It will great addition to see new EY forum.

Have Etihad flights coming up and a very important airline for those of us who belong to Velocity (as its main partner) and for routes in the Asia Pacific region as well as Middle East and Europe.

I hope it gets the go ahead as the program is making a lot of new changes in the upcoming months and has a lot of future discussion/plans happening

Have flown ET twice and wanted to leave a review, but didn't find a dedicated forum so didn't bother to. I think people would benefit from a dedicated forum for Etihad.

I vote yes to the Etihad forum.

Add me to the ranks favoring an EY forum. Many good reasons have already been stated, but to list a few I found most salient:

1. The recent tie-up with AA for mileage accruals and redemptions.
2. A dedicated forum is likely to attract more reviews of EY flights and generated more useful discussions of many aspects of flying the airline.
3. It seems to be a growing, high quality airline.
4. Its F looks particularly great!
5. EY's attractive miles plus cash option.
6. The proximity to DXB (though I realize its base is AUH) means that some folks going to that city as a destination or connecting through it might want more info about EY options and operations.

Giving EY their own forum would be nice. ^

I also say yes as I do most of my flying with EY now:D

I also am a strong advocate for the new EY forum. Middle East based EY FF, and am seeing a definate need for it's own space.

Moved by bhatnasx and seconded by jackal:

Talkboard recommends the creation of an Etihad Airways Etihad Guest forum.

This vote will close on Nov 20, 11 at 8:23 PM Pacific Time or after all TalkBoard members have registered their vote, whichever comes first.

Per the TalkBoard Guidelines:

A motion shall pass if the ratio of 'yes' votes of TalkBoard members to 'no' votes is at least 2 to 1 and the 'yes' vote count is a majority of the entire TalkBoard. (Since the TalkBoard has 9 members, this means 6 'yes' votes in most cases, 5 'yes' votes if 2 or more members fail to vote 'yes' or 'no'.)

The purpose of posting voting topics in the public TalkBoard Topics forum is to solicit member feedback on any motions that are up for a vote and to allow for comments after a vote is made. It is at the sole discretion of the individual TalkBoard members whether they choose to post in the public discussion thread, there being no requirement to do so.

Members should feel free to discuss the pros and cons in this thread or in the other thread containing pre-vote discussion.

NO.

One combined board of Middle East airlines is sufficient.

Yes. I agree with the motion. EY is becoming a major player in the aviation industry and nobody can ignore its role.

Yes. I agree with the motion. EY is becoming a major player in the aviation industry and nobody can ignore its role.

I think you guys sll agree to creation new EY forum. It will great addition to see new EY forum. I think they can agree from Talkboard member.

I think its a very good idea.

YES

(even I'm not a TB member:( )

YES

(even I'm not a TB member:( )

then run for TB...

I guess it's a bit late for that though :/

NO.

One combined board of Middle East airlines is sufficient.

I don't mean to be rude and everyone has a right to their own opinion, your response kind of confuses me. Everyone else that has posted on this forum has given some kind of constructive opinion, maybe you could elaborate on your reasoning so we all can understand it?

I support Etihad gettings its own forum, on the basis of:
1. EY's linkages to mainstream partners in a number of countries (notably Virgin Australia here, AA in the US); The VA/EY partnership is a major benefit for Aussies frustrated by QF domestic and international right now.
2. EY having a major award-winning product on several criteria, especially premium travel;
3. EY having extensive network in Europe, South Asia and Asia Pacific, focusing on long haul travel, which are often not served by legacy carriers;
4. My own excellent experiences in the air and with EY on travel to Asia and and from Europe on EY in various classes;
5. Having all of these attributes, the EY FFP is something that will draw more interest as the mid-east airlines continue their ascent and as EY follows the model of SQ, EK and others, often offering a comparable or even superior experience.
6. Just a personal thing - friends use EY and I'd like to see them on FT more to discuss the program. I also am very impressed with Abu Dhabi's commitment to F1 at its Yas Marina. As an Aussie I am happy to see an Aussie airline boss whose organisation supports top level sports including the F1 Grand Prix and Manchester City FC. :)

Possible negatives I expect to see raised against EY's FFP getting a FT forum of its own:
1. Not directly a major alliance partner (like EK; no * or OW direct connection)
2. Comments based on FTers not having a stake in using these FFPs will make the process a little harder. For example, nil interest in QR getting a forum until it was earning miles and status with US airlines / Staralliance. :)
3. General focus of many FTers on domestic flight MRs rather than longhaul MRs like us Aussies. :cool:

I hope that TalkBoard members can rationally judge this case on the merits of EY and use QR and EK (and partner Virgin Australia) forums as a guide to evaluating if it's worth a try.

Just one more thing. Some history for jimmc66 of Mid-East airlines, below in a few links.

NO.

One combined board of Middle East airlines is sufficient.

That was quite a number of years ago, before Emirates graduated to its own forum and before Qatar/Etihad were conceived (Qatar and Abu Dhabi were shareholders in Gulf Air along with Bahrain).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etihad_Airways (Arabic: الإتحاد‎, ʼal-ʻitiħād)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Air (Arabic: طيران الخليج‎ Ṭayarān al-Khalīj)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_Airways (Arabic: القطرية, Qatariyah‎)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_(airline) (Arabic: طيران الإمارات‎ Ṭayarān al-Imārāt)

That being said, I find its new 2-year mileage expiry laughable, certainly one of the worst in the industry...

Negative factors about an airline not only do not disqualify it from having its own forum but actually increase the reason to have one. The more that an airline (or its FF program) upset its passengers the more apt they are to want to express that displeasure somewhere.

I actually joined FT (in fact, first heard of it) in 2003 as a result of some very bad changes that Delta was making to its SkyMiles program. I googled "SkyMiles", found a group of frequent flyers who had started a program called "Save SkyMiles" and, from there, found a link to FT's Delta Forum.

I'm unlikely to fly with Etihad as they don't go where I want!

I'm unlikely to fly with Etihad as they don't fly from where I do and are very unlikely to do so until there is peace in the Middle East (perhaps another 100 or 200 years).

Still, if enough FTers are interested, it certainly won't cause me any problems for Etihad to have its own forum.

Yes. I agree with the motion. EY is becoming a major player in the aviation industry and nobody can ignore its role.

I think you guys sll agree to creation new EY forum. It will great addition to see new EY forum. I think they can agree from Talkboard member.

^
Yes, please even if I have yet to fly them. Perhaps in 2012.

For the odd internal flight on MS or SV I'm happy to consult the Arab carrier forum, however, EY is becoming a major global player, as others have stated the ability to earn and redeem AA miles has generated significant interest, as posts will indicate.

I'm taking my first trip with EY this Christmas and struggled to find the information I required, as well as engage in any dialogue with FTers who are knowledgable of their products and routes, other than in the AA forum. My family fly them regularly, but they are sick of my countless questions, and consider some of them unnecessary, but other FTers would appreciate that I want to know if they offer priority boarding at the gate, or what kind of Champagne is served on board. I have loads of questions about EY Guest, the FF program as the website is rather unhelpful. I know that similar questions would be answered in the QF, AA or BA forums, and I would learn from others' collective experience and knowledge.

It should also be noted that one of the reason that QF is struggling at the moment, and quite heavily discussed in relation to the industrial dispute, is the assessment that many Australians are choosing EY as an alternative carrier because of the price and comparable, if not better, product.

EY is getting bigger, with an increasing number of frequent flyers. The number and the lenght of threads about EY is apparently growing fast.
I' think it's more than reasonable to set up a EY forum on FT. I'd really like it.

Yes please. The AA mileage addition has made it much more attractive / versatile.

I am all for it,especially after the extended relationship with AA and the quality of product from them.

Given EY's growth as a major airline, coupled with the high quality of their in-flight product, I think the question FlyerTalk needs to ask is whether FT's credibility is at risk by not having a separate EY forum. To my mind EY is on a par with EK and QR - as such it should have its own forum.

I too support the idea of a separate forum for Etihad Guest.

1. Majority of the posts in the "Other Middle East Airlines" concerns EY.
2. EY is a major player in the Europe - Australia / South Asia and also in the North America - South Asia market (even though they fly to only JFK, ORD and YYZ).
3. They have global partnerships with Virgin Australia, AA, MH and a whole bunch of airlines.
4. Their hard product and soft product are among the finest in the world. (Even in Y, their 346s are probably the best option for long haul).
5. Their FFP Etihad Guest is a very good one for Etihad passengers. For example, 25,000 to reach silver, which has a lot of benefits (including lounge access and excess baggage) is a good deal.

I think this comes down to the question "Is Etihad a major airline?". The answer is yes, and so it deserves a forum.

I think this comes down to the question "Is Etihad a major airline?". The answer is yes, and so it deserves a forum.

+1

Vote yes.

Yes please add a forum. The more FT reflects the competitive nature of the airline market with the emerging and increasing dominant Middle Eastern carriers the better and the frequent flyer programmes that go with it.

:)Yes to the vote. They may be in the future a partner to One World.

After reading everything in both threads I have voted "Yes" to recommend this new forum.

The way these votes tend to proceed is that 1 or 2 of the 9 TalkBoard members will wait until near the end of the voting period, which in this case is November 20, to decide. Typically, only 9-0 votes on completely uncontested proposals end very early. Otherwise TalkBoard members like to take their time and allow all the arguments to be made here on TalkBoard Topics. Your posts here (and in this case in the other thread on the same subject) are a crucial part of this process.

After all 9 votes are in, if the TalkBoard approves a new forum recommendation, our Community Director highlights the TalkBoard's sluggishness by creating a forum immediately and populating it with appropriate threads within a few hours. :cool:

If the TalkBoard does not approve a recommendation, the TalkBoard's custom has been not to re-vote the proposal for several months unless some new major factor is present, which might be a request from the Community Director to reconsider the subject.

I've also voted to support this new forum. There have been some convincing arguments for it's creation IMO.

Yes +1 here.
I fly EY 3x year BKK-Europe mostly in biz and occasionally need to be in YUL and fly Europe-YUL, considering EY BKK-AUH-YYZ or QR BKK-DOH-YUL.

I am not 100% pro EY though, I have sometimes issues with EY stupid marketing actions, I have considered posting about these cans of worms, but have not because there is no dedicated EY board.

Etihad as an airline has a really good case to be considered a major international airline worthy of its own forum. It serves about 68 destinations, and it announces more and more destinations almost every month. It has one of the airline industry's most ambitious expansion plans in terms of purchasing aircraft and new destinations and code shares.

Etihad's product is highly rated for the most part, and its first class and business class product are industry leading. As controversial as some of those travel awards are, it has gained quite a few in the last few years. Most users of Flyertalk seem to want to fly Etihad and are curious to learn more.

Mainly for the above reasons I absolutely support the choice of having an Etihad forum

Good idea - I vote YES^

On 16 November 2011, the TalkBoard passed this motion 9-0.

Voting yes: bhatnasx, Cholula, jackal, lucky9876coins, Markie, nsx, SkiAdcock, Spiff, UA_Flyer

You will find your new forum here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/etihad-airways-etihad-guest-692/).

On 16 November 2011, the TalkBoard passed this motion 9-0.

Voting yes: bhatnasx, Cholula, jackal, lucky9876coins, Markie, nsx, SkiAdcock, Spiff, UA_Flyer

Thank you all!! I appreciate for your supportive. And now, I can see new EY forum.

You will find your new forum here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/etihad-airways-etihad-guest-692/).

Indeed...Very good news!! I'm so extremely happy to see new EY forum.

I have no idea how SanDiego1K did that in just 20 minutes. Maybe she's our fairy godmother or something...

I have no idea how SanDiego1K did that in just 20 minutes. Maybe she's our fairy godmother or something...

You even gave everyone fair warning that her promptness and alacrity would make us look bad...and yet she still managed to outdo everyone's expectations. How DOES she do that?!?! :D

On 16 November 2011, the TalkBoard passed this motion 9-0.

Voting yes: bhatnasx, Cholula, jackal, lucky9876coins, Markie, nsx, SkiAdcock, Spiff, UA_Flyer^ Applause ^

I have no idea how SanDiego1K did that in just 20 minutes. Maybe she's our fairy godmother or something...You have to ask ;)

I have no idea how SanDiego1K did that in just 20 minutes. Maybe she's our fairy godmother or something...

hahaha....LOL!! You are so funny, huh? :p

Thanks Talkboard for working through this one.

Here's an Easter Egg of sorts to sweeten the EY FFP forum discussions.

EY did an second (AA-like) reciprocal FFP Earn & Burn tie-up, this time with Malaysia Airlines. VERY handy for a lot of us who were in favour of the forum.

Another real-life FFP avenue for miles transfer or accumulation, especially those of us with MH points. Perhaps even beneficial for other MH FFP partners and FTers. :)

The second EY FFP deal; news links as posted in our new FT Etihad Guest forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/17478385-post2.html


Thanks and I am motivated to participate more, now that EY has its FFP elevated by our TalkBoard.
Thanks Carol for the rapid action to move the threads to the forum, too. :)

Thanks and I am motivated to participate more, now that EY has its FFP elevated by our TalkBoard.
Thanks Carol for the rapid action to move the threads to the forum, too. :)

I think I would agree with you. They will have to move the threads into new EY forum. Someone will have to do it for you.