Etihad Airways Etihad Guest - Etihad STPC

Anyone know what what're Etihad's STPC rules for J?

As with all airlines, it depends on whether you're choosing the STPC or there really is a misconnect and you have to overnight.

You have to get your res agent to check the rules per routing. Normally they would offer STPC if you have a long haul on at least one sector of your ticket.

As with all airlines, it depends on whether you're choosing the STPC or there really is a misconnect and you have to overnight.

You have to get your res agent to check the rules per routing. Normally they would offer STPC if you have a long haul on at least one sector of your ticket.

Well I'm considering flying from CAI to JFK on EY.
Flight arrives from Cairo in AUH at 17.40 and flight to JFK departs at 2 am. So there's a 8 hr and 20 min transit in AUH. I called up the Etihad office in Cairo and he said they wouldn't provide accommodation. Frankly I find this too weird baring in mind that I'm planning to fly J. Hope he's a misinformed agent.
Any experience in the lounge in AUH for such a long transit?

Well I'm considering flying from CAI to JFK on EY.
Flight arrives from Cairo in AUH at 17.40 and flight to JFK departs at 2 am. So there's a 8 hr and 20 min transit in AUH. I called up the Etihad office in Cairo and he said they wouldn't provide accommodation. Frankly I find this too weird baring in mind that I'm planning to fly J. Hope he's a misinformed agent.
Any experience in the lounge in AUH for such a long transit?

No.. I think he's right...

EK won't provide STPC for anything less than 9 hours connection. So I think EY is correct in that too. STPC usually means an overnight stay which yours isn't really. What you might urge EY to do perhaps is to arrange a 'day room' if at all possible. Otherwise you'd have to hang around the airport and lounge for that time.

Well, CAI-AUH run double daily on Wed/Fri/Sun.
I understand you would want to fly the J onboard the A332 at noon (as opposed to the late late flight on the A320); it's like EK's STPC rule, if you book on the earlier flight you are not entitled for one (for J/F it's 6 hours by the way - I got many STPC' flying Y then J / J then Y even with 7 hours).

CAI-JFK on EY; good thing in J ;)

Well, CAI-AUH run double daily on Wed/Fri/Sun.
I understand you would want to fly the J onboard the A332 at noon (as opposed to the late late flight on the A320); it's like EK's STPC rule, if you book on the earlier flight you are not entitled for one (for J/F it's 6 hours by the way - I got many STPC' flying Y then J / J then Y even with 7 hours).

CAI-JFK on EY; good thing in J ;)

When you go STPC did you previously arrange for it? Or was it just provided when you arrived in AUH? Was the first or second leg of your trips the long haul flight?
Which hotels did they book you?

When you go STPC did you previously arrange for it? Or was it just provided when you arrived in AUH? Was the first or second leg of your trips the long haul flight?
Which hotels did they book you?

I was speaking of Emirates, not Etihad.
With EK, it's Airport Millenium Hotel for Y; for J/F it's various Meridien's around the area.
STPC were issued upon my request, prior to my travel; EK does not issue STPC's in the last 24 hours prior to travel (from what I was told).

EY should provide STPC for all lay overs which are longer than 8 hours, thats what thier policy says, in reality its very different.
It took me 3 agents and one manager in 3 different countries untill i got my STPC.
The manager told me, they try to get rid of passengers in order to lower thier STPC costs. Be persistaent thats my advice.

Good luck.

No.. I think he's right...

EK won't provide STPC for anything less than 9 hours connection. So I think EY is correct in that too. STPC usually means an overnight stay which yours isn't really. What you might urge EY to do perhaps is to arrange a 'day room' if at all possible. Otherwise you'd have to hang around the airport and lounge for that time.

EK is 8 hours for Y (but only on the more expensive fares) and 6 hours for J/F

Cheers,

EK is 8 hours for Y (but only on the more expensive fares) and 6 hours for J/F

Cheers,

Got the following response back from them:
"Greetings from Cairo town office



Thanks for receiving your e-mail



Regarding your inquiry about STPC unfortunately, STPC is not valid anymore through Etihad airways expenses, on the other hand for more than 4 hrs transit time at AbuDhabi airport guests will be serving by refreshments and meals only else you can visit AbuDhabi airport hotel through www.abudhabiairporthotel.ae and book online on your expenses



Thanks for choosing Etihad Airways



Neveen elbadawy

Counter and Reservation Agent"

STPC is not valid anymore through Etihad Airways expense...is that possible?? Sounds very wierd...

Does anyone have up-to-date experience re Etihad and STPC? I've seen this ambiguous statement in summary fare rules:

If your itinerary involves a stopover, please note that Etihad Airways provides no accommodation, regardless of the connection time.

... but it's unclear whether "stopover" here means a break in journey or a transit period.

AFAIK EY no longer provides STPC. "regardless of connection time," to me, implies that EY is talking about connections rather than stopovers.

Cheers,

AFAIK EY no longer provides STPC. "regardless of connection time," to me, implies that EY is talking about connections rather than stopovers.
Thanks for replying sadiqhassan :) This morning I did a little keyword googling and found a briefing document which shows that, indeed, no STPCs are offered under normal circumstances as of about six months ago. (Also discovered an instruction to sales staff to not mention chauffeur transfers to customers arriving/leaving AUH... only provide if pax actually asks.)

I think if you have high status the airline should make sure you're happy for anything over 4 hours. This is indeed what GF would do for me in my ME flying days, but only when I got up to the lounge(never at reservation). Also being on 1st name basis with lounge ladies helped I think.

Loyalty pays off in such circumstances as most of my flying was F and I was LG.

I would definatley still be persistant and ask as politley as possible.
Premium pax are the airlines profit machine.

Enjoy
CJ:)

I have a problem with Etihad. Below I've copied my email conversation with this "great" airline. Maybe someone could help me?

These emails are from oldest to newest.

I :
Does You provide STPC for long waiting in Abu Dhabi? I would like to buy ticket BER-BKK with Air Berlin and Etihad (Etihad stock) but I would have 15h of waiting both ways..


ETIHAD :
STPC is offered to Guests with a stop-over time of anything more than 8 hours. However, this is usually only offered if there is no better connection available on the day you wish to travel. Rail & Fly Tickets can at this moment in time only be booked over the phone with an Etihad Contact Centre or certain Travel Agency. It is not possible to add Rail & Fly tickets to existing booking without also having to pay a change penalty, which can be anywhere from 100-200euros + price of Rail & Fly Ticket.

I:
Good morning.

I would like to complain for incomprehensible behavior of Etihad Airlines, which, in my opinion, is totally unacceptable.

I've made a booking of Etihad flight BER-BKK (ticket XXXXXX for three people) via ebookers.de. As the same ticket with the same price was on Your website I could book it there, but it wasn't possible because of some credid card failure during payment, that wasn't a problem in ebookers.de. I've bought RT tickets with waiting time in Abu Dhabi around 15h every way knowing from You, that stop-over for more than 8 hours is provided with STPC. There was no other option in ebookers.de for this ticket with less waiting time, and, I suppose, You know what flights are in offer of many tickets agencies like ebookers (for example).
Yesterday I've spoken with Your call center just to make sure, that we will be provided with hotel. With my great suprise, I've was told, that Etihad won't give us anything during stop over, because I've booked flight via some ticket agency in some "special rate", and I could bought ticket with less waiting time. For me it's totally unacceptable! I bought this ticket in good will flying with very good (as people said) airlines and there was no information that this is special offer (only for ticket agencies) without STPC and, because of that, we will have to sit 15 hours in airport both ways. If I knew this I would buy tickets of some different company like Royal Jordanian for ex.

ETIHAD :
Thank you for writing to us.

It is disappointing to learn that you were unhappy as hotel accommodation will not be provided whilst travelling from Berlin to Bangkok.

Please allow me explain that, our regulations regarding STPC provides complimentary accommodation on some routes for guests travelling in the Coral Economy zone. Where applicable, it is offered to guests in all zones, connecting on the next scheduled flight, and has to be confirmed in the reservation. However unfortunately, Berlin to Bangkok do not come under the routes for which hotel accommodation is provided.

Due to the significant increase in passenger loads, it is not possible to provide the service complimentarily to all guests. We therefore facilitate the stop over paid by passenger (STPP) option. This allows Etihad Airways guests not entitled for STPC holding confirmed reservation and transiting Abu Dhabi between 8 hours and 24 hours to book for hotel service via Hala Abu Dhabi on halaabudhabi@etihad.ae.

Whilst we do not undermine in any way the disappointment and inconvenience caused, we sincerely hope for your understanding.

I note your reference to a 15 hours stopover at Abu Dhabi airport. We do in fact have a daily flight that departs from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok at approximately 08.40am in the morning. This flight would have reduced the transit time in Abu Dhabi considerably. This is just for your consideration should you choose to fly with us in the future.

Thank you for writing and I trust that the above information clarifies your concerns.

I:
I'm, just shocked by Your response.

As for one of the best airlines of the world Your regulations are totally against passenger.

Let me resume situation :

- You wrote that STPC is provided to any passenger waiting More than 8 hours in Abu Dhabi,
- according to this informations I've bought tickets on ebookers.de, well known web page which offered only connection with long stopover (for days I wanted to fly) on BER-BKK
- having tickets I wanted to confirm these rules of STPC You send me earlier and what I found :
1. no STPC because I've bought ticket on (certified) web page different than etihad.com
2. no STPC because I "could" buy tickets with different time of waiting beetween changing planes (THERE WAS NO OPTION FOR THIS IN EBOOKERS.DE)
3. no STPC, because my ticket is in "special ebookers fare" (NO INFORMATIONS ABOUT THIS IN ANY PLACE IN WEBSITE)
4. no STPC because BER-BKK is not provided in any STPC (HOW SHOULD I KNOW THIS EARLIER AS YOU PROVIDE ME WITH DIFFERENT INFO AND THERE'S NO ANY IN ALL WEB SITES??)

I really found this situation extremely strange and below limits of any "normal" airline.

Let me ensure You that we won't leave it like this.

You're incorrect in your latest email; Etihad do not provide STPC to all travellers with a connection time of 8 hours, and they did not say that in their first message quoted above:

"However, this is usually only offered if there is no better connection available on the day you wish to travel."

There most certainly are connections available for BER-BKK that do not require 15 hour stops in AUH (see below); if you booked such a connection, then it would have been cheaper than the shorter journeys in order to factor in the "inconvenience" of a long layover. With these savings, you can pay for a hotel, if you so wish.

You cannot save money by selecting a cheaper itinerary that involves an overnight stop, and then expect the airline to pay to put you up overnight.

STPC is offered in limited cases only, and only when there genuinely is no alternative than having an overnight stay in AUH.

http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/9017593/640/9017593.bmp (http://picturepush.com/public/9017593)

Thank You for reply.

There most certainly are connections available for BER-BKK that do not require 15 hour stops in AUH (see below); if you booked such a connection, then it would have been cheaper than the shorter journeys in order to factor in the "inconvenience" of a long layover. With these savings, you can pay for a hotel, if you so wish.

You cannot save money by selecting a cheaper itinerary that involves an overnight stop, and then expect the airline to pay to put you up overnight.

Ok, but why client should search if there are different connections from AUH to BKK as maybe two first pages of offers in ebookers.de showed only this combinations with long stopover?Etihad is not aware what tickets are sold on their stock on web pages like ebookers and with how many hours of waiting they are?Shouldn't they give at least some voucher for food/drinks?

On ebookers, you can sort by price (Preis), by flight duration (Kürzeste Flugdauer), or by departure time (Abreisezeit).

The default is price, and naturally enough, these unattractive long layovers tend to be cheaper.

There will be no voucher for food or drinks. The reason such itineraries are cheaper is because of the inconvenience of long layovers. As such, the "cost" to you has been factored in already, and they won't provide anything further (if you have status with Air Berlin or Etihad you can use their lounges).

The fact is, though, that such itineraries may suit some people, who may have some business that they can attend to during the day on such a stopover, or who may be able to visit friends/family, etc.

I would encourage you to look into having a quick tour of Abu Dhabi, particularly if you have never been before.


As it happens, the only itinerary I can see on this route that involves a long stopover of 14h35 is, at least largely, a daytime stopover. EY403 from BKK arrives in AUH at 11:55. EY1401 leaves from AUH at 02:30. That is a nasty time to be leaving, and that is a long layover, but it is not an overnight stay. I don't think this would ever have been considered for an STPC for this very reason, even if it was the only valid option.

And just to let you know, I know of no airline that offers STPC on the cheapest economy fares. At best they would offer a package that you could pay extra for. You could still, perhaps, request a day room on further payment.

I see I can learn a lot from this forum!

So now its quite clear for me that I make a mistake caused by lack of knowledge. In fact my only experience with STPC was during flight BCN-EZE with Qatar Airlines, where I was provided with hotel without any questions (I had economy class ticket), and once in DXB I've got some meal voucher for 6 or 7 h. waiting for connection flight...

Anyway - off course I would'nt make noise with this stopover if I could leave airport for this time..but i can't, because, despite being a EU citizen of Poland, I need to have pre-arranged visa to UAE, which is hard&expensive to arrange..

One more question - how to survive 15h of waiting in AUH? There are some affordable (for backpacker) loungues/day rooms for rent?

Thank You for info!

It is US$83 for a 96-hour visa, which is quite expensive. Etihad partner with this firm (http://www.ttsuaevisas.com/Home/RevisedVisaFees.aspx?CountryID=22) to obtain visas, and it might be possible to apply online without the need to send in your passport.

That's a very long time to be stuck airside in an airport. I would advise you to familiarise yourself with the facilities available to you on the website: http://www.abudhabiairport.ae/english/

There is an airside transit hotel, located in Terminal 1. I have no idea how much it would cost, but the contact details are here (http://www.abudhabiairport.ae/english/airport-information/airport-services/airport-hotel.aspx). There are lounges in Terminal 1 (http://www.abudhabiairport.ae/english/airport-information/airport-services/airport-lounges/terminal-1-al-dhabi-lounge.aspx)that you can pay to access, but a stay is limited to 4 hours, and you would have to pay again for any additional 4-hour blocks. One costs US$39, the other US$50, payable when you arrive, and both are subject to availability of space.

A stay of 15 hours in any airport would be torture. You may decide the best thing is to get the visa and head out of the airport at least for a few hours.

As it happens, the only itinerary I can see on this route that involves a long stopover of 14h35 is, at least largely, a daytime stopover. EY403 from BKK arrives in AUH at 11:55. EY1401 leaves from AUH at 02:30. That is a nasty time to be leaving, and that is a long layover, but it is not an overnight stay. I don't think this would ever have been considered for an STPC for this very reason, even if it was the only valid option.


This is precisely the kind of itinerary that would qualify for STPC (given it's booked in the qualifying fare buckets). Having an overnight layover makes no difference to EY or EK.
On 2 occasions I got STPC with EK for trips where I landed in DXB at 5:30AM and departed at 5PM (hotel plus 2x meals plus transfers). One being on an award redemption (ie not paid).

Any update on ey stopovers arriving 11.30 pm nezt flight 2pm next day?