I just got off the phone with the supervisor who insisted she was the final point of escalation and would not budge on any position. She advised me that my only option from here was to pay a US$2800 per passenger change fee or fly and then file a complaint afterwards. She refused to provide any further point of escalation.

I have just written to the office of the CEO and the airlines Head of Customer Experience. If I don’t get a satisfactory response I will file a complaint with the Abu Dhabi Civil Aviation Grievance Service.

I can’t believe I have to go through all of this. I’ve heard horrible things about Etihad’s customer service but this is beyond a joke.