Services that we have lost so far
Aug 23, 2017, 3:44 am
#106
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Phuket
Programs: SQ *Gold, BA, QR, EY, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, Amex Platinum
Posts: 5,273
Aug 23, 2017, 6:04 am
#108
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Phuket
Programs: SQ *Gold, BA, QR, EY, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, Amex Platinum
Posts: 5,273
Aug 23, 2017, 10:28 am
#109
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: ARN
Programs: Bit of this, bit of that
Posts: 454
I flew MEL-AUH-AMS on the return trip
MEL-AUH was generally ok, I certainly wasnt blown away with the service or the catering.
The plus side of that leg was the lounge staff in MEL, they were absolutely great. Very helpful with allergies for my partner, good quality food and beverage. Table service etc. Was very pleased with it.
Lounge in AUH was the usual issues, roughly 30 minutes waiting for a shower, no more proper dining, staff seemed pretty uninterested.
AUH-AMS was better than the rest of the flights on this trip, its a daytime flight, so no amenity kits are distributed, but I kept mine from the previous leg so was ok, but I still think that they should definitely be offering an amenity kit on a sector of this length regardless of time of day. Fair enough if they stop pajamas (even though most of the cabin was asleep) but at least the amenity kit to freshen up.
The thing that made the AUH-AMS leg so much better was that we had both the F&B manager and Cabin Manager serving us throughout the flight, and they were both very good.
The catering was also much better than the other legs. Steak was very tasty and not over cooked. Ended up basically having a main meal and then 2 snacks on the flight and none of it was disappointing, especially compared to some of the meals on the outbound trip.
Finally. I was also able to access the lounge in AMS despite what EY told me.
Aug 23, 2017, 4:44 pm
#110
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: Etihad Guest Platinum; Accor Platinum; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,356
Apparently the sovereign wealth fund (I think this one is Mubadala) is looking at the airline as a whole and saying "why are we bothering" according to much on the web
Which is really dumb, Etihad made a profit, its former CEO made a $2,000,000,000 loss ! But that won't be equated
Aug 23, 2017, 10:00 pm
#112
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Phuket
Programs: SQ *Gold, BA, QR, EY, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, Amex Platinum
Posts: 5,273
Funnily enough they used to, gold and above didn't originally have to pay for exit rows etc but that lasted about a week
Apparently the sovereign wealth fund (I think this one is Mubadala) is looking at the airline as a whole and saying "why are we bothering" according to much on the web
Which is really dumb, Etihad made a profit, its former CEO made a $2,000,000,000 loss ! But that won't be equated
Apparently the sovereign wealth fund (I think this one is Mubadala) is looking at the airline as a whole and saying "why are we bothering" according to much on the web
Which is really dumb, Etihad made a profit, its former CEO made a $2,000,000,000 loss ! But that won't be equated
Sep 5, 2017, 11:28 am
#114
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 973
Use any AA miles you might have on this moribund airline while you still can (see the AA forum for the yanks quite rightly panicking about EY availability - I still maintain it'll all be blocked soon) and spend your money on the competition, who, at every turn, are outdoing this somnolent husk of a company. I would have said EY miles but the last time I checked I needed about 3 million for a one way AUH-SYD and when attempting to use them for partner bookings it's notably less painful to just set fire to your face and put the flames out with a hammer.
Sep 6, 2017, 3:21 am
#115
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: Etihad Guest Platinum; Accor Platinum; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,356
The AA guys shouldn't be whingeing about lack of availability, they get handed miles like confetti and have pretty much every guest seat in the transatlantic apartments booked up for months !
Sep 6, 2017, 10:09 pm
#117
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 28
What we are talking about is a steady decline and then a leap off the cliff.
Yes things may sometimes go wrong but when the airline does not care and it is a regular problem then it may be time to look elsewhere. Despite complaints premium passengers are often not given their own channel or priority for security screening at Abu Dhabi during transfer and the airline are not willing to take the case up with the airport management on behalf of their premium passengers.
I am going to give Emirates a try - otherwise probably Qatar although the times are less convenient for me without the chauffeur.
Yes things may sometimes go wrong but when the airline does not care and it is a regular problem then it may be time to look elsewhere. Despite complaints premium passengers are often not given their own channel or priority for security screening at Abu Dhabi during transfer and the airline are not willing to take the case up with the airport management on behalf of their premium passengers.
I am going to give Emirates a try - otherwise probably Qatar although the times are less convenient for me without the chauffeur.