jaejaez

The Pad Thai that was served on BKK-AUH flight last month was simply inedible. And I am not at all a picky eater (e.g. I still happily consume microwaved pizza slices from the day before).

It was served in a trianglular-shaped paper container (it seemed that they were somehow trying to mimic the triangle in the Etihad corporate logo), and with bits of the noodle strands falling out of the edge and hanging out off of the sides, which I then had to scoop up and put into the container before eating.
The noodles were also mostly stuck together, in that I could not pick out the strands with my fork - the whole lump of noodles got lifted up as the noodles were all stuck as I tried to pick them up by the strands...

It was also the wrong flavor (i.e. not really Pad Thai LOL seriously) and even though they called it 'chicken pad thai', I could not find a single bit of chicken... unless of course the chicken was somehow 'ground up' and mixed into the sauce??? (again, this is not how one makes Pad Thai...)

flying_fozzy

Yep, this is the new normal on EY. Truly terrible service. I had one flight in J and one in Y (both longhaul) over the past three days. No sign of a welcome from a CM or CS. Nothing to differentiate them from any other run of the mill airline. They are just not worth the money. Some kind of weird business model they sign to think will work. Sounds like something out of a local university's James Hogan Aviation Business School?

davem4

Terrible experience BNE-CDG.

Booked before the announced downgrade. Not at all comparable to EK now.

eddibabyyeah

What was so bad?

tommy123

I have it all to look forward to tomorrow......I also noticed on ...simply flying.com/etihad-snacks-charges/amp/ ...that they will have started to charge for snacks and beverages , outside normal eating times . Etihad have turned into the Ryanair- Air Asia of the middle east , but still charging premium ticket prices

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

The new 'enhanced' on baord service. Tiny meal portions and everything outside main meals is now buy on board. Even a coffee in between meals has to be paid for.

My friend just came back from Europe yesterday and said it was really bad. Seems pre-meal alcoholic beverages are also being discouraged now... a request for gin and tonic was met with reluctance (and this wasn't due to any prior alcohol consumption... this was the first and only drink request for the flight and no other alcohol had been consumed by my friend the whole day).

skywardhunter

It's currently Ramadan, so alcohol-related service may be affected by that, and not be permanent, though in principle there shouldn't be a change in service. In premium cabins during Ramadan drinks are poured in the galley, even beer, and no bottles carried through the cabin

tommy123

Mixed feelings . Just flew EY12- EY406 to BKK . , checked in on- line and moved my pre assigned seats ( isle) o windows towards to rear of Y . At LHR I queried as to whether the adjacent seat was occupied , it was vacant , but they could not block it , unless I paid , I took my chance , knowing once on board I could ask the cabin manager to be reseated , if I desired ....Being gold I was allowed in the House lounge ( the old Etihad lounge ). To sum it up quickly C_ _ P ....Once on board , I found that the isle seat was also empty , so 3 seats to myself . No sign of the cabin manager and not once was approached because of my gold status . Slept most of the way , missing the food offerings ( and quite rightly so , I will come to that later ) . On arrival in AUH , no fast track available again , so joined the masses and queued for 10 minutes , then made my way to the Etihad lounge ( gate 35 ,) . Very good lounge , nicely presented food , well stocked bar , hot power shower , overall a success .... AUH - BKK , before I left the lounge I enquired at the front desk as to the seating arrangements for the EY406 . Although the seat map previously had the seats next to me saying occupied , they were vacant , so 3 seats to myself again ....Welcomed on board , and within 5 minutes , cabin manager introduced herself , and asked if I required anything , to contact her directly ( nice touch ) . Pretty fullish flight on the 787 , took off on time , cart came around for beverages shortly after , then the food offerings of chicken noodles , lamb curry and rice or a pasta dish , I opted to the lamb and that was it , simply a lamb curry and a bread roll , nothing else , not even butter for the roll...I didn't bother inquiring as to where the rest of the food was , because I wasn't hungry after stuffing myself in the lounge beforehand . Apart from a cup of coffee before landing and the odd water and juice run , an uneventful flight .....landed on time , offered fast track because of my status and was out the airport with bags within 15 minute's , a record for Bangkok.....so to sum it up , mixed feelings , LHR- AUH , unfriendly check- in staff , c _ _ p lounge , no recognition of status on board ( I imagine the food offerings to be similar ) and no fast track on arrival . AUH - BKK great lounge , helpful front desk ,full recognition of gold status , food offerings basic at best , and fast track on arrival .....

tommy123

Also to add , alcohol fully available on daylight flight out of LHR yesterday , even though we are still in Ramadan

amnicoll

Tommy I am astonished that there are still no separate premium queues as you know I complained to Etihad before I gave up flying with them two years ago on this very subject and was hard work convincing them that having premium security channels was pointless unless there were separate queues for these channels

eddibabyyeah

When I transited AUH a few weeks ago there was a premium lane. But not a single member of staff to police it, so it was used by everyone. Very poor indeed at EY's hub. I wouldn't be happy if I was a paying F passenger having to queue for thirty minutes with everyone else.

amnicoll

together with the removal of the chauffeur this was one of the key factors in my decision to leave Etihad.

yes this is the responsibility of the ADAC but Etihad are their biggest customer and should be demanding proper treatment for their premium passengers and it is really a disgrace and it p***ed me off no end. The best bit is when you complain to customer service they respond that there are premium security lanes glossing over the fact that there is no separate queue for them. I would urge everyone to contact the CEO until they sort it

tommy123

The fast track lane was there , and manned , but for guess what , wheelchair users only . The sign had been reversed . I did present my card and boarding pass showing gold , but was ushered away into the cattle lane . Someone asked me on the AUH - BKK flight ( after observing me chatting to the cabin manager ) is having status with Etihad worth it . My reply was , I would never fly Etihad again without gold or platinum , the only benefits are the decent AUH lounge , extra weight allowance and fast track , some of the time if they feel like it

flyby747

amnicoll

Hey Tommy time to get the walking stick out again or better still ask for a wheelchair for the transfer at Abu Dhabi