I am a frequent flyer and, over the past 25 years, I have taken more than 3,000 flights. I therefore consider myself a very experienced passenger.

My recent business class experience with Etihad Airways was, by far, the worst airline experience I have ever had. Even more disappointing than the flight issues themselves was the way Etihad handled the situation afterward, which was worse than what I have experienced with some low-cost airlines.

Outbound Flight: Milan – Singapore (via Abu Dhabi)

Abu Dhabi – Singapore
The inflight entertainment system was not working. The way the cabin crew handled this issue can only be described as very poor. The compensation offered was close to ridiculous, and I was told that I could only receive it in the form of Etihad miles.

Arrival in Singapore – Missing Luggage

Upon arrival in Singapore, my luggage did not arrive. As a result, I spent 2 out of my 5 days in Singapore without my luggage.

When I asked the Etihad lost-and-found agent how much I was allowed to spend on essential items, I was told that he did not know. This is unacceptable, as an airline should clearly inform passengers of the permitted expense limits. In the end, I was offered USD 50 for the delayed luggage, which I find almost offensive—especially considering that a business class passenger was left without luggage for nearly half of the trip. It also raises the question of how Etihad treats economy class passengers in similar situations.

Return Flight: Singapore – Milan

At check-in, I was moved from the window seat I had booked months in advance to a middle seat. Upon arrival in Milan, I discovered that my luggage was damaged, with personal belongings falling out.

I reported the issue and later received an email from Etihad instructing me to visit the nearest authorized repair shop to obtain a damage assessment. The closest official repair shop is over one hour away, meaning Etihad expects me to waste half a day for something that should clearly be handled by the airline.

More reputable airlines arrange for a courier to collect the luggage and return it repaired or replaced, without requiring the passenger to do anything.

Poor Customer Service Follow-Up

In total, I have sent 17 emails and 10 messages via Instagram. Every response has been the same: that Etihad is “looking into the matter.” More than two months have now passed without any resolution.

I chose to try Etihad as I expect to travel extensively in that region in the future. However, this experience has been terrible in every respect, and I absolutely do not recommend Etihad to anyone. If this is how Etihad treats its business class passengers, one can only imagine how economy class passengers are treated.

By far the worst airline I have flown with in the past 25 years.

Thanks for sharing your experience.
As another disgruntled customer, your message helped me understand that it is not worth the time to to chase Etihad.

I violently agree with you that this is by some distance the worst airline I have flown as well (after 2 million miles flown in J).
After charging a 300 euros up-charge for the possibility to pick the seat, they are able to bump me to another seat without even informing me - I discovered that myself at the boarding gate.
Not even a "I'm sorry", of course, which only adds to the anger.

P.S. Do you also receive loads of emails from them reminding how important your feedback is to them??

[img alt="Worst spamming experience ever from an airline as well.
"]https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.flyertalk.com-vbulletin/819x1035/screenshot_2026_01_12_094156_22f57929b02db8318dc8b 367ebfd3eb290539af3.png[/img]
Worst spamming experience ever from an airline as well.

So after 25 years of frequent flying you have managed one post on this forum, and have had one bad flight? To summarise:

• IFE wasn't working on the AUH to SIN leg - unfortunately this is not an uncommon occurrence. However, there is only one flight a day between AUH and SIN and it's overnight, so how much of an inconvenience was it? What compensation was offered, and what do you think it should have been?
• Lost luggage - again, this happens all the time with all airlines. Emirates lose about 80,000 bags a year
• Moved from a window seat - unfortunately airlines provides you with a seat, none guarantee a particular seat.
• Damaged baggage - again it happens all the time, and it's normally baggage handlers (not airline employees) who cause the problem.
• Poor customer services - unfortunately the ME3 airlines are renowned for this. If you started your journey within the EU then you can seek redress from EU authorities. On the return leg not so easy. If you'd flown with an EU airline your trip would have been protected both ways.

So overall 2 of your 4 legs weren't ideal, and I agree that you are entitled to some compo. However, you need to keep your expectations realistic. I see you were so upset with your treatment that you appear to have posted the same negative review twice on Trustpilot.

I normally don't waste time on posting issues like this, as serious airlines take care of problems. The issue is about the fact that Etihad does not come up with a solution or compensation for the repair of the luggage that I have paid for by myself.

I'm sorry this happened, but not surprised. Having flown EY for the first time last year in J (SIN-AUH-VIE and return), my sense is that they are quite uneven and unpolished in many respects. To be clear, there are some excellent cabin crew, staff that try hard, and so on. And depending on the aircraft the hard product can be pretty good. But the management and the systems in place are not up to the standards of a world-class airline---at least, not right now.

IFE not working? Not surprised one bit. My SIN-AUH flights---one way was delayed about 4 hours due to technical issues, and then there were mechanical problems with my seat (they offered to move me). On the AUH-SIN flight, the seat controls stopped working and they tried resetting several times.

At first I honestly thought this was going to be another one of those classic rage rants from someone who did not get their choice of chicken noodles and decided civilization had collapsed. But wow. This actually sounds pretty bad. Sorry you had to deal with that circus.
What I have noticed with the ME3s, and especially with Etihad, is that while the onboard hard and soft product can be great and while their call center folks can usually sort out the basic stuff without breaking a sweat, the moment something lands on their desk that is even slightly outside the sacred procedure manual, the entire organization seems to enter full seizure mode. Every team starts playing hot potato with the blame while silently praying the customer will finally give up and disappear.
I do like Etihad and I still fly with them. But I always have that tiny voice in the back of my head whispering that if anything happens that requires them to think beyond the script, I am probably in deep sh*t.

Which airlines are these?

Look at Trustpilot and all the top airlines get hammered, and most of the complaints are about what happened (or didn't happen) when things go wrong. Bottom line is they're one as bad as another.

I fly to the region a lot. Twice with etihad in past 2 months.

I didn’t get a pillow in business class. I was told sorry there’s no more pillows. On a 14 hour flight.

Messaging customer service does nothing. They don't care.

My opinion is based out of JFK airport. Flying to Asian countries, EY ie one option along with EK and QR. Assuming the business class fare is the same for all 3- my preference would be EK, then QR and EY last. EK is the most consistent of all 3. But and it's a big "but" , if EY is quite a bit cheaper, for me its a no brainer. If EY is 5k and EK is 8k , I'm flying EY. EY at 5k would be way better than of the US based business class options with AA UA or DL.

EY has pretty bad service i have to say.
Flew in business from LHR and the FAs didnt give a hoot, just chat away in the galley.
Our seats got randomly reassigned on checkin too.

We had a chance to get relatively cheap F tickets but passed due to our bad experience.
Just dont ever want to fly EY again when there are so many other choices.

Food was good though
The briyani rocked

EK was so much better plus the chauffeur service is so nice.

As I mentioned in my post above, it also depends on the pricing. If EY is quite a bit cheaper than EK in business, you can overlook the imperfections. But if pricing is the same, then no comparison really. EK beats EY handily every single day