Etihad never again
I booked my flight on 09th of September to fly 16th of December. My friend Sjoer booked on 11th. Friends of mine decided to join me, so in total I was the direct cause of 5 people booking tickets.
Check in Brussels airport :
Flight
overbooked. Not sure whether all of us can fly. My friend might have to stay behind, he was offered a compensation of 400 €uro. But logisticallly for our arrangements in Kenya, for us this was no option.
My other friend, SJOER, was allowed to fly with us
to Abu Dabi. Check in said, upon arrival, she would
receive her boarding pass to Nairobi.
After a very comfortable flight and a perfect touch down, we passed by the Etihad desk at our arrival gate. They send us upstairs to Etihad ‘office’. There was a cue of 25 meters!!!! So we arrive from Brussels, to be standing in a cue, because of an Etihad problem with giving issuing a boarding pass ? I had expected to receive it upon disembarking from the plane.
Not to go and stand in a cue of 25 meters. I wanted to walk around and discover the airport, not stand in line for something which was NOT our own mistake ?
So I discuss this with one of the Etihad people walking around trying to answer questions from ‘guests’. He went to check our gate for our connecting flight, which was 53 (
not 21 as my boarding pass said) and advised us to go there and ask them for a boarding pass.
Than, we came to an area which had a cue of at least
200 people. Really ? you expect us to stand in this line again ? So I passed the cue and talked gain to one of Etihad’s people and he told me to go upstairs to another desk.
Fortunately, at this desk, there was a normal and competent person, who gave us the boarding pass within 30 seconds. BUT it took us 1 hour to make it this far.
This is absolutely beyond ANY experience I had ever before.
I do fly a lot so I do not what I am talking.
Etihad GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND TREAT GUESTS AS GUESTS , not as stupid monkeys. That is how we felt.
On the way back, we had delays. Because of... checking and re-checking boarding passes with pasport. Allthough we were in transit and checked twice already. All 300 pax had to be checked by 1 officers. So.. in a ciue again, for 30 minutes. WHich gave delay to the aircraft of 50 minutes in total.
Now, I have 1 'sleeping' ticket with them and the want to wake it up if I pay 300 €uro. ALthough we were easily offered 400 to stay put , because they had overbooked. In fact, they should be happy the ticket wasn't used, or they would have lost another 400, for PRNUSL to stay behind as well....
Whatever.
It's just a incompetnent club, allthough they call you GUEST, they do not treat you as a guest, but as a moron.
http://wp.me/P47XiJ-1e