[Prince77]

"I feel absolutely ripped off by Etihad, having been lured into the programme with specific benefits and then having them all largely removed. "

Fully agree with the quote above.

Actually I am a very loyal Etihad Guest with Gold status (#100024407895, 270.000 miles accumilated currently)as I fly regularly BKK - FRA - BKK at least 6 - 7 times per year. It was very much appreciated to be a Gold member and enjoy all those benefits promised originally until all those frequent changes took place. Adding insult to injury Etihad "sold" these changes as improvements which left a bitter taste of sarcasm to me.

In addition to the deduction of benefits unfortunately also the service in cabin declined not regarding the quality but in view of benefits. I remember that there was water distributed before each take - off in economy class or amenity kits provided in business class: all no longer since about one year +.

It happend quite some times before, that I booked a flight which was a few days later much cheaper for whatever reason. As I am travelling a lot I started to compare prices of Etihad on different days and with different departure airports e.g. turning flight origins.

It turned out, that if I switch departure airport to FRA instead of BKK it will save me more than 1.000.- Euro for those trips. So I did switch. Unfortunately since a few month Etihad joined with AirBerlin and therefore now has plenty of flight combinations on my prefered route with the result, that reasonably priced tickets at about 800.- Euro / trip are not attractive anymore as the flight time will accumilate up to 28 hours for one leg.

Besides all of above: I still love this airline as I consider them professional on ground and in air (fortunately did never have a problem like others). But Etihad should be aware that it takes a long time to build-up a good reputation and that this is not forever. Etihad cannot rest on their laurels but should proof every day to strive for the best.

Hope they will do.