[ericmacaire]

I was travelling in Business class from BRU to HKG via ABD on Etihad. I am nearly 30 weeks pregnant at the time and travelling with a letter from my doctor dated of less than one week. Excellent service from BRU to ABD on Etihad operated flight; the staff was caring and attended my needs while I was pregnant. I showed my document before boarding and was able to board without problem. On the flight from ABD to HKG (EY384, seat 3A) I had to deal with a very rude flight attendant. I was already on the plane, seated and she came and threatened me to ask me to leave the plane because I was pregnant and could not fly. I showed my documents but she would not listen and remained very stubborn and not appropriate in a business class treatment. I told her she was stressing me a lot and that I was pregnant, was travelling on an onward journey (which meant I was ok to fly!) with a first leg done already and that her attitude was not making me comfortable while I was specifically requesting kindness and care for that flight. She went to speak to the commandant and finally let me but this was a very unpleasant situation and lasted for quite some time. I had to take out of my bag a pouch containing 2000 EUR cash, equivalent of 400 EUR of tax refund documents, passport and pregnancy documents including my health follow up carnet since birth, recent ultrasound of my baby and all other authorization documents. I panicked as she was very stressing and rude and got afraid to be disembarked for no reason and left in ABD while I reside in HK. That flight was operated by Air Seychelles.
For the whole flight the stewardess was not attending my needs, not giving me water until I would press three times the button which was not acceptable at all for the price I paid. I arrived very upset, not rested in Hong Kong and my pouch was not in my bag anymore when I left the plane with all my documents and money inside. As a HK resident, I could clear customs and called both Etihad and Air Seychelles hotlines 45 mn after the plane landed to report the missing pouch and get some ground staff to go and check the plane.
The team on the phone was not considerate, did not give me any updates and me and my husband had to call at least 15 times to always get the same answer that they had no updates. It is only when we posted on social media a complaint that the Duty manager called us with no further update but to say that they went to check the plane 8 hours after I reported the case. As a business class passenger I would expect a much faster turnaround especially I was able to provide right from the beginning Eticket number, flight numbers and seat.
This mishandling of my person during the plane and the lack of reactivity to attend the issue I reported after landing are too much and not in line with the image the airlines want to give of excellence in service and caring about newborn and families which disappointed me very much. It was my first time in business class, I had enrolled in the Etihad program and was really looking forward to this trip but left it with a very sour taste. My loss plus the treatment I received are serious issues.
At the first place, should that flight attendant have been following the same standard as on the first flight, my pouch would probably still be in my bag and should the hotline be more reactive, my pouch with what it contains still be with me by now. Instead the gap to action anything let other persons go on board and I question what happened to the pouch. I was the last one to leave the business class cabin so unlessthe airlines proves me that nobody was on the plane between the time I called to report the case to the time a DM went on the plane, I would assume there is a serious risk of theft and definitely a lack of attention from the airlines in regards to a private property loss properly reported.

[Etihad Representative]

Dear Guest, we are sorry to hear about your experience. Kindly send us a PM with your booking details and we will follow up with our Lost & Found team.
Kind regards *FT