Etihad airways

[combovan]

Evening all. Has anyone flown with etihad recently? I am traveling with them in a few weeks and have been reading bad reports about them especially the seats on the 777. I am in economy but I'm hoping the seat ain't as narrow as I have been reading as I am 6"2 and a bit comfortable around the waist.

[brownmanc]

Avoid Etihad and their B777 and 10 abreast in Economy. Instead i use Qatar who have 9 abreast in economy.

[billbill]

I agree..Im 6'3 and my flight sucked.. service was fine but seating is cramped and I had an aisle seat

[combovan]

The last time I was with them it was 3 3 3 configuration so I thought nothing of it and went ahead and booked them for this trip. The best bet is probably to get an aisle seat and hope for the best.

[sammyc]

_{i always fly etihad, from lhr to bkk, the LHR to ABU DHABI leg is usually an airbus A340-5 or 6. with 2-4-2 config,good space, on my trip next week it seems to be an A333.} 

 

_{anyway, its usually the B777 from abu dhabi to BKK which is a bitch of a flight,  always full up. im a large chap, so the way i live with it is. sometimes i book the window seat so you have your space on the one side, never in the middle, your fucked, never on the isle as people and trolley banging into you, and your twice as likely to get up to let the others out for whatever reason.}

 

_{the ABU DHABI  to BKK leg is about just over six hours, sometimes i'll have my dinner and go to the back of the plane and chat with my wing man for 4-5 hrs, good to streach the legs, why not, coz ur gonna be on you back or horizontal position whilst in LOS anyway.}

 

_{ps. if your not flying from U,K then the above is pointless,  sorry.}

[geezerrb]

It seems a long time ago but when I first flew to LOS I went with Etihad, Qatar and Emirates and the exuberance of getting to Patts perhaps overcame inflight problems, stop overs and sometimes being treated like "cattle", the last stopover flight I took was based on a bargain price from Air India, never, never again, I would rather not travel than suffer that again despite the pleasure of LOS. I usually opt for direct with EVA or Thai Airways, EVA are OK and often cheaper but usually packed and find the inflight service compared to TA not quite as good even though I was upgraded to "elite" one flight, TA I have been very lucky with, many times although much more costly get a row of seats to myself its almost like a 1st class bed seat.

[combovan]

I'm flying from Dublin to Abu Dhabi and on to Bangkok so it airbus on the first leg then Boeing 777 for the next bit. I'm flying with my Thai wife so hopefully I can put her in the middle seat . I might try to be early at the airport and try for a seat with extra legroom. That would make it more bearable

[Caress]

I'm around 1.90 and 95 kgs and an aisle seat on the 777 leg is fine. People expect far too much. If you want comfort pay another £1500 on top of economy fare for Business class.

Its only 6 hours after all

[Lucky Misfit]

Etihad are generally a good airline.

 

I'm 5'10 and find the legroom on an Ethiad 777 acceptable. I do find the seats quite narrow. Its certainly not luxury but gets me from A to B and in comparable to other airlines.

 

You can pay for on of the extra legroom seat online legroom is a priority.

[dontpanic]

Or just take a sleeping pill like I will be!

[jocky king]

Etihad Airways are my favourite Airline , maybe my size of 5-8 ft clicked into 777 legspace prefectly, agreed the leg space is bit tighter than othe airlines .

[par47]

Noticed some really good prices for for Etihad on Skyscanner today. eg LHR - BKK return early september £494. Not bad!

 

However, I'm holding off booking until the curfew is lifted.....

[vincent law]

Yeah tight ass seats. Couldn't sleep.

[Kerb Krawler]

Just returned last week with Etihad.  777. AUH -BKK / return, flights were pretty quiet.

For an extra 60 quid you can book the exit seats. Try also bidding on the auction for the upgrade to business..

[mobo76]

Silver and Gold guests flying in economy class can enjoy access to airport lounges, fast track voucher, excess baggage allowance, etc.

Regarding onboard seats, I guess upcoming A380s and B787s will bring significant improvements.

 

 

[Lucky Misfit]

Silver and Gold guests flying in economy class can enjoy access to airport lounges, fast track voucher, excess baggage allowance, etc.

Regarding onboard seats, I guess upcoming A380s and B787s will bring significant improvements.

 

 

 

 

 

Do gold/sliver guests flying economy get fast track passes inbound into Bangkok?

[mobo76]

Do gold/sliver guests flying economy get fast track passes inbound into Bangkok?

 

I only had fast track voucher outbound from BKK at checkin counter. Next time I'll try to get one for arrival at BKK.

[dontpanic]

Yes only fast track out of Bangkok and access to the Thai airways silk lounge which isn't much to write home about.

[blue1878]

Etihad are my favourite airline.

 

I'm only 5ft 7in so I've never had a problem with seating.

 

As I am silver status with Etihad I always get fast tracked when I check in at Manchester or BKK.  I also get free access to Business lounges at Manchester, Abu Dahbi and BKK.

 

And I always book my seats when I book my flights.  As a lone traveler I always like an isle seat and book an isle seat as close to the front of economy as possible.

 

Also because I am a silver status I can usually board the plane quicker

[thawit77]

Sitting in any economy seat for more than 4 hours is going to be miserable.  Etihad and Emirates add the extra seat on the B777 so it can be a bit tight.  They both also have decent food and entertainment systems which can help distract for the seating discomfort.  I've only flown Etihad once, inflight service was decent but 3 of the 4 flights I was on were delayed, one for more than 4 hours when departing BKK.  They can also be difficult to deal with if you have to make any changes or cancel your ticket (to be fair, most airlines are difficult to deal with for refunds/changes).

 

Best advice is try to find one airline and stick with them for all your flying.  If you can get enough points on their frequent flyer program to get lounge access, early boarding, business class check-in, etc. then it makes the journey slightly less painful.

[blue1878]

Etihad are my favourite airline.

 

I'm only 5ft 7in so I've never had a problem with seating.

 

As I am silver status with Etihad I always get fast tracked when I check in at Manchester or BKK.  I also get free access to Business lounges at Manchester, Abu Dahbi and BKK.

 

And I always book my seats when I book my flights.  As a lone traveler I always like an isle seat and book an isle seat as close to the front of economy as possible.

 

Also because I am a silver status I can usually board the plane quicker

Other stuff I like about Etihad is there inflight entertainment and the food is OK

 

Plus I like there flight times.  I can get a flight from Manchester at around 9am in the morning, spend about 2 hours in transit and land at BKK airport at around 7am the following morning.  So this means I can get to my hotel in Pattaya at about 10am in the morning.  So if I am feeling tired when I arrive at my hotel I can have a rest so that at night I am feeling great and can really enjoy my first night

 

And for the return journey Etihad have a night flight that I like to book.  This allows me to really enjoy my last night in Pattaya and not worry about getting back to my hotel early.  And I can have a decent sleep (lol) before leaving Pattaya at a decent time which us usually late afternoon.  And because my flight is at night I get back to Manchester airport at about 7am in the morning

[tourasia]

Evening all. Has anyone flown with etihad recently? I am traveling with them in a few weeks and have been reading bad reports about them especially the seats on the 777. I am in economy but I'm hoping the seat ain't as narrow as I have been reading as I am 6"2 and a bit comfortable around the waist.

6,3 and wide! You should avoid any 777, try the C130

[Caress]

Silver and Gold guests flying in economy class can enjoy access to airport lounges, fast track voucher, excess baggage allowance, etc.

Regarding onboard seats, I guess upcoming A380s and B787s will bring significant improvements.

 

 

 

 

 

Doesn't make any difference which aircraft is rostered on the Sector. Its how each Airline configure their seating. 32" seat pitch is the same on an A380 Dreamliner or 747 etc etc

[thawit77]

 

Doesn't make any difference which aircraft is rostered on the Sector. Its how each Airline configure their seating. 32" seat pitch is the same on an A380 Dreamliner or 747 etc etc

 

This is normally true unless the airline decides to lauch a new seating product with a new aircraft they are taking delivery of.  American Airlines has done this recently with there B777-300 aircraft for coach and business class...much better than their B777-200 or B767 planes which still have the old economy and business products.

[striderman]

Do gold/sliver guests flying economy get fast track passes inbound into Bangkok?

gold yes.

silver no.

you will need to exit via  the business class way out and collect the pass from the lady immediately outside the plane door.

however the last 3 times i have arrived immigration has been so quiet i have not used any of them as there was no point, and on each occaision i reached the baggage belt before it started up.

i'm a short arse so no problem with the seats for me.

food is ok but the second leg into bkk is never great so i always take a top of the line sarnie from tesco or marks n spencer just in case. the worst thing that can happen is that you have something to eat while you unpack your bags.

 

travelled a few days ago and the al raheem lounge that you can use in abu dhabi was shut for a re-fit so i was allowed in the much nicer one attached to the almost adjacent hotel. had a shower and champagne was an option in the bar !!