Bye Thai-Hello Etihad-any good?

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  • Anonymous
    Guest

    TerryMcManus24
    Participant

    Needed to organise a brief holiday for wife and I to the weekend cottage in Chiang Mai so bearing in mind the “Economic Crunch”and the imploding banking crises all around decided to check out the deals for a short break.

    BA have a World Sale on but the fares to LOS require an extended mortgage..almost £1k R/T in cattle class…each..thats a SALE?

    Thai was not far behind trying to keep up with them at around £700 and although a member of the ROC Club (ex Gold ) rather wished my old favourite from the late 70s …Iraqi Air (Basra to Baghdad) was still around.

    Anyway Lo and behold from nowhere Etihad jumped up out of the internet bucket shop offers with a ticket from London to Bangkok via Abu Dhabi of ……£385..R/T.great..just like the old days when I used to get the Courier Flights around the World…looking good ….but …
    What are they like?

    New A346s and B 777s sound good but since its a relatively new airline …questions…


    viking01
    Participant

    Etihad have new aircraft, good seats and an expanding route network. They are the match of Emirates and Qatar, I think. definitely worth trying. If you are flying it’s worth mentioning tat they have new Inflight Entertainment system so indivdual seat back screens and the stop start for films.

    To see seatplans of the aircraft, try visiting out new website http://www.seatplans.com


    globetraveller360
    Participant

    Etihad !!!!! well what can i say but only good news, a new carrier, plenty of space in eco, clean, service is great and was damn cheap to.
    As this is a carrier competing with Emirates, Gulf and Qatar well they really want your business.


    alamyfly
    Participant

    I have flown Etihad many times in the economy cabin, mostly, maybe singularly, London – Bangkok. The service is very much middle eastern airlines, meaning bland, but that not meant negatively.

    The rig has always been good and new and well-cared for.

    I’ve always had the impression of much more legroom than on, say, Qatar. I seem to remember looking this up and discovering that to not actually be true. Nonetheless, the subjective impression matters.

    I also think the seating more comfortable than Qatar, or many other airlines for that matter.

    I’m a little concerned that this sounds like a bash Qatar session. That airline is perfectly OK; and I’ve used them many times too. The middle eastern airline “I’ve never seen” is Emirates, despite, or, maybe, because of,the plaudits.

    I’ve yet to try Oman and Kuwaiti. I’m flying Kuwait in a few weeks time, though understand that there is an alcohol ban, which may be a problem for some.

    This sounds a little like a review of middle eastern airlines, the reasoning being that they are often cheapest London-Bangkok.

    Have a wonderful time in Chiang Mai. Try to fit in some time in Bangkok itself. It is one of the world’s great cities.


    keenspirit
    Participant

    I think Etihad are great – I’ve flown to Bangkok with Thai, Qatar and Etihad and I believe they are a cut above.


    AussieM
    Participant

    Etiha are excellnt, & i have flown bot Economuy & Pearl / Business class with them on 20 flights.
    Includes LHR-AUH & also BKK, & Ultra Long haul to Sydney.

    They have great new aircraft, 345/6 are super to fly on, very smooth quiet n who could ask for better than an aircraft thats a year old, or 3 weeks in servce as mine recently.

    Economy has generous seat adaptable comfortable, & its also 2-4-2 across so good to travel together. U also allocate yr own seats way in advance when you book on the Etihad site. Food is as good as some business class foods (Steak dinners etc), iIFE is individual broad & latest technology. The 773 plies the AUH-BKK route, & is also a great aircraft to experience, in the configuration they have made.

    I also flew Business class from AUH- Sydney, a long 15hr flight. Out was the Airbus 340-500, returning on a few weeks old 346. These aircraft were almost full, but very comortable, spacvious well planned, bright in design, & service was excellent.

    If i fly economy to the Emirates, or to asia, i would rather stop over at AUH, & fly Etihad. long haul for Business its great, but the break in AUH not great to sleep n take advantage of the 7.5 ft bed!

    Joining the FF program Guest may help. just 2 tripos in year, you will achjieve Silver status, with extra luggage lounge access perks etc.

    They are NOT great on the ground, lounges are mostly shared, AUH’s are overcrowded, & they have little support at overseas stations. in the air though, they are superb. Things goinf wrong dont get solved quickly…

    They are also very financially secure, & safe to book with, unlike some Airlines at present.
    Suprisingly or not, they are competative in price but recelty upped their prices compared to being the least expensive. they have good sales at decent prices though for sure.


    asiabound
    Participant

    You would have to be very unlucky not to have a Good experiance with Eithad sir ! I have used them 3 times over the last 4 yrs, and have been well pleased ! Good service, comfortable seats, excellent IFE’s, and all at amazing value for money, BUT do make sure you do your homework before buying tkts, Amazing saveings to be had if your search hard enof on ALL the travel/bucket shop websites, enjoy your trip ! p.s. I wrote to Thai, and they have NO plans to upgrade their Europe-Thai fleet with IFE’s…..Shame, but more fool’s them !

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