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Well, it’s been a quite a while since I’ve dropped by. Lots has happened. And while I wrote this TR at the time, it’s taken me a while to get back on here to share (or indeed vent!)
EY routing MAN-AUH-JHB on Xmas Day 2012.
Not much I can say about the facilities at MAN, though check-in was a little chaotic.
We were told there was a 2 hour delay due to fog at AUH. When I asked what was going to happen as we had a connecting flight to catch, we were told that it would be sorted by Etihad upon arrival at Abu Dhabi. We felt this was ok – you trust the airline to get you where you’re going, and hey, we weren’t the only ones going to be affected.
While munching on pastries, coffee and Martini Rosso’s in one of the lounges (breaking my own rules about booze before boarding/morning flights), we overheard another traveller saying she’d been re-booked on another flight already from Abu Dhabi. I approached and we had a chat about the information being given by check-in staff. She’d been told the same about the delay &as she wouldn’t make her connection, been re-booked already. I rang Etihad London offices and was told our connecting flight was going to be held - the fog was affecting all the flights that would be feeding it too. Feeling re-assured, I was able to allay SWMBO’s fears about getting home to SA on time. We made a quick visit to duty free to pick up some perfume and a bottle of whisky as a present for SWMBO’s grandparents.
I’d arranged gluten AND dairy free meals for SWMBO. Generally quite tasteless and unappetising. As for the pre-arrival meal - two soggy rice crackers, limp lettuce, cucumber, slice of tomato & some processed cheese (Dairy free, right?) does not make an acceptable effort.
I liked the layout of the EY 777 we were on. Course, it bore no resemblance to the shiny loveliness on the website, having racked up many 100’s of thousands of miles since it was fresh & airy. I found the constantly changing hues in cabin lighting interesting but then irritating (Purple? Green? Am I having an LSD trip or crossing time zones?).
Still, the IFE system was loaded with some good films. When it froze, the crew was efficient at getting it re-booted. Just a shame the headphones are still the multi-pronged, side-of-your-armrest-stick-in-your-thigh, affairs with poor sound quality.
One thing I do like about the UAE and Asian carriers like SQ is that often, the movies will have been “edited” for content. However, The Expendables 2 made no sense whatsoever and felt much shorter ……not that an Arnie/Willis/Stallone vehicle will have much story anyway.
On approach, we checked the gate location of our next flight – it wasn't being held. It was due to leave from a different terminal in 20 minutes! We ran through the airport, had to go through security and immigration again to get into the terminal, but we made it to the gate on time just as they made a “Final Call” announcement. We produced our boarding passes – SWMBO was cleared to board, but told her luggage wasn't on the plane anyway. I was declined boarding, and told my luggage was being offloaded as I hadn't arrived “on time”…..WTF? Passengers were still being loaded. Attempting to get any meaningful resolution from the gate staff was fruitless. We watched in disbelief as passengers continued to arrive and be allowed to board for the next 15 minutes before no one else arrived and they closed the gate.
We went back through the terminal to the Etihad service desk. A dozen or so people where waiting, so we waited patiently, and explained what had happened to a very apologetic and genuine sounding lady, Piah. She attempted to offer a flight via Nairobi, which would get us to Jo-burg an extra 24 hours later. Colour us not impressed. It wasn't even viable anyway, as Nairobi require Yellow fever vaccinations, which we didn't have. She provided us with some meal vouchers, and asked us to come back in an hour to give her time to arrange an alternative flight.
45 Minutes later, we trotted back to the desk, having eaten some underwhelming ‘curry’ from the food court. At least two plane loads of passengers from India now stood between us and front of the queue at the desk. After 40 minutes of waiting and not moving, SWMBO was tiring fast and collared a male staff member passing by. He was less than charming, took our passports and boarding passes and disappeared. For another 20 minutes,we tried in vain to attract the attention of staff on the desk, getting increasingly concerned we now had no formal identification for travel, no onward tickets……When Piah emerged from the chaos clutching more papers.
She’d rebooked us onto an Emirates flight leaving in about 7 hours’ time. We’d arrive in Jo-burg only a few hours later than scheduled. The only catch was it was leaving from Dubai.
This was apparently okay, as she’d arranged a car to drive us to Dubai in the morning, with a room & breakfast at the Yas Island Crowne Plaza. So we went to collect our luggage.
Only, SWMBO’s wasn't there. Mine was. Where was hers? After much discussion and much questioning, we were told it was still in Manchester. Odd. Some more phone calls. More time waiting, sweating, stressing. The bag was on the plane to Jo-burg. Which contradicted what we’d been told at the gate, and threw all the “security protocols” out of the window…..a bag, on a plane, without a passenger……We were eventually given some sort of printout that we were to present to the airlines baggage agent at the airport, where SWMBO’s suitcase would be.
On arrival at the hotel, the concierge was a little snooty when we presented the airlines paperwork, but I wasn't expecting to be treated like a common criminal. When I politely declined to provide my credit card for the mini bar in room, I was told that there would be no breakfast, as our transfer to Dubai was an hour before the breakfast was served. Upon entry into the room (pleasantly appointed, spacious, airy, wonderful air con) a hotel operative arrived and proceeded to unlock the mini bar and remove it’s contents. It was locked. We couldn't have used it if we’d wanted to. Still, on the upside, it now meant we had an empty fridge to try and chill the water we’d got while waiting in the airport.
We washed, changed and slept for 2 hours before going downstairs to await the airport transfer. Massive Chrysler arrived, and fair hurtled across the desert in thick fog in the direction of Dubai.
We grabbed some breakfast at a café land-side prior to check-in, nothing to write home about, and proceeded to security. That’s when it happened.
The sealed duty free bag was picked up by an officer who demanded to know who’s bag it was, which I duly owned up to. He promptly dumped the £40 bottle of whisky into a nearby bin and told me this wasn't allowed.
This caused much consternation. Up to this point, I’d never even given it a thought. Of course you’re not allowed to bring alcohol through with you at check-in. But I’d been in transit, in the care of the airline. If Etihad had let us board the plane or not transferred us to another airline, in another country, this wouldn't have even been an issue. The perfume, stowed in SWMBO’s hand luggage, wasn't even picked up.
Cue much stressful backwards and forward between me, the security officer and Emirates airline desk staff (Etihad staff fobbed us off as being EK’s issue, not theirs
).
The final element of farce was the EK staff member carried the whisky (still security bagged) to a duty free desk, placed it inside a local security sealed duty free bag and escorting me to board the plane, instructing the cabin crew to not let me have the whisky till I arrived in Jo-burg. At the last minute, they just gave me the bag and told me to hand it to the cabin crew upon boarding. I did so, too worn out to bother pointing out the lunacy of it all.
I’ve never been so glad to be sat at the back of a 777. The two last seats. A little extra room by the window. The seat felt comfier. Even the food was better than Etihad – not that it would have been difficult.
The rest of the trip was uneventful but Fate, it seems, was not finished with us yet. It took a good half hour to find the luggage agent office, tucked behind a wall on the outside of the airport building. The operative took the paperwork, clattered on keys and then said “the bag is not here.”
The. Bag.Is. Not.Here.
Where was it? The Paperwork provided by the airline showed it being loaded onto the Jo-burg flight the night before. More clattering keyboard action. “Still in Manchester.”
This tipped SWMBO a little over into real distress. All the presents she’d brought for family she’d not seen in years was more important than any clothing, as she could share mine for the most part (funny, I wouldn’t have been able to do the same if situation reversed). And then we spied the bag, front and centre of the luggage piled up behind the operative. When this was pointed out, no security checks or proof of ID, the bag was simply handed over. Incredible.
Cue a fantastic three weeks in SA, at altitude up on the Highveld, in the Drakensburg, in Durban and beyond.
Return trip, back with Etihad, was without incident, but the special requirement meals pretty poor again. We made sure to take full advantage of lounge access at Abu Dhabi on the changeover. Possibly a bit too much Martino Rosso, whisky, sushi and cakes.....
Arriving back in Blighty, we were greeted by snow and ice. Brrrr!
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Etihad have not answered any of the questions and complaints I’ve put to them in writing regarding the misinformation, baggage loss and security issues, poor quality food and why they still haven’t credited us with mileage for our return flights.
Maybe flying SQ and their outstanding customer service has spoilt my expectations. I won’t be in a rush to re-book EY.
EY routing MAN-AUH-JHB on Xmas Day 2012.
Not much I can say about the facilities at MAN, though check-in was a little chaotic.
We were told there was a 2 hour delay due to fog at AUH. When I asked what was going to happen as we had a connecting flight to catch, we were told that it would be sorted by Etihad upon arrival at Abu Dhabi. We felt this was ok – you trust the airline to get you where you’re going, and hey, we weren’t the only ones going to be affected.
While munching on pastries, coffee and Martini Rosso’s in one of the lounges (breaking my own rules about booze before boarding/morning flights), we overheard another traveller saying she’d been re-booked on another flight already from Abu Dhabi. I approached and we had a chat about the information being given by check-in staff. She’d been told the same about the delay &as she wouldn’t make her connection, been re-booked already. I rang Etihad London offices and was told our connecting flight was going to be held - the fog was affecting all the flights that would be feeding it too. Feeling re-assured, I was able to allay SWMBO’s fears about getting home to SA on time. We made a quick visit to duty free to pick up some perfume and a bottle of whisky as a present for SWMBO’s grandparents.
I’d arranged gluten AND dairy free meals for SWMBO. Generally quite tasteless and unappetising. As for the pre-arrival meal - two soggy rice crackers, limp lettuce, cucumber, slice of tomato & some processed cheese (Dairy free, right?) does not make an acceptable effort.
I liked the layout of the EY 777 we were on. Course, it bore no resemblance to the shiny loveliness on the website, having racked up many 100’s of thousands of miles since it was fresh & airy. I found the constantly changing hues in cabin lighting interesting but then irritating (Purple? Green? Am I having an LSD trip or crossing time zones?).
Still, the IFE system was loaded with some good films. When it froze, the crew was efficient at getting it re-booted. Just a shame the headphones are still the multi-pronged, side-of-your-armrest-stick-in-your-thigh, affairs with poor sound quality.
One thing I do like about the UAE and Asian carriers like SQ is that often, the movies will have been “edited” for content. However, The Expendables 2 made no sense whatsoever and felt much shorter ……not that an Arnie/Willis/Stallone vehicle will have much story anyway.
On approach, we checked the gate location of our next flight – it wasn't being held. It was due to leave from a different terminal in 20 minutes! We ran through the airport, had to go through security and immigration again to get into the terminal, but we made it to the gate on time just as they made a “Final Call” announcement. We produced our boarding passes – SWMBO was cleared to board, but told her luggage wasn't on the plane anyway. I was declined boarding, and told my luggage was being offloaded as I hadn't arrived “on time”…..WTF? Passengers were still being loaded. Attempting to get any meaningful resolution from the gate staff was fruitless. We watched in disbelief as passengers continued to arrive and be allowed to board for the next 15 minutes before no one else arrived and they closed the gate.
We went back through the terminal to the Etihad service desk. A dozen or so people where waiting, so we waited patiently, and explained what had happened to a very apologetic and genuine sounding lady, Piah. She attempted to offer a flight via Nairobi, which would get us to Jo-burg an extra 24 hours later. Colour us not impressed. It wasn't even viable anyway, as Nairobi require Yellow fever vaccinations, which we didn't have. She provided us with some meal vouchers, and asked us to come back in an hour to give her time to arrange an alternative flight.
45 Minutes later, we trotted back to the desk, having eaten some underwhelming ‘curry’ from the food court. At least two plane loads of passengers from India now stood between us and front of the queue at the desk. After 40 minutes of waiting and not moving, SWMBO was tiring fast and collared a male staff member passing by. He was less than charming, took our passports and boarding passes and disappeared. For another 20 minutes,we tried in vain to attract the attention of staff on the desk, getting increasingly concerned we now had no formal identification for travel, no onward tickets……When Piah emerged from the chaos clutching more papers.
She’d rebooked us onto an Emirates flight leaving in about 7 hours’ time. We’d arrive in Jo-burg only a few hours later than scheduled. The only catch was it was leaving from Dubai.
This was apparently okay, as she’d arranged a car to drive us to Dubai in the morning, with a room & breakfast at the Yas Island Crowne Plaza. So we went to collect our luggage.
Only, SWMBO’s wasn't there. Mine was. Where was hers? After much discussion and much questioning, we were told it was still in Manchester. Odd. Some more phone calls. More time waiting, sweating, stressing. The bag was on the plane to Jo-burg. Which contradicted what we’d been told at the gate, and threw all the “security protocols” out of the window…..a bag, on a plane, without a passenger……We were eventually given some sort of printout that we were to present to the airlines baggage agent at the airport, where SWMBO’s suitcase would be.
On arrival at the hotel, the concierge was a little snooty when we presented the airlines paperwork, but I wasn't expecting to be treated like a common criminal. When I politely declined to provide my credit card for the mini bar in room, I was told that there would be no breakfast, as our transfer to Dubai was an hour before the breakfast was served. Upon entry into the room (pleasantly appointed, spacious, airy, wonderful air con) a hotel operative arrived and proceeded to unlock the mini bar and remove it’s contents. It was locked. We couldn't have used it if we’d wanted to. Still, on the upside, it now meant we had an empty fridge to try and chill the water we’d got while waiting in the airport.
We washed, changed and slept for 2 hours before going downstairs to await the airport transfer. Massive Chrysler arrived, and fair hurtled across the desert in thick fog in the direction of Dubai.
We grabbed some breakfast at a café land-side prior to check-in, nothing to write home about, and proceeded to security. That’s when it happened.
The sealed duty free bag was picked up by an officer who demanded to know who’s bag it was, which I duly owned up to. He promptly dumped the £40 bottle of whisky into a nearby bin and told me this wasn't allowed.
This caused much consternation. Up to this point, I’d never even given it a thought. Of course you’re not allowed to bring alcohol through with you at check-in. But I’d been in transit, in the care of the airline. If Etihad had let us board the plane or not transferred us to another airline, in another country, this wouldn't have even been an issue. The perfume, stowed in SWMBO’s hand luggage, wasn't even picked up.
Cue much stressful backwards and forward between me, the security officer and Emirates airline desk staff (Etihad staff fobbed us off as being EK’s issue, not theirs
).The final element of farce was the EK staff member carried the whisky (still security bagged) to a duty free desk, placed it inside a local security sealed duty free bag and escorting me to board the plane, instructing the cabin crew to not let me have the whisky till I arrived in Jo-burg. At the last minute, they just gave me the bag and told me to hand it to the cabin crew upon boarding. I did so, too worn out to bother pointing out the lunacy of it all.
I’ve never been so glad to be sat at the back of a 777. The two last seats. A little extra room by the window. The seat felt comfier. Even the food was better than Etihad – not that it would have been difficult.
The rest of the trip was uneventful but Fate, it seems, was not finished with us yet. It took a good half hour to find the luggage agent office, tucked behind a wall on the outside of the airport building. The operative took the paperwork, clattered on keys and then said “the bag is not here.”
The. Bag.Is. Not.Here.
Where was it? The Paperwork provided by the airline showed it being loaded onto the Jo-burg flight the night before. More clattering keyboard action. “Still in Manchester.”
This tipped SWMBO a little over into real distress. All the presents she’d brought for family she’d not seen in years was more important than any clothing, as she could share mine for the most part (funny, I wouldn’t have been able to do the same if situation reversed). And then we spied the bag, front and centre of the luggage piled up behind the operative. When this was pointed out, no security checks or proof of ID, the bag was simply handed over. Incredible.
Cue a fantastic three weeks in SA, at altitude up on the Highveld, in the Drakensburg, in Durban and beyond.
Return trip, back with Etihad, was without incident, but the special requirement meals pretty poor again. We made sure to take full advantage of lounge access at Abu Dhabi on the changeover. Possibly a bit too much Martino Rosso, whisky, sushi and cakes.....
Arriving back in Blighty, we were greeted by snow and ice. Brrrr!
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Etihad have not answered any of the questions and complaints I’ve put to them in writing regarding the misinformation, baggage loss and security issues, poor quality food and why they still haven’t credited us with mileage for our return flights.
Maybe flying SQ and their outstanding customer service has spoilt my expectations. I won’t be in a rush to re-book EY.
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