Etihad - Alcohol Policy?

oceanclub

My wife flew economy class Dublin to Abu Dhabi on a Etihad flight. I had understood they served alcohol, but she was only offered juice or water. Do you have to explicitly ask for alcohol, does anyone know?

P.

Random

i got that flight with them. they served alcohol. i ordered it when they asked what i wanted when they went around with the drinks trolley.

Bendihorse

On a day time flight that length, the service sequence should run something similar to the following:

Full bar service through the cabin with light snack/salty biscuits.
Followed by Hot Meal service & Full Bar.

Break in service where cabin lights are dimmed (cabin crew get to sit down and eat themselves) and pax can request drinks ad lib (Within reason) by pressing call bell or going to galley.

Pre landing there would be another service with full snack like sandwich with Tea Coffee. The full bar wouldnt usually go out this time as people are generally waking up from sleep, but alcoholic drinks are provided on request.

I worked for Emirates so the sequence with Etihad may be slightly different, but they should be broadly similar. When did she fly? If it was during Ramadan which happened recently, they may have been more discreet with the alcohol and only served on specific request.

Or, some lazy cabin crew dont offer alcoholic drinks unless asked, as its more work and when pax have one, they tend to use the call bell more
Hope this helps!

oceanclub

Well, it definitely wasn't during Ramadan, so not sure why she wasn't offered. I'll tell her to be more forceful and ask next time.

Thanks,

P.

Bendihorse

She shouldn't have to ask for it, never mind forcefully, they should really have offered. Most of the time there there are up to 3 bar runs through the cabin on a flight going to Uk or Ireland as people tend to drink a lot. The way the bars are set up means only juice/water are displayed on the top, the spirits and beers are in the cart, thats how the lazy crew get away without offering, some people are afraid to ask because of it being a muslim airline.

If you feel like complaining about it, its worth a shot. Etihad would take a poor view of that happening, super high levels of customer service is one of their unique selling points.

oceanclub

Might be worth complaining, especially if it happens on the second leg of her trip. She was also very disappointed with the food; both the quality and amount for a 7 hour flight.

P.

Mr Benevolent

I found it OK, especially compared to Malaysia Airlines, a so-called '5 star' carrier. Etihad is only 4 star and I got better service. I got alcohol if I asked for it. Your wife obviously didn't ask.

oceanclub

Confab wrote: »

I found it OK, especially compared to Malaysia Airlines, a so-called '5 star' carrier. Etihad is only 4 star and I got better service. I got alcohol if I asked for it. Your wife obviously didn't ask.

Well, that's the original point I was asking - do they hide it and you have to explicitly ask for it? It seems that "yes" is the answer, according to you. And since it was the first time she flew this airline, she didn't know and didn't feel she should ask (obviously some Muslims might take great offence.) Malaysia Airlines has gone a bit downhill in the last couple of years I must admit, foodwise anyway.

P.

Tom Dunne

I've flown with them a bit an have never had an issue getting alcohol. Even the last time during Ramadan (I don't think I actually had a drink, but I do recall looking out of curiosity to see if they would make it available).

They ask you what you want, so tell them!

mayotom

I also have flew this route several times and Alcohol has always been offered, however I usually leave the Car in AUH so that limits the Drinking