Now that's what I call a voucher....Etihad 50% extra

paddy19

Ryanair and the rest, take a look at the Etihad voucher offer:

"Buy an Etihad Travel Voucher between 10 - 24 June and we’ll add 50% to the value of your voucher for free."

Valid for 2 years.

Doesn't have any of the usual crappy restrictions like blackout periods.

You can also use it to buy a ticket for someone else and you don't have to travel.

That makes it almost saleable.

Unfortunately maximum amount is $65,000

Min is $250.

https://www.etihad.com/en-ie/book/special-offers/promotion/etihad-travel-voucher

beggars_bush

whats the catch?

goingnowhere

Will they still be flying next year?

Etihad had hit problems long before COVID appeared

paddy19

beggars_bush wrote: »

whats the catch?

Nothing that I can see, it looks like cash flow and bums on seats drive.

Does help if you are owned by oil rich state!

I think they will be around for a while, too much national pride invested already!

“The cumulative gains achieve by our ongoing transformation, and the unwavering support of our shareholder, has left us in a relatively strong position to withstand any instability,” Douglas said in a statement.

Etihad, which has lost $5.6 billion since 2016, halted passenger flights last month and has reduced staff wages by up to 50% for the month of April.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-etihad-airways/etihad-has-full-support-of-state-owner-will-resume-flights-in-may-ceo-idUKKCN21Y17L

ted1

paddy19 wrote: »

Does help if you are owned by oil rich state!

Oil rich states are really struggling. Oil had a recent negative value.

Etihad are far worse than Ryanair for added extras. Charging ridiculous amounts for empty seats beside you. Trying to upsell you a free seat while on the plane. I’m a regular flyer with them and find them painful


I’d expect them to increase the cost of flights to cancel out the extras 50% voucher

Rodney Bathgate

beggars_bush wrote: »

whats the catch?

You have to fly Etihad?

JohnCleary

Rodney Bathgate wrote: »

You have to fly Etihad?

Have flown (J Class, mind) with Etihad for years, never had any issues. OK, find Qatar better for service, but still zero issues with Etihad.

Kerry25x

Definitely interesting. Had a very quick flight search there, Dublin to Bangkok is around €750 return in January which would make it around €500 with the voucher. That's not bad. Dublin to Hong Kong is around the same. I'm gonna sit down and play around with flights and dates later to see if there's any better bargains to be had.

Ethiad are as good as any other major airline in my experience.

jonnny68

Now this is what you call a proper airline, as a regular flier i just grin and near it, however in the rare occurrence i have flown with Etihad airways it's been a pleasure.

CBear1993

Looks unreal... although I just checked their Dublin - Bali flight prices for January 2021 and they came in at €3100 for 2 people... bit steep?

Very tempted to buy the voucher now for me and other half. €1000 means €1500.
Is there any chance they’d go bust?

CBear1993

Their flights for even just Dublin - Dubai right into next year are very expensive at the minute... Abu Dhabi is usually a cheaper option but even direct its mad on their website. Hmm.....

Kerry25x

CBear1993 wrote: »

Their flights for even just Dublin - Dubai right into next year are very expensive at the minute... Abu Dhabi is usually a cheaper option but even direct its mad on their website. Hmm.....

A lot of their routes do seem on the expensive side to me too. I would normally use an engine like Skyscanner to look for the cheapest flights to a destination across all airlines rather than checking a specific airline though so maybe that's why.

I don't think I'd go for the voucher unless I'd earmarked flights I wanted at a price I liked, otherwise you're just restricting yourself. It a good idea though, hopefully we'll see more incentives coming from other airlines soon.

paddy19

Kerry25x wrote: »

A lot of their routes do seem on the expensive side to me too. I would normally use an engine like Skyscanner to look for the cheapest flights to a destination across all airlines rather than checking a specific airline though so maybe that's why.

I don't think I'd go for the voucher unless I'd earmarked flights I wanted at a price I liked, otherwise you're just restricting yourself. It a good idea though, hopefully we'll see more incentives coming from other airlines soon.

I agree it's probably a niche for folks who work out there and know they will defo fly and who know others that fly regularly. But it does highlight the BS from Ryanair with voucher with nothing but restrictions. In fairness to Etihad it has no restriction apart from the 2 year period.

I think things are still crazy.
My son was on flight from Abu Dhabi to LHR.
8 people in economy on brand new plane. There was almost more cabin crew than passengers.

CBear1993

Yeah I still think it’s a good offer considering it’s 2 years!

They fly to some amount of places from Dublin as well. Surely if I spent €1000 on a voucher, it’s then worth €1500 with what they’re offering, that I’ll be able to get flights return for the both of us to somewhere for €1500....

paddy19

CBear1993 wrote: »

Yeah I still think it’s a good offer considering it’s 2 years!

They fly to some amount of places from Dublin as well. Surely if I spent €1000 on a voucher, it’s then worth €1500 with what they’re offering, that I’ll be able to get flights return for the both of us to somewhere for €1500....

The really nice feature is you buy a ticket for someone else and not have to fly yourself.

This obviously means you could sell it to a colleague.

CBear1993

Was trying to do a bit of digging online and checking the news to see if there’s been any reports on Etihad, what state they’re in. Seems they’ve lost a few billion over the last few years.

But at the same time if they’re a middle eastern oil backed airline, they should be around for the next 2 years you’d hope!’

Going to take the gamble on €1000 voucher, just hope that will cover 2 return flights.

Mars Bar

Etihad is annoyingly expensive for someone like me who lives in Abu Dhabi and has a bank card linked with them. I did a one way direct with them in August and I didn't think too much of the service to be honest. Thought B.A were better.

ted1

Mars Bar wrote: »

Etihad is annoyingly expensive for someone like me who lives in Abu Dhabi and has a bank card linked with them. I did a one way direct with them in August and I didn't think too much of the service to be honest. Thought B.A were better.

I usually fly to Muscat several times a year with them via Abu Dhabi. I’ve the top level platinum and they’ll come down and do a song and dance for me. But overall the service isn’t great. It’s the Constant up selling on the flight that annoys me.

Mars Bar

ted1 wrote: »

I usually fly to Muscat several times a year with them via Abu Dhabi. I’ve the top level platinum and they’ll come down and do a song and dance for me. But overall the service isn’t great. It’s the Constant up selling on the flight that annoys me.

They scaled back hugely. It's basically an expensive but comfortable Ryanair. You have to pay for everything apart from the meal and the single drink. If I had known to expect that on an 8 hour flight then I would have packed a snack or two for the flight. They served the food early too.
The staff were lovely though! And they are excellent with children.

I have guest miles though and will keep them for a getaway to Oman or Lebanon when Covid dies down.

Kerry25x

Mars Bar wrote: »

You have to pay for everything apart from the meal and the single drink.

When did that happen? It's about 2 and a half years since I last flew with them but you could ask for as many free drinks as you liked then. Any big international airline charging for drinks on a long haul flight is very scabby.

Mars Bar

Kerry25x wrote: »

When did that happen? It's about 2 and a half years since I last flew with them but you could ask for as many free drinks as you liked then. Any big international airline charging for drinks on a long haul flight is very scabby.

I flew with them last August

Etihad have been struggling for a while

Mehapoy

It might give some of the other carriers an idea of how much they can take in now on advance fares and prompt a few offers, only thing to keep an eye out in us how secure the airline is so you can actually use your voucher.