The Joys Of Flying With Etihad

I have travelled with Etihad Airways before, they were short trips and in Business. This time I travelled to Chicago, a 15 hours plus flight going and a 13 hours plus coming back on an AA code share ticket. Of course being an AA frequent flyer did not mean anything in this case.

 It is one thing calling your passengers "GUESTS" another thing meaning it. The flight to Chicago started all wrong, the itinerary said Terminal 1, but it really was Terminal 3, meaning a nice walk across the airport pulling luggage, a good exercise before a long flight.

Check in at Abu Dhabi was slow and in Chicago extremely slow with only 3 agents at check in, granted it was basically for connecting passengers, it took almost an hour before things started moving along. The staff in Abu Dhabi were "Firm" almost to the point of rudeness.

In Chicago I had the dubious honourof having my boarding pass endorsed with "SSSS". This means that the airline is asking the TSA to perform extra security checks on yours truly; probably because I asked if it was possible to change seats. In all fairness to the TSA, the extra security check went smoothly, I had an extra pat down, not very invasive, and my laptop and carry on luggage were tested for explosive traces. Needless to say, I passed with flying colors.

The boarding, both times was long. Hand luggage which was weighed prior to check in at Chicago was reweighed at boarding, or so it was announced.

The cabin crew did not smile much but were courteous but not very approachable.

This has not been my worst experience but definitely not the best. Would I do it again, probably not.