Etihad offers free night's stopover in Abu Dhabi for connections
By John Walton, March 15 2012
Etihad passengers connecting in Abu Dhabi have the opportunity to take a free night in the UAE between now and December.
That's an attractive option for business travellers wanting to add a bit of sunshine, sand and relaxation to their trip.
The deal is this: if you book two nights' accommodation through Etihad's program, one of your nights is free.
And the night you'll pay for comes at a decently reduced rate: among others, you can pick up the InterContinental Abu Dhabi for $75, the Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort for $79 or the top-of-the-heap Shangri-La at Qaryat al-Beri for $249. (Those prices are per person per night and in USD.)
If you have some annual leave or time-off-in-lieu left to burn, you can extend your stay beyond two nights at the reduced rate too.
Various 2-for-1 tour, desert safari and golfing options are also available if you're bringing the other half with you or travelling with a colleague.
The offer is open to economy, business and first class passengers travelling up to 1 December 2012, pleasingly for business travellers with less generous travel perks who end up at the back of the plane and might have a better case for a jetlag-busting stopover in the sun.
If you're interested, you'll want to check out the terms and conditions and head over to etihad.com/stopovers to book.
Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.
29 Oct 2014
Total posts 2
Your information is incorrect mate.
Not a chance for a free room with these guys.
I just flew with Eithad from Narita to Rome with a 23h forced stopover (they said I had a choice for an earlier flight.. not true) in Abu Dhabi. I had sent a reservation request to the Airport hotel (including a copy of my passport and reservation details) a week prior departure as adviced on Etihad website and several online forums and got 23 hours of wandering around an empty city (only a mosque too visit at the end.. and three shopping malls of course.. got planty of those at home too) with no accommodation provided, nor even a reservation. I was forced to spend most of my day there looking for accommodation in the city (30 to 60 minutes away) smelling and sweeting like a pig (got in Abu Dhabi around 4 am and all the airport hotels were said to be fully booked until 1230am..no shower and very little help received), tired, stressed up and a bit pissed too to be honest.
Also, anyone thinking of stopping in Abu Dhabi should consider that the minimum room rate at your expense is of 113 euro (staying for 6 hours as I did..).
In the end, Etihad airways blamed its fault (wrong information provided on their website.. got screenshots to prove my calim, and lack of support can't really prove that though.. you can try yourself) on me though, first saying that I needed to sent an enquiry to them directly (and not to the hotel as they had adviced themselves) when in Abu Dhabi, to then subsequently say (in a formal email sent to reply to my formal letter of complaint) that I wasn't in fact entitled to any voucher. You do the math.
Next time I will fly with Qatar.
So my advice here is.. Don't do it! Avoid Etihad. You will get some nice big fake smiles and a kick in the butt.
Here is a copy of the email received from their complaint department.
"" Our ref: 277960
28 October, 2014
Dear Professor **************************,
Thank you for your correspondence.
As a customer focused airline, we value our guests feedback and perspectives so, we appreciate the time you have taken to let us know about your experience.
Having read your correspondence, I can understand how unsettling the events you have described must have been for you whilst travelling with us from Narita to Rome via Abu Dhabi.
I have noted the comments outlined in your email and I would like to take this opportunity to advise about the hotel stopover policy with our airline. There are certain requirements that have to be met. One being that the reservation made must book the first available connection to your destination, this must always be promoted. In such a situation even if there is no availability on the first available connection, hotel accommodation will not be permitted on subsequent connections.
Upon checking your reservation under reference H***** booked through your preferred travel agency, I understand that you have booked your itinerary on EY 871 on 17 October from Narita with an arrival in Abu Dhabi at 0510 hours the next day 18 October with a connection onto Rome on EY 83 at 0240hrs on 19 October. However, I would like to advise you that there is an earlier connecting flight from Abu Dhabi to Rome, EY 7065 operated by our code share partner Alitalia which departs at 09:00 hrs from Abu Dhabi, the same day. Unfortunately this is why you are not entitled to a hotel room as your booked flight EY083 was not the first available connection. A room could have been arranged for you if available, but this would have been at your own expense.
I can imagine how disappointed and frustrated you were once you were informed at the transfer desk at Abu Dhabi International Airport. At this point, I can but express my empathy with you for the undoubted disappointment you must have felt and I would like to apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused you.
Further to your comments about the information you found on our website pertaining to a promotion of free voucher or free night for guests travelling until 30 November, may I request if you can provide us a screen shot or the link so we can review this with the concerned department.
Professor ***********, we are not insensitive to your concerns and we appreciate you taking the time and trouble to write to us. Our guest’s comments are one of our best guidelines in evaluating and improving our service and product range. It is our policy to follow-up on all guests’ comments and incorporate them into the operational and service reviews.
I hope that your experience has not marred your opinion of Etihad Airways, and that you will give us another opportunity to demonstrate our service commitment by choosing to fly with Etihad Airways again in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Juliet Reyes
Guest Affairs
Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways Centre (plot 43)-2nd Floor
Muneera Development Area
Al Raha East - Shati Al Raha
Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates
The National Airline of the United Arab Emirates ""
As I said, expect some fake corporate empathy an a few precooked lines.
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