Looking for a cheap air fare from London to Bangkok without having to suffer bad service and old airplanes? Etihad Airways are definitely worth investigating
Just back from a couple of weeks in the UK to see family and friends over Christmas. We flew with Etihad Airways, the national carrier for United Arab Emirates. The main reason we flew with Etihad was the price – they charge around £350 for a Bangkok – London return flight. (You can find their current flight prices and how they compare to other airlines at Compare Flight Prices). However, we found them overall to be an excellent choice for a long haul economy flight.
Etihad are a relatively new airline from a wealthy Arab country, they also have brand new aircraft and service to match. The flight stops in Abu Dhabi where there’s an hour’s wait before the second leg onto the final destination. This is fine with me, as it breaks up the journey into two roughly six hour segments and gives passengers a chance to stretch their legs.
Here’s my pros and cons of flying with Etihad:
Pros:
- Cheap price
- Seats are quite comfortable and have OK legroom for economy
- Good flight attendant service
- Comprehensive in flight entertainment system, with around 15 movies, lots of sitcom and drama episodes (around 50 plus) and music – all delivered on your personal screen
- Free booze throughout the flight, although I tend to stay off it these days
- Surprisingly good food and a generous mix of stuff to eat
Cons:
- The in-flight entertainment system was very temperamental on both legs of our flight home to Bangkok – it’s not much use if it doesn’t work
- Similarly, the air conditioning was also temperamental on one flight, making the cabin very hot
- Abu Dhabi is not a very exciting airport in which to spend time. If you were there for longer than a couple of hours, you’d probably get very bored
The reliability of their onboard entertainment systems is the main concern with Etihad, but the majority of our four flights with them was comfortable enough to consider flying with them to New York later this year when we head to Florida.
I’ve also subsequently discovered the excellent – and very comprehensive – airline passenger forum AirlineQuality.com. It’s like a TripAdvisor for airlines and airports, with thousands of reviews from readers of their own experiences. I am currently researching going to the USA from Thailand in April, and this site has already persuaded me to steer clear of cheapest carrier Kuwait Airlines and pay the extra to fly with Etihad again or possibly Emirates.
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