Hi

Does anyone know if Etihad have changed their flight schedule.
I booked a flight with MAS travel in February this year, to fly December 9th, with a 2 hour delay in Abu Dhabi.
I chased MAS for my tickets this week, they now tell me that Etihad have changed their schedule and that there is now an overnight stopover, but they are not going to supply any accomodation for the stopover.
MAS have now booked me on Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong.

I telephoned Etihad booking office this morning who informed me that their schedule had not changed.

I phoned MAS again this afternoon who are insisting that Etihad have changed their schedule and that their booking office would be the last to know ??

Whilst I appreciate that Cathay Pacific have a good reputation, i've never flown with them myself, I booked the original flight because I wanted a break in travel, I normally fly with EVA Air but found the flight too long with a young son and my elderly Father.

Now I have a longer flight which isn't direct.

My guess is that MAS travel have nessed up.

Plus i'm getting earache from the better half.

If anyone has heard anything please let me know.

i think u're right about mas travel messing up.

etihad has three flights going out from london: the 0855 from gatwick and 2015 from heathrow have good connections (under two hours), while the 1320 from heathrow has an inconvenient overnight stopover. u can check the schedules on the website below.

http://www.etihadairways.com

like some other people on this forum, i've been checking these flights more or less weekly for a while and i'm not aware that anything has changed over the past few months.

assuming that u weren't booked on the 1320 then, in the absence of further information, i'm guessing that mas travel booked the 0855, then discovered too late that all cheap seats on the good connection from abu dhabi to bangkok were sold out, leaving the choice of either a much higher price or an overnight stop.

while many people would be happy with the alternative offered, the non-stop cathay pacific flight to hk is actually longer than a non-stop flight to bangkok, so is the opposite of what u wanted.

ian.

Hi Ian

I was originally booked on the evening flight from heathrow,with the short stopover, with an evening flight back from Bangkok.

I think that they forgot to issue the tickets and now, like you say, all the cheap seats on my original connection have gone.


Gary

This is terrible Gary! This MAS Travel sounds like some two bit agency to be avoided.

I checked some prices on other airlines and you are looking at over £800 per person now. Too late to change.

Did you not have a booking form from MAS with the flights confirmed reserved? Also showing itinerary? Any documentation at all? When did you pay for the tickets?

Hi

I don't think I will be using them again.

I had an e-mail from them with the itinery of the original booking, printed a hard copy which shows that my travel plans were for the 20:15 flight out of heathrow.

I paid most of the flight when I booked, about £1500.
2 months later I paid another £500 with my 25 year long service award from my company, this left a balance of £500.
I contacted them mid Sept. to pay this balance, they then informed that they would issue the tickets ina week or so.

With whom did you book the tickets?

Errrrr!!Looks like MAS were the agent and Etihad were the carrier but maybe I'm reading this wrong or are you thinking ABTA/Credit card routes for recourse
colin 244

There are a couple of bad reviews posted here...MAS Travel

Hi Tobias

As Colin posted it was with MAS Travel.

Chris

I wish I had seen those reviews before I booked.

I intend to write and complain about this, sending them a copy of the original itinery.
But like the reviews, when I phoned them they lied and were not helpful, maybe even rude, some people easily upset might have thought so anyway.

I would have preferred it if they were just honest and admitted that they had messed up.

I think I'll give Cathay Pacific a call just to make sure i'm actually booked on the flight, even though i've printed off the e-tickets.

Thanks

Gary

Sorry to hear about your problems Gary, I always use Travelbag for my holidays to Thailand and I have booked Etihad for this trip 20:15 from Heathrow 22 Dec till 9 jan 08:015 return booked it in august got the tickets three days later price £1516 two people, Etihad still have tickets for this price on there web site so I think MAS travel are telling porkies.

quote:

Originally posted by db1:
Etihad still have tickets for this price on there web site so I think MAS travel are telling porkies.

As I understand it MAS are not saying there is no availability on Etihad, they are saying there is an overnight stop with no hotel provided. Because of this MAS have switched Gary to Cathay Pacific.

Chris Buck

quote:

As I understand it MAS are not saying there is no availability on Etihad, they are saying there is an overnight stop with no hotel provided. Because of this MAS have switched Gary to Cathay Pacific

If you read his post again you will see he booked the 20:15 flight from Heathrow that has a 2 hour stop over they are saying the the 13:00 flight has an overnight stop, if you had botherd to look on the Etihad web site you will see that the 20:15 that he was booked on does not have an overnight stop.
I'm not on here looking to get into an argument with anybody, just trying to help, unlike you who have to try and turn something into what its not.

quote:

Originally posted by db1:
if you had botherd to look on the Etihad web site you will see that the 20:15 that he was booked on does not have an overnight stop.

We know that! MAS are the ones who are saying it has an overnight stop and that is the reason they switched Gary to CP. They have not said as you said, there is no availability. Maybe you should try reading the OP's post more carefully.

Of course you probably only wanted to get over how smart you are in using Travelbag and getting your tickets 3 days later. Make you feel good did it?

Chris Buck
Not smart just a little bit more intelligent than you seem to be. As I said dont want to get into an argument so I will say no more on the subject.

David

quote:

Originally posted by db1:
Chris Buck
Not smart just a little bit more intelligent than you seem to be. As I said dont want to get into an argument so I will say no more on the subject.

David

Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.

- HAL 9000

Any more will be deleted.

An update on MAS Travel.

If any other mugs booked through these ****s please be aware that they have gone into liquidation.

I hope I will be ok for travel tomorrow, been in touch with Cathay Pacific and had to e-mail my credit card payments to MAS, they said I would be ok for travel.

Been in touch with my credit card company who tell me that MAS haven't taken the money from my account even though i've paid my credit card.
They say they can't stop the payment because i've authorised it.

Only found this out because I had to phone them and tell them that my Father would not be travelling.
Don't know what would have happened if I had just turned up at Heathrow.

Anyone who has booked with MAS using a UK issued credit card will be entitled to a full refund if travel is denied.