Flying Etihad-Australia to Canada
 

I'm looking at options to fly Brisbane- Toronto and found via Ethiad----Brisbane- fuel stop at Abu Dhabi-then on to Toronto. A bit longer than I'm used to approx +5 hrs more than going over the Pacific but a saving about $800aud. With these extra charges with fuel I am tempted. Has anyone ever done it?? Flying A330 for the first leg and A340 into Toronto.

I flew Etihad from Bangkok to LHR earlier this year. Their aircraft are mostly very new, the food's good and so's the in flight entertainment system (the best i've seen). However Abu Dhabi airport is the pits (although they're opening a new terminal soon, I believe). I had a nasty experience as we touched down just before fog fell (a common problem there apparently) and spent a nasty 11 hours overnight in Abu Dhabi before we could continue. The fog of course I couldn't blame them for, but their terrible customer service (complete lack of information, and lots of empty promises) really put me off flying with them again.

Haven't gone that particular route so I don't know the connections. Planes are pretty new, good IFE and Cabin Service is fine. I can't remember if EY have online seat selection or not.. makes a big difference on economy long-haul. And if you're travelling Business? - go the shortest route and pass the cost differential onto somebody else.

As the previous post indicated AUH is not great so it comes down to the connection time... and any more than a couple, three hours in AUH won't be funny.. I usually try to go for the shortest end-to-end travel time, but price is the main driver. On long-haul if you have to spilt it - changing planes in the middle of the journey is way better that short sectors at either end... horrible. For 800 bucks savings, I'd go EY - and buy something much nicer than an Airline seat, a few movies and some plastic food with the money you've saved. :)

Are you aware EY's A330 ex Brisbane will stop in SIN on its way to AUH...