Etihad offers complimentary chauffeur service for their first and business class passengers, so I requested a pick-up for the InterContinental Abu Dhabi at 7:30AM, leaving me plenty of time in the lounge. I was in the lobby at 7:20AM, though the driver didn't show up until 8:10AM, a full 40 minutes late. That's totally unacceptable,…
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Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Do the chauffeurs seem to typically get gratuities for those first class airport transfers? I've always wondered about that...
"...where I queued behind an Australian guy heading to Sydney in first class."
I'm curious why you mention this? Someone you recognized or something?
With regard to “sir, you better run or you’ll miss your plane” - did the agent offer to call the gate for you or provide any assistance? That seems the least they could do. From that sentence, it seems their ground services for First Class customers need to be improved. Great report and detail!
Hey Ben,
Just curious as to what you tipped the driver (if anything) for being 40 minutes late without calling to say he'd be late and without apologizing?
@ Andrew B -- I suspect it depends on the nationality/culture of the person getting driven. I assume Americans usually tip them, while "locals" don't, but who knows.
@ mangoMan -- Hah, there was actually more to the story, though in the interest of keeping the report somewhat brief I left it out. We seemed to run into each other every step along the way -- he checked in next to me, we went through security behind each other, and sat next to each other in the lounge, all by chance. He was a nice guy and together we seemed to be the only two non-Middle Easterners in the first class lounge, so it's just something that I remembered.
@ Ray -- Nope, didn't make any offer, though perhaps naively I thought I wasn't in "danger" of missing my flight.
@ Michael -- I tipped the guy on the outbound, though didn't tip the guy on the way back (given that he was 40 minutes late).
Hey Lucky, nice pics, very strange that the chauffeur arrived so late, especially for a first class passenger that is very unacceptable. Especially had you chosen a much tighter time frame for your flight.
Just to let you know when I did fly business with them the driver actually showed up early and called me to let me know he would be waiting. So I think you just got the one bad driver that morning.
Either way thouroughly enjoyed your TR
@ Jason -- To the best of my knowledge all first class passengers, including those on awards, are entitled to complimentary chauffeur service.
"I’d say it’s probably a slight notch below the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, which is my third favorite lounge in the world"
It's probably because you haven't experienced yet the Air France First Class Lounge in CDG... the BEST lounge in the world :-))
The Spa services are free to all lounge users, once spent an 8 hour overnight connection there and used it three times.
Did you see the cigar humidor in the 'Libary'?