Etihad Airways has just cut some services from its cheapest business class fares, as flagged by Vielfliegertreff. Or in airline speak, Etihad is “giving customers more choice.” 😉
In this post:
Etihad cuts perks from cheapest business class fares
For tickets booked as of March 4, 2025, Etihad Airways has made changes to its cheapest business class fares. Like most airlines, Etihad has bundles of business class fares, with the hierarchy being Value, then Comfort, then Deluxe.
For those booking the cheapest Business Value fares, Etihad has made three significant changes:
- These fares no longer include free lounge access
- These fares no longer include free seat assignments
- These fares are no longer refundable for a fee
Later this year (a date hasn’t yet been announced), Etihad reportedly plans to add some new perks to its most expensive Business Deluxe fares. For these fares, the airline plans to introduce free Wi-Fi, plus chauffeur service at outstations (it’s currently only offered in Abu Dhabi).
Upselling is the name of the game…
When airlines cut perks from the lowest fares in a cabin, they love to describe it as giving passengers more choice and value. Of course that’s not actually the case. Instead, the idea is to try to get consumers to spend more than they’d otherwise spend for their ticket, as it’s essentially a form of drip pricing.
For example, take the above itinerary from New York to Abu Dhabi. It’s not like the Business Value fare is actually cheap — it’s around $7,000 roundtrip. But the logic here is simple, as the airline wants an extra $124 in revenue from each passenger, in order to get what they’d otherwise have included.
In fairness to Etihad, the airline is simply matching its Gulf rivals here. Both Emirates and Qatar Airways have “basic” business class fares, which also don’t include things like seat assignments and lounge access. So it’s not like Etihad is innovating here, but rather, the airline is following.
Bottom line
Etihad has made some changes to its Business Value fares. These fares no longer include seat assignments and lounge access, and are no longer refundable. I guess I can’t blame Etihad, given that Emirates and Qatar Airways do the same. However, this isn’t a very customer friendly move.
What do you make of Etihad’s changes to Business Value fares?
This was one reason why I’ve booked Etihad long haul the past few years from London to Bangkok and Singapore. I might look elsewhere if no lounge access is included and costly seat selection fees are added. They are reducing a competitive advantage in one go. Once again, not in the interest of the customer.
What can consumers do to push back on this ridiculous trend? I don't fly Middle East carriers enough to vote with my wallet here, but I would hate to see this trend spread to the American and European airlines.
Foolish move. Way better to keep a higher standard and keep brand loyalty.
Weird to nickel & dime at the $7000 price point.
Include it and bump the fare to $7124??
Yup, my thoughts exactly. The gain of $124 is so SMALL financially to Etihad, but it makes the airline look HUGELY petty at the same time. This is something I expect from lowly Qantas or low cost carriers. Not a premium airline like Etihad.
Some corporate travel policy require travelling long haul in J but mandate taking the cheapest option within +/-12h of desired departure and give allowance of max 250 USD more than the cheapest acceptable routing (which can include up to 1 additional leg than the most direct routing). On a usually >5-10k ticket 0.25k is a ridiculous leeway. this means the cheapest fare wins the deal. No provisions are made for seat selection or lounge access....
Some corporate travel policy require travelling long haul in J but mandate taking the cheapest option within +/-12h of desired departure and give allowance of max 250 USD more than the cheapest acceptable routing (which can include up to 1 additional leg than the most direct routing). On a usually >5-10k ticket 0.25k is a ridiculous leeway. this means the cheapest fare wins the deal. No provisions are made for seat selection or lounge access. I guess those fares are designed to capture this kind of market against lower cost carriers.
Before 2022 you could thankfully always object travelling on Aeroflot, as it was often the cheapest option.
Rich people will just pay the $100 extra.
The only ones this hurts is OPM flyers who have to buy the lowest fare, but have no money of their own to fly business.
I m very ok with excluding those who don't pay for their own tickets from my lounge.
$7,000 and no lounge and no free seat selection??? Etihad is out of its mind.
I haven't used Etihad in over a year. I do recall an email telling me to select "custom benefits" such as lounge access and free seat selection. Wonder what happens now. Must keep an eye out for the next Etihad email which will no doubt have some "exciting" news to share with me :)
It's the airline version of "resort fee" or "destination fee" that hotels charge!
Meh. It's a race to the bottom for all the carriers these days.
Bottom? They are charging $7,000 based on the pic Ben showed. That's hardly a bottom price.