Etihad Airways - Travel and Credit Card validation

Hi All

I am expecting my second child in December and have booked my parents' flight by Etihad in December. I used my credit card from here in the US and booked their tickets. The caveat was that either the card holder needed to travel or an authorization letter with the copy of the credit card needed to be presented at the time of check-in for them to be allowed to travel.

Or I needed to go to the nearest Etihad office to show them and authorize the booking with my credit card. Now I live in the West Coast and the nearest Etihad office is in New York! When I called the Etihad call center, they are telling me that i need to present the credit card at the ticketing office to authorize, or else my parents can't travel. I am now really confused! Has anyone had experience with traveling Etihad with you booking the tickets? Did you have the same issue with credit card authorization.. how did you handle it? It's extremely irritating to deal with the customer care person.... he only keeps repeating that I need to go show my credit at the booking office!

I was just calling them to confirm that there would be no issues with the credit card verification and to give them the meal preference for my parents when this confusion ensued :-( I am really tensed now... hopefully my parents can travel without problems.

Lesson to self - book Cathay even if the tickets cost a couple 100 bucks more Witsend

This is the exact text of the mail I got from Etihad -





Dear Guest,


Thank you for booking your flight with Etihad Airways.


Kindly note that under our terms and conditions, the credit card you used for this booking must be presented while checking into your flight at the commencement of travel. If you, as the credit card holder, are not travelling, a copy of the credit card with an authorisation signed by yourself, should be presented at check-in.


Alternatively, the credit card or a copy of the credit card with your signed authorisation can be presented to the nearest Etihad Airways ticketing office at least 24 hours before the flight. Please note; this verification is required to ensure a smooth check-in process at the airport and to avoid being refused carriage. Failure to comply will result in the requirement to pay the full ticket cost at the airport or refusal of carriage.


Kindly confirm your acceptance of this verification by clicking Accept. Alternatively, if you wish to decline and cancel your booking, click Decline.


Regards,


Etihad Airways

 

Sandhya

Thanks! Yes, that is what I was going to do (as I understood from the e-mail I got from them that that would be sufficient), send to my mom though.... she is infinitely better with technology than my dad is

The reason I actually called the Etihad folks was to actually give them the meal preference as Asian Vegetarian and request wheelchair assistance for my dad when I just thought to confirm that this kind of authorization would cause no issues for them during travel and the guy tells me that I will need to go and physically get my card authorized.

He has now asked me to forward this e-mail to the Customer Care folks, he has said he will confirm with them that there won't be issues and write back. I am so annoyed - at my self for asking him about this when I had the e-mail that mentions that the proxy authorization is fine... and then at him for wanting to verify what Etihad themselves sent me was acceptable!

They usually travel Cathay Pacific and Cathay requires the same kind of authorization, but it has never been complicated and confusing like this!

 

Hi

No worries! It was pretty simple. All I did was scan a copy of my credit card - front and back and my driver's license (for ID purposes) and sent it off to maatkt@etihad.com (since my parents were traveling from Chennai) and they removed the authorization requirement. I also asked my parents to carry a print out of the authorization and it was all very smooth, no issues.

 

I asked where to send it to, and they gave me this e-mail address. I thought it was maatkt because their point of origin was Chennai (MAA). I would suggest you to call them and ask, I am thinking they should have a local office in Kochi, since they're a gulf based airline and would have huge traffic out of Kerala. If not, I think just carrying a print out of the authorization when you travel should suffice.