[ozrail]

On Monday July 6th, 2011 I booked and paid for two Etihad First Class tickets from Sydney Australia to Frankfurt Germany and return. The arrangements were made through the Gitani Travel Agents at Punchbowl NSW Australia. A great deal of time and effort was made into getting the bookings correct so that my disabled partner would be comfortable throughout the entire trip. On arriving at Frankfurt Airport on October 17th I was shocked to discover that the Etihad Flight EY8 to Abu Dhabi did not have any First Class seating and that we were expected to sit in the Business Class section. This caused my partner a great deal of distress as she needs the extra seating space for her disability and comfort. With Hotel accommodation and travel plans already in place for the next day in Dubai we regrettably agreed to take the Business Class flight. Our decision to fly that night was also partly based on the promise made by Etihad Duty Manager at Frankfurt Airport that we would be reimbursed for the down grade from First to Business Class. While this letter is not to criticize business class seating it is reasonable to say that it falls well short of the comfort offered in First Class and as a result of this overnight flight we had to suffer through our first day in Dubai due to lack of sleep. On returning to Sydney I approached the Gitani Travel Agents as instructed by the Duty Manger Frankfurt regarding the reimbursement for our Business Class Flight and they knew nothing of the booking change of any other matter relating to our down grade. With this incident in mind and the distress my partner and I went through from long before we boarded the flight until the end of the journey I have asked for a refund of the difference in airfare between the First Class ticket and Business Class or some equivalent form of compensation, but have received no reply.