lewis_saint

All true, just frustrating that ExpertFlyer doesn't have alerts for Etihad award inventory. There's no way of setting up alerts with any system for Etihad that I know of.

arlflyer

Just remember, though, the more work something takes to get, the fewer people will put in the effort to get it. So, you have less competition!

atlion25

Just booked IAD-AUH-DEL in business for Dec 2015 with no issue. 67.5K miles and about $25 in taxes.

rogershk

I am definitely seeing a pattern where no F award seats are being released on flights to the US for January 1-10, 2016. Starting January 11, F seats again become available. So I guess all we can do is keep checking!

picards007

Just put an award on hold for Jan '16 but had to call Australia to do it since the US lines are slammed due to IRROPS. Took two calls: first agent couldn't find any seats on EY or the AA connecting flights, second agent found the exact flights I wanted without much difficulty.

Short hold time on both calls, but unfortunately, they still charge phone ticketing fees (80 AUD/ticket or ~62.50 USD/ticket). Hopefully the weather sorts out in a few days so I can book via the US call center.

PS - called via Skype (2.3 cents/min) which has been a lifesaver in bypassing long hold times with BA in the past (called Singapore and Hong Kong). Cheap and easy, and better call quality with a good Wifi connection.

animesh42001

I do have one question on voluntary downgrade with AA miles. I am booking a ticket DAY-CLT-LHR (Economy), LHR-AUH-DEL (in First). LHR-AUH is available in First but agent is not able to see AUH-DEL in business even if I am able to see that on Etihad site.
Agent was saying that I will be charged separate miles for all the separate segments since they don't allow voluntary downgrades now. So I would be charged 20K for DAY-LHR, 40K for LHR-AUH and 17.5k for AUH-DEL since it is not available in First. I, anyway, have put the reservation on hold.
Can you guys confirm if this is new change or Agent was misinformed.

myeurocrush

Hi all. I managed to get a half success so far. I was wondering if anyone can help me with the rest. I booked AMS - AUH - MLE in J. But then the agent was unable to find the return trip that I found on the Etihad website. After I got off the phone I realized that when I searched online I searched the segments separately. So I tried to search it again for the full itinerary MLE - AUH - AMS. I can't find it, even if I search for paid flights. Could it be that MLE - AUH - AMS (EY279 + E77) is not a published fare? Does anyone know how I can tell for sure? I found it on kayak, and Expedia, but like I said I can't find it on Etihad. I don't have an expert flyer account. Is there any other way to tell? Thanks.

I also tried calling AA again a few times but currently I'm not getting through because of the "severe weather".

anabolism

My understanding is that AA has stopped charging phone ticketing fees for awards that can't be booked online. Numerous reports of this being a policy change. If you booked this through AA then do call back. (You said you called the Australia number; if that's the one listed on AA's worldwide reservations page, do you know where the call was routed to?)

This is the first I've heard of it, and I'd have expected a change like that to have resulted in an explosion of comments in numerous places.

JonNYC

Definitely no fee anymore for partner awards that cannot be booked on AA.com. But also definitely no shortage of AAgents that need to be reminded of same. And when calling outside of U.S.-- who knows, probably even less awareness of the new policy.

As far as:
I think we'll also chalk that up to AAgent confusion/misinformation for now.

picards007

I was quoted in AUD and given the 2hr hold times some ExPlt members are experiencing, it was definitely a non-US call center (could be a phone bank in India or SE Asia). I pushed them to check the policy to verify it hadn't changed and they "confirmed" it had not (of course). Fortunately, when I called w/in the US to get it booked there were no fees.

picards007

Just saw on OMAAT and confirmed by searching the EY site: A380 flights to/from AUH on the EY102/103:

EY103 Abu Dhabi to New York departing 2:55AM arriving 8:40AM
EY102 New York to Abu Dhabi departing 3:00PM arriving 12:30PM (+1 day)

Other flight will continue to be operated by 9W.

No F availability on the A380 leg at all (yet) only J.

lewis_saint

I'm not seeing any availability on the A380 JFK/AUH flights, in either direction, in any cabin, on any dates. What dates are you seeing?

picards007

I'm booked in January 2016 on an AUH-JFK leg and the plane is now an A380 (was a 777-300ER).

ETA: January 2016 availability seems to start at 1/19 in J.

jms_uk

Any suggestions where/how to look for the availability on a combined EY and QF itinerary?

869

Just dropped two seats on each of these EY flights:

1) Oct 3 SYD-AUH on A380 in F
2) Oct 4 AUH IAD on 787 in F

Now booked MLE-JFK-DFW on Oct 3/4 in F all the way. No 787 but finally getting this trip planning wrapped up feels good. AND my available mileage balance is finally looking healthy again now. ^