Book awards on EY partner airlines
Apr 21, 2016, 10:32 pm
#181
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: OZ *G; HH Diamond;
Posts: 1,644
In one of my case, the agent made the reservation and created tickets (which I can see e ticket number on AA site) and then told me that his system told him that bookings within 14 days are not allowed. He then voided the e ticket. Upon next refresh, e ticket no longer shows at AA.
Please give it a try and let us know. You may get lucky.
Apr 22, 2016, 1:13 am
#182
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: Etihad Plat, A3*G, HHonors DIA, GHA Plat
Posts: 44
Tried to book SYD-NAN on VA through Manchester Callcenter yesterday.
Availability was found by the agent instantly, however she said because it would be operated for "V A A S I A" it would be a codeshare flight and not available to redeem miles on...
I told her that first of all it is VA Asia and second it states Virgin Australia FOR VA Asia and third, that those two are actually the same anyways and there is no difference, it even is the same flightnumber.
She seemed a little confused but after speaking to the supervisor it was fine...
Availability was found by the agent instantly, however she said because it would be operated for "V A A S I A" it would be a codeshare flight and not available to redeem miles on...
I told her that first of all it is VA Asia and second it states Virgin Australia FOR VA Asia and third, that those two are actually the same anyways and there is no difference, it even is the same flightnumber.
She seemed a little confused but after speaking to the supervisor it was fine...
Apr 22, 2016, 8:32 am
#183
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: 2000 miles from somewhere
Programs: EY Gold, GF Gold, IHG Plat, UA Gold
Posts: 58
Just got off the phone with Etihad Guest and AAdvantage.
Flying from LAX-YHZ. 3 legs in total, I supplied a 3 week window in June. Availability looked good on the seat maps on AA, which as I now know means utterly nothing.
To book in BIZ, EY agent told me the class must be U class on AA only. She said to call AA to find the U flights and call back to EY. I called AA.
U was available on the last leg from PHL-YHZ on most dates.
Flying east from SFO or LAX to PHL, no U on any direct flight or for any city. We tried RDU, MCO, MIA, PHX, DEN, ORD, IAD, WAS, DFW and no availability on one date of the literally hundreds of flights.
The AA agent said seats get released from time to time and no one knows the (algorithm).
My 45k Etihad miles expire on April 30th.
Complete fail.
Flying from LAX-YHZ. 3 legs in total, I supplied a 3 week window in June. Availability looked good on the seat maps on AA, which as I now know means utterly nothing.
To book in BIZ, EY agent told me the class must be U class on AA only. She said to call AA to find the U flights and call back to EY. I called AA.
U was available on the last leg from PHL-YHZ on most dates.
Flying east from SFO or LAX to PHL, no U on any direct flight or for any city. We tried RDU, MCO, MIA, PHX, DEN, ORD, IAD, WAS, DFW and no availability on one date of the literally hundreds of flights.
The AA agent said seats get released from time to time and no one knows the (algorithm).
My 45k Etihad miles expire on April 30th.
Complete fail.
Apr 22, 2016, 2:15 pm
#184
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM
Posts: 23,294
Just got off the phone with Etihad Guest and AAdvantage.
Flying from LAX-YHZ. 3 legs in total, I supplied a 3 week window in June. Availability looked good on the seat maps on AA, which as I now know means utterly nothing.
To book in BIZ, EY agent told me the class must be U class on AA only. She said to call AA to find the U flights and call back to EY. I called AA.
U was available on the last leg from PHL-YHZ on most dates.
Flying east from SFO or LAX to PHL, no U on any direct flight or for any city. We tried RDU, MCO, MIA, PHX, DEN, ORD, IAD, WAS, DFW and no availability on one date of the literally hundreds of flights.
The AA agent said seats get released from time to time and no one knows the (algorithm).
My 45k Etihad miles expire on April 30th.
Complete fail.
Flying from LAX-YHZ. 3 legs in total, I supplied a 3 week window in June. Availability looked good on the seat maps on AA, which as I now know means utterly nothing.
To book in BIZ, EY agent told me the class must be U class on AA only. She said to call AA to find the U flights and call back to EY. I called AA.
U was available on the last leg from PHL-YHZ on most dates.
Flying east from SFO or LAX to PHL, no U on any direct flight or for any city. We tried RDU, MCO, MIA, PHX, DEN, ORD, IAD, WAS, DFW and no availability on one date of the literally hundreds of flights.
The AA agent said seats get released from time to time and no one knows the (algorithm).
My 45k Etihad miles expire on April 30th.
Complete fail.
Apr 23, 2016, 8:35 am
#185
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 1,470
Just booked BKK-MCT business class on Oman Air. Called the US number, not sure what call center I ended up in but the entire conversation and transaction was very smooth and much easier than I expected reading some of the other reports. 34K miles + $155USD and all in ~15 minutes.
May 1, 2016, 5:45 pm
#186
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
I want to make sure I can book flights from REP-BKK and BKK-MLE on Bangkok Airways before I transfer my AMEX points to Etihad. Will EY let me place flights on hold or at least let me know availability prior to making the transfer?
For those who have successfully redeemed for Bangkok Airways, were you able to do so via US call center, or did you call UK?
For those who have successfully redeemed for Bangkok Airways, were you able to do so via US call center, or did you call UK?
May 2, 2016, 8:21 am
#187
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,405
I continue to have decent luck getting AA seats with Etihad Guest -- which has once again become quite lucrative because of the AMEX Membership Rewards 30% bonus and because some AA awards are significantly cheaper when booked with Etihad miles instead of AAdvantage miles.
Some Etihad phone agents are clueless, but the percentage seems no higher than at other airlines. When something doesn't work and it should, Hang Up and Call Again.
One relatively small problem I keep having is with taxes. Etihad always seems to charge more in taxes on AA award tickets than AA does. I even made a dummy booking on AA.com (on the last page before paying, AA will give you the tax breakdown) in hopes that I could explain the correct taxes and get Etihad to only make me pay the taxes that are actually due. No dice -- this has been a nuance too far, and I just give up and pay the extra taxes. Does anyone have a solution? It could have saved me US$70 today on a couple tickets if I could have gotten the taxes "right." Etihad claims they add no surcharges.
Some Etihad phone agents are clueless, but the percentage seems no higher than at other airlines. When something doesn't work and it should, Hang Up and Call Again.
One relatively small problem I keep having is with taxes. Etihad always seems to charge more in taxes on AA award tickets than AA does. I even made a dummy booking on AA.com (on the last page before paying, AA will give you the tax breakdown) in hopes that I could explain the correct taxes and get Etihad to only make me pay the taxes that are actually due. No dice -- this has been a nuance too far, and I just give up and pay the extra taxes. Does anyone have a solution? It could have saved me US$70 today on a couple tickets if I could have gotten the taxes "right." Etihad claims they add no surcharges.
May 2, 2016, 9:52 am
#188
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,837
I want to make sure I can book flights from REP-BKK and BKK-MLE on Bangkok Airways before I transfer my AMEX points to Etihad. Will EY let me place flights on hold or at least let me know availability prior to making the transfer?
For those who have successfully redeemed for Bangkok Airways, were you able to do so via US call center, or did you call UK?
For those who have successfully redeemed for Bangkok Airways, were you able to do so via US call center, or did you call UK?
All their phone lines are routed to either Abu Dhab or Manchester call centers, so it doesn't matter where you call.
May 2, 2016, 10:00 am
#189
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 1,470
You can call ahead to check the availability but there are no official holds AFAIK. They can make a dummy bookings though. If you explain your situation, they may bulge, so you get the seats and call back to pay the taxes and have the miles deducted. I have never tried this you may be lucky if you get a competent agent.
All their phone lines are routed to either Abu Dhab or Manchester call centers, so it doesn't matter where you call.
All their phone lines are routed to either Abu Dhab or Manchester call centers, so it doesn't matter where you call.
May 4, 2016, 7:22 pm
#191
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: DCA
Posts: 818
So it seems this is a common problem, but I've HUCA 3x trying to book an award on a domestic (US) AA flight. AA shows MileSAAver availability with like 20 different flight pair options (as does Qantas) but EY agents say nothing is available at all. Does EY only have access to a subset of MileSAAver/OneWorld partner awards or is it just difficult to find an agent who knows how to search availability?
May 4, 2016, 10:15 pm
#192
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,837
So it seems this is a common problem, but I've HUCA 3x trying to book an award on a domestic (US) AA flight. AA shows MileSAAver availability with like 20 different flight pair options (as does Qantas) but EY agents say nothing is available at all. Does EY only have access to a subset of MileSAAver/OneWorld partner awards or is it just difficult to find an agent who knows how to search availability?
May 4, 2016, 10:29 pm
#193
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,405
This week, I seemed to get an Abu Dhabi agent who had no problem finding my outbound flight, but couldn't find my return -- even after I pressed him a bit. I HUCA'd, and the next Abu Dhabi agent found it immediately. Hard to explain.