Originally Posted by
thbe
Unfortunately not. If you book a topbonus award it's always on AB ticket stock (745-), doesn't matter who the operating is. And they are not paid upfront. The operating carrier doesn't have to fulfill the ticket, if the marketing carrier is not able to pay at the time of fulfillment.
I have a topbonus award ticket with all four segments operated by EY in January. I don't see the chance, that AB will be able to pay for it at that time. I see a little chance, that EY will accept the booking, especially if they will still keep topbonus at that time. But I see the very high risk, that I will lose fees and miles, especially if topbonus will go bankrupt before.
On the other side: If you have booked an award at Etihad guest or any other FFP, but operated by AB, you don't have to worry about your miles, points and fees at all.
I have to agree. Regardless of who owns topbonus, an award ticket needs an issuing carrier - that carrier is currently AB, so topbonus is dependent on AB. It's similar to Air Canada and their FFP, which is owned by another company. If AB is sold, there's no guarantee that the new owner will purchase topbonus as well. Since Etihad is a majority owner, it may fold it into its own Etihad Guest program. Anything else makes no sense - having a FFP without an associated carrier is useless.