Jan 13, 2015, 2:43 pm
Last edit by: SingaporeDon
Booking Award Seats on EY / Etihad Airways Using AA / AAdvantage Miles
This thread is about "how to" book Etihad / EY award seats using AA AAdvantage miles. This wiki is new, so anyone with 90/90 who wishes to add helpful information is, of course, urged to do so.
- You cannot search or book awards for travel on EY (Etihad) on www.aa.com
- You can search award availability on EY's website. Look for seats on flights operated by Etihad Airways labeled as "GuestSeats".
- You have to call AA to book them. You may need to request the AA agent to look up the inventory one segment at a time in order to find the inventory in their system. OR:
- Your best bet is to call AA Australia (+61 2-9101-1948 ) - although the call center is actually in Suva, Fiji -as they can see the inventory reliably, and you can book (or put the EY segments on hold so you can flesh out the award afterward).
- A handy EY route map is at http://flights.etihad.com/routemap
- The applicable AAdvantage miles award chart is the oneworld and Other Airline Award Chart
- Award routing rules are in the wikipost of this thread
- It can be instructive to read about our members' successful award bookings on EY using AAdvantage miles in the Success stories of award booking on Etihad using AA miles (>= 2015) thread. [Note: posts prior to 2015 about this topic (with the exception of a few 2014 end of year posts brought forward for continuity) are archived at ARCHIVE: Success stories of award booking on Etihad using AA miles]
- If you find EY inventory from your continent but not your city of choice, as usual you can include any other AAdvantage award airlines in order to complete the itinerary. E.g. LHR-xAUH-DEL-xAUH-CDG on EY connecting to CDG-LHR on BA.
How to: Use AA Miles to Book Award on Etihad / EY (Archive - 2015 and earlier)
Dec 30, 2015, 8:21 pm
#1246
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,624
AA charges 80k miles pp that typically cost ~1.8k GBP. A paid J fare can be had for that much, a F fare is 3.2k (both through a TA). Now sure 1.4k GBP is a substantial saving, but this saving shrinks in proportion with the time spent/wasted (whichever way one looks at it).
Dec 30, 2015, 8:26 pm
#1247
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,624
And there are those that shrug when flights get cancelled, those that shrug when their seats are given away, those that shrug when upgrades aren't processed correctly, those that are content standing in long lines hoping the airlines take care of them. I'm not saying you're one of those people. Just that I'm not. Schedule, price and convenience? How about equipment types, tracking tail numbers, and ensuring contingency plans are in place? And an award booking IS more exciting, given the near certain knowledge somebody else is trying to get the same award.
I respect the blissful tranquility of the non-warriors. But I particularly respect the sleep-deprived warrior that's going to get his F upgrade for his honeymoon.
Jamie
I respect the blissful tranquility of the non-warriors. But I particularly respect the sleep-deprived warrior that's going to get his F upgrade for his honeymoon.
Jamie
using miles for an award can be great value and do so when it is available to book
If flight from A-B gets cancelled , I know that on routes I travel I will be on the one before or the one after with no issue
I don't worry about upgrades given that I book the class I wish to travel in
not many people who travel frequently ( road warrior is such a awful term ) obsess about the travel but just book the most appropriate flights
Dec 30, 2015, 8:37 pm
#1248
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: KYE
Posts: 4,156
If the OP can get the upgrade, then great. All I'm saying is, you'll be going on a honeymoon to the Maldives. Chances are spending several thousands GBP on this outing in accommodation/food/activities. The AA redemption on EY (whethr J or F) for this route is exceptional value IF it can be had without the extra hassle of chasing availability.
Otherwise the only strong memory will be of the countless hours checking availability (and perhaps re ticketing which up to now is not explicit that AA will apply the current award level on upgrades post March).
Rather than worry about any of that, one could easily get a confirmed F reservation with EY/QR (or even EK) with a stopover at one of the hubs (something that requires 17.5k AA miles extra pp). Or stick to J and occasionally check for F.
All the best.
Otherwise the only strong memory will be of the countless hours checking availability (and perhaps re ticketing which up to now is not explicit that AA will apply the current award level on upgrades post March).
Rather than worry about any of that, one could easily get a confirmed F reservation with EY/QR (or even EK) with a stopover at one of the hubs (something that requires 17.5k AA miles extra pp). Or stick to J and occasionally check for F.
All the best.
Dec 30, 2015, 8:59 pm
#1249
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 69
If the OP can get the upgrade, then great. All I'm saying is, you'll be going on a honeymoon to the Maldives. Chances are spending several thousands GBP on this outing in accommodation/food/activities. The AA redemption on EY (whethr J or F) for this route is exceptional value IF it can be had without the extra hassle of chasing availability.
Otherwise the only strong memory will be of the countless hours checking availability (and perhaps re ticketing which up to now is not explicit that AA will apply the current award level on upgrades post March).
Rather than worry about any of that, one could easily get a confirmed F reservation with EY/QR (or even EK) with a stopover at one of the hubs (something that requires 17.5k AA miles extra pp). Or stick to J and occasionally check for F.
All the best.
Otherwise the only strong memory will be of the countless hours checking availability (and perhaps re ticketing which up to now is not explicit that AA will apply the current award level on upgrades post March).
Rather than worry about any of that, one could easily get a confirmed F reservation with EY/QR (or even EK) with a stopover at one of the hubs (something that requires 17.5k AA miles extra pp). Or stick to J and occasionally check for F.
All the best.
I've spent countless hours planning this trip as it is a passion of mine, and likely yours too. There is no doubt I will not forget how I intricately planned this trip without taking a second mortgage, however the memories created will last a lifetime.
And yes, I planned my Honeymoon around award availability.
I'll update you tomorrow if the seats open up.
Last edited by patrickf3; Dec 30, 2015 at 9:06 pm
Dec 30, 2015, 9:12 pm
#1250
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: KYE
Posts: 4,156
Are you sure you can book MLE-NCE on EY/BA in F/J on a single award? EY don't publish a F fare that permits such routing.
Dec 31, 2015, 12:33 am
#1252
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: BOS
Programs: AA Plat
Posts: 302
Just called US CS still couldn't see the F/J award space, then phoned up AUS number without any problems.
Dec 31, 2015, 12:40 am
#1253
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,632
Various subscription sites already get data from QF and BA web pages, it's just that EY is not in an alliance and so no commercial site has bothered to do it AFAIK.
The only thing I have tried to use is Lazarus (form filling addon for Firefox) but it messes up the EY page.
Dec 31, 2015, 3:55 am
#1254
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 24
QR / EY Africa - Australia
I've successfully booked LOS-DOH-MEL on a single ticket for 50K J (QR), meaning that the "Doha" 3rd Region exception rule applies (Africa - South Pacific.)
However I have not been able to book LOS-AUH-MEL on EY, in a single ticket, (there is availability but they want to charge 2 tickets LOS-AUH/AUH-MEL).
Your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.
However I have not been able to book LOS-AUH-MEL on EY, in a single ticket, (there is availability but they want to charge 2 tickets LOS-AUH/AUH-MEL).
Your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.
Dec 31, 2015, 4:44 am
#1255
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: KYE
Posts: 4,156
I've successfully booked LOS-DOH-MEL on a single ticket for 50K J (QR), meaning that the "Doha" 3rd Region exception rule applies (Africa - South Pacific.)
However I have not been able to book LOS-AUH-MEL on EY, in a single ticket, (there is availability but they want to charge 2 tickets LOS-AUH/AUH-MEL).
Your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.
However I have not been able to book LOS-AUH-MEL on EY, in a single ticket, (there is availability but they want to charge 2 tickets LOS-AUH/AUH-MEL).
Your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.
Dec 31, 2015, 5:14 am
#1257
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: KYE
Posts: 4,156
Not a chance. This isn't US. Yes it was once possible to book BNE-SIN-AUH (as a single flight though and some agents pulled up the no 3rd region rule occasionally) but those days are long gone since EY made the flight non stop.
Dec 31, 2015, 5:45 am
#1259
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,624
If you want to travel LOS-DOH-MEL , you need 2 awards - no point in just wasting agents time calling back
The only Middle East exceptions are purely for QR-QR travel
Dec 31, 2015, 7:44 am
#1260
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Signatures
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: London, England
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, National Exec, AA EXP Emeritus
Posts: 9,765
This thread is being archived and supplanted with the following:
Booking AAdvantage Award travel on Etihad / EY - 2016 (Consolidated)
~Moderator
Booking AAdvantage Award travel on Etihad / EY - 2016 (Consolidated)
~Moderator
Last edited by Microwave; Jan 14, 2016 at 5:48 am