Jan 14, 2016, 5:43 am
Last edit by: medellinfein
Booking Award Seats on EY / Etihad Airways Using AA / AAdvantage Miles
Also see: Earning AA Miles EQM / EQD / EQS on EY / Etihad (master thread)
This thread is about how to book Etihad / EY award seats using AA AAdvantage miles, and sharing success stories. This wiki is new, so anyone with 90/90 who wishes to add helpful information is, of course, urged to do so.
NOTE:AA has removed most EY and QR award access from aa.com due to a glitch booking these:
Please see the archived threads for previous experiences:
Also see: Earning AA Miles EQM / EQD / EQS on EY / Etihad (master thread)
This thread is about how to book Etihad / EY award seats using AA AAdvantage miles, and sharing success stories. This wiki is new, so anyone with 90/90 who wishes to add helpful information is, of course, urged to do so.
NOTE:AA has removed most EY and QR award access from aa.com due to a glitch booking these:
From One Mile at a Time (link)
Bottom Line
For the time being you’ll have to call American if you want to ticket AAdvantage awards on Etihad & Qatar that aren’t for travel to & from the US or Canada. It makes sense that American took these awards “offline,” and now it also makes sense why so many passengers have been having issues with checked bags on awards.
Bottom Line
For the time being you’ll have to call American if you want to ticket AAdvantage awards on Etihad & Qatar that aren’t for travel to & from the US or Canada. It makes sense that American took these awards “offline,” and now it also makes sense why so many passengers have been having issues with checked bags on awards.
- You can now search or book awards for travel on EY (Etihad) on www.aa.com.
- You can search award availability on EY's website. Look only for seats on flights operated by Etihad Airways that are labeled as "GuestSeats". You can also search on ExpertFlyer
- Note: You may see more availability if you search on EY's website using itineraries that do not originate in the US. In other words, to potentially see more availability on a USA-XYZ segment, search for XYZ-USA-XYZ. Expertflyer does not report this additional availability (if any), and US-based agents probably will not be able to see or book it (but see further below for Fiji).
- To expand on this point a bit, it seems that even if you only want to fly USA-AUH (or to other foreign destinations, since they route through AUH), due to an EY website quirk you need to search AUH-USA-AUH in order to find available USA-AUH routes.
- You no longer 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:
- It is often or even typically the case that for first and business class awards US agents cannot see the award space that you see on Etihad's site. Your best bet, then, is to call AA Australia (+61 2-9101-1948 ) then press 3 - or the New Zealand number (+64 09-308-4014) (actually South African contractor Mindpearl in Fiji) or Singapore (+65 6349-8444) as an alternative - what you need is the specific call center which is actually in Suva, Fiji (I believe it's our old South African agency friend Mindpearl) or, according to recent reports, in Trinidad (since there have been some reports that the Fiji center has closed). You can put the EY segments on hold so you can flesh out the award afterward and/or pay the fees in USD through the US call center, or simply buy it through non-US call center if you think you won't be making subsequent routing changes (such as adding AA connecting flights within the USA) that would incur fees. (NOTE: calls may get picked up by the local Brisbane office, or rerouted to Trinidad or the USA. As noted, there are reports that the Fiji call center has closed, but people have still been able to book some of the time, particularly if they reach the Trinidad center since that seems to be the call center that yields the greatest success in late 2017 and 2018 - with the big caveat that there are at least as many failures as successes in calling there, including repeatedly. To increase the chances of success, you may have to call several times, since for some reason a given customer service representative at a given time won't see availability even if it shows at the EY site, but another CSR at the same center may be able to do so even a few minutes later. It's conceivable that this difference is due to some CSRs knowing how to search for award availability better than others do, but that's simply a matter of speculation at this point.)
- Note: EY award holds only last 72 hours...irrespective of what AA reservation hold email states
- Booking connections via AUH / Abu Dabhi using one award is now allowed.
- Get both AA and EY reservation codes/numbers: Upon booking with AA, make sure to get the EY reservation number as well as that of AA from the AA CSR, as without the EY number it will be difficult or impossible to deal with EY, such as for checking or managing your reservation online. And of course, if there is another airline involved in the reservation as well (such as BA), get its reservation number.
- A handy EY route map is here: http://flights.etihad.com/routemap.
- The applicable AAdvantage miles award chart is the oneworld and partner airlines award chart.
- Award routing rules are in the wikipost of this thread.
- 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.
- WARNING: While this trick is great for new bookings (especially if you have patience to get lucky for call to be routed to Fiji office), modifying booking on partner airlines is always risky especially when an overseas center is involved, Your original seats are immediately released and while new reservation is supposedly confirmed, it may actually not the case until ticket desk actually issues ticket after approval of the partner liaison. Weekend/Holidays/Time-Difference can delay issuance of ticket and if something goes wrong, there is always risk of being SOL. (Mistakes by agents are rare but not unheard of).
- SEAT ASSIGNMENTS: You cannot choose seats until after ticketing. Even then, the regular web site will not allow seat assignments to be made for AAdvantage award bookings. The mobile site (which can be reached with either a mobile or a desktop browser) may work in some cases. Calling EY to make seat assignments always works, as long as you can give them the EY record locator, and as long as AA has issued the ticket (which can take a few days, you will get e-mail). Call 1-877-690-0767, press 1 for English, then 2 for First/Business, then 2 for existing bookings, then they will tell you the call is ending - but it's not: they have added "press 1 to speak to an agent", so finally, press 1 to continue the call. After this, you should have someone on the line quickly to help you. They will ask you a series of questions such as "What class are you traveling in?" and "Where are you going?" Alternatively, you can choose your seats on the Etihad website and app by using the EY record locator to find your award itinerary.
- Availability: EY award availability using AA miles can be fairly good, including in business and first class - IF you get past the big, aforementioned challenge of actually booking award seats that the EY site shows as available but that AA agents have trouble finding. But it ebbs and flows quite a bit in at least two respects (in addition to the general rule that the further in advance you seek availability, the better, as well as reports that availability is easier to find from one to three weeks before a flight): 1) availability showing at the EY site and 2) even if availability shows at the EY site, the ability of non-US call centers (especially the "least bad" ones for finding availability, which might have been Fiji and might now be Trinidad) to find that availability. So if the EY site is not showing availability for a given day or week, and if you have flexibility, check other dates. And if availability seems to be particularly constrained across many dates, particularly if you are searching many months in advance, check again periodically to see if this has changed (or arrange an alert via ExpertFlyer, if it provides such a service for EY flights).
- "Baby-sit" your tickets: Though this advice could apply to many award bookings, EY's systems can be glitchy and the airline apparently is going through some financial challenges. So it makes sense to check online or via phone occasionally with EY to make sure everything remains in order, particularly if there have been even minor changes in things like your flight times. And if there seem to be problems, including with checking in online or other procedures, the EY forum here at FT can be a source of useful advice about whether or not those problems are worth worrying about.
- Itinerary: You can use https://www.virtuallythere.com/new/login.html to enter your EY record locator and last name to 1)display your complete itinerary 2)save a pdf 3)add to outlook/ical 4)view ticket # and different times the ticket has been reissued
- AA lounge access: If you book a premium cabin itinerary on EY with domestic connections on AA, you will not be able to access the Admiral's Club during your domestic layovers because EY is not a member of OW.
Please see the archived threads for previous experiences:
- How to: Use AA Miles to Book Award on Etihad / EY (Archive - 2015 and earlier)
- Success stories booking awards on Etihad using AA miles (Archive - 2015 and earlier)
- Booking AA Award travel on Etihad / EY - [2015-17 ARCHIVE]
Booking AA Award travel on Etihad / EY (master thread July 2017 onwards)
Feb 1, 2018, 12:56 pm
#136
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 21
Transiting through a 3rd region is not always forbidden, e.g. via Europe.
ME and Indian subcontinent used to be the same region. It was split to allow US-Indian Sub but not US-ME on CX (transpac). But for transatlantic routes, Indian Sub via ME is allowed even after the split.
There is a trick, but don't tell anyone. You can buy one award to AUH, and another award from AUH to wherever you want to go. As a side benefit you can stop over at AUH for as long as you want, no extra charge.
ME and Indian subcontinent used to be the same region. It was split to allow US-Indian Sub but not US-ME on CX (transpac). But for transatlantic routes, Indian Sub via ME is allowed even after the split.
There is a trick, but don't tell anyone. You can buy one award to AUH, and another award from AUH to wherever you want to go. As a side benefit you can stop over at AUH for as long as you want, no extra charge.
Feb 1, 2018, 1:00 pm
#137
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
Last edited by SeeBuyFly; Feb 1, 2018 at 1:14 pm
Feb 1, 2018, 4:32 pm
#138
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 322
The last reward I booked for a friend was JFK-AUH (single award in F - stopover at AUH) and AUH-MLE (single award in J) a total of two awards. On the return I booked MLE-AUH-ORD-XNA in J (regional first on AA for the last leg) all on one award.
Last edited by hyperzulu; Feb 1, 2018 at 4:37 pm
Feb 2, 2018, 10:25 am
#139
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: SEA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold 100K | Delta Diamond | Hyatt Globalist | Hilton Diamond
Posts: 36
Adding another data point. Was able to book award travel for 2 for AUH-JFK in F traveling in mid July '18 (looks like there's quite a bit of availability remaining on other days as well). Called at 12:15 AM PST on 1/25, first the US and then Australia. US was not able to see the availability (only saw economy), though Australia immediately saw the availability and I went ahead and booked/paid for both flights while on the call (didn't want to leave anything to chance). Called Etihad the next day to assign seats 3K & 4K using the Etihad record locator (make sure to write this locator # down when booking the ticket as I can't seem to find it anywhere else 
).
Very excited for the journey despite the cost cuts I've been reading about. First time on an A380 as well.
).Very excited for the journey despite the cost cuts I've been reading about. First time on an A380 as well.
Feb 3, 2018, 10:43 am
#140
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London
Programs: AA EXP, 1MM
Posts: 643
Hi all, I have an AA award on EY in J on hold from UK to Australia. It's via AUH, of course. It has priced as 2 awards and so is a lot more expensive. Is that correct and unavoidable? I can't find availability on any OW carriers. FWIW, the AA EXP agent could see availability no problem.
Feb 3, 2018, 11:16 am
#141
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,581
Hi all, I have an AA award on EY in J on hold from UK to Australia. It's via AUH, of course. It has priced as 2 awards and so is a lot more expensive. Is that correct and unavoidable? I can't find availability on any OW carriers. FWIW, the AA EXP agent could see availability no problem.
The only way to avoid it, is to book with another carrier on a rpermitted routing for UK-Australia ( via Doha on QR , via Dubai on QF or via Asia )
Feb 3, 2018, 12:36 pm
#142
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 272
How about MLE-AUH-SGN? is this count as 1 award right? thank you!
Feb 3, 2018, 2:08 pm
#143
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,581
It looks like an awful route to me, being a 3100 mile detour on a journey that is only 2300 miles directly, but does look like EY does offer fares on that route and would be a single award.
I would query whether it is worth 40,000 points for a busiess award , where a paid ticket is only around $650 for MLE-SGN
I would query whether it is worth 40,000 points for a busiess award , where a paid ticket is only around $650 for MLE-SGN
Feb 3, 2018, 7:48 pm
#144
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 272
It looks like an awful route to me, being a 3100 mile detour on a journey that is only 2300 miles directly, but does look like EY does offer fares on that route and would be a single award.
I would query whether it is worth 40,000 points for a busiess award , where a paid ticket is only around $650 for MLE-SGN
I would query whether it is worth 40,000 points for a busiess award , where a paid ticket is only around $650 for MLE-SGN
Feb 5, 2018, 2:35 pm
#145
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: IND
Posts: 417
So I called AA customer service to pay and ticket award flight, the agent asked herself if I want to add any US segment to the itinerary, was able to add LGA-IND without any additional miles or taxes, ended up taking economy for this segment as appropriate business class not available but seems like could have gotten that as well.
Feb 5, 2018, 3:08 pm
#146
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Benicia, California, USA
Programs: AA PLT,AS,UA PP,J6,FB,EY,LH,SQ,HH Dmd,Hyatt Glbl,Marriott Plat,IHG Plat,Accor Gold
Posts: 10,820
So I called AA customer service to pay and ticket award flight, the agent asked herself if I want to add any US segment to the itinerary, was able to add LGA-IND without any additional miles or taxes, ended up taking economy for this segment as appropriate business class not available but seems like could have gotten that as well.
Even easier, you can join Expert Flyer (https://www.expertflyer.com/) get an email alert if an award business class seat opens up, then call AA to grab it. EF is something like $10/month.
Feb 5, 2018, 4:56 pm
#148
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Benicia, California, USA
Programs: AA PLT,AS,UA PP,J6,FB,EY,LH,SQ,HH Dmd,Hyatt Glbl,Marriott Plat,IHG Plat,Accor Gold
Posts: 10,820
You're welcome. There's no predicting with certainly how AA's algorithms will operate to free up award seats, but it could be that as you get closer to the flight the chances will increase. You can get a very rough idea of what your chances are by checking the seating chart for that flight at aa.com - though be aware that the chart does not necessarily indicate how many business class seats re sold, since sometimes they're sold but not yet assigned (which means that they won't show up as unavailable on the chart but will affect inventory).
Feb 6, 2018, 6:03 am
#149
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: TPA
Programs: DL Diamond, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,256
I'm currently booked on EY DEL-AUH-IAD. I land in AUH at midnight and depart to IAD at 10AM. If I wanted to push the IAD flight to the next day (meaning my connection would be 34 hours instead of 10), I assume that would then count as two awards and not just one?
Feb 6, 2018, 7:13 am
#150
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: ORD
Programs: BA, AA, SQ, UA, AC, WS, MR TIT
Posts: 8,658
Yes it does.