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)
Nov 2, 2020, 4:26 pm
#1666
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
Nov 8, 2020, 11:55 am
#1668
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Southern Cali
Programs: AA ExPlat, Marriott Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 2,025
Wanted to share my experience with a recent booking.
Looking for 2 tickets EY AUH-ORD in J. Etihad Guest showed 6 saver seats so I phoned up AA Ex Plat number in the US. They could only see one award available so I just booked it. Interestingly enough, Etihad still showed 6 seats bookable on their site after my ticket confirmed.
I phoned the Aussie number this morning and was transferred to someone who was able to locate a second award. Unfortunately, I was disconnected while they worked on the booking. Called again several times and the new agents couldn't see anything. Tried the Singapore number and thankfully the agent saw the award and I booked it. Etihad's website now also shows 5 saver seats available.
I will say the info in the still sticky sounds correct. The agents with the Australian accents did not see the award, but the agents who spoke with a Caribbean sounding accent did.
Thanks to everyone who updated this thread
Looking for 2 tickets EY AUH-ORD in J. Etihad Guest showed 6 saver seats so I phoned up AA Ex Plat number in the US. They could only see one award available so I just booked it. Interestingly enough, Etihad still showed 6 seats bookable on their site after my ticket confirmed.
I phoned the Aussie number this morning and was transferred to someone who was able to locate a second award. Unfortunately, I was disconnected while they worked on the booking. Called again several times and the new agents couldn't see anything. Tried the Singapore number and thankfully the agent saw the award and I booked it. Etihad's website now also shows 5 saver seats available.
I will say the info in the still sticky sounds correct. The agents with the Australian accents did not see the award, but the agents who spoke with a Caribbean sounding accent did.
Thanks to everyone who updated this thread
Nov 16, 2020, 1:56 pm
#1670
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Chicago & AUH
Programs: AA PLT Pro, EY Gold, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 172
Nov 16, 2020, 11:02 pm
#1671
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
Dec 13, 2020, 4:46 pm
#1673
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Here today, gone tomorrow
Programs: Nothing shiny :-(
Posts: 2,493
I'm having difficulty working out what I can and cannot (in principle) book using AA miles looking at availability on EtihadGuest since they changed their website. Pretty much every day shows availability on EtihadGuest for Guest seats but not a single one (for the entire booking window) is at the Guest seat rate shown on the Miles Calculator and the number of (Etihad) miles needed varies from day to day. I was under the impression that Guest seats were at a fixed (lowest) rate and then Open seats varied according to the fare, with only the Guest seats available to AA. Is that correct, in which case none of these so-called Guest seats would be bookable on AA as they are chargeable at rates higher than shown on the Miles Calculator? Or is there currently a problem with the website, in which case how can I identify which seats are bookable by AA?
For information, I'm looking at LHR - AUH for one person in either economy or business. The Miles Calculator shows 32,500 and 62,500 Etihad miles required respectively. The website shows availability which it calls GuestSeat availability from about 56k and 112k miles (from memory).
Has anyone managed to book an award seats on Etihad using AA miles recently and if so, what did the EtihadGuest website show before you booked?
For information, I'm looking at LHR - AUH for one person in either economy or business. The Miles Calculator shows 32,500 and 62,500 Etihad miles required respectively. The website shows availability which it calls GuestSeat availability from about 56k and 112k miles (from memory).
Has anyone managed to book an award seats on Etihad using AA miles recently and if so, what did the EtihadGuest website show before you booked?
Dec 14, 2020, 8:49 am
#1674
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,536
I'm having difficulty working out what I can and cannot (in principle) book using AA miles looking at availability on EtihadGuest since they changed their website. Pretty much every day shows availability on EtihadGuest for Guest seats but not a single one (for the entire booking window) is at the Guest seat rate shown on the Miles Calculator and the number of (Etihad) miles needed varies from day to day. I was under the impression that Guest seats were at a fixed (lowest) rate and then Open seats varied according to the fare, with only the Guest seats available to AA. Is that correct, in which case none of these so-called Guest seats would be bookable on AA as they are chargeable at rates higher than shown on the Miles Calculator? Or is there currently a problem with the website, in which case how can I identify which seats are bookable by AA?
For information, I'm looking at LHR - AUH for one person in either economy or business. The Miles Calculator shows 32,500 and 62,500 Etihad miles required respectively. The website shows availability which it calls GuestSeat availability from about 56k and 112k miles (from memory).
Has anyone managed to book an award seats on Etihad using AA miles recently and if so, what did the EtihadGuest website show before you booked?
For information, I'm looking at LHR - AUH for one person in either economy or business. The Miles Calculator shows 32,500 and 62,500 Etihad miles required respectively. The website shows availability which it calls GuestSeat availability from about 56k and 112k miles (from memory).
Has anyone managed to book an award seats on Etihad using AA miles recently and if so, what did the EtihadGuest website show before you booked?
ExpertFlyer can be used, but I also vaguely recall there's that issue with JFK-AUH (or vice versa) that is only visible as a round trip and originating from AUH? (I forget the exact bizarre scenario that is required to get things to show properly).
But I don't think LHR-AUH was one of those segments that was affected this way (but I could be wrong).
Dec 14, 2020, 8:52 am
#1675
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: MCO
Programs: AA, B6, DL, EK, EY, QR, SQ, UA, Amex Plat, Marriott Tit, HHonors Gold
Posts: 12,809
Dec 14, 2020, 4:04 pm
#1676
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Here today, gone tomorrow
Programs: Nothing shiny :-(
Posts: 2,493
Thanks for that. I've found the relevant post. Trouble is, you can't work out how much of the ticket relates to taxes etc without knowing the value Etihad are ascribing to their miles. Does anyone know?
Dec 31, 2020, 8:01 pm
#1677
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Silver, AA, WN, DL
Posts: 4,091
Happy New Year FT Members!
Wanted to get the collective thoughts on whether EY releases additional seats after their initial allotment is taken. I see 2x J seats, along 4x Y seats (Europe to AUH on A350). There will be 4 of us; and we're considering locking in the 2 J and 2 Y. Then hope for additional award seats to open up.
Has there been any observation/experience with additional seats becoming available? Understand no one has a crystal ball, but wanted to know if it's even possible, rare occurrence, or somewhat normal/SOP for them to release more. It's still at the edge of the 350+ days, so understandably it may be awhile if/when the next set of J opens again.
Alternatively we could all fly TK (as 4 J's are currently available) but then we'd have a layover in IST vs a straight shot to UAE; and change fees adding up to a few hundred dollars that I'd rather not commit to if I think there's a chance EY will be possible.
Thanks in advance and safe travels for 2021 (we hope!)
Wanted to get the collective thoughts on whether EY releases additional seats after their initial allotment is taken. I see 2x J seats, along 4x Y seats (Europe to AUH on A350). There will be 4 of us; and we're considering locking in the 2 J and 2 Y. Then hope for additional award seats to open up.
Has there been any observation/experience with additional seats becoming available? Understand no one has a crystal ball, but wanted to know if it's even possible, rare occurrence, or somewhat normal/SOP for them to release more. It's still at the edge of the 350+ days, so understandably it may be awhile if/when the next set of J opens again.
Alternatively we could all fly TK (as 4 J's are currently available) but then we'd have a layover in IST vs a straight shot to UAE; and change fees adding up to a few hundred dollars that I'd rather not commit to if I think there's a chance EY will be possible.
Thanks in advance and safe travels for 2021 (we hope!)
Jan 2, 2021, 10:24 am
#1678
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,652
FWIW, I ticketed through the Singapore number, or so I thought. It didn't process because the fees were in SGD and my credit card is in USD. There was a note on my record locator to call in and arrange payment.
I've booked EY before and paid in SGD, AUD, etc. without issue. So double check your record on aa.com to make sure it's not making you call in and convert the payment to a different currency.
I've booked EY before and paid in SGD, AUD, etc. without issue. So double check your record on aa.com to make sure it's not making you call in and convert the payment to a different currency.
Jan 2, 2021, 3:23 pm
#1679
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: North America
Posts: 2,265
Happy New Year FT Members!
Wanted to get the collective thoughts on whether EY releases additional seats after their initial allotment is taken. I see 2x J seats, along 4x Y seats (Europe to AUH on A350). There will be 4 of us; and we're considering locking in the 2 J and 2 Y. Then hope for additional award seats to open up.
Has there been any observation/experience with additional seats becoming available? Understand no one has a crystal ball, but wanted to know if it's even possible, rare occurrence, or somewhat normal/SOP for them to release more. It's still at the edge of the 350+ days, so understandably it may be awhile if/when the next set of J opens again.
Alternatively we could all fly TK (as 4 J's are currently available) but then we'd have a layover in IST vs a straight shot to UAE; and change fees adding up to a few hundred dollars that I'd rather not commit to if I think there's a chance EY will be possible.
Thanks in advance and safe travels for 2021 (we hope!)
Wanted to get the collective thoughts on whether EY releases additional seats after their initial allotment is taken. I see 2x J seats, along 4x Y seats (Europe to AUH on A350). There will be 4 of us; and we're considering locking in the 2 J and 2 Y. Then hope for additional award seats to open up.
Has there been any observation/experience with additional seats becoming available? Understand no one has a crystal ball, but wanted to know if it's even possible, rare occurrence, or somewhat normal/SOP for them to release more. It's still at the edge of the 350+ days, so understandably it may be awhile if/when the next set of J opens again.
Alternatively we could all fly TK (as 4 J's are currently available) but then we'd have a layover in IST vs a straight shot to UAE; and change fees adding up to a few hundred dollars that I'd rather not commit to if I think there's a chance EY will be possible.
Thanks in advance and safe travels for 2021 (we hope!)
Feb 20, 2021, 3:52 pm
#1680
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: UA, QF, VS, AA, US, HH, SPG
Posts: 974
Can one assume that an EY award which shows on the AC/Aeroplan site is also available using AA. I am seeing EY award seats using AC to search but same route/day does not show up on AA. Needless to say - I want to use AA miles. I don't want to call AA as I'm just doing some "what if" searches (meaning I can't / won't travel ex-SYD until this pandemic is under control AND our international border is open to departures and arrivals without quarantine).