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 5, 2023, 12:09 pm
#2101
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,601
I cleaned out my Marriott account (over 800K points) to get enough AA miles. It has been so painful trying to get this itinerary to come together. Especially since I couldn't book the tickets one at a time because I have children and it wouldn't let me buy their tickets online unless we did it all on one single confirmation number.
What city are you departing from?
Nov 5, 2023, 12:16 pm
#2102
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 8
Trying to find 4-5 awards seats is getting to be not worth the hassle.
Nov 5, 2023, 12:21 pm
#2103
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 8
I attempted to book a different routing and after entering in my details (which takes forever for all the kids) I hit pay... nothing. Tried again. Nothing. Backed out. No seats again!
Etihad's system is on to me...
Nov 5, 2023, 12:22 pm
#2104
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,624
I don't think that Etihad has just instigated a 5 day ticketing time limit, I think that it has been around for quite a while. It is unfortunate that AA's booking information doesn't show the TTL , but the cancellation is an automated system action by Etihad unless there is a ticket number in the reservation. With partnee awards, I would suggest not relying on long holds since EY is not the only carrier to do this. If you phone and book, the agent should be able to see what the TTL is and tell you ( as long as you know to ask )
You could book the tickets one at a time if you did it by telephone. Given that time limits are a normal thing, it is unsurprising that EY would do nothing for AA where AA had not ticketed within the limit
Hopefully you can find another option around the same dates
You could book the tickets one at a time if you did it by telephone. Given that time limits are a normal thing, it is unsurprising that EY would do nothing for AA where AA had not ticketed within the limit
Hopefully you can find another option around the same dates
Nov 5, 2023, 12:28 pm
#2105
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,601
The AAdvantage app is showing plenty of Economy Class award availability for ORD-AUH starting two weeks from yesterday. On some days, the EY nonstop is available; on other days, single connections (with no change of airports) is available. So what's the problem? (I suppose AA might be displaying "phantom" EY availability.)
If you book a connection now, and the EY nonstop for the same date should turn up, you can put the nonstop on hold; immediately cancel the prior award; and then promptly ticket the held nonstop award as soon as the miles from the prior award are restored to your account (which should occur in minutes).
I don't know your desired return date, so did not check such availability.
Nov 5, 2023, 12:32 pm
#2106
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: AA, UA, Marriott
Posts: 1,114
You certainly know more about what you can handle with your kids than me, but if you want to use the AA miles to get there, you should book one of the 1-stop options to have something. Then if EY comes back available you can cancel & rebook for free.
If it seems to be erring out on payment - check your "my trips". Sometimes a PNR is still created, the seats are actually pulled from inventory and held, and you maybe just have to call in to ticket if it continues to error when you want to pay.
If it seems to be erring out on payment - check your "my trips". Sometimes a PNR is still created, the seats are actually pulled from inventory and held, and you maybe just have to call in to ticket if it continues to error when you want to pay.
Nov 5, 2023, 12:34 pm
#2107
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: AA, UA, Marriott
Posts: 1,114
If you book a connection now, and the EY nonstop for the same date should turn up, you can put the nonstop on hold; immediately cancel the prior award; and then promptly ticket the held nonstop award as soon as the miles from the prior award are restored to your account (which should occur in minutes).
Nov 5, 2023, 12:37 pm
#2108
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,601
If skyhawkd is having trouble booking EY award seats now at aa.com, perhaps calling an AA off-shore reservations office (as suggested at the head of this thread) would be the approach to take.
Nov 5, 2023, 1:48 pm
#2109
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 230
Confirmed GuestSeat availability on the Etihad site and called the AA Singapore number to make the booking but the agent cannot see the availability. The flights are from Asia to USA in business class. Tried the Australian number as well with the same result. Am I doing something wrong?
Nov 5, 2023, 2:42 pm
#2110
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,601
Confirmed GuestSeat availability on the Etihad site and called the AA Singapore number to make the booking but the agent cannot see the availability. The flights are from Asia to USA in business class. Tried the Australian number as well with the same result. Am I doing something wrong?
Note that because you would actually be booking two AAdvantage awards (Asia-Middle East and Middle East-U.S.), you could spend a few days (or longer) in AUH -- or elsewhere in the Middle East -- if desired.
Nov 5, 2023, 6:18 pm
#2111
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 230
Because AA does not permit routing via the Atlantic on an Asia-U.S. award, there would have to be award availability on each EY segment individually, not just when booked as a connection. Does Etihad Guest show availability on the individual segments?
Note that because you would actually be booking two AAdvantage awards (Asia-Middle East and Middle East-U.S.), you could spend a few days (or longer) in AUH -- or elsewhere in the Middle East -- if desired.
Note that because you would actually be booking two AAdvantage awards (Asia-Middle East and Middle East-U.S.), you could spend a few days (or longer) in AUH -- or elsewhere in the Middle East -- if desired.
Nov 5, 2023, 6:27 pm
#2112
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,601
This is a for a two segment DEL-JFK flight and AA permits the routing. However, AA cannot see the availability (online or through agents in US/overseas location). I just checked Etihad Guest and only one of the segments is independently available. Therefore, you are perhaps right, it is the other segment that may be the problem.
Nov 5, 2023, 6:30 pm
#2113
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 5,867
but there are countless reports on this thread of people calling and AA saying they can't see availability
Nov 9, 2023, 9:30 am
#2114
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: EK Plat
Posts: 244
Unfortunately it seems Etihad are deliberately blocking partner awards in premium cabins at the moment.
There are multiple routes which are wide open for redemption on Etihad's site but cannot be booked on AA (website / phone) or Aeroplan.
There are multiple routes which are wide open for redemption on Etihad's site but cannot be booked on AA (website / phone) or Aeroplan.
Nov 11, 2023, 6:26 pm
#2115
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Chicago & AUH
Programs: AA PLT Pro, EY Gold, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 172
I’ve been keeping an eye out on one way availability from AUH-US in a premium cabin and nothing was showing until this am. I was able to find first class availability to IAD on most days over the next few weeks. Hopefully we will start to see more flights come available soon.