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)
great tip!
Mar 3, 2024, 5:45 pm
#2148
Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 134
I've already had to call AA 3 times just to get bags added.
Mar 3, 2024, 11:27 pm
#2149
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: USA
Programs: MarriottTitanium, LT Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond,IHG Diamond,Amb,Wyndham Diamond
Posts: 129
We had a J Flight from AUH to KUL. Service sucked, Luggage Policy is very Bad, no one knows what is the weight allowed on Partner Miles.
Mar 5, 2024, 8:06 am
#2150
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Tyrone,EU
Programs: Avios Hunter
Posts: 2,812
The only thing confusing for me is that I have a J award, but on Etihad's website it only says 23kg checked and 12kg cabin... the 23kg checked I can probably manage, but 12kg cabin might be difficult... it also doesn't specify the number of cabin bags.
I've already had to call AA 3 times just to get bags added.
I've already had to call AA 3 times just to get bags added.
For comparison my outbound DUB-DOH-SEZ in biz on qatar via an AA award shows 2x32Kg and 2xhand luggage (15K total)
Mar 6, 2024, 11:20 pm
#2151
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Here today, gone tomorrow
Programs: Nothing shiny :-(
Posts: 2,493
I've recently had an odd experience with booking an EY AAdvantage flight. I checked both AA and EY websites, both showed availability. I can't remember which, but one of them indicated there were five business class seats available. I needed two but was booking from two separate AA accounts as insufficient miles in either for both awards. I didn't expect there to be a problem.... I booked one (online), went into the other account to book the other and availability had been zeroed out, both according to AA and EY. I very much doubt the other four seats went in the seconds that took as they had been available on AA for several days.
I decided to leave things a day or two as there was also availability on flights with a longer layover the same day and the previous day and lo-and-behold, two days later availability did come back for (I think) two seats on the same flights I had already booked. The odd thing was that there was no availability showing on the EY site. I expected a problem.... but there wasn't one! Now ticketed.
I presume what I should have done is ring AA, get them to hold the two seats under one PNR, then split the PNR and ticket the held seats? Is there a better solution?
Unsurprisingly, the EY site is showing no luggage allowance so I need to sort that out. However, EY is also offering the option to buy lounge access. Has lounge access for business class award bookings been removed? I don't follow EY closely but I don't remember seeing this announced.
I decided to leave things a day or two as there was also availability on flights with a longer layover the same day and the previous day and lo-and-behold, two days later availability did come back for (I think) two seats on the same flights I had already booked. The odd thing was that there was no availability showing on the EY site. I expected a problem.... but there wasn't one! Now ticketed.
I presume what I should have done is ring AA, get them to hold the two seats under one PNR, then split the PNR and ticket the held seats? Is there a better solution?
Unsurprisingly, the EY site is showing no luggage allowance so I need to sort that out. However, EY is also offering the option to buy lounge access. Has lounge access for business class award bookings been removed? I don't follow EY closely but I don't remember seeing this announced.
Mar 10, 2024, 6:58 pm
#2152
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Virginia
Programs: AA platinum , Hyatt Explorist, Marriott platinum , SPG Gold , Hilton Diamond
Posts: 92
Adding a segment is dead?
I have a IAD to AUH in F ( etihad) and when i booked AUH to Cai wasn't available . Now AUH to CAI became available. I called 4 agents and all of them are saying segment cant be added without paying extra miles. In past I have always been able to add the segment without paying extra miles. Any solution to this . They are asking to pay another 20K miles even though second segment is in couch . They are suggesting i can cancel and rebook ( My worry is if i cancel the F might not come back )
Do you think calling australian call center would be helpful ? Tried chat as well with no luck
Thanks
Do you think calling australian call center would be helpful ? Tried chat as well with no luck
Thanks
Mar 10, 2024, 7:06 pm
#2153
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: NYC, SEA
Programs: Hyatt Glob, Marriott Titanium, AA EXP, DL PM, AS 100k (fake), B6 M3 (fake), BA Gold (fake), UA FO.
Posts: 740
According to Gary Leff (article published after the AAdvantage changes), that should not be the case; you should still be able to make changes to partner awards. However, on the few occasions that I've tried it, I haven't had any luck - though in fairness I did not try very hard/HUCA much.
FWIW my own estimation is that it's a pure coin flip as to whether Leff got bad info or the agents are, once again, underinformed and uninterested in nailing down the correct answer.
FWIW my own estimation is that it's a pure coin flip as to whether Leff got bad info or the agents are, once again, underinformed and uninterested in nailing down the correct answer.
Mar 10, 2024, 7:13 pm
#2154
Join Date: Oct 2022
Location: GRR (RRRRRR)
Programs: AA Exp, Hyatt Globalist, DL Silv, Hilton Dim, Marriot Gld, Amex Plat
Posts: 111
I have a IAD to AUH in F ( etihad) and when i booked AUH to Cai wasn't available . Now AUH to CAI became available. I called 4 agents and all of them are saying segment cant be added without paying extra miles. In past I have always been able to add the segment without paying extra miles. Any solution to this . They are asking to pay another 20K miles even though second segment is in couch . They are suggesting i can cancel and rebook ( My worry is if i cancel the F might not come back )
Do you think calling australian call center would be helpful ? Tried chat as well with no luck
Thanks
Do you think calling australian call center would be helpful ? Tried chat as well with no luck
Thanks
According to Gary Leff (article published after the AAdvantage changes), that should not be the case; you should still be able to make changes to partner awards. However, on the few occasions that I've tried it, I haven't had any luck - though in fairness I did not try very hard/HUCA much.
FWIW my own estimation is that it's a pure coin flip as to whether Leff got bad info or the agents are, once again, underinformed and uninterested in nailing down the correct answer.
FWIW my own estimation is that it's a pure coin flip as to whether Leff got bad info or the agents are, once again, underinformed and uninterested in nailing down the correct answer.
Mar 10, 2024, 7:16 pm
#2155
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: NYC, SEA
Programs: Hyatt Glob, Marriott Titanium, AA EXP, DL PM, AS 100k (fake), B6 M3 (fake), BA Gold (fake), UA FO.
Posts: 740
Mar 10, 2024, 7:17 pm
#2156
Join Date: May 2019
Programs: AA
Posts: 345
I have never had any problems making changes like this, probably 15 occurances in the last 12 months, never required even one HUCA. Some agents would process the change in 3mim, others in 15min, but all knew it was allowed. EXP desk if relevant.
Mar 10, 2024, 8:25 pm
#2159
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Virginia
Programs: AA platinum , Hyatt Explorist, Marriott platinum , SPG Gold , Hilton Diamond
Posts: 92
Tried again ! now they are telling me . This is invalid because of main cabin connection. One leg is in first and second can't be in main cabin. If this was business it would have been ok. Agent called help desk as well and said its because stop over more then 4 hours so its pricing as two separate ticket 
.
I have never had this issue before ! I guess I keep HUCA . May be will find some competent agent
.I have never had this issue before ! I guess I keep HUCA . May be will find some competent agent
Mar 10, 2024, 9:33 pm
#2160
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,601
Could this be a married-segment issue with EY? I see days where IAD-AUH-CAI is available in Economy Class, and IAD-AUH is available in First Class, but IAD-AUH-CAI is not available on a premium-cabin redemption, even though AUH-CAI is available separately in Business.