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)
Mar 16, 2024, 11:06 pm
#2161
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Virginia
Programs: AA platinum , Hyatt Explorist, Marriott platinum , SPG Gold , Hilton Diamond
Posts: 92
they wouldn't do it . I tried multiple times. All agent are saying ..Not possible. System doesn't allow to override .
Seems like this is dead and no more possible
Seems like this is dead and no more possible
Mar 17, 2024, 12:02 am
#2162
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,465
I had the same issue trying to add a QR segment to a one-segment QR award. Must have spoken to about a dozen agents, most of whom said no pretty quickly off the bat but a few of whom did try a few different ways and/or reached out to a help desk or supervisor. All no dice. In the end I canceled my existing award, it went back to inventory, and I was able to ticket my desired two-segment itinerary.
I would like to think that AA's policy still allows you to add segments to a partner or partner+AA award per Gary's blog post, and that these issues are due to the partner's married segment inventory issues.
I would like to think that AA's policy still allows you to add segments to a partner or partner+AA award per Gary's blog post, and that these issues are due to the partner's married segment inventory issues.
Mar 17, 2024, 8:57 am
#2163
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: LAX
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 946
My recent experiences have been that adding a partner segment after ticketing (or even after putting a flight on hold) is difficult or no longer possible, but adding an AA positioning segment in front of a partner segment has been OK.
Mar 17, 2024, 9:05 am
#2164
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: WAS/TYO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP (3MM), DL PM, BONVOY TITANIUM, HYATT GLOBALIST, HILTON DIAMOND, IHG DIAMOND AMB, et al
Posts: 5,913
Added an AA DCA-LGA positioning segment to a JL F JFK-HND award as recently as last week. Only required 1 HUCA (I was expecting more). So definitely still technically possible if you get the right agent.
Also added a JL HND-FUK segment recently to a different award without much difficulty (required several HUCAs).
-FlyerBeek
Also added a JL HND-FUK segment recently to a different award without much difficulty (required several HUCAs).
-FlyerBeek
Mar 17, 2024, 9:20 am
#2165
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: DC
Programs: AA PPRO, HH Diamond, National EE
Posts: 603
Added an AA DCA-LGA positioning segment to a JL F JFK-HND award as recently as last week. Only required 1 HUCA (I was expecting more). So definitely still technically possible if you get the right agent.
Also added a JL HND-FUK segment recently to a different award without much difficulty (required several HUCAs).
-FlyerBeek
Also added a JL HND-FUK segment recently to a different award without much difficulty (required several HUCAs).
-FlyerBeek
Last edited by hawkfan7314; Mar 17, 2024 at 10:14 am
Mar 17, 2024, 11:27 am
#2166
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: AA Executive Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,450
Mar 18, 2024, 5:14 am
#2167
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: WAS/TYO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP (3MM), DL PM, BONVOY TITANIUM, HYATT GLOBALIST, HILTON DIAMOND, IHG DIAMOND AMB, et al
Posts: 5,913
-FlyerBeek
Mar 24, 2024, 6:39 am
#2169
Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 134
My SEZ-AUH-DUB in biz shows the same allowance, was expecting more but it won't be a problem for me, and I expect on a biz ticket it's quite unlikely that they would enforce the cabinet baggage weight, perhaps someone with relevant experience can confirm ?
For comparison my outbound DUB-DOH-SEZ in biz on qatar via an AA award shows 2x32Kg and 2xhand luggage (15K total)
For comparison my outbound DUB-DOH-SEZ in biz on qatar via an AA award shows 2x32Kg and 2xhand luggage (15K total)
Mar 25, 2024, 7:08 am
#2170
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Here today, gone tomorrow
Programs: Nothing shiny :-(
Posts: 2,493
I went back to AA on Twitter and they sorted the missing baggage but no help whatsoever on the missing lounge access - "We're always happy to lend a helping hand, however, that's not something that we can add to the reservation. You can present your boarding pass at the lounge on the day of travel with the qualifying ticket, and our team will be able to assist you" - which obviously they won't.
Has anyone not had lounge access in the past (according to the ticket) and either tried and succeeded or tried and failed to get into an Etihad lounge?
We have a long layover in AUH so this is important to us.
Mar 25, 2024, 7:19 am
#2171
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: PHL
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 539
OK, let's turn this around. I really would be very grateful if anyone currently with a business class ticket could see whether there is lounge access attached and let me know either way.
I went back to AA on Twitter and they sorted the missing baggage but no help whatsoever on the missing lounge access
I went back to AA on Twitter and they sorted the missing baggage but no help whatsoever on the missing lounge access
Mar 25, 2024, 9:20 am
#2172
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Here today, gone tomorrow
Programs: Nothing shiny :-(
Posts: 2,493
Well, that's what I thought too. But if I go into Etihad Manage my Booking, where you can see your baggage allowance (now there since contact with AA), it is offering me the "opportunity" to buy lounge access, which implies I don't already have it.
Mar 25, 2024, 9:27 am
#2173
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: PHL
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 539
From https://www.etihad.com/en-us/fly-etihad/lounges:
“You can use our airport lounges for free depending on your Etihad Guest Tier Status, or if you’re flying in Business or First Class on an Etihad-operated flight. Flying in Economy? You can pay to use our lounges.”
It doesn’t say anything about award tickets being restricted.
Mar 25, 2024, 9:53 am
#2174
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,405
You already have lounge access, but EY will gladly take your money a second time. Don't worry about it, it's just bad IT.