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 youll have to call American if you want to ticket AAdvantage awards on Etihad & Qatar that arent 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 youll have to call American if you want to ticket AAdvantage awards on Etihad & Qatar that arent 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)
Jun 28, 2019, 6:08 am
#1156
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Programs: AS MVPG, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 983
I have a one-way booked from AUH-JFK in F, ultimately hoping to add a JFK-SEA leg at the end. While there is plenty of coach seats for the JFK-SEA leg, The Trinidad agent could not add it, said there needed to be F space that was not pricing in the aanytime category. Also tried YVR, PDX, SFO, and LAX.
What at is my best appproach to complete the JFK-SEA leg? Thanks!!!!
What at is my best appproach to complete the JFK-SEA leg? Thanks!!!!
Jun 28, 2019, 6:26 am
#1157
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 167
Posting another reference point. I just booked a one way EY award in J in November from AUH-LAX by calling the Australian center. J space showed on AA.com but of course wouldn't book. Whole process took under 10 minutes. "Oh I see the space right here, I wonder why you couldn't book it?" You and me both! Used this award to replace an award routing through LHR on BA and of course saved hundreds in taxes. Well worth the 40 cents in Skype credits to call down there.
I was provided the EY record locator without prompting which was a nice touch.
Some info that might help -- I called at 8am ET, which seems to be a dead time to call the Australian call center. Calling in the evening in the USA led to long hold times (20+ minutes before I dropped) without any info of how much longer the hold would last. So keep that in mind if you're going to go that route.
I was provided the EY record locator without prompting which was a nice touch.
Some info that might help -- I called at 8am ET, which seems to be a dead time to call the Australian call center. Calling in the evening in the USA led to long hold times (20+ minutes before I dropped) without any info of how much longer the hold would last. So keep that in mind if you're going to go that route.
Last edited by bradfrancini; Jun 28, 2019 at 6:27 am Reason: Typo
Jun 28, 2019, 6:02 pm
#1158
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
I have a one-way booked from AUH-JFK in F, ultimately hoping to add a JFK-SEA leg at the end. While there is plenty of coach seats for the JFK-SEA leg, The Trinidad agent could not add it, said there needed to be F space that was not pricing in the aanytime category. Also tried YVR, PDX, SFO, and LAX.
What at is my best appproach to complete the JFK-SEA leg? Thanks!!!!
What at is my best appproach to complete the JFK-SEA leg? Thanks!!!!
Jun 30, 2019, 4:34 am
#1159
Join Date: Jun 2009
Programs: A3 Gold, AA Platinum, Marriott & Discovery Platinum, IGH Diamond
Posts: 889
Does EY ever opens more then 2 F A380 award seats Europe-AUH this days?
I can only see up to 2 on any flights. And if it's 2 per flight, does anyone have experience witn additional seats opening up later if one books the 2 available?
Thanks & regards,
El Puerco Volante
I can only see up to 2 on any flights. And if it's 2 per flight, does anyone have experience witn additional seats opening up later if one books the 2 available?
Thanks & regards,
El Puerco Volante
Jun 30, 2019, 1:05 pm
#1160
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Programs: AS MVPG, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 983
OK, has anyone been able to get this. I am getting different answers from the Trinidad and Peru offices.
AUH - JFK - YVR on EY and CX F for 115K AA ?
This is definitely a valid routing sold by EY. I was just on the phone with EY and they will sell this routing as one ticket. AA is saying it is not and is priced as 2 separate tickets.
AUH - JFK - YVR on EY and CX F for 115K AA ?
This is definitely a valid routing sold by EY. I was just on the phone with EY and they will sell this routing as one ticket. AA is saying it is not and is priced as 2 separate tickets.
Jun 30, 2019, 7:08 pm
#1161
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,697
EY does indeed show AUH-NYC-CX-YVR as a valid routing
If AA is refusing to permit it as a single award, other than phoning back and trying again a couple of times to see if it was just an agent's error , not sure what else you can do
If AA is refusing to permit it as a single award, other than phoning back and trying again a couple of times to see if it was just an agent's error , not sure what else you can do
Jun 30, 2019, 8:59 pm
#1162
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 55
OK, has anyone been able to get this. I am getting different answers from the Trinidad and Peru offices.
AUH - JFK - YVR on EY and CX F for 115K AA ?
This is definitely a valid routing sold by EY. I was just on the phone with EY and they will sell this routing as one ticket. AA is saying it is not and is priced as 2 separate tickets.
AUH - JFK - YVR on EY and CX F for 115K AA ?
This is definitely a valid routing sold by EY. I was just on the phone with EY and they will sell this routing as one ticket. AA is saying it is not and is priced as 2 separate tickets.
many cases, it is hard coded in the aa system, and an agent wouldn't be able to override
Jul 1, 2019, 5:13 pm
#1165
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Charlottesville, Va. USA
Posts: 1,753
Just reporting back concerning prior posts and questions. Last Friday afternoon east coast time I call the Australia call cell center using skype. I was trying to book jnb/auh on U and auh/iad in O. (J&F) What I had seen on aa.com showed availability but I could not book it. Called US call center several times. Best I could do was jnb/auh/ord/dca in bus. The guy in Australia looked at that and was amazed. He very quickly changed the booking to my desired routing and classes very quickly. Put the whole thing on hold. Called us call center and ticketed. I don't get why the us call center has so much trouble and apparently Australia call center doesn't. Go figure. YMMV.
Jul 1, 2019, 5:32 pm
#1166
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Austin
Posts: 4,629
In general, do you think that AA and other airlines want you to be able to use your miles for free flights? Sure they want to to collect miles. That makes them money. Using miles costs them money. They are rewarded for making money and punished for spending it. A nearly perfect business is one in which you sell a service and then not be required to provide it.
Of course I hate the situation as well but its not some unique and hidden motivation.
Jul 1, 2019, 8:34 pm
#1168
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Programs: AS MVPG, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 983
Yes, this is what I am being told. The system is pricing it this way as 2 separate awards. Supervisor said she was unable to adjust. I can book an AUH-JFK-SEA-YVR on EY, AA, and AS for 115K but no on CX.
Jul 3, 2019, 9:09 am
#1170
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 55
I am not sure, but it may violate the 1.25 mpm rule. You can check this with expertflyer. AA system knows the rule, so it is hard coded to price them as separate awards. Agents may not recognize, but the rule is in their system.