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)
Sep 29, 2019, 4:51 pm
#1291
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
The award chart shows 30K miles in J for India Subcontinent to India Subcontinent.
There is guest space award on EY for DEL - AUH - MLE.
When I call in however, they are trying to charge me 60K miles saying that I cannot use the India Subcontinent to India Subcontinent number of miles since it connects in the Middle East and I must use the Africa number of miles?
Is this correct?
There is guest space award on EY for DEL - AUH - MLE.
When I call in however, they are trying to charge me 60K miles saying that I cannot use the India Subcontinent to India Subcontinent number of miles since it connects in the Middle East and I must use the Africa number of miles?
Is this correct?
AA relaxed the rules earlier this year, allowing some exceptions on EY that used to be only permitted on QR. There's a FT thread about the changes: Award routing US-Eur OR ME-Asia rules changes 2 Apr 2019. Good information about AA award routing rules and which exceptions are allowed is in Gary leff's blog post American Airlines Award Routing Rules: Complete List of Allowable ‘Third Region Exceptions’.
Yes and no.
It is correct that it will (probably) be 60k miles, however the agent's reason about requiring the Africa number of miles is just made up nonsense.
In order for a partner award like this to be booked as a single award (30k in this instance), there must be a published fare that allows such a routing. Looking at ExpertFlyer, EY does not publish a fare for DEL-MLE, not surprisingly since it's obviously way out the way. So the computer is pricing it as 2 awards, DEL-AUH + AUH-MLE. There is no way around this.
It is correct that it will (probably) be 60k miles, however the agent's reason about requiring the Africa number of miles is just made up nonsense.
In order for a partner award like this to be booked as a single award (30k in this instance), there must be a published fare that allows such a routing. Looking at ExpertFlyer, EY does not publish a fare for DEL-MLE, not surprisingly since it's obviously way out the way. So the computer is pricing it as 2 awards, DEL-AUH + AUH-MLE. There is no way around this.
Sep 30, 2019, 11:41 am
#1292
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 310
I wanted to chime in with some data points from booking this. I was trying to get AA to ticket me on JFK-AUH-NBO in EY business or first. EY's site showed two guest seats for both business and first on the JFK-AUH segment for my desired date and business on the AUH-NBO segment for connections.
I called the Australia number last night and they were not able to find anything on EY100 for me. They tried to get me to book JFK-AUH and AUH-NBO as separate awards. I said no thank you and hung up. I called the New Zealand number today and they were able to easily find JFK-AUH-NBO in EY business, but nothing showed in first for the JFK-AUH segment. That was fine with me and I was able to get them to put it on hold so that I could call the US call center and ask them to add an AA connection from my home town to JFK.
I also asked the agent whether they could see LAX-AUH-NBO (again, for flights that EY was showing 2 guest business available) and they informed me they could not. I'm not sure what causes this inconsistency.
The only ex-USA EY awards that I've personally seen bookable online (far in advance) have been those through ORD. I've seen close-in space on other routes, but I'm not often planning a trip one month out.
I called the Australia number last night and they were not able to find anything on EY100 for me. They tried to get me to book JFK-AUH and AUH-NBO as separate awards. I said no thank you and hung up. I called the New Zealand number today and they were able to easily find JFK-AUH-NBO in EY business, but nothing showed in first for the JFK-AUH segment. That was fine with me and I was able to get them to put it on hold so that I could call the US call center and ask them to add an AA connection from my home town to JFK.
I also asked the agent whether they could see LAX-AUH-NBO (again, for flights that EY was showing 2 guest business available) and they informed me they could not. I'm not sure what causes this inconsistency.
The only ex-USA EY awards that I've personally seen bookable online (far in advance) have been those through ORD. I've seen close-in space on other routes, but I'm not often planning a trip one month out.
Sep 30, 2019, 5:25 pm
#1294
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 310
LAX-AUH-NBO shows all as one itinerary on the EY site (with Guest availability for two). I did check segment by segment as well, but checked the whole itinerary to start. That's why I was confused that it didn't show up for the agent.
Oct 1, 2019, 3:58 pm
#1295
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 45
To follow up on this issue, I have Etihad F booked from CDG->AUH->SYD and after reading this issue had called Etihad a couple of weeks ago and they said there was no checked baggage allowance on the ticket and that I would need to call AA to get them to reissue the ticket with the checked baggage endorsement listed. A couple of calls to AA both in the US and Australia had gotten me nowhere, with AA insisting that they couldn't/didn't need to reissue the ticket with the checked baggage allowance on the ticket and that Etihad should still give me the proper checked baggage allowance in accordance with their agreement.
I called Etihad at their US number just now, and a very friendly agent placed me on a brief hold and came back and said I would in fact have 50KG of checked baggage even though it was not showing on the ticket. She said they had gotten an "email" addressing this issue in the past few days and that it has been corrected such that passengers will receive the proper checked baggage allowance even if it is not on the ticket in the way they had wanted even a week ago.
So if she is to be believed no one else will have this issue, though as usual YMMV.
I called Etihad at their US number just now, and a very friendly agent placed me on a brief hold and came back and said I would in fact have 50KG of checked baggage even though it was not showing on the ticket. She said they had gotten an "email" addressing this issue in the past few days and that it has been corrected such that passengers will receive the proper checked baggage allowance even if it is not on the ticket in the way they had wanted even a week ago.
So if she is to be believed no one else will have this issue, though as usual YMMV.
A warning for an unusual situation that might arise when booking award travel on EY online at aa.com:
Last night I flew AUH-HKG in J on EY (fantastic service, great J suite) using AA miles (I'd booked it online four months ago). At J check-in, I check 1 bag. No problem... BP printed and I start to turn to walk to security and immigration. The agent calls me back to the podium and informs me that my ticket has no baggage allowance. A bit incredulous, I ask 'how can an international J ticket have no baggage allowance?!?!' The agent sees no baggage allowance listed under the Endorsements section of this AA-issued ticket. Long story short, I called the US AA EXP line and, after being on the phone for 70 minutes (the agent had never seen anything like this before), was able to get the ticket reissued with the proper endorsement listed -- otherwise for a 25-lb. bag (no special equipment, not oversized) EY would have charged me US $375!!! Plus there was no guarantee that AA would have reimbursed me that baggage fee, so I stayed put at the check-in counter until the ticket was reissued.
The EY agent explained that occasionally this happens with AA-issued tickets from online bookings and, as neither airline manually reviews the endorsements when the ticket is issued, it's typically not until the J pax checks in that this is discovered. Luckily I arrived 4 hours before departure so I could try the Etihad Premium Business Lounge.
The overall chances of this happening are small, but I'm writing this to advise others what to do in this situation (and avoid a very expensive, lengthy phone call). Call an AA customer service line and tell them that the ticket has to be reissued with a baggage endorsement listed. They can copy-paste the language from EY's website, but if it's not listed on the ticket itself, EY will not acknowledge the baggage allowance.
Last night I flew AUH-HKG in J on EY (fantastic service, great J suite) using AA miles (I'd booked it online four months ago). At J check-in, I check 1 bag. No problem... BP printed and I start to turn to walk to security and immigration. The agent calls me back to the podium and informs me that my ticket has no baggage allowance. A bit incredulous, I ask 'how can an international J ticket have no baggage allowance?!?!' The agent sees no baggage allowance listed under the Endorsements section of this AA-issued ticket. Long story short, I called the US AA EXP line and, after being on the phone for 70 minutes (the agent had never seen anything like this before), was able to get the ticket reissued with the proper endorsement listed -- otherwise for a 25-lb. bag (no special equipment, not oversized) EY would have charged me US $375!!! Plus there was no guarantee that AA would have reimbursed me that baggage fee, so I stayed put at the check-in counter until the ticket was reissued.
The EY agent explained that occasionally this happens with AA-issued tickets from online bookings and, as neither airline manually reviews the endorsements when the ticket is issued, it's typically not until the J pax checks in that this is discovered. Luckily I arrived 4 hours before departure so I could try the Etihad Premium Business Lounge.
The overall chances of this happening are small, but I'm writing this to advise others what to do in this situation (and avoid a very expensive, lengthy phone call). Call an AA customer service line and tell them that the ticket has to be reissued with a baggage endorsement listed. They can copy-paste the language from EY's website, but if it's not listed on the ticket itself, EY will not acknowledge the baggage allowance.
Oct 2, 2019, 12:56 pm
#1296
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 104
We are currently in the midst of an AAdvantage Award redemption that has us traveling from the US to India and back. The longhaul on the way out had us flying J on EY130 after a couple of internal hops on AA domestic first.
EY managed to pleasantly surprise us when they issued a fresh pair of boarding passes for F when we went to board via the in-lounge gate at IAD. Took a couple of minutes for my brain to register that the First on these Etihad boarding passes was not the same as the First (corn flakes for an AVML 🤷
on our AA boarding passes 😂
EY F and the 787 were pretty damn nice. Wouldn't say it's worth the incremental mileage if you pay for it, but a very solid hardproduct nonetheless. Solid enough that I called in to reroute our return tickets to now be on AUH-IAD.
I kept an eye out for this after originally only finding AUH-ORD on their slightly older 777s. The reissue of our award ticket was an interesting experience in itself. AAs website showed me availability from AUH-IAD on EY and IAD to our final destination on AA but not end to end from India to our FD. From all that I've read about the process, married segments only affects travel on AA. However, in spite of me being able to see availability on their website, I couldn't get anyone at the AA call center to see it. Finally tried the NZ number and had my tickets submitted for reissue in an easy 10 minute call..
EY managed to pleasantly surprise us when they issued a fresh pair of boarding passes for F when we went to board via the in-lounge gate at IAD. Took a couple of minutes for my brain to register that the First on these Etihad boarding passes was not the same as the First (corn flakes for an AVML 🤷
on our AA boarding passes 😂EY F and the 787 were pretty damn nice. Wouldn't say it's worth the incremental mileage if you pay for it, but a very solid hardproduct nonetheless. Solid enough that I called in to reroute our return tickets to now be on AUH-IAD.
I kept an eye out for this after originally only finding AUH-ORD on their slightly older 777s. The reissue of our award ticket was an interesting experience in itself. AAs website showed me availability from AUH-IAD on EY and IAD to our final destination on AA but not end to end from India to our FD. From all that I've read about the process, married segments only affects travel on AA. However, in spite of me being able to see availability on their website, I couldn't get anyone at the AA call center to see it. Finally tried the NZ number and had my tickets submitted for reissue in an easy 10 minute call..
Oct 2, 2019, 2:54 pm
#1297
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,586
I kept an eye out for this after originally only finding AUH-ORD on their slightly older 777s. The reissue of our award ticket was an interesting experience in itself. AAs website showed me availability from AUH-IAD on EY and IAD to our final destination on AA but not end to end from India to our FD. From all that I've read about the process, married segments only affects travel on AA. However, in spite of me being able to see availability on their website, I couldn't get anyone at the AA call center to see it. Finally tried the NZ number and had my tickets submitted for reissue in an easy 10 minute call..
Oct 8, 2019, 3:07 pm
#1298
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: SBA and LAX
Programs: AA, UA
Posts: 334
I looking at NBO-AUH-LAX availability on EY site for GuestSeat/Guest Business. But it is a phantom availability on the AA site. Do I need to call AA to book this? Also on EY site its pricing at 185K miles and $396 tax. It's be 70K+ tax AA miles, right?
Oct 8, 2019, 3:09 pm
#1299
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 310
Call AA's New Zealand call center (as specified in the wiki in this post) and ask them to price it out. It should be 75,000 AA plus taxes and fees.
Oct 8, 2019, 3:53 pm
#1300
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,586
The number of miles showing on etihadguest for NBO-LAX in guest business is 155,778 rather than 185k
Last edited by Dave Noble; Oct 8, 2019 at 3:59 pm
Oct 8, 2019, 4:10 pm
#1301
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: DTW/MBS
Programs: UA 1K, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Formerly Starbucks Gold
Posts: 3,525
Anyways I put it on hold, and just wanted to say my first time calling international like this too, it only took about 15 minutes of my time.
Oct 8, 2019, 6:38 pm
#1302
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: SBA and LAX
Programs: AA, UA
Posts: 334
I am searching for NBO-LAX. It pricing at Miles "187000 + USD 396.35"
I just called NZ center for the first time. Was on hold for about 12 minutes, but finally got through. The accent was a bit strong and caught me off guard, but what was funny was when I told the rep where I wanted to go from, she automatically asked if I wanted to be on Etihad.
Do you say "I wanna book this award ticket and I can't seem to do it online on AA site. Can you help me?"
Oct 8, 2019, 7:34 pm
#1303
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Charlottesville, Va. USA
Posts: 1,752
Can I go back to the checked bag issue. I have tickets on ey booked with aa miles. The routing is jnb/auh in business and auh/iad in first. The flights are in early may 2020. I booked them in june of this year. Then I saw the postings about the baggage allowance if it was not shown on your ticket. It was not shown on mine. However, when I check manage my booking on the ey site it shows the kg allowance. I assume I am ok?
Oct 8, 2019, 9:09 pm
#1304
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: DTW/MBS
Programs: UA 1K, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Formerly Starbucks Gold
Posts: 3,525
That is almost verbatim what I said.