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)
Feb 19, 2018, 9:03 pm
#181
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 152
Hi all.
I've currently got a CAI-AUH-LAX-SFO itinerary on hold through tomorrow night. I'd like to change the reservation and depart instead from AMM, but cannot make the change to the current itinerary because, according to the agent, I already have the last two AUH-LAX seats on hold. The computer does not, apparently, permit me to swap out the CAI-AUH segment for AMM-AUH because the AUH-LAX segment has no availability (since I've already reserved them). I've got three questions for you folks:
1. Is this a pretty widely-reported issue? Or is it just a matter of me calling the wrong call center?
2. If I let my hold expire, do those seats almost certainly (i.e. with rare exception) go back into inventory? Seems like it would be reasonable to just let my hold expire and call to book a new award later.
3. A helpful agent suggested that if I really want this itinerary, I should just ticket the reservation and call later to make a change to the origin. But it seems that I'd be subject to change fees with absolute certainty and, also, I could envision running into the same issue I'm currently encountering wrt the AUH-LAX segment. That's a bad idea, right?
Thanks for the help!
I've currently got a CAI-AUH-LAX-SFO itinerary on hold through tomorrow night. I'd like to change the reservation and depart instead from AMM, but cannot make the change to the current itinerary because, according to the agent, I already have the last two AUH-LAX seats on hold. The computer does not, apparently, permit me to swap out the CAI-AUH segment for AMM-AUH because the AUH-LAX segment has no availability (since I've already reserved them). I've got three questions for you folks:
1. Is this a pretty widely-reported issue? Or is it just a matter of me calling the wrong call center?
2. If I let my hold expire, do those seats almost certainly (i.e. with rare exception) go back into inventory? Seems like it would be reasonable to just let my hold expire and call to book a new award later.
3. A helpful agent suggested that if I really want this itinerary, I should just ticket the reservation and call later to make a change to the origin. But it seems that I'd be subject to change fees with absolute certainty and, also, I could envision running into the same issue I'm currently encountering wrt the AUH-LAX segment. That's a bad idea, right?
Thanks for the help!
Last edited by thtsapaddlin; Feb 19, 2018 at 9:39 pm
Feb 20, 2018, 9:37 am
#182
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SUX
Programs: BA Silver; HHonors Gold; SPG Gold; Points but dirt with everyone else
Posts: 8,050
Did a little more digging (y'all didn't think I would just let this go, did you? 
). This time I called the AAdvantage desk and as I figured, it seems the Etihad agent I spoke with was misinformed - the flight was not canceled.
The AA agent said that the reason we were bumped to the later flight was because the time for our original flight E1Y02 changed by FIVE minutes from 1445 to 1440 and that is why we got kicked to the later EY100 flight.
He said that EY’s re-accommodation policy moves you forward, not back. Unfortunately EY102 no longer has two award seats in F available so will have to live with EY100 and check in every so often to see if two F seats on the earlier flight open up.
). This time I called the AAdvantage desk and as I figured, it seems the Etihad agent I spoke with was misinformed - the flight was not canceled.The AA agent said that the reason we were bumped to the later flight was because the time for our original flight E1Y02 changed by FIVE minutes from 1445 to 1440 and that is why we got kicked to the later EY100 flight.
He said that EY’s re-accommodation policy moves you forward, not back. Unfortunately EY102 no longer has two award seats in F available so will have to live with EY100 and check in every so often to see if two F seats on the earlier flight open up.
Feb 20, 2018, 9:29 pm
#183
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 152
Hi all.
I've currently got a CAI-AUH-LAX-SFO itinerary on hold through tomorrow night. I'd like to change the reservation and depart instead from AMM, but cannot make the change to the current itinerary because, according to the agent, I already have the last two AUH-LAX seats on hold. The computer does not, apparently, permit me to swap out the CAI-AUH segment for AMM-AUH because the AUH-LAX segment has no availability (since I've already reserved them). I've got three questions for you folks:
1. Is this a pretty widely-reported issue? Or is it just a matter of me calling the wrong call center?
2. If I let my hold expire, do those seats almost certainly (i.e. with rare exception) go back into inventory? Seems like it would be reasonable to just let my hold expire and call to book a new award later.
3. A helpful agent suggested that if I really want this itinerary, I should just ticket the reservation and call later to make a change to the origin. But it seems that I'd be subject to change fees with absolute certainty and, also, I could envision running into the same issue I'm currently encountering wrt the AUH-LAX segment. That's a bad idea, right?
Thanks for the help!
I've currently got a CAI-AUH-LAX-SFO itinerary on hold through tomorrow night. I'd like to change the reservation and depart instead from AMM, but cannot make the change to the current itinerary because, according to the agent, I already have the last two AUH-LAX seats on hold. The computer does not, apparently, permit me to swap out the CAI-AUH segment for AMM-AUH because the AUH-LAX segment has no availability (since I've already reserved them). I've got three questions for you folks:
1. Is this a pretty widely-reported issue? Or is it just a matter of me calling the wrong call center?
2. If I let my hold expire, do those seats almost certainly (i.e. with rare exception) go back into inventory? Seems like it would be reasonable to just let my hold expire and call to book a new award later.
3. A helpful agent suggested that if I really want this itinerary, I should just ticket the reservation and call later to make a change to the origin. But it seems that I'd be subject to change fees with absolute certainty and, also, I could envision running into the same issue I'm currently encountering wrt the AUH-LAX segment. That's a bad idea, right?
Thanks for the help!
I outlined my issue (that previous agents couldn't get the segment to "stick" despite seeing availability) and she proactively found a couple of alternative routings on EY through Chicago, even offering to try to have some domestic space opened up for me from ORD-SFO. I asked her to kindly keep those options in mind but that I'd love, instead, for her to attempt to get that AMM-AUH routing on EY to confirm. For the record, both etihad.com and EF were showing 2 seats. She tried and inexplicably had no luck. She said, "Let me see if I can figure something out," and went silent for a few minutes. She came back saying, "I tried a bunch of EY options, but couldn't get any of those to work. So instead, I found a Royal Jordanian flight and had no problem inserting it into the reservation. If that doesn't work for you, we can keep searching, but the system will let me put this itinerary on request." Turns out the RJ option resulted in a more ideal departure time and a much shorter connection in AUH. She really was a saint for going out of her way to find something that worked.
I fear that I've gone into too much detail here, but the datapoint is this: I was unable to modify a held reservation when swapping out one EY segment for another, but was able to successfully modify the reservation when swapping an EY segment for a segment on another OW carrier.
I imagine this will be of narrow interest, but I thought I'd share nonetheless.
Feb 20, 2018, 11:48 pm
#184
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Benicia, California, USA
Programs: AA PLT,AS,UA PP,J6,FB,EY,LH,SQ,HH Dmd,Hyatt Glbl,Marriott Plat,IHG Plat,Accor Gold
Posts: 10,820
Well, thanks to the help of an incredible phone agent, I've got a resolution.
I outlined my issue (that previous agents couldn't get the segment to "stick" despite seeing availability) and she proactively found a couple of alternative routings on EY through Chicago, even offering to try to have some domestic space opened up for me from ORD-SFO. I asked her to kindly keep those options in mind but that I'd love, instead, for her to attempt to get that AMM-AUH routing on EY to confirm. For the record, both etihad.com and EF were showing 2 seats. She tried and inexplicably had no luck. She said, "Let me see if I can figure something out," and went silent for a few minutes. She came back saying, "I tried a bunch of EY options, but couldn't get any of those to work. So instead, I found a Royal Jordanian flight and had no problem inserting it into the reservation. If that doesn't work for you, we can keep searching, but the system will let me put this itinerary on request." Turns out the RJ option resulted in a more ideal departure time and a much shorter connection in AUH. She really was a saint for going out of her way to find something that worked.
I fear that I've gone into too much detail here, but the datapoint is this: I was unable to modify a held reservation when swapping out one EY segment for another, but was able to successfully modify the reservation when swapping an EY segment for a segment on another OW carrier.
I imagine this will be of narrow interest, but I thought I'd share nonetheless.
I outlined my issue (that previous agents couldn't get the segment to "stick" despite seeing availability) and she proactively found a couple of alternative routings on EY through Chicago, even offering to try to have some domestic space opened up for me from ORD-SFO. I asked her to kindly keep those options in mind but that I'd love, instead, for her to attempt to get that AMM-AUH routing on EY to confirm. For the record, both etihad.com and EF were showing 2 seats. She tried and inexplicably had no luck. She said, "Let me see if I can figure something out," and went silent for a few minutes. She came back saying, "I tried a bunch of EY options, but couldn't get any of those to work. So instead, I found a Royal Jordanian flight and had no problem inserting it into the reservation. If that doesn't work for you, we can keep searching, but the system will let me put this itinerary on request." Turns out the RJ option resulted in a more ideal departure time and a much shorter connection in AUH. She really was a saint for going out of her way to find something that worked.
I fear that I've gone into too much detail here, but the datapoint is this: I was unable to modify a held reservation when swapping out one EY segment for another, but was able to successfully modify the reservation when swapping an EY segment for a segment on another OW carrier.
I imagine this will be of narrow interest, but I thought I'd share nonetheless.
And have a great trip!
Feb 20, 2018, 11:51 pm
#185
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 14
Will "codesharing" end partner award booking through AA? If I book LON-AUH MLE and change the travel dates after March 2018 (when codeshare relationship ends), what do we presume will happen?
Is it free to change EY awards booked with AA so long as the itinerary is exactly the same?
Is it free to change EY awards booked with AA so long as the itinerary is exactly the same?
Feb 20, 2018, 11:58 pm
#186
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 14
Will "codesharing" end partner award booking through AA? If I book LON-AUH MLE and change the travel dates after March 2018 (when codeshare relationship ends), what do we presume will happen?
Is it free to change EY awards booked with AA so long as the itinerary is exactly the same?
Is it free to change EY awards booked with AA so long as the itinerary is exactly the same?
Feb 21, 2018, 7:18 am
#187
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
Well, thanks to the help of an incredible phone agent, I've got a resolution.
I outlined my issue (that previous agents couldn't get the segment to "stick" despite seeing availability) and she proactively found a couple of alternative routings on EY through Chicago, even offering to try to have some domestic space opened up for me from ORD-SFO. I asked her to kindly keep those options in mind but that I'd love, instead, for her to attempt to get that AMM-AUH routing on EY to confirm. For the record, both etihad.com and EF were showing 2 seats. She tried and inexplicably had no luck. She said, "Let me see if I can figure something out," and went silent for a few minutes. She came back saying, "I tried a bunch of EY options, but couldn't get any of those to work. So instead, I found a Royal Jordanian flight and had no problem inserting it into the reservation. If that doesn't work for you, we can keep searching, but the system will let me put this itinerary on request." Turns out the RJ option resulted in a more ideal departure time and a much shorter connection in AUH. She really was a saint for going out of her way to find something that worked.
I fear that I've gone into too much detail here, but the datapoint is this: I was unable to modify a held reservation when swapping out one EY segment for another, but was able to successfully modify the reservation when swapping an EY segment for a segment on another OW carrier.
I imagine this will be of narrow interest, but I thought I'd share nonetheless.
I outlined my issue (that previous agents couldn't get the segment to "stick" despite seeing availability) and she proactively found a couple of alternative routings on EY through Chicago, even offering to try to have some domestic space opened up for me from ORD-SFO. I asked her to kindly keep those options in mind but that I'd love, instead, for her to attempt to get that AMM-AUH routing on EY to confirm. For the record, both etihad.com and EF were showing 2 seats. She tried and inexplicably had no luck. She said, "Let me see if I can figure something out," and went silent for a few minutes. She came back saying, "I tried a bunch of EY options, but couldn't get any of those to work. So instead, I found a Royal Jordanian flight and had no problem inserting it into the reservation. If that doesn't work for you, we can keep searching, but the system will let me put this itinerary on request." Turns out the RJ option resulted in a more ideal departure time and a much shorter connection in AUH. She really was a saint for going out of her way to find something that worked.
I fear that I've gone into too much detail here, but the datapoint is this: I was unable to modify a held reservation when swapping out one EY segment for another, but was able to successfully modify the reservation when swapping an EY segment for a segment on another OW carrier.
I imagine this will be of narrow interest, but I thought I'd share nonetheless.
I'm not sure why none of the agents were able to swap one EY segment for another, unless the segments couldn't be "married" in GDS-speak (EY may have availability on each segment individually but not when booked as a connection). Or, there could be a problem with booking EY connections in general that manifests in strange ways. I have an itinerary that includes KWI-AUH-JFK and the agent who was able to book AUH-JFK couldn't get KWI-AUH to come back confirmed ("stick") even though he could see availability. He was finally able to do it, after putting me on hold a super long time. I tried to get him to tell me how he did it, to help in future situations, but he would only be vague.
Feb 21, 2018, 7:20 am
#188
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
It is again possible to make seat assignments without calling and having to answer 20 questions:
How To Select Etihad Seats Online - One Mile at a Time
The mobile site, which can also be accessed through a desktop browser, is Etihad Airways. Click on "Additional services".
How To Select Etihad Seats Online - One Mile at a Time
The mobile site, which can also be accessed through a desktop browser, is Etihad Airways. Click on "Additional services".
Feb 21, 2018, 7:52 am
#189
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: MLB
Programs: DL DM/2.9M, AA EXP, *A Gold
Posts: 245
This doesn't work for me either - not on mobile app or the mobile website.
Feb 21, 2018, 8:29 am
#190
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
Just tried it and it works fine for me. I can't say what the difference is. Has your booking been ticketed? The wiki in this thread says it works even before ticketing, but I wouldn't trust that.
Feb 21, 2018, 8:40 am
#191
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SUX
Programs: BA Silver; HHonors Gold; SPG Gold; Points but dirt with everyone else
Posts: 8,050
Still working for me. I'm the one who slipped that note into the Wiki before I pointed it out to lucky. I will admit that the piece about before ticketing may not be fully true, as I had been ticketed and then the schedule change I've mentioned upthread gobbled up my seat on AUH-JFK. I discovered the mobile seat for seat selection during the time period between when AA fixed my reservation and when they ticketed it. The fact that there was a ticket number in the reservation, even if it didn't match the reservation, might have made a difference. I've taken the note about before ticketing out of the Wiki.
Feb 21, 2018, 8:46 am
#192
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: ORD
Programs: BA, AA, SQ, UA, AC, WS, MR TIT
Posts: 8,658
Is it possible to book an award in J class on EY from LHR to AUH but starting the journey from AMS on BA to LHR for the same mileage level required from Europe to Middle East 42.5k? Example: AMS-(BA)LHR-(EY)AUH
Feb 21, 2018, 9:26 am
#193
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,550
EY's fares routing rules do not allow for travel AMS-LHR on BA , so it may be priced as 2 awards
Really need to call AA to book , get it priced and then see what is quoted
Even though EY's routing rules do not permit it, it may be priced as one award - in general
Really need to call AA to book , get it priced and then see what is quoted
Even though EY's routing rules do not permit it, it may be priced as one award - in general
Feb 21, 2018, 11:49 am
#194
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,443
Last year I booked MAD-LHR-AUH as a single award with no issues.
Feb 21, 2018, 7:40 pm
#195
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
It's odd, because I am able to enter the PNR and my name, and it first gets a "Data Flow Error" that says it got an error pulling up the details, but if I click "OK" it then shows me the details and the flights. Then, after clicking "Additional Services" I get the fatal error "We encountered a technical issue and will not be able to proceed with this transaction. We apologize for the inconvenience and suggest you call us on 02 599 0000 from within the UAE or +971 2 599 0000 from elsewhere for assistance."
