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 31, 2018, 3:08 pm
#286
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
If able to do it as a 2 awards in a single booking with no stopover in London, AA to London and EY to Abu Dhabi, the taxes would be $54.50 , not $430
Travel on BA to London and then on with EY, the taxes would be $77.30 the carrier surcharge of $478 giving $555.30 one way.
If having to book as 2 awards or have a stopover in London, then the taxes would jump from $54.40 to $289.30
using 2 awards will save 5000 points up front, however should availability open in business class for the whole journey from JFK-AUH , then unless EP status is held by person whose account is used, there will be the cost for 2 mileage redeposits and award claims ( plus $75 if done within 21 days of departue ) rather than just being able to rebook at no cost into business class
Travel on BA to London and then on with EY, the taxes would be $77.30 the carrier surcharge of $478 giving $555.30 one way.
If having to book as 2 awards or have a stopover in London, then the taxes would jump from $54.40 to $289.30
using 2 awards will save 5000 points up front, however should availability open in business class for the whole journey from JFK-AUH , then unless EP status is held by person whose account is used, there will be the cost for 2 mileage redeposits and award claims ( plus $75 if done within 21 days of departue ) rather than just being able to rebook at no cost into business class
Apr 2, 2018, 5:48 pm
#289
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: NY, NY
Posts: 695
I have tried calling Aus/NZ/Singapore and Trinidad for a flight in early Feb'19 from JFK-AUH, and what's weird is that across multiple dates they see the availability that I see on EY's website for EY102 (2PM departure), but don't see any availability for EY100, the evening departure, even though EY's website shows Guest-level availability. How bizarre. For now I have booked myself and my SO onto the early flight, and can only hope that either they eventually see the night departure, or that there is an inevitable schedule change that will kick us onto the later flight...
Apr 2, 2018, 5:52 pm
#290
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
Programs: AF Platinum, EK Gold, AA EXP, UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 21,602
I have tried calling Aus/NZ/Singapore and Trinidad for a flight in early Feb'19 from JFK-AUH, and what's weird is that across multiple dates they see the availability that I see on EY's website for EY102 (2PM departure), but don't see any availability for EY100, the evening departure, even though EY's website shows Guest-level availability. How bizarre. For now I have booked myself and my SO onto the early flight, and can only hope that either they eventually see the night departure, or that there is an inevitable schedule change that will kick us onto the later flight...
Apr 2, 2018, 6:25 pm
#291
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: NY, NY
Posts: 695
I am on Eastern Time : I tried Singapore about 5x over the course of the last 14 hours or so, NZ 4x, Australia 2x, Trinidad I think it was 6x if not more, I tried Hong Kong 1x, Puerto Rico 1x, and USA (just on the off-chance) 2x. With the exception of USA which saw no availability in F, all saw the same availability on EY102 in F as I did for early February, but none of the EY100. I will keep on trying, because this is definitely seems like an unusual wrinkle from my (extremely limited) EY booking experience
Apr 2, 2018, 6:29 pm
#292
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
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I am on Eastern Time : I tried Singapore about 5x over the course of the last 14 hours or so, NZ 4x, Australia 2x, Trinidad I think it was 6x if not more, I tried Hong Kong 1x, Puerto Rico 1x, and USA (just on the off-chance) 2x. With the exception of USA which saw no availability in F, all saw the same availability on EY102 in F as I did for early February, but none of the EY100. I will keep on trying, because this is definitely seems like an unusual wrinkle from my (extremely limited) EY booking experience
Apr 2, 2018, 6:55 pm
#293
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: NY, NY
Posts: 695
Apr 9, 2018, 8:28 am
#294
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 51
When you call to pay for an award on hold, should your CC show a pending charge right away? Or only when the award is actually ticketed? My CC is showing nothing right now with the award still "On Request". The agent who processed my payment wasn't exactly on top of her game...so now I'm a bit worried something went wrong.
Apr 9, 2018, 8:41 am
#295
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
Programs: AF Platinum, EK Gold, AA EXP, UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 21,602
When you call to pay for an award on hold, should your CC show a pending charge right away? Or only when the award is actually ticketed? My CC is showing nothing right now with the award still "On Request". The agent who processed my payment wasn't exactly on top of her game...so now I'm a bit worried something went wrong.
"On Request" just means not yet ticketed.
There can be a ticketing delay of a few days, especially when partner airlines are involved and the travel date is far in the future, which can get a lower priority in the queue.
Occasionally, there can be an issue. If On Request lingers for a 3-4 days, I'd call and make sure there isn't a problem somewhere along the line.
Apr 9, 2018, 9:09 am
#296
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 51
Only when ticketed.
"On Request" just means not yet ticketed.
There can be a ticketing delay of a few days, especially when partner airlines are involved and the travel date is far in the future, which can get a lower priority in the queue.
Occasionally, there can be an issue. If On Request lingers for a 3-4 days, I'd call and make sure there isn't a problem somewhere along the line.
"On Request" just means not yet ticketed.
There can be a ticketing delay of a few days, especially when partner airlines are involved and the travel date is far in the future, which can get a lower priority in the queue.
Occasionally, there can be an issue. If On Request lingers for a 3-4 days, I'd call and make sure there isn't a problem somewhere along the line.
It's been about a day "On request". I was only a little worried because when I booked an AA award for Etihad J a couple months ago and it ticketed later that same day. And then I saw some recent posts where it only took 2-4 hours for those folks to get ticketed. If nothing changes in a few days I'll call AA back.
Apr 9, 2018, 11:55 am
#297
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 114
Booked and ticketed CMB-AUH-JFK//LGA-ORD for 115,000 miles. Flying in J CMB-AUH, F AUH-JFK and F (okay J) LGA-ORD. Had to book this through the Oz reservation line (about $5 to Skype them). AAgent for some reason was able to find the AUH-JFK space in F but not the CMB or LGA legs. Once booked, called the US line and they were able to fix it. Small ticketing delay as my LGA-ORD leg didn't meet the 240 minute MCT (it was only 220 minutes). Figured I will try to standby once I get to LGA - or just hang out in the Centurion Lounge.
Funny thing - when I originally called the US line, they could see F on the 77W but not the A380.
Funny thing - when I originally called the US line, they could see F on the 77W but not the A380.
Last edited by rp88; Apr 9, 2018 at 12:11 pm
Apr 9, 2018, 11:56 am
#298
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 114
I have tried calling Aus/NZ/Singapore and Trinidad for a flight in early Feb'19 from JFK-AUH, and what's weird is that across multiple dates they see the availability that I see on EY's website for EY102 (2PM departure), but don't see any availability for EY100, the evening departure, even though EY's website shows Guest-level availability. How bizarre. For now I have booked myself and my SO onto the early flight, and can only hope that either they eventually see the night departure, or that there is an inevitable schedule change that will kick us onto the later flight...
Etihad's website shows 2 F tickets available on the 10pm departure EY100 JFK-AUH. But anytime I try and book it, the agents can't see the availability. I've called numerous call centers including Singapore, Trinidad, Australia and none of them can see it.
Have you found a solution to the problem?
Apr 9, 2018, 12:22 pm
#299
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: AA EXP (LT Plat 2MM), Marriott Plat, IHG Plat, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Plat, SPG Plat75, UA1K
Posts: 1,248
Seriously, it was really easy. The earlier flights didn't have anything but the 8:30pm flight is the 2nd to last LGA-ORD of the day so I guess that's why it was available.
Apr 9, 2018, 12:31 pm
#300
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: NY, NY
Posts: 695
I have noticed the exact same thing for a different set of dates.
Etihad's website shows 2 F tickets available on the 10pm departure EY100 JFK-AUH. But anytime I try and book it, the agents can't see the availability. I've called numerous call centers including Singapore, Trinidad, Australia and none of them can see it.
Have you found a solution to the problem?
Etihad's website shows 2 F tickets available on the 10pm departure EY100 JFK-AUH. But anytime I try and book it, the agents can't see the availability. I've called numerous call centers including Singapore, Trinidad, Australia and none of them can see it.
Have you found a solution to the problem?