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)
Apr 9, 2018, 4:05 pm
#301
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 306
Here's my recent, ultimately successful experience, in case it is helpful to anyone.
The EY website showed J availability JFK-AUH and AUH-DEL (though only when I searched for them as the return legs of round-trips). Agents in AU/NZ were either able to see the JFK-AUH space or the AUH-DEL space, but never both, so I reserved JFK-AUH in J and AUH-DEL in Y.
Afterward, I placed repeated calls to the US/AU/NZ/SG call centers to try to upgrade the second leg to J, and the pattern was always the same. If I provided my record locator first, the agents would see zero award seats; if I asked after AUH-DEL without mentioning my existing reservation, they would see available seats, but then these seats would disappear the moment they tried to add one to my reservation.
Next, I had the idea to add a connection in BAH, flying AUH-BAH in EY J and BAH-DEL in whatever was available, which happened to be only Y. I figured that way I would at least have Etihad lounge access during the layover. Unexpectedly, though, adding the Gulf Air flight seems to have broken the pattern. The next time I called in (to the US call center), I provided my record locator, asked about AUH-DEL on EY in J, and was told that it was available. It took a little while, but the agent was able to change the reservation to JFK-AUH-DEL all in J. The lesson, possibly, is that mixing other carriers into an award may allow agents access to award space that the system otherwise restricts or suppresses.
The EY website showed J availability JFK-AUH and AUH-DEL (though only when I searched for them as the return legs of round-trips). Agents in AU/NZ were either able to see the JFK-AUH space or the AUH-DEL space, but never both, so I reserved JFK-AUH in J and AUH-DEL in Y.
Afterward, I placed repeated calls to the US/AU/NZ/SG call centers to try to upgrade the second leg to J, and the pattern was always the same. If I provided my record locator first, the agents would see zero award seats; if I asked after AUH-DEL without mentioning my existing reservation, they would see available seats, but then these seats would disappear the moment they tried to add one to my reservation.
Next, I had the idea to add a connection in BAH, flying AUH-BAH in EY J and BAH-DEL in whatever was available, which happened to be only Y. I figured that way I would at least have Etihad lounge access during the layover. Unexpectedly, though, adding the Gulf Air flight seems to have broken the pattern. The next time I called in (to the US call center), I provided my record locator, asked about AUH-DEL on EY in J, and was told that it was available. It took a little while, but the agent was able to change the reservation to JFK-AUH-DEL all in J. The lesson, possibly, is that mixing other carriers into an award may allow agents access to award space that the system otherwise restricts or suppresses.
Apr 9, 2018, 4:11 pm
#302
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Florida
Posts: 97
A quick data point, as I've gotten alot of help from this thread:
Was looking for 2 F and 2 J seats JFK-AUH, then 4 seats in J from MLE-AUH-JFK on the return (did a seperate booking from AUH-MLE as AA doesn't allow stopovers)
This was at the very end of the schedule open for booking, showed 2 seats in F for the outbound. Called Australia #, 1st agent was able to see both F seats, as well as available J seats. Put all 4 on hold.
Called US line a few days later to confirm and pay, as well as add domestic leg to get to JFK. all calls went well, 1st attempt
I had to wait a week or so to book the return, MLE-AUH-JFK. 4 J seats, called the US line, they saw the availability and was able to book all 4 within 15 minutes.
All in all as good as I could expect
Was looking for 2 F and 2 J seats JFK-AUH, then 4 seats in J from MLE-AUH-JFK on the return (did a seperate booking from AUH-MLE as AA doesn't allow stopovers)
This was at the very end of the schedule open for booking, showed 2 seats in F for the outbound. Called Australia #, 1st agent was able to see both F seats, as well as available J seats. Put all 4 on hold.
Called US line a few days later to confirm and pay, as well as add domestic leg to get to JFK. all calls went well, 1st attempt
I had to wait a week or so to book the return, MLE-AUH-JFK. 4 J seats, called the US line, they saw the availability and was able to book all 4 within 15 minutes.
All in all as good as I could expect
Apr 9, 2018, 4:17 pm
#303
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
Apr 10, 2018, 5:22 am
#304
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: NY, NY
Posts: 695
A quick data point, as I've gotten alot of help from this thread:
Was looking for 2 F and 2 J seats JFK-AUH, then 4 seats in J from MLE-AUH-JFK on the return (did a seperate booking from AUH-MLE as AA doesn't allow stopovers)
This was at the very end of the schedule open for booking, showed 2 seats in F for the outbound. Called Australia #, 1st agent was able to see both F seats, as well as available J seats. Put all 4 on hold.
Called US line a few days later to confirm and pay, as well as add domestic leg to get to JFK. all calls went well, 1st attempt
I had to wait a week or so to book the return, MLE-AUH-JFK. 4 J seats, called the US line, they saw the availability and was able to book all 4 within 15 minutes.
All in all as good as I could expect
Was looking for 2 F and 2 J seats JFK-AUH, then 4 seats in J from MLE-AUH-JFK on the return (did a seperate booking from AUH-MLE as AA doesn't allow stopovers)
This was at the very end of the schedule open for booking, showed 2 seats in F for the outbound. Called Australia #, 1st agent was able to see both F seats, as well as available J seats. Put all 4 on hold.
Called US line a few days later to confirm and pay, as well as add domestic leg to get to JFK. all calls went well, 1st attempt
I had to wait a week or so to book the return, MLE-AUH-JFK. 4 J seats, called the US line, they saw the availability and was able to book all 4 within 15 minutes.
All in all as good as I could expect
Apr 10, 2018, 8:00 am
#306
Join Date: May 2016
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP, UA Gold
Posts: 98
I was also able to add on NYC-ORD after a AUH-JFK booking in September. I booked last year when the schedule opened, but have consistently been changing as availability comes up. Started with a JFK-PIT-ORD option to get something (better than nothing at all), then switched to LGA-ORD when it opened up, now back to JFK-CLT-ORD. I think the availability is there, if you're willing to take a connection or travel to LGA
Apr 10, 2018, 10:02 am
#307
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
There's some availability of saver space in Y on the LGA-ORD nonstops---if you are in J, accept a "voluntary" downgrade for this 2-hour flight. Having done that, set an Expertflyer alert for AUH-ORD nonstop and also for LGA-ORD in J. If any availability appears, the change is free.
Apr 10, 2018, 10:36 am
#308
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
I was also able to add on NYC-ORD after a AUH-JFK booking in September. I booked last year when the schedule opened, but have consistently been changing as availability comes up. Started with a JFK-PIT-ORD option to get something (better than nothing at all), then switched to LGA-ORD when it opened up, now back to JFK-CLT-ORD. I think the availability is there, if you're willing to take a connection or travel to LGA
Apr 10, 2018, 12:24 pm
#309
Join Date: May 2016
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP, UA Gold
Posts: 98
Wanted to fly out of JFK and was willing to but with the EY flight landing at 4:10pm, I miss the JFK-ORD nonstop and the connections all get me in later than if I just take the 8:29pm out of LGA. Will just try to standby for an earlier flight (since I know it won't take 4 hours to get to LGA from JFK - even at that time of day!).
Apr 10, 2018, 4:30 pm
#310
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
As a general note, yes, AA does sometimes have U inventory available on domestic flights if you're willing to do a circuitous route with multiple connections and often an overnight, but even that has become impossible in many cases because of the fairly new four-segment maximum imposed on international award itineraries.
Apr 11, 2018, 8:43 am
#311
Join Date: May 2016
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP, UA Gold
Posts: 98
As a general note, yes, AA does sometimes have U inventory available on domestic flights if you're willing to do a circuitous route with multiple connections and often an overnight, but even that has become impossible in many cases because of the fairly new four-segment maximum imposed on international award itineraries.
Also, since AA charges two awards for a lot of EY routings from the US (except India) just curious if the four segment rule comes into play that often on EY awards?
Last edited by wolfeman27; Apr 11, 2018 at 8:43 am Reason: Clarify response
Apr 11, 2018, 1:47 pm
#312
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: yyz
Posts: 1,611
Just another data point...I called in to check on availability of a AUH-YYZ flight. Saw 2 J seats on the EY site. AA agent saw them no problem. I didn't book, as I'm looking at other possibilities...but hey, it works.
Edit...should also note that I was looking 330 days out.
Edit...should also note that I was looking 330 days out.
Apr 11, 2018, 3:47 pm
#313
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 39
Here's my recent, ultimately successful experience, in case it is helpful to anyone.
The EY website showed J availability JFK-AUH and AUH-DEL (though only when I searched for them as the return legs of round-trips). Agents in AU/NZ were either able to see the JFK-AUH space or the AUH-DEL space, but never both, so I reserved JFK-AUH in J and AUH-DEL in Y.
Afterward, I placed repeated calls to the US/AU/NZ/SG call centers to try to upgrade the second leg to J, and the pattern was always the same. If I provided my record locator first, the agents would see zero award seats; if I asked after AUH-DEL without mentioning my existing reservation, they would see available seats, but then these seats would disappear the moment they tried to add one to my reservation.
Next, I had the idea to add a connection in BAH, flying AUH-BAH in EY J and BAH-DEL in whatever was available, which happened to be only Y. I figured that way I would at least have Etihad lounge access during the layover. Unexpectedly, though, adding the Gulf Air flight seems to have broken the pattern. The next time I called in (to the US call center), I provided my record locator, asked about AUH-DEL on EY in J, and was told that it was available. It took a little while, but the agent was able to change the reservation to JFK-AUH-DEL all in J. The lesson, possibly, is that mixing other carriers into an award may allow agents access to award space that the system otherwise restricts or suppresses.
The EY website showed J availability JFK-AUH and AUH-DEL (though only when I searched for them as the return legs of round-trips). Agents in AU/NZ were either able to see the JFK-AUH space or the AUH-DEL space, but never both, so I reserved JFK-AUH in J and AUH-DEL in Y.
Afterward, I placed repeated calls to the US/AU/NZ/SG call centers to try to upgrade the second leg to J, and the pattern was always the same. If I provided my record locator first, the agents would see zero award seats; if I asked after AUH-DEL without mentioning my existing reservation, they would see available seats, but then these seats would disappear the moment they tried to add one to my reservation.
Next, I had the idea to add a connection in BAH, flying AUH-BAH in EY J and BAH-DEL in whatever was available, which happened to be only Y. I figured that way I would at least have Etihad lounge access during the layover. Unexpectedly, though, adding the Gulf Air flight seems to have broken the pattern. The next time I called in (to the US call center), I provided my record locator, asked about AUH-DEL on EY in J, and was told that it was available. It took a little while, but the agent was able to change the reservation to JFK-AUH-DEL all in J. The lesson, possibly, is that mixing other carriers into an award may allow agents access to award space that the system otherwise restricts or suppresses.
Apr 11, 2018, 5:35 pm
#314
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: AA (EP), Hilton (Diamond), Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium)
Posts: 8,937
I've not personally booked an EY route that was two awards, but I have booked a lot that involved DOH, which due to the embargo requires an extra connection. So three out of the four maximum segments are consumed right there, requiring a domestic non-stop to get to or from the U.S. EY airport. Of course, if booking an itinerary that requires two awards, then you're free to use up to three domestic AA flights to get to or from the U.S. EY airport.
Apr 11, 2018, 8:47 pm
#315
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: LGB
Posts: 1,205
Are the taxes and fees quoted on the Etihad website passed through on an AA award? I'm seeing first class guest seat MLE-AUH-JFK (one award) price out as 4xx,xxx miles and north of $1,000 in taxes and fees.
I booked this last year and didn't pay anything even close to that. Have they upped the fees? Or are they not all passed through on AA award bookings?
I booked this last year and didn't pay anything even close to that. Have they upped the fees? Or are they not all passed through on AA award bookings?