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)
Jul 2, 2018, 6:21 am
#511
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: NY, NY
Posts: 695
Help please!! Anyone have experience with Etihad making drastic changes to flight itineraries unprovoked? I checked my reservation for 5 months out JFK to AUH to MLE earlier today and the reservation displayed "We couldn't display trip details". Called American EXP desk to learn that they re-booked me on flights two days later. All the AA agent could tell me was Etihad revoked the availability on my originally booked flights and re-booked me on these.
I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with the agent while she reviewed alternative routes and options in J for my original dates but she could find none. She put in a note with the AA Etihad partner liaison to review and request my original itinerary be re-instated. However, she did not seem optimistic that anything could be done.
This throws a serious wrench in my honeymoon plans since I've literally made all all reservations for the trip. How can they just completely change a booked and confirmed reservation?
So my question is has anyone else had a similar experience? Any advice? Any luck on having the AA agents talk to the Etihad partner liaison and get your original trip reinstated?
I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with the agent while she reviewed alternative routes and options in J for my original dates but she could find none. She put in a note with the AA Etihad partner liaison to review and request my original itinerary be re-instated. However, she did not seem optimistic that anything could be done.
This throws a serious wrench in my honeymoon plans since I've literally made all all reservations for the trip. How can they just completely change a booked and confirmed reservation?
So my question is has anyone else had a similar experience? Any advice? Any luck on having the AA agents talk to the Etihad partner liaison and get your original trip reinstated?
Unfortunately I have seen it happen, and have had it happen to me in the past. Back then though they would shift the person to the other Etihad flight the same day, but with that option gone they moved you to the next available flight. Why they do this I have never been to find out? Obviously they shouldn't, and shouldn't be allowed to bump confirmed passengers, but I am note sure what recourse you have right now. I would suggest in the meantime to keep checking for availability on your original travel date and see if anything opens up and have AA switch you right back. I wish I could be of more help :-(
Jul 2, 2018, 3:44 pm
#512
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Austin, TX
Programs: AA Plat Pro, Marriott Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist, United Platinum
Posts: 24
Unfortunately I have seen it happen, and have had it happen to me in the past. Back then though they would shift the person to the other Etihad flight the same day, but with that option gone they moved you to the next available flight. Why they do this I have never been to find out? Obviously they shouldn't, and shouldn't be allowed to bump confirmed passengers, but I am note sure what recourse you have right now. I would suggest in the meantime to keep checking for availability on your original travel date and see if anything opens up and have AA switch you right back. I wish I could be of more help :-(
Jul 3, 2018, 11:43 pm
#513
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
The upcoming cancellation of the ~3am flight from AUH to JFK would have left AUH-ORD as the only US-bound flight taking off a little past midnight. But ORD is being retimed starting with the winter schedule, dep AUH ~9am, return flight dep ORD ~8pm.
This means that the few remaining US-bound flights will all leave around 8-10am, and so preclearance will no longer operate during the wee hours.
I don't have any official source for this, but I can see that my own Dec flights have been rescheduled, and you can also see the new ORD times by searching for flights in Nov or later.
This means that the few remaining US-bound flights will all leave around 8-10am, and so preclearance will no longer operate during the wee hours.
I don't have any official source for this, but I can see that my own Dec flights have been rescheduled, and you can also see the new ORD times by searching for flights in Nov or later.
Jul 5, 2018, 11:17 pm
#514
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 6
I just called the Australia number with Skype and it was fine
Last edited by abattleofwords; Jul 5, 2018 at 11:18 pm Reason: clarify
Jul 5, 2018, 11:19 pm
#515
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 6
Just adding a datapoint in case it is of interest to anyone. I just called the Australia number with Skype and I was able to book a MAA-AUH-JFK one way for mid-January in business class. Painless and very friendly agent. Thanks for the guide!
Jul 9, 2018, 7:33 pm
#517
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Washington DC
Programs: Delta Silver Medallion, Marriott Bonvoy Gold, World of Hyatt Discoverist, Ultimate Rewards, AMEX
Posts: 18
If I book a first class ticket with Etihad using AA miles and would like to add a domestic connection in First to my final destination does there have to be Saver availability for the domestic first class leg or does AA also allow you to book the domestic leg with Anytime awards?
Jul 9, 2018, 7:58 pm
#518
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
If I book a first class ticket with Etihad using AA miles and would like to add a domestic connection in First to my final destination does there have to be Saver availability for the domestic first class leg or does AA also allow you to book the domestic leg with Anytime awards?
Jul 11, 2018, 11:18 am
#519
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Austin, TX
Programs: AA Plat Pro, Marriott Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist, United Platinum
Posts: 24
If I book a first class ticket with Etihad using AA miles and would like to add a domestic connection in First to my final destination does there have to be Saver availability for the domestic first class leg or does AA also allow you to book the domestic leg with Anytime awards?
Jul 11, 2018, 10:26 pm
#520
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 190
Is the destination change fee ($150) per reservation or per ticket? When I booked my award ticket the rep mentioned that my 2 tickets are under 1 reservation and therefore if I make a change it would only be $150. I called the other day to add a leg to the beginning of my award flight and was told it would cost $150x2. Was the first rep wrong?
Jul 12, 2018, 4:37 am
#521
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 32
Update on my previous post (Booking AA Award travel on Etihad / EY (master thread July 2017 onwards)): I was hoping to book the Mrs. on the same flights I had booked awhile back for myself, but had a few hiccups.
For SYD-AUH-JFK in Etihad Apartments, Expertflyer and Etihad Guest website both said one seat was still available. I first tried a US AAgent, and they said business class was all that was available. Thanked them, hung up. Then tried Australia number, they concurred, only Business Class available.
At this point I did some more digging on both Expertflyer and the Etihad Guest website, and learned that if you search SYD-JFK, it comes up as available. But if you search each segment, SYD-AUH showed unavailable. With this information, I attempted Australia and US call centers once again. I asked if there was any way to search the Etihad seats as SYD-JFK rather than segment by segment, and both agents said they have to search as multi-city with AUH specifically entered. Otherwise, Etihad does not show as a valid option for SYD-JFK. On the plus side, I was able to shepherd them to the AUH-JFK First Class availability.
Armed with this knowledge, the Mrs. and I caved and booked her SYD-AUH in Business Class and AUH-JFK in First Class. So all in all, we fly together AKL-SYD in Qantas J, she flies Etihad J while I fly Etihad First SYD-AUH, and then we fly together in Etihad First AUH-JFK. I've got an alert set for the SYD-AUH leg in First, so fingers crossed that we can swap the Mrs into the Apartments the whole way once we get closer to March/April.
For SYD-AUH-JFK in Etihad Apartments, Expertflyer and Etihad Guest website both said one seat was still available. I first tried a US AAgent, and they said business class was all that was available. Thanked them, hung up. Then tried Australia number, they concurred, only Business Class available.
At this point I did some more digging on both Expertflyer and the Etihad Guest website, and learned that if you search SYD-JFK, it comes up as available. But if you search each segment, SYD-AUH showed unavailable. With this information, I attempted Australia and US call centers once again. I asked if there was any way to search the Etihad seats as SYD-JFK rather than segment by segment, and both agents said they have to search as multi-city with AUH specifically entered. Otherwise, Etihad does not show as a valid option for SYD-JFK. On the plus side, I was able to shepherd them to the AUH-JFK First Class availability.
Armed with this knowledge, the Mrs. and I caved and booked her SYD-AUH in Business Class and AUH-JFK in First Class. So all in all, we fly together AKL-SYD in Qantas J, she flies Etihad J while I fly Etihad First SYD-AUH, and then we fly together in Etihad First AUH-JFK. I've got an alert set for the SYD-AUH leg in First, so fingers crossed that we can swap the Mrs into the Apartments the whole way once we get closer to March/April.
Jul 12, 2018, 8:11 am
#522
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
Is the destination change fee ($150) per reservation or per ticket? When I booked my award ticket the rep mentioned that my 2 tickets are under 1 reservation and therefore if I make a change it would only be $150. I called the other day to add a leg to the beginning of my award flight and was told it would cost $150x2. Was the first rep wrong?
Changes are $150 per ticket, not per record, so you would pay $300. Cancellations are $150 for the first ticket and $25 for others canceled at the same time if booked using miles from the same account. Sometimes one can just as easily cancel and rebook rather than change a reservation, and in those cases it is cheaper to cancel.
Jul 12, 2018, 7:57 pm
#523
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Washington DC
Programs: Delta Silver Medallion, Marriott Bonvoy Gold, World of Hyatt Discoverist, Ultimate Rewards, AMEX
Posts: 18
Jul 12, 2018, 10:23 pm
#524
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,631
Thanks for the help. I thought that was the case but wanted to confirm since there was absolutely no SAAver availability between JFK-DCA. My fiancée and I booked two tickets from AUH-JFK on the A380 in First Class Apartments the U.S. based agents had no issues finding availability. I find it funny that it was easier finding two international First Class tickets than two SAAver business domestic awards between JFK-DCA. Nearly a year out the only availability leaving after my flight arrives were AAnytime awards for 75,000 miles! That is just crazy! That's enough for me to go back to Abu Dhabi in business class on Etihad.
Jul 13, 2018, 4:57 am
#525
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 32
Here's a (hopefully) final update on my booking.
In a very strange turn of events (hard to believe it's coincidence), a few hours after my wife's Qantas J AKL-SYD, Etihad J SYD-AUH, Etihad O(F) AUH-JFK ticketed, one first class seat magically became available on the SYD-AUH leg. I called the US office and they couldn't see it. Immediately hung up and called Australia and they could see it. Swapped the booking, paid the extra miles.
Final outcome: Wife and I are both booked in early April for Qantas Business Class AKL-SYD, Etihad Apartments SYD-AUH-JFK.
In a very strange turn of events (hard to believe it's coincidence), a few hours after my wife's Qantas J AKL-SYD, Etihad J SYD-AUH, Etihad O(F) AUH-JFK ticketed, one first class seat magically became available on the SYD-AUH leg. I called the US office and they couldn't see it. Immediately hung up and called Australia and they could see it. Swapped the booking, paid the extra miles.
Final outcome: Wife and I are both booked in early April for Qantas Business Class AKL-SYD, Etihad Apartments SYD-AUH-JFK.