jktraveler

Can I book award trip on AA if it includes a segment operared by Finnair (HEL-LHR-DFW) or all flights must ve operated by AA?

Enigma368

Just to give a recent datapoint, I just booked my first AA award using Etihad miles after reading it was cheaper than using Avios or AA miles

This is what I did:
1) Found availability on BA.com as I assumed this would match what Etihad had
2) Created Etihad Guest Account
3) Called Etihad Guest call center
4) Asked agent to confirm that the flight (LAX to JFK in F) was available on that date. He was able to confirm and he saw the exact same availability and times that I was seeing on British Airways site
5) I transferred the required points from my Amex account to my newly created Etihad Guest account, the transfer was instant.
6) I proceeded to book the flight for 25k Etihad miles(25k Amex MR) without issue. This is half the price AA and BA charge for the same booking. Taxes were $15 for the ticket which seems about $10 higher than it should be but no biggy.

Call took about 40mins in total, including 20mins on hold. Painful old school multi step process. Worth it though to save half the price. Agent was competent and friendly and asked me if it was cheaper to book AA awards using Etihad miles. He seemed surprised when I told him it was half the price. He said he only gets about 1 call a week from people looking to book AA awards.

Cheerag Shaw

Has anyone done this recently?

I bought etihad miles and was able to book a trip from ORD to HNL in August. Was painless.

But now I don't really see any saver fares at all for the whole next year from ORD to LHR

JenniferNAz

After Hawaiian cancelled service for a flight I was about to book to Hawaii in Sept/Oct, I am scrambling to find a replacement.

I am looking at trying to book AA MCO-DFW-HNL in FC. I have read through lots of stuff and this whole thread. One big question I am not sure on is finding availability. I have Expert Flyer. Do I need to see Saver availability in order to book an AA flight using EY miles?

Seems like a simple question but I don't think I have seen the answer for sure.

Thanks!

Andrew Davidson

yes, has to be saver. Confirm on Qantas.

guv1976

I think that you will find it extremely challenging to find SAAver F awards on DFW-HNL.

And be aware that EY charges separately for each flight flown on AA.

LeastP

Are you sure about this part? I keep seeing conflicting DPs and can't figure it out.

JayCee1966

Not sure how current the PDF is but on the EY Guest site their AA mileage chart states:

Terms and Conditions
Prices shown are for one-way flights only – double miles will be charged for return flights. For journeys with a connecting flight, the number of miles will be calculated based on each individual flight. For instance, if you are travelling from New York (JFK) to San Francisco (SFO) via Miami (MIA), the number of miles will be calculated as follows: New York (JFK) to Miami (MIA) + Miami (MIA) to San Francisco (SFO).

As ever with EY it can depend on the agent you connect with as to whether they apply the rules consistently!

LeastP

Ah, there it is, plain as day. I don't know how I missed it, thanks for the help.

hungh13

How do you calculate the miles with connecting flights? I called earlier trying to figure out how many miles I would need for roundtrip DCA to GRU connecting through MIA with AA, and the agent said it is around 200,000 after putting in all the info like airport and date. What am I doing wrong? I am new to this and trying to book with miles since Amex has an offer with EY.

guv1976

What class of service?

You might try asking the Etihad agent to first price it as a one-way, DCA-MIA-GRU, and see what quote the agent gives you.

hungh13

It's Economy. I looked at the PDF and thought it was going to be around 30,000 each way, so 60,000 total.

guv1976

Brazil is in the "South America 2" zone. DCA-MIA in Economy should be 12,500 Etihad miles one way. MIA-GRU in Economy should be 20,000 Etihad miles one way during off-peak season, or 30,000 miles during peak season. So DCA-MIA-GRU in Economy one way should cost 32,500 miles one way off-peak, and 42,500 miles one way peak. Of course, this all assumes that AA is offering "MileSAAver" award seats for redemption on your particular flights.

If you can find MileSAAver award seats on AA's JFK-GRU nonstop, you might be better off booking that, and getting a cheap ticket on Amtrak or Megabus between DC and NYC.

dezra

Trying to book AA JFK to SFO in first next March. I checked on British Airways and found saver space and called Etihad, but the agent said they can't book domestic aa awards. Any advice?

guv1976

Did the agent say why they can't book domestic AA awards? Was the agent aware that such awards appear on Etihad's redemption table for AA?

Was the MileSAAver space you found on ba.com for a nonstop, or for a connection? Does the same itinerary show up as a MileSAAver award on aa.com?