Folks, I obviously just have really bad karma on this review trip, and that’s fine. First there was the Lufthansa downgrade, and now there’s an Etihad suspension, meaning I needed to rework my trip. With the direction things are headed, I’m a little worried about my return flight on American… hopefully I don’t get Dr. Dao’ed!
In this post:
I’ve been suspended from Etihad Guest, apparently?
So, I was going to have a little Etihad adventure this weekend. I had booked an Etihad business class flight from Munich (MUC) to Abu Dhabi (AUH) with American AAdvantage miles, and then my plan was to fly from Abu Dhabi to Paris (CDG) in Etihad’s A380 The Residence, which is the carrier’s three-room suite.
Nowadays, The Residence is available as a paid upgrade for first class passengers who ticket directly through Etihad. So that meant that I needed to redeem Etihad Guest miles for this flight. I held off on booking this flight until around a day before departure, because the flight was wide open, and I dislike Etihad Guest’s punitive cancelation policy, whereby you forfeit your entire ticket if you need to cancel last minute.
I just don’t like that level of inflexibility, so I waited to book until last minute. So I transfered 126,000 Amex Membership Rewards points to Etihad Guest, and selected the upgrade to The Residence, and then went to ticket the reservation. That should’ve been straightforward… right?
However, as I tried to ticket, I got a message saying I had insufficient miles.
Hmmm, I thought that was strange. So I logged out of my account, and back in. I had the same error message. I then tried using a different browser. Same error message.
I then decided to transfer an extra 1,000 points, since some loyalty programs have a weird quirk where they don’t think you have sufficient miles if you have exactly the number of miles required (I’ve noticed this with Emirates Skywards in the past).
Nope, the same error message persisted. So I used the online chat feature (which was painful, quite frankly), and the agent encouraged me to try a different browser, but had no other solutions.
At this point I picked up the phone and figured I’d try making the reservation by phone, since obviously I wasn’t having any luck online. After verifying all my account information, the agent informed me what the problem was — my Etihad Guest account was suspended!
He told me I’d need to email a particular department with a copy of my passport, and I’d hear back in around 72 hours. I explained that I intended to travel within 36 hours, and he said there was nothing that could be done. He also couldn’t explain why my account was suspended, but told me that I’d be informed by said department.
This Etihad situation is a mystery to me
I have no clue why my Etihad Guest account would have been suspended. I don’t think I’ve booked an award through the account in years. The best theory I can come up with is that this is one of those fraud prevention measures, where airlines find it suspicious when members transfer points to a program and then *gasp* redeem said points for a flight shortly thereafter.
Airlines deal with a lot of loyalty program fraud, and it’s not unusual to see airlines sometimes temporarily suspend accounts in order to verify details. I’ve written about this many times, so this is nothing new. Of course I understand that protecting accounts is important, but:
- There should be a near instant process for being able to do this, rather than it taking days
- It would be nice it there were actually error messages on the website telling you what’s wrong, rather than erroneous messages that just make you think there’s some tech glitch
- It would be nice if some logic were applied in these situations; like, if I’m the account holder and I’m redeeming points for myself, then it seems pretty safe to assume my account isn’t being compromised
- If there was some other reason my account was suspended (that’s beyond my knowledge), it would be nice if they’d block points transfers, so that you don’t transfer points you may no longer be able to use
I know it’s an oversimplification, but it certainly leaves a bad taste in your mouth when an airline is like “that’ll cost 126,000 points,” then you transfer 126,000 points as they ask for, and then they’re like “yeah, actually, no, that’s suspicious, we’re not going to let you book that.”
I can’t count the number of stories I’ve received from readers over the years about similar issues with various programs, and now I’ve finally dealt with it myself as well…
So, what’s my review trip plan instead?
I’ve decided to just ditch the entire side trip to the Middle East. Why? Well, on the outbound, I was supposed to fly Etihad’s new Boeing 787-9 business class, but that ended up getting swapped to a 787-10, featuring a less interesting product, which I’ve reviewed before.
So I just take this all as a sign that this portion of the trip wasn’t meant to be. Instead, I’m spending an extra day in Munich with my dad, and I tend to think quality time with family is never wasted, so I’m happy with that decision.
I’ll then slowly make my way back to the United States in American’s new business class (unless they pull a Hertz on me, or something, given how this trip is going), but not before stopping at the Park Hyatt London River Thames for a night, to check that out.
I intend to travel through Abu Dhabi soon anyway, so that I can fly the carrier’s new Airbus A321LR first class, so I can check out everything at once.
Bottom line
This review trip hasn’t exactly been seamless so far, between a Lufthansa downgrade and an Etihad suspension. After transferring points to Etihad Guest, I discovered that my account had been suspended, with no way to resolve it quickly.
So I apologize that my trip will be a bit different than planned, but I intend to pass through Abu Dhabi again soon, checking out two products at once…
Have any OMAAT readers dealt with an Etihad Guest (or other loyalty program) account suspension in this way?
If Dr Dao wasn’t Asian (eg Dr Muller) would we still be using his name as a joke?
@ Nate — I can only speak for myself, but yes, absolutely. His race has nothing to do with it. It was perhaps the most viral story of this sort in history, and it caused many airlines to change their policies.
I had a very similar and in fact painful experience with Etihad. When I tried to redeem the miles I just transferred from AMEX to secure a certain price (since they also have dynamic pricing for award flights), I got the message that I am currently not eligible to redeem miles. While an agent on the phone informed me very quickly that I needed to send in a copy of my passport via email, it...
I had a very similar and in fact painful experience with Etihad. When I tried to redeem the miles I just transferred from AMEX to secure a certain price (since they also have dynamic pricing for award flights), I got the message that I am currently not eligible to redeem miles. While an agent on the phone informed me very quickly that I needed to send in a copy of my passport via email, it actually took me several emails, chats and phone calls to have my account reactivated. This was such a painful experience which took more than a month until they finally fixed it.
Sorry, why exactly did you wait until last minute to transfer the miles and book this? You expected to cancel? This was a very risky strategy and it has not bitten you in the back.
It's not unusual that this happens, the same occurred to many people with Air Canada Aeroplan. Points transfers and short notice bookings trigger a fraud alert in many cases.
The question is, can you get the points back into your Amex account?
Maybe they have friends in Egypt?
Dr. Dao was United so you should be OK.
I’m dealing with a suspended account right now too. Transferred pta from Amex and tried to book a partner flight for my spouse. Their SLA is 5 biz days (email copy of passport) and boots 8 biz days and no word back from Etihad
I had the EXACT same situation happen to me in late 2024. I transferred 80,000 miles to Etihad to book a JetBlue flight from London to NY (in my name) a few days before departure. Note that I had previously transferred miles into Etihad years ago and booked flights that I flew in my name. So it wasn’t a new account.
It was a nightmare but thankfully I got a number of supervisors to...
I had the EXACT same situation happen to me in late 2024. I transferred 80,000 miles to Etihad to book a JetBlue flight from London to NY (in my name) a few days before departure. Note that I had previously transferred miles into Etihad years ago and booked flights that I flew in my name. So it wasn’t a new account.
It was a nightmare but thankfully I got a number of supervisors to expedite it and they held the ticket for a day.
I swore to never transfer into Etihad Guest again regardless of the redemption. Between the punitive policies and then freezing my account for no reason (in which I was the traveler).
"I’ll eventually paid the A380 with the Etihad A321LR"
Not sure what you're trying to say here.
You published your travel plan and scheme to book the residence, you likely should have waited to report after the trip. Maybe someone tipped off Eithad. Maybe the published scheme or potential reviews (could be negative) so they Blacklisted you. I don't think Asia, Mid-East etc airlines are into Bloggers with reviews and published scheme. Maybe Eygpt is tracking you and tip them off?
That conspiracy theorysounds nuts!
That's total nonsense. It's simply a fraud review which Etihad is notorious for. And they aren't the only airline that does this.
Probably common for inactive accounts for a long time. It is too bad they would not be able to cancel the points transfer and credit your Amex account again as a result of why you transferred in the first place and you could not proceed as planned.
This is why Etihad’s residence never ranks the best even among all first classes. Most people I believe only ranked it at 4ish, even with a much larger space and rooms. The treatment of the residence passenger is so bad that to book this seat, there are just so many bugs around, and their customer rep has no special treatment at all for the residence passenger, absolutely no priority, not even any intent to help...
This is why Etihad’s residence never ranks the best even among all first classes. Most people I believe only ranked it at 4ish, even with a much larger space and rooms. The treatment of the residence passenger is so bad that to book this seat, there are just so many bugs around, and their customer rep has no special treatment at all for the residence passenger, absolutely no priority, not even any intent to help you more even you would like to pay a hugh amount of dollars. I remember the first time I tried to pay upgrade, I could not go through online, then I went to the counter, no luck, then had to call in twice to get it done finally. The 2nd time, I helped my family to do it, booked with miles, then luckily I could find the solution online how to navigate through, but still surprise how many bugs there are. This is just an unfortunate product. If it is EK, I am sure they will make it the best product. I would only fly it once for experiences, but do not let me do it twice.
I don't see any bad treatment of Residence passenger here. Ben didn't even get to book his ticket because the mileage balance was blocked due to a fraud alert.
Etihad Guest doesn't care what he tried to do with his miles.
I’ve experienced something similar recently with Qatar Airways when they blocked my account in early June after I transferred Marriott Bonvoy point to Qatar Airways, where I was able to see the points in my Qatar Airways account.
Over a month later and providing what they required in terms of identification, my account is still blocked with no clear explanation except for saying “we’ve escalated this issue with the highest priority”.
It’s so...
I’ve experienced something similar recently with Qatar Airways when they blocked my account in early June after I transferred Marriott Bonvoy point to Qatar Airways, where I was able to see the points in my Qatar Airways account.
Over a month later and providing what they required in terms of identification, my account is still blocked with no clear explanation except for saying “we’ve escalated this issue with the highest priority”.
It’s so annoying that I’m actually considering switching programs. I find it very strange when I’ve spent thousands of dollars all in premium cabin for them to think I’m attempting to commit fraud I mean come on. I wasn’t even attempting to redeem them!
Considering someone reused United vouchers and sky kit codes back in the day to do LAX/SFO-IAD-TPA runs back in the day by quite a substantial amount ( back in the day ), this all feels in character .
¿Que?
Joven y tonto.
¿Hablas inglés?
My experience is that transferring and using points immediately is rarely a problem. What is a problem is transferring points and using them without any other (recent) activity on the account. Airlines don't like it when someone only uses their account form points transfers.
Oh, boo hoo. If they're that worried it should be specifies in the account's conditions of use. They make it easy for people to game the system, then act like little bitches when people game the system.
So much for Middle East ' hostile-ality' ... And not even a date and/or coffee offered as consolation !
I had something similar happen with Etihad. My account didn't get locked, but I had to go transfer more points in. Best I could tell, their website really wanted me to also use points to pay the taxes and fees co-pay. Once I had enough points in the account to do that, it decided to actually give me the option to book the ticket as I'd originally wanted: points + $33 onto my amex.
Not...
I had something similar happen with Etihad. My account didn't get locked, but I had to go transfer more points in. Best I could tell, their website really wanted me to also use points to pay the taxes and fees co-pay. Once I had enough points in the account to do that, it decided to actually give me the option to book the ticket as I'd originally wanted: points + $33 onto my amex.
Not sure if that was what was happening for you at all, but if their own people told you the account was frauded out then that's probably the case. For me, i was booking in January for a partner flight in May, not something happening in 36 hours.
I recently redeemed my ~15k Etihad miles (shocker, suche a ridiculously high amount ) for 2 vouchers to avoid expiration, in one transaction. One voucher was issued, the other I'm still waiting for because, yeah, redeeming 10k miles for a 50 € Amazon voucher is suspicious and the transaction and/or my account is under review (even though the max 7 business days this was mandated to take have long since passed and I'm still waiting...
I recently redeemed my ~15k Etihad miles (shocker, suche a ridiculously high amount ) for 2 vouchers to avoid expiration, in one transaction. One voucher was issued, the other I'm still waiting for because, yeah, redeeming 10k miles for a 50 € Amazon voucher is suspicious and the transaction and/or my account is under review (even though the max 7 business days this was mandated to take have long since passed and I'm still waiting for my voucher). Either way, yeah, they are quite over sensitive in that regard and should focus on where the actual problems are...
Enjoy Munich (greetings from around the corner)
Curious about the PH review and what you think about it. Seems to be a good hotel, but have heard complaints about the location (which we all have heard) and the sort of generic style of the hotel with no real character/sense of place.
Apparently GuestSeat award tickets aren’t eligible for a cash upgrade, or at least that what the agent on the phone told me. I flew the Reaidence a few days ago and encountered something similar at the time of booking. Selected First Class in GuestSeat and the paid upgrade option, and as soon as I hit continue, a message saying I don’t have enough miles pops up.
Called guest service and they explained that GuestSeats aren’t...
Apparently GuestSeat award tickets aren’t eligible for a cash upgrade, or at least that what the agent on the phone told me. I flew the Reaidence a few days ago and encountered something similar at the time of booking. Selected First Class in GuestSeat and the paid upgrade option, and as soon as I hit continue, a message saying I don’t have enough miles pops up.
Called guest service and they explained that GuestSeats aren’t eligible for a cash upgrade (even though this isn’t specified anywhere on their website lol) - either it’s GuestSeat (17k miles) plus miles upgrade (28.5k) or Comform/Deluxe (68k) plus cash upgrade.
I just booked a GuestSeat anyway but did not go with the upgrade at the time of booking. Once the reservation was confirmed, I went to “manage my booking”, changed my seat to the Residence, and paid for the upgrade there
I flew AUH-CDG First GuestSeat in March, and was eligible for a cash upgrade to the Residence after booking, and even at checkin.
These sleazebags (large companies generally, Etihad in this instance) think they can use the word "security" like an ATV they can ride anywhere they want to go.
Inconveniencing a customer is bad, and the word "security" doesn't reduce the company's fault for the inconvenience. Ben did NOT violate security, or the Terms of Etihad Guest, or proper procedure. He didn't attempt to use an unsupported method of payment, he didn't fail to fund his account.
...These sleazebags (large companies generally, Etihad in this instance) think they can use the word "security" like an ATV they can ride anywhere they want to go.
Inconveniencing a customer is bad, and the word "security" doesn't reduce the company's fault for the inconvenience. Ben did NOT violate security, or the Terms of Etihad Guest, or proper procedure. He didn't attempt to use an unsupported method of payment, he didn't fail to fund his account.
He's a customer who, in response to Etihad's marketing, accepted their Offer, on their Terms, and did not receive what was promised.
After that, the company said "security" and "fraud" a lot, thinking it changes something. It doesn't. they're basically saying "thanks for the payment but we think you might be a crook, so NO". If they're going to have the most customer-hostile cancel/change policy in the industry worldwide AND make last-minute bookings comically unreliable, it's a hard pass for me.
Advertising is a promise. Keep your promises, Etihad.
You can't use your miles, you complain.
Your miles got stolen, you complain.
You can't have your miles and eat it too.
Never knew miles were edible .... Curious as to their nutritional value !
...lol
This isn't what happened here. Mileage fraud has become notorious lately. Etihad simply blocked the availability of a large number of incoming points. And while the transfer itself might be instant always remember the Amex site says it takes 24-xx hours for the miles to be available. The loyalty programs reserves the right to verify. Leaving this to the last minute was a risky and naive strategy.
Excited for the PH London review, hopefully with a high-level post shortly after your stay. I've (unintentionally) managed to avoid London for quite a while but now have three trips there in the coming months beginning mid-August. Been considering it as it seems like a strong Hyatt option even if it isn't the best location.
This is an opportunity for regulation. If a company is going to create a "currency" and claim that they are holding a "balance" for you, they must provide immediate access to a human on the phone, with authority to complete the entire ID verification process in one session, within 24 hours of any suspension of your access.
Once again, we see that "Security" is the opposite of convenience.
Once again, we see that "Security" is the opposite of convenience.
Hello PATRIOT act.
While annoying, at least there is *some* basis here for triggering a fraud alert.
I was flying on a TK award ticket booked many months in advance, under my own name, booked w my own credit card, and was nearly not allowed to fly when checking in at CDG
Can you provide more details? Was this on TK metal or a partner?
Were you actually carrying the card with you? TK have been quite strict about that sort of thing in the past, not sure whether they're less paranoid now that people use Google pay etc.
You don't deserve that. Neither do the other people who regularly get f***ed by Etihad and the other s***ty customer service airlines.
Etihad and Emirates and Qatar Airways are part of the sportwashing fad. No need to improve how we treat women, gays, disabled, jews, or just plain anyone... because we can sponsor sporting events.
And you support them. They just repaid you. There's a message there.
I agree.
I see them every NFL season.
All those banks and insurance companies that finance companies who manufacture WMDs and supply weapons for proxy wars and puppets.
The State of Qatar has been credibly accused of being a sponsor of terrorism, and in 2020 a group of women were forced... And I mean forced... To leave a Qatar Airways aircraft in Doha and submit to vaginal examinations in the back on an ambulance on the tarmac, because an abandoned newborn had been found inside the airport. That one of the women was clearly post-menopausal was lost on those barbaric goat-buggerers. The country...
The State of Qatar has been credibly accused of being a sponsor of terrorism, and in 2020 a group of women were forced... And I mean forced... To leave a Qatar Airways aircraft in Doha and submit to vaginal examinations in the back on an ambulance on the tarmac, because an abandoned newborn had been found inside the airport. That one of the women was clearly post-menopausal was lost on those barbaric goat-buggerers. The country is a shthole built by slave labor. Why anyone is still giving them their money is beyond my comprehension. Some of you are easily impressed.
I have no idea if any of that is true but their airline is amazing with impeccable service. That’s why I will gladly give them my money.
"There should be a near instant process for being able to do this, rather than it taking days"
Aeroplan is a toss up, sometimes they'll unlock accounts on the phone, other times you're stuck emailing a department and they'll get back to you when they feel like it. Regular phone CS can only send an email to them, and they don't have a phone department to assist you with.
I'd say there's no reason...
"There should be a near instant process for being able to do this, rather than it taking days"
Aeroplan is a toss up, sometimes they'll unlock accounts on the phone, other times you're stuck emailing a department and they'll get back to you when they feel like it. Regular phone CS can only send an email to them, and they don't have a phone department to assist you with.
I'd say there's no reason to enhance this area - they have your points and you're just an expense / liability when you're redeeming the points. And I'm sure they couldn't care less about a single passenger / loyalty account.
Why not simply make a new account with a different email? And even use a different passport number than whichever you used on your first one?
@ digital_notmad -- Because I had already moved the points to Etihad, and Etihad has a strict expiration policy, so I didn't want to move so many points to the program. Literally the only use case for Etihad Guest miles, personally, is for upgrading to The Residence.
...but we wanted a Residence review ;)
(in all seriousness, that's a fair point - frustrating how punitive the cancellation policy is, and it really limits the value of the program.)
While I'm not in any way happy this happened to you, I am glad that you are highlighting this issue. I think problems like this are contributing significantly to credit card fatigue. When people painstakingly use the right credit cards in the right spending categories to earn points, save up points for years, research redemption options, and then finally try to use their points only to have something like this happen - it makes it...
While I'm not in any way happy this happened to you, I am glad that you are highlighting this issue. I think problems like this are contributing significantly to credit card fatigue. When people painstakingly use the right credit cards in the right spending categories to earn points, save up points for years, research redemption options, and then finally try to use their points only to have something like this happen - it makes it seem like the whole thing is a scam and that the game is not worth playing.
Off topic question: When did Etihad order its A321LRs? Thanks
@ Lee -- Your guess is as good as mine. It seems it was a conversion of a previous order, or something, and it seemed to happen pretty quietly.
Indeed. It seems Etihad received its order rather quickly given the industry's circumstances. (I acknowledge this is the LR and not the XLR.)
Maybe your Dad called Etihad so that he could spend more time with you - or he’s still angry that you sent him from First to Business. :)
Could it be name difference triggering audit? Happens quite common with Marriott points trasnfer to airlines.
@ LEo -- I moved the points from my Amex points to my Etihad account with matching names, so I don't think that's it, but who knows...
Most probably it happened because of his transactions from Germany, may be in past most of Ben transactions were from US some how fraud algorithm triggered bad way. Sorry...
Having your Dad write a trip report from Allegris First Class by himself would have been fun content to read and probably more relatable to some of your readers.
Are you really fine with sending your passport information to some guy in the Middle East though?
Nah they outsource it Florida.
They get your information every time you book a flight with them so yeah, I feel safe doing that.
Maybe Cairo sent a request to punish Ben?d
Looking forward to reading your thoughts on the Park Hyatt River Thames. My wife and I lived in London two years ago, in the Embassy Gardens, and walked by the construction every day. Make sure to walk over to Battersea Power Station while you're there!
you will never regret the extra time w/ your Dad
This, 100 percent
Was it auto correct Tim, dad spelled "Dad"
Or it's a typo and you meant
"you will never regret the extra time w/ your Delta."
Did you not have your Etihad guest number applied to the booking? Even though it would still be you flying, that could trigger the fraud detection perhaps?
@ Sel, D. -- I tried to book the award ticket through my Etihad Guest account, so yeah, my Etihad Guest number should have been connected to the booking.
And you booked for yourself and not anyone else, so there should be nothing especially alarming. Strange indeed. But an extra day with your Dad won't hurt you, and while I don't want to be too superstitious, these kind of cases always make me think maybe there's some reason why you shouldn't be on that particular flight...
“Persona non grata” …. is it the Trump effect? … :-)
Certainly not the Harris effect since DEI Kammy got crushed in a landslide.
No Politics!
But DementiaDon is DEI too. We're allowing insane old men to be elected. Yes, I know...the prior two terms also had insane people filing them.
Yes, a “landslide” where Trump couldn’t even manage to win 50% of the vote.
No Politics
Sorry that your plans were interrupted, enjoy the time in Munich with your dad.
I think last minute bookings and even searches can cause your account to be flagged for fraud. I've had my lifemiles account locked just for searching awards a couple of days out, it took about a week to get it resolved.
Maybe it's best to book awards by phone for last minute tickets. Especially if you are flying an airline with primative IT and customer service departments.
I'm always surprised airlines PR teams don't do a better job monitoring major bloggers/vloggers for situations to solve quickly. You're a pretty humble guy (rare in your field) but this is a good opportunity for Etihad to recover in time for you to credit them with the solution. It would be different if you used your platform to extort them, or were 100% negative about them all the time. But you have given them incredible...
I'm always surprised airlines PR teams don't do a better job monitoring major bloggers/vloggers for situations to solve quickly. You're a pretty humble guy (rare in your field) but this is a good opportunity for Etihad to recover in time for you to credit them with the solution. It would be different if you used your platform to extort them, or were 100% negative about them all the time. But you have given them incredible earned-media coverage over the years. Let's see how it plays out once it's business time in the UAE. Fingers crossed for you, and them.
There should be no special treatment for anyone, especially for bloggers/vloggers.
There should be no special treatment for anyone, but the truth is that 99% of all the bloggers out there would have posted something along the lines of "ETIHAD HATES ME. MY TRAVEL PLANS ARE RUINED AND I'LL BE TRAUMATIZED FOR LIFE!!! DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!!!!!"
But Ben is of course different than all other (v)bloggers and, as the other commenter pointed out, recovery would have been rather easy for Etihad.
My socialist instinct is to say you’re absolutely right. But, then I remember the entire reason this hobby thrives is we’re literally seeking special treatment. If not, we would be celebrating paying full fare economy to sit in middle seats on regional planes. So my brain hurts a bit…
I kind of wish you had used this opportunity to do something a bit different and maybe taken a train trip as an alternative…but then again, I think Munich to London might be a bit too far for that.
…. actually Aaron, a very easy and enjoyable journey.
Actuallt I never said it wasn’t easy or enjoyable.
It may be easy - you only have to connect twice. But I would question whether a 10 hours train trip is enjoyable. Especially when you're traveling Deutsche Bahn.
You probably made it worse by transferring another amount straight after; Absolutely a fraud trigger.
@ PDS — Perhaps, but clearly the problem already existed when I made the first transfer.
PDS, reread the article.