Last week I wrote about how American and Etihad increased the number of US routes on which they codeshare. While American and Etihad have been airline partners for a while, this was awesome news because American AAdvantage members only earned miles for Etihad flights to/from the US when booked as an American codeshare.
Through this change, American began codesharing on Etihad’s Dallas to Abu Dhabi and San Francisco to Abu Dhabi flights, making it possible for AAdvantage members booked on those codeshare flights to earn elite qualifying and redeemable miles. However, even with the change, AAdvantage members still didn’t earn miles on Etihad flights to/from the US when not booked as an American codeshare.
It looks like in the past couple of days American has further improved mileage earning on Etihad. AAdvantage members can now earn redeemable miles for all eligible Etihad flights, including routes to/from the US.
One thing I’m not sure about is whether you continue to earn elite qualifying miles for Etihad flights booked as American codeshares, since that’s not specifically stated on the mileage earning page anymore. It would certainly be a negative change, though either way I’d say it’s a net improvement that you can now earn American redeemable miles for all Etihad flights.
So for those of you that booked the Etihad mistake fare last Christmas for travel to Abu Dhabi, those flights can now be credited to AAdvantage and eligible for mileage accrual.
Bottom line
It’s nice to see the partnership between American and Etihad strengthening rather than weakening, despite the hypocrisy of it all in regards to the battle between the big three US carriers and big three Gulf carriers. I wonder if the special interest groups being run by the big three US carriers will shame American for this? *cricket*
(Tip of the hat to View from the Wing)
Is AUH-SYD eligible as "Asia" or excluded from earnings?
Z fares do not accrue any AA miles as per an email response I received from the AADVANTAGE desk:
"Dear _______,
Thank you for sending us the information we needed.
Regrettably, your travel was ineligible for mileage credit based on the
fare purchased, indicated by the booking class 'Z' on your ticket
receipt. I'm sorry to disappoint you.
To review information regarding AAdvantage mileage earning and
redemption guidelines, please visit aa.com/airlines at...
Z fares do not accrue any AA miles as per an email response I received from the AADVANTAGE desk:
"Dear _______,
Thank you for sending us the information we needed.
Regrettably, your travel was ineligible for mileage credit based on the
fare purchased, indicated by the booking class 'Z' on your ticket
receipt. I'm sorry to disappoint you.
To review information regarding AAdvantage mileage earning and
redemption guidelines, please visit aa.com/airlines at your convenience.
Thank you for participating in the AAdvantage program. We appreciate
your business.
Regards,
Sally A.
AAdvantage Customer Service
American Airlines"
I just got back from my mistake fare trip, JFK-AUH-JNB which I upgraded all segments to business class. I called AA today to find out when my mileage would post and also to confirm if I would earn EQMs as well. She confirmed that the mileage would post 15 days after my trip and that I should receive EQMs as well. I will get 50% bonus redeemable miles, but no bonus for EQMs.
Anyone have any luck with this yet?
How about fare class Z ? Is it also eligible for mileage accrual ?
Requested credit a couple of days ago for my MLE-AUH-SFO itinerary and got the following email today. I replied back with screenshots of the current Earn Miles page for Etihad (same page linked in your post). We'll see how they respond.
"Dear Valued Member,
Thanks for using AA.com to request AAdvantage mileage credit.
We regret any confusion regarding earning AAdvantage miles for flights
on Etihad Airways. Under our current agreement, Etihad Airways operated
...
Requested credit a couple of days ago for my MLE-AUH-SFO itinerary and got the following email today. I replied back with screenshots of the current Earn Miles page for Etihad (same page linked in your post). We'll see how they respond.
"Dear Valued Member,
Thanks for using AA.com to request AAdvantage mileage credit.
We regret any confusion regarding earning AAdvantage miles for flights
on Etihad Airways. Under our current agreement, Etihad Airways operated
and marketed flights between Abu Dhabi (AUH) and United States /
Canadian cities are not eligible for mileage accrual. We are sorry to
disappoint you.
Our website at www.aa.com/aadvantage provides the most accurate and
up-to-date information about AAdvantage program participants, including
details on the many ways you can earn and use AAdvantage miles on this
carrier and many others.
Regards,
AAdvantage Customer Service"
P.S. I booked DFW-AUH for about $300. RT distance is 16143 miles. At 1.7 cpm value, the miles earned are ~$274 so the net cost of the ticket is minimal. The folks who booked from other cities may even be making a hypothetical profit :)
YES! I believe the fare class for the Christmas mistake fares is 'E' so this allows for two things:
(1) All the people who booked a stop in Europe to get full credit (AA for US-Europe; EY for Europe-AUH) will be safe whenever EY changes flights to nonstop like they have been doing.
(2) The earnings rate is 100% which is more than any other partner I'm aware of -- EY itself is...
YES! I believe the fare class for the Christmas mistake fares is 'E' so this allows for two things:
(1) All the people who booked a stop in Europe to get full credit (AA for US-Europe; EY for Europe-AUH) will be safe whenever EY changes flights to nonstop like they have been doing.
(2) The earnings rate is 100% which is more than any other partner I'm aware of -- EY itself is giving only 50% for the mistake fare and NH (ANA) is also giving 50%.
So this is pretty darn awesome :)
I wonder if I'll get credit for my flight from Abu Dhabi to Dallas on April 26...
I havent' credited my miles from the EY CMB-DFW mistake fare from last year - is there a chance for me to credit them to AA now?
@ Diondi -- It can't hurt to try. Wouldn't count on it, but also wouldn't surprise me if it does credit.
I thought the rule was that you *always* earn EQMs/EQPs on AA codeshares booked through AA.
@ dbeach -- Whoops, you're absolutely right.
Will you earn elite bonus miles for the mistake fares (i.e. ORD-AUH)?
@ Kai -- You don't earn elite bonus miles for travel on Etihad marketed/operated flights.
Great news! So, will all EY-operated flights anywhere in the world, including those bought directly from EY, qualify for AA redeemable miles?
@ Delfin -- Yep!