Many OMAAT readers are probably familiar with the great value of redeeming American AAdvantage miles for travel on Etihad, but fewer are probably aware of the great value of redeeming Etihad Guest miles on American. While it can be a headache and is definitely more of a niche redemption, there’s still value to be had.
Continue reading: Redeeming Etihad Miles On American: Great Deal
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
In my experience transcon F only costs 25k Miles. I don‘t know why there‘s the premium sections for these flights, but the flight I booked two months ago from JFK to SFO wasn‘t 32,500.
I have used this redemption a few times and it actually does work... in theory. I do just want to highlight that dealing with the agents is EXTREMELY difficult, and only the most savvy, patient points travelers with the greatest attention to detail should attempt to use this award. It is likely that at least one or more the following things will happen when trying to book this award: the agents won't speak English (yes, even if you call the Manchester center), they will flat out have no idea what you're talking about, quote you the wrong mileage amount, book the wrong flights, or spell someone's name wrong. At least one of these things happened to me over the course of (finally, successfully) booking 3 different trips to Sao Paulo, Madrid, and Rome at bargain rates (40k economy roundtrip). Additionally, keep in mind that the only values are on nonstop flights, once you add a connection the mileage rates shoot up (e.g. I'm driving from my home in DC to fly AA from Philadelphia to Rome). I would not recommend this redemption to someone that wasn't EXTREMELY savvy and capable with this stuff, but it does actually work!
I also booked First not Business on the A321T from BOS-LAX for 25,000 Etihad points. Oddly, they insisted on having valid passport information despite this being a domestic flight - it took getting a supervisor involved to waive the requirement
Ben, a big unknown going forward is this: 1) there must be Saver Award inventory for partner airline redemptions and 2) AA is eliminating Saver Awards this year. I have spoken to a management group within AA about this issue but have not heard about how this issue might be addressed.
I have booked one flight going this route and it was such a PIA that I just use Avios instead. Challenge outside of that is finding actual saver availability.
Totally wrong P is premium and Etihad sell for 62.5 as F is sold for 50 k, for some reasons Premium its more expensive than first class
I have also been able to book JFK-LAX and JFK-SFO in F for 25k pionts. I booked far in advance, so I was able to find seats on dates I wanted with relative ease. In both cases, the telephone rep's seemed quite competent.
I think on Etihad’s award chart “Business/First” means business class or domestic first class. “Premium” means 3 cabin (or 4 if there’s premium economy, not including Main Cabin Extra) first class.
I think this post is oversimplified. As readers above said:
1) good only pet segment, not multi segment trips. Long ago that wasn’t the case and you can maybe find an untrained agent who won’t know this. Seems like it’s mainly manual booking (as opposed to computer). So potential to get more segments but very very unlikely.
2) I found AA first prices as business/first not premium.. which is great.
3) understated how variable and difficult the call center can be.
As others have mentioned, the "premium" booking category is now defunct and both business and intl F both prices in the middle section. A great deal if you can find saver Z space on any route.
I followed steps provided in this article to find available business award flight which showed up as U class at AA website and also shown available at British airways Avios search. However, the Ethiad agent told me that she could find any availability for her site. Does anyone encounter this problem? I am looking for business tickets from SFO to NRT anytime in March 2023.
This article worked perfectly!!! I just purchased business class from Chicago to Nashville for 10,000 Etihad miles (+ $21 taxes). I confirmed on Expert Flyer that 'U' class was available on the date that I wanted. (Also showed available on the British Airways site as the article mentioned).
Called the Etihad agent. At first, the agent said, "I'm sorry, there is no availability". Then when I gave the exact flight number and said to look at Business Class, she said, "You are right. I'm sorry".
To give some context of what a great bargain this is, 4 hours in the Etihad Business Class lounge is 17,510 miles. My recent round trip from Frankfurt to Jakarta earned me 14,240 miles. The ticket price currently for this flight would have been $245. So the point value for this flight was $0.0245/Etihad Mile!
This is the second time in a year that I have been able to use OMAAT's advice to use my Etihad miles to fly on American! Thank you!
Note: the Etihad redemption table for American is now based only on flight distance. For my 400 mile flight the ticket was 6,000 (Econ) or 10,000 (Business). JFK-LHR (3,452 flown miles) would have cost 45,000 (Econ) or 80,000 (Business)